horoscope

The old saw about crisis and opportunity had a special real-life application for me this year. It’s one thing to accept a moral as truth. It’s quite another to have to put it into practice.

In this week’s forecast for Aquarians, blog favorite Rob Brezsny says this is a good time for Aquarians to look for gifts we don’t want, so I guess I’m ahead of the astrological game for a change…

Normal people would rather avoid crises. Even when we are forced to navigate one, we will rarely, in retrospect, refer to the experience as a gift. When we can, we reject the opportunity, preferring to remain safe on shore when the water gets choppy.

But gifts come in strange forms. I would not have chosen to have the experience of my boss wiping his ass with our 8-year business relationship, but it chose me and I took the opportunity. What a ride! As a rule, I’m risk-averse. I like routine. I like when elements of my life vary little from day to day. I’m a planner. I’m a habit-former (for good and ill…)

But the change in jobs has been worth more to me than a better work environment. After a few weeks acclimating to my new gig and a few more decompressing from the upheaval, I’m starting to get my groove back.

I haven’t worked an evening or weekend in 3 months. I have yet to feel anxious at the end of the work day about some project or other I hadn’t quite finished. I realized a few days ago that I’ve stopped having 3:00 a.m. anxiety wake-up calls. I don’t miss those. I caught myself dreading the fall and then realized I don’t have to, because I won’t spend November through January and possibly February working 60 hours a week prepping for a multi-day conference. I might actually try to do National Novel Writing Month again this year (Two time winner!)

Best of all, I’m back to writing every day, and am about 2/3 of the way through a new novella. I’ve been reading more craft books and articles and have some insights into the novel-in-progress. I’m trying really hard not to start 8 new projects at once, but it’s hard when I’m feeling jazzed. The more I write, the better I write, the faster it comes, and the more I want to.

This is not the summer I expected to have, but it is definitely the season I needed. I didn’t even know I needed it. I actually liked my old job. The work was awesome, if the environment wasn’t always. But being free of it has freed up so much of myself that had been clogged and back-burnered for a long time.

Not the story I expected to be living this year and if I’d been given a heads-up about the inciting incident, I would have done anything to avoid it. But I’m so grateful it happened and happy where I am now.

So, like Rob Brezsny advises: Find the light in the shadow. Look for the gift in the horse’s mouth and in the horseshit. Lean into your next plot twist and ask yourself if it’s taking you where you’re supposed to go.

In today’s forecast for Aquarians, Rob Brezsny talks about fellow water sign Desmond Doss, a young American who joined the Army at the beginning of World War II, but refused to use weapons due to his religious beliefs. Instead, he became a medic who saved hundreds of lives and was awarded three medals of honor. Brezsny suggests that Doss become the Aquarian role model for the next few weeks, and that we blend valor and peace-making, compassion and courage, healing and a quest for adventure.

I’ve been feeling a need to engage in some kind of community work but haven’t found the right opportunity yet. The obstacle is part scheduling challenge, part geographic distance, and part hesitation to sacrifice my precious free time.

There is a pressing social issue that I believe requires both compassion and courage, and communication and peacemaking, but I don’t know if any such organization exists in the US. Might be time to come out of my shell a bit and dig deeper to find some like-minded citizens.

Astrologist Rob Brezsny describes himself as a recovering save-the-world addict, who took his good intention to help fix the world into the realm of obsession, apparently to the detriment of his well-being. However, despite being in recovery, he believes he can still occasionally try to save the world a little bit, without getting strung out.

This week, he urges Aquarians to pursue our own zealotry, suggesting that we winterborn can’t feel totally healthy without a bit of obsession.

This is true. I love a deep dive into a project or research topic, but often indulge my current interest to the detriment of everything around (and within) me.

I struggle with it, but I strive for moderation in all things. If I imbibe enough to feel sated but not so much I feel exhausted or hungover, I know I’ve hit the sweet spot.

One downside to “clearing the decks” is that I haven’t been posting my weekly horoscope. The feature loses a bit of its pizzaz if I post multiple forecasts at once. These are so fun to write, there’s really no excuse for not popping online for a few minutes every week.

