The three little words helping me to make the most of every moment

April 19, 2026 — 5:00am

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I have never believed in horoscopes. I barely remember my own star sign. But for a few weeks earlier this year, as Lunar New Year approached, I became obsessed with the Chinese zodiac – specifically the outgoing Year of the Snake.

With absolutely no authority or cultural reference point, I joined the overnight experts in my social media feed, favourite podcasts and Pilates class as a sudden believer. Given most of us had no more knowledge of Chinese culture than where to find good yum cha, we had no right to jump on a thousands-year-old bandwagon, but I saw it as a mass response to having our struggles affirmed.

“Snake” years are about shedding, change, letting go of who we thought we were, and the painful, exhausting work of transformation – and it rang so true. So many of us said, “Yes!” Come to think of it, 2025 did feel like I was dragging my freshly shucked body through dust towards forced renewal. It must have been the snake! Good riddance to that year.

And then, as the Lunar New Year ticked over, and we woke up in the Year of the Horse, logic........

© Brisbane Times