If you feel like you've been stuck in a sea of molasses or just blocked creatively, get ready for a shift. The energies of Chinese New Year are beginning to unfold - with plenty of fire for your projects and impetus to spread your wings.

With Monkey Year energies already in the air, you are building up to another new cycle. Before Chinese New Year officially begins February 8, intend now to connect with your passion. Invite in the energy of that passion now. 

Not sure how to connect with your highest passions? Keep it simple. 

Ask your Higher Self to remind you of what stirs your excitement for being alive. Perhaps it's riding horses or being in the mountains. Maybe it's writing, expressing universal truths or something very personal to you. Your passion could be related to a gift you have, like wisdom about the body or the psyche - and helping others by sharing what you have mastered. Your passion could involve something as simple as helping others to laugh. For many, the chief driving passion is to be a good person - kind to others around them, and remembered at the end of this life as a caring being.

Interestingly, when you find a calling or purpose that's aligned with your passions, a very magical and fulfilling road can lie ahead. Understanding this, reflect on these ideas over the coming days. Ask spirit to bring your passions more to the surface within your awareness - you could have plenty of passions outside your radar!

Intend that you will fully utilize the beneficial energies of the 2016 Monkey Year to become more aligned with your highest passions and to incorporate them into everyday life. As mentioned in my recent article "Prepare for 2016 Monkey Year," personal action is key this year. It's not a year to remain a bystander or procrastinate when your soul is nudging you to act.

Monkeys by their very nature are active and metaphorically they spread their wings when they fly through the forest from tree to tree. They experiment. They collaborate in groups. They have curiosity, enjoying investigating new things. They take calculated risks. They get up high to see what others cannot see. Socialization is wired into their being.

Energies leading up to the February 8 New Moon are supportive of generating a sense of community and collaboration with others. Socialization and community are naturally linked. We are social beings, just as monkeys are. None of us can fulfill our life missions alone - we do it in community with other people and with the collective.

Peace will occur across this Earth in an incremental way, as people everywhere increasingly realize our interconnected nature and remember that all want the same things. You already know this, of course. One of your key roles now is to hold the space for this global realization to occur, and to live your life day-by-day as though this is the most important underlying premise.

Your energies, your thoughts, your actions matter more than you can possibly know. Trust that no matter how crazy the world looks and feels, you can be a pivotal force for peace.