Calming sheep balms to one and all

The year of the green goat (or wood sheep or wood goat or green sheep) will be mostly peaceful, although there will be some turbulent times.

“But for the moment, allow the calming balms of the Sheep’s vibrations to flow through you, and through you, to touch every heart you meet.” Well, OK then, astrology.com. Sometimes I have a hard time touching every heart I meet with calming balms but I’m willing to try. 2014 taught me a lot, one lesson being that loving kindness is super easy when you’re in your cozy home with your incense and crystals and crap but the real practice is gently applying the coolness of the cucumber when out in the field of life when what you really want to do is shove that cool cucumber where jerks might be most affected by it.

“Fate will send emissaries to change the faces of aggression towards a more peaceful compromise. It does not kill the doubts, anger or desire for violence, but it puts a blanket of constraint over it.”

Ok, wood sheep in the sky — I’m willing to give you a chance. Will you stop the mean man from yelling at me from his car this year? Green goat, if you could perhaps help me not be screamed at or called “fat f-ing whore” in traffic. Maybe the trick is not driving anywhere. For the rest of 2015 I’ll be the woman riding the cosmic green sheep through the streets of New England.

The year of the wood sheep is a year in which arts, banding together, peace, perseverance through togetherness, mental acuity over brute force, softness, using the softness for good, loyalty, family, and coziness are the order of the day. I’m open to it. 2014, the year of the wood horse, was a wild, galloping time of action and bombast for many and I know I’ve seen a lot of people get trampled. I don’t know if it had anything to do with Sheng Xiao but I think we will appreciate all the help we can get.

Whether green sheep or wood horses in the sky have a real effect on our lives or if we believe in a new year shift it is always a good time to declutter. I plan on continuing to clean house and push out that which doesn’t serve me, be it shitty relationships or clothes that make me feel simply adequate. Winter is a rough time — let’s face it. Why not focus on self-care and start rebuilding (if we’ve lost it) a sense of well-being by treating ourselves gently and well? If you’re someone who doesn’t experience stress over the holidays and doesn’t have complicated relationships, good for you. If you’re like the rest of us, know that I’m pulling for you, for whatever it’s worth. I wholeheartedly support your decision to take a bath, make art, write, pet your dog. Feel the gentle wool of the wood sheep on your tender body (and less creepy invocations).

Jenn Sutkowski wishes you irie sheep vibrations, she guesses. Calming balms. “Om namah shivaya,” say the Shaiva Hindus and the guy who has his heart ripped out in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

This Full Frontal column was published first in the Newport Mercury on January 15, 2015.