I’ll resist the urge to backtrack two months to catch up, but I have been taking some of his Rob Brezsny’s recent advice for Aquarians:

For the week of May 14, Brezsny suggested that this would be a good time for Aquarians to fret less about the past and future and spend more time in the here and now. My new job keeps me so busy I don’t have time to think about much else during the day (but in a healthy, positive way). The fact that my new gig offers intelligent leadership, high-performing co-workers, and a balanced workload means that I can spend my evenings as I choose, without worrying about whether I should be checking email at 10 p.m. (In addition to not bolting up awake at 3:00 a.m., I also haven’t checked my work email at night or on the weekends. I could get used to this…)

For the week of May 28, he suggested that Aquarians are due for a period of creative and spiritual fertility, which I have found to be true. Decompressing and detoxing have given me the chance to work on interior matters, and the combination of a freer mind and spiritual work have boosted my desire to work on creative projects, and my energy for it. Brezsny says I should carefully choose where to direct my “lush fecundity,” and identify which creative outlets are most likely to serve my long-term health and happiness. Done.

Tomorrow I’ll post this week’s forecast. Ideally, I’ll keep up with this more regularly.

As Dorothy Parker once wisely said: “Time doth flit; oh shit.”

Longtime readers know that I love my weekly horoscope from Rob Brezsny. If you’re new to the blog, be aware I don’t take astrology at all seriously. I like RB’s forecasts because they combine his own interest in astrology with a bit of mysticism, pop psychology, poetry, inspiration, and practical advice for daily living. In this case, astrology is the medium but not the message.

If you read Sunday night’s entry, you’ll understand why I haven’t had the energy to keep up with posting until now. I’ve missed almost eight weeks of astrological omens! How did I live without it?

What did Rob Brezsny have to say about Aquarians these last 2 months? Did his forecasts and advice align with this Aquarian’s experience? Let’s find out!

February 27

For the week beginning February 27, Brezsny predicted that we normally high-flying Aquarians were about to get a worm’s-eye view of the world. He didn’t suggest this would be traumatic, but in retrospect, this forecast might have hinted at my deflating experience. Rather than continue coasting, I was forced to get into some nitty-gritty details I’d been let lay fallow. Fortunately, he also predicted that we would be aloft again very soon.

March 5

The week the shit hit the fan. For this week’s forecast, Brezsny asked if Aquarians had any dreams or fantasies they might need to abandon? Oof. I had some work dreams that in retrospect now seem fantastical. I’ll leave it at that. I used to be the guy that needed a little bit of money and an occasional pat on the back, and I’d like to be him again. I got my taste of being in the room where it happens, and you can keep it.

March 12

This week, Brezsny advised Aquarians to celebrate allies with whom we share key qualities, even if we are very different people. “It’s a fine time to get maximum enjoyment and value from your connections with such people,” he wrote. As I wrote on Sunday, I called in the troops when I thought my job was in jeopardy. If you put all of us in a room together at one time, it wouldn’t seem like we have a lot in common, but my people are caring, professional, generous with their time and support, and have high integrity. I’m grateful for them.

March 19

William S. Burroughs said that “love is the best natural painkiller.” For the week of March 19, Brezsny said that upping our capacity to give and receive love will help relieve emotional pain. He forecast that for the coming months, but for me, accepting friendship, support, and plain ol’ compliments helped tremendously these last few weeks. Normally, I bottle things up. I swallow my pain and pride. I keep my head down and muddle through. I suffer (and/or panic) in silence. Asking people for help – and letting them – was the best painkiller I could have found.

March 26

For the week of March 26, Brezsny celebrated the ability of Aquarians to learn and master new skills. “It’s time to raise your educational ambitions to a higher octave,” he wrote. “Find out what lessons and training you need most, then make plans to get them.” And at the end of that week, I accepted a new job that will use much of my experience but in a new way, which is a little intimidating. I’ve been nervous about starting this new job – I was torn about leaving a position that I had mastered, even though I wasn’t happy and may have been on rocky ground – but I can do it.

April 2

Rob Brezsny advised Aquarians to “follow our noses” this week, but I’m not sure if he meant that literally or figuratively. However, he strongly suggested that “if there’s a hint of a stink or an odd tang, go elsewhere.” I’ll interpret that as meaning I made the right choice about my job situation.

April 9

Last week, Brezsny celebrated the Aquarian penchant for being irregular, original, unprecedented, and uncommon, and encouraged us to be downright weird. If he’d ever seen me in action in person, he would know I have no problem acting weird. Off-putting even, according to my detractors. But he gives good advice to avoid people who hate change or insist on doing things the way they’ve always been done. I can’t change the other guy, but I don’t have to do things his way, either.

April 16

This week, Rob Brezsny shares a quote from L. R. McBride’s The Kahuna: Versatile Mystics of Old Hawaii. In the book, a kahuna gives someone this advice: “You have moved too fast for too long. You have left part of yourself behind. Now you should slow down so that part of you can catch up.” RB says Aquarians should heed this advice now and to think of three activities that might bring those parts back. I suppose first I should contemplate the parts of me I’ve left behind and decide which, if any, I’d like to welcome back. I have ideas—some creative, some emotional, some spiritual—but how to go about it? Which parts do I need most and which would provide a better foundation for reclaiming the others? Something to consider.

