This weekend was the Lunar New Year, bringing in the Year of the Dragon. I love celebrating the New Year that arrives on January 1st. And yet there is something special about observing the Lunar New Year, given that it’s a specifically Asian holiday. Like our Indian and South Asian cultures, Asian tradition is big on the concept of certain dates in the lunar cycle and specific foods/objects being auspicious, meaning they are most opportune or looked upon favorably by fortune. And I love that particular prism of celebrating the Lunar New Year: thinking of this time of year as being an especially auspicious one.
Social Impact Insights: A Year of Union Organizing
Given that we’re going into an especially-anxiety-inducing presidential election this fall, starting the year out with good vibes becomes even more important. With so much change, anxiety, and war in our current situation, it means that much more to search for auspicious signs of light.
We are building on 2023, which certainly seemed to be the Year of the Union. The strikes in Hollywood lasted for months, resulting positively in major gains for both writers and actors in pay and in protections tied to technological advancement. As a pop culture and film lover, I followed these strikes closely, and was happy to see beloved actress Fran Drescher flex her muscle as the head of the actors union. She clearly stated that she was bringing her own uniquely feminine energy to leadership, and that she was unapologetic about how she handled negotiations, refusing to back down in the face of disrespect from the group representing the producers and anxiety from members of her union and others who couldn’t work because filming was shut down.
While the Hollywood strikes bring an innate level of glamour to this conversation, they would not have been as successful if the current mood of workers in the U.S. had not so clearly been about being done with the machinations of the extremely wealthy. After a pandemic, the rise of inflation, and outrageous ever-increasing executive pay, the bottom 99% are simply done with the greed and shortsightedness of our highest-paid corporate leaders. Workers from a wide range of industries/unions went on strike or threatened to in 2023: call center workers; Starbucks workers; Amazon workers; auto workers; actors; Kaiser Permanente (health care) workers; hotel workers; UPS workers; writers; and Lyft/Uber drivers.
While it’s invigorating to see all this union activity, there are still signs of great concern. It’s not clear that even increased wages are truly outpacing costs, and 2023 also brought massive layoffs, especially in tech. And January 2024 saw what appear to be industry-devastating layoffs in media. Within the confines of a Scarcity Mindset, storylines about worker solidarity and layoffs feed each other. The more workers see the extent to which we are all expendable to corporate leaders seeking to show they can continue to increase profits, the more they come together for collective action. And within that Scarcity Mindset, workers making collective gains and increasing in power give corporate leaders cover to say costs need to be cut or companies need to be shut down completely.
2023 was also the year that artificial intelligence (AI) broke though as a mainstream concept. One issue I’ve been thinking about over these last months is, what if we brought an Abundance Mindset to the future of work? If AI truly is going to revolutionize work and take over many existing jobs (I’m not so sure), and if CEOs can’t figure out how to make a profit without cutting workers or pay or benefits, maybe it’s time to accept that our purpose in life is not simply to work. Maybe it’s time to embrace a more spiritual approach, and to recognize that we were put here to care for each other and to be responsible stewards of our planet.
And it’s definitely also time to cut those exorbitant CEO salaries and wealth packages, which have never been justified. They are even less so when CEOs don’t seem to know how to build successful businesses anymore, stating that massive layoffs are the only way to improve their bottom line.
It’s time to actually start thinking and advocating from a place of Abundance, and to have our government provide genuine community infrastructure and foundations, like Universal Basic Income; Universal Health Insurance or expanded Medicare (health insurance that is not tied to employment); and retirement support for workers well before the age of 67. Of course this sounds like a fantasy in the U.S, and yet we have to start somewhere with our collective big dreams. Demanding that the top 1% pay their fair share of taxes would help fund these kinds of foundations of community support. We may live in a capitalist society, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up our shared humanity. And if it does, then it’s time for a new economic system.
This is my dream for an auspicious start to 2024, which is going to be a long and challenging year. I truly hope that we keep dreaming big, and come together for collective advocacy rooted in long-term vision and values that may not lead to wins immediately, but that lay the foundation for the next 50 years, and for future generations of workers.
Surf Synthesis: Working on Positioning
Even though it’s a magical and intuitive experience, surfing is also a lot like other areas of life and work, in that you can set metrics of success for yourself if you focus. It has taken me years to master certain skills, and I’ve learned to set patient and realistic metrics for myself, while keeping the long-term goal in mind and keeping some sense of urgency. Surf skills I’ve learned include handling my board (you wouldn’t know this is something to conquer); getting out of the water without getting pulled back by the current (another who knew type of skill); popping up on the board; anticipating and getting out of tricky situations; knowing when I might be in another surfer’s way and vice versa (probably the most important skill!); and paddle form. Paddle form in particular took me YEARS. It involved proper swim lessons and lots of help from friends watching me in the water to figure out exactly what I was doing wrong and then patiently explaining it to me.
These days, I’m working on positioning. This means knowing exactly where to be in the water to get into the wave at the most opportune spot. You might say it’s about being in an auspicious position to make the most of a wave. In some ways, I feel like I’ve really blossomed in order to even get to this point. In others, it’s one more sign to me that my improvement in surfing is consistently glacial in pace. Kind of like the long arc toward justice. These days, I’m re-reading notes from surf camp, watching video tutorials, watching the surfers who intuitively know exactly where to be and when, and of course practicing in the water.
There’s a nice symmetry to my focus on positioning in the water. Outside of the water, I’ve decided to focus on positioning and amplification for Apsara Projects, my social impact consulting firm. In both surfing and in my work, it feels like I have a great sense of the fundamentals, and now it’s time to push further to make maximum impact. It’s an exciting time, and I’m invigorated to see so much synergy in these two areas of my life.
Tarot Inspiration: The Ace of Pentacles
The Ace of Pentacles is a perfect card for a new year. Aces mark beginnings, often representing an inchoate overflow of potential. Opportunity is there, but you need to give it shape and purpose. This vibes very well with the theme of abundance, auspicious moments, and new beginnings. And Pentacles of course are the Earth sign, and speak to the body, wealth, prosperity, and the comforts in life. Given this, the Ace of Pentacles is spouting with the potential for abundance and prosperity, which we collectively need at this time. In the image above, you can see the lush flowers and garden of growth. It’s all potential for abundance.
Wishing all of you the best for this year! As we settle in, stay centered and stay watching for those signs of an auspicious moment or invitation in your life.
—Juhu Thukral | Apsara Projects
ABOUT APSARA PROJECTS: We are a boutique social impact consultancy where culture meets strategy to make impact. We use a unique three-prong approach combining change management, communications strategy, and building an Equity Mindset to guide our clients. We partner with them to strengthen their vision and values as they embrace and navigate change.
Over the past few years, we have partnered with clients on restructuring and scaling growth; supporting transitions in organizational leadership; branding and organizational identity; integrating racial equity as a muscle to flex; and strategic planning on mission and value proposition. Visit our website for more information and get in touch by replying to this email or connecting via LinkedIn.