According to the Chinese calendar, after the year of the monkey comes the year of the rooster, which begins January 28, 2017. The rooster, being the sign of dawn and awakening, says that triumph and success can only be achieved at the price of hard work and patience in 2017.

Wow! Triumph and success, and all you have to do is be patient and work hard? COOL. Sounds like a plan. What are you going to work hard on? Will you find patience in our fast-moving, terrifyingly insane world? Yes, chaos abounds. A bitter election season, a divided nation, political uncertainty, Brexit, terrorism, war. What will happen to life as we know it? Will we as individuals regain the power we have let slip away? Will we survive? How did this happen?

Because of the internet. Since the mid-1990’s the internet has introduced the entire world to monumental changes in how we buy, sell, think, feel, love, hate — with no evolutionary time to adapt. It has consumed us.  Consumed, yes!   The very word triggers the ping-ping-ping of my spiritual geiger counter.  Consume: [kuh n-soomto absorb; engross.  Its antonyms: to fill, create, build, gather, appear. Yes! Let’s find our way out of consumption by living the antonym.

And that’s what my hard work and patience in 2017 to be. We at LOLA & POOCH have planned some really fun and inspiring events that will engage people through the love we share for their friends. Together we will create, build, gather and finally reappear through the kindness, grace and generosity we share.

The year begins with an ad campaign in January where we will be offering a free series of behind the camera videos, Becoming Picture Perfect, with tips that will help you take better pictures of your furry friends. This will prepare you for our web series / contest, America’s Best Top (Dog) Model, a playful parody of the popular reality series, America’s Next Top Model. It promises involvement and engagement for those who enter, and great prizes for our winners.

While the how-to series won’t be released until January, you can sign up to be among the first to receive the videos by clicking here.  The contest runs through May. Then we begin our contest for Girl Power, a people / matching pet fashion show. In November we will be hosting The Pooch Party for the Dog Film Festival. The year ends as we move forward with our extreme makeover rescue reality show, Pimp ur Dog.

I hope you join us.  Sign me up!