So, in retrospect, how did my forecasts line up with reality? I’d say three provided good advice that I needed to hear at the time, three were reasonably aligned with my then-current experiences, and the last two required some creative stretching to connect the astrological omens to my life. Not too bad. When Rob is on, he’s on. When he’s not…shrug, that’s ok too. It’s just for fun, and he’s always interesting and encouraging. Having a weekly pick-me-up dropped in my inbox every Tuesday a.m. isn’t a bad thing.

The sun is no longer in Aquarius but we’re just in time for Venus and Mars to come in. According to his week’s horoscope, Aquarians may interpret that in several senses of the word.

As usual, Rob Brezsny is vague on the details, but he’s certain that the signs point to romantic synchronicities. Historically, his love advice for Aquarians includes loving ourselves, giving love without caution, loving “the universe”, and loving abstract concepts such as truth, beauty, and justice. Not exactly X-rated fare, or even R-rated.

However, this week he suggests that Aquarians might experience the igniting of smoldering flirtations, adventures in sexual frontiers, wonderful synergies between love and lust, romantic sparring, and opportunities to cultivate interesting new varieties of intimacy.

I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Friday. Cupid has never been kind.

In this week’s forecast for Aquarians, Rob Brezsny predicts peace, love, and glory are coming our way.

Brezsny contrasts this scenario to the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, who wrote, “If I can’t have love, if I can’t find peace, give me a bitter glory.” Instead, Aquarians are in for more peace and love than we’ve had in a long time, and graceful glory. Brezsny suggests the effects will be greater if we express principled resistance to tyranny, as did Akhmatova.

While many writers see only the negative in love – its madness, the jealousy, the loss of good sense – Rob Brezsny recommends that Aquarians instead look for the good, whatever is interesting, educational, or healing about love.

Love can break you but it can also heal. It can frustrate you and while revealing your best self. It can both obfuscate and enlighten. Love is easy when it has somewhere to flow, and can carve you to pieces when it doesn’t.

Brezsny says that the next few months will provide Aquarians with ample reasons to embrace his attitude, which if history is any guide, means that I’m due to get my heart broken a few times. For the learning.

This week, Brezsny also shares some ways to be an Aquarian and while I don’t believe there is any one way to be any kind of person, some of these do sound a bit like me:

• Because few people truly understand us, it is wise to cultivate affection within yourself and become one of your own best friends.
• All our lives we seek instructions on how to be our best selves but we never receive them and honestly, if we did find some, we would ignore them.
• People love you because you are freaky and eccentric and yet also sincere and kind. You are unconventional, non-conformist, unique, unusual, odd—and also trustworthy, tolerant, non-judgmental, and compassionate. This is true.

Good news for Aquarians! Rob Brezsny has declared today Aquarians’ Brag Therapy Holiday.

During this holiday, Aquarians are allowed to brag about the marvelous creation of ourselves. “Explain how you have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to transform yourself into a masterpiece of intuitive intelligence,” Brezsny says. “Regale us with stories of your winsome qualities, your heroic triumphs, and your hilarious and poignant adventures on the edge of reality. Make sure we understand how educational and healing it can be to bask in your influence. Show us why we should regard you as a role model.”

That’s a tall order for a single day out of the year. I’m not sure I have enough clout to interrupt even a single person’s day for a boast break, much less the large crowd of admirers my ego would like.

On the other hand, isn’t that what I’m doing right now, on the blog? I’m not arrogant enough to call myself a role model, but I hope that my thoughts on writing, creativity, healing, and joyfulness are helpful to some, or at least provide some food for thought.

I don’t know everything and I’m not always right, but I do believe in community. Life is a bit easier to take when you know that someone out there has felt the same as you, has lived through the same crap, has made the same mistakes, has been hurt or knocked down, but got up and walked it off.

I’m not likely to engage in Brag Therapy, but I’m happy to show off what I’ve got, warts* and all.

*I do not have warts.

My weekly horoscope coincides with my actual birthday only every few years, so 2024 is a special year! To celebrate, Rob Brezsny has a great quote about writing lined up.

“All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Brezsny says that metaphor applies to life as well as writing, suggesting that for the next few weeks, our best thinking and decision-making will feel like swimming under water while holding our breaths. In other words, Aquarians should take time to go below our surface thoughts and personas to see what we discover.

Taking that literally, now may be a good time for calm, quiet, and serenity, as we explore our depths.