Just found a brilliant blog entry by my dear friend, Lori Rock, titled “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” Because I couldn’t agree with her more, I strongly encourage you to follow the link to read the whole entry. Yes, indeed, we are asking the wrong question when instead we should be asking, “Am I My Brother?” Enjoy!

www.wisdomfromlori.blogspot.com

Snow has been a hot topic in my neighborhood lately (pun intended). The Washington, DC area received two record snows in the last week totaling over three feet bringing the seasonal total to 55 inches. Yesterday’s blizzard was reminiscent of white-outs from my childhood in Minnesota.

I wish I could share that my reaction was “enlightened,” but after the beauty of the first snow settled, I began to wrestle with the circumstances like a roped stallion.

Only after nearly a week of cabin fever have I finally begun to look deeper at the situation to find the presence of Spirit in these snowy matters. Further I realize that, although my predicament may not seem important to those who are experiencing sunny days or Spring in the southern hemisphere, it can be seen as metaphor for anytime we feel limited by outer circumstances.

The record snows of 2010 taught me that…

External limitations are an opportunity to deepen and go within.

Some of my stress was related to feeling a lack of control when I could not run out for errands. Activities I planned got canceled, rescheduled and canceled again.

When I relaxed into the reality of the moment and slowed down, I found moments for inner reflection that produced new insights. Ever notice how quiet it gets outside when it is snowing? That quiet can be found within as well.

More resources are available than you may think.

Grocery stores were scavenged in advance by a swarm of worried people leaving shelves as empty as a Russian store after the fall of the Soviet Union. Many homes in the area were without electricity and heat.

Yet, unlike stories of Washington’s army at Valley Forge in 1778, we were warm and dry with plenty of food to create special meals. The Internet and the phone also ensured I could still work with clients despite being confined. In person appointments merely turned into phone consultations.

A shared experience enhances enjoyment.

Cabin fever is a term that makes me think of Alaskan settlers snowed in for months without seeing another soul, isolated from the outside world. There were moments when I felt the frustration of isolation.

Still, my husband and I had each other and we live in a high-rise condominium with many other people. A couple of social “Angels” put together potluck dinners, game nights and Super Bowl party in the community room over several days. Spontaneously, a “Beach Party” dance theme brought together dozens of my neighbors with only a few hours notice.

Joy is found in the present by accepting whatever the moment presents.

When I was feeling unhappy, clearly it was because I wanted things to be different than they were. When I start arguing with reality about what it contains, it is a prescription for suffering.

After relaxing my critique of the moment, I found enjoyment meeting new neighbors, interacting with my husband, and getting caught up on chores.

As we move deeper into 2010 with the potential changes ahead – when we find ourselves challenged, feeling restricted and unhappy with circumstances – it will be beneficial to remember the truths learned from the February blizzards for finding joy when circumstances rage around us.

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A Quote of Note

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

~ John Woodon

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What’s Up in 2010?

Audio Download Now Available

If you missed my talk, you can now download an audio recording. Become aware of powerful planetary influences and possible outcomes for 2010. Learn how to minimize challenges and maximize opportunities to succeed. Prepare for Mercury retrograde, eclipses and other cosmic events.

Download HERE for $12

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Calendar

Saturday, March 20, 2010, 10 am-Noon (link)

Introduction to Astrology

Beyond what you read in Sun sign columns, Astrology is an ancient tool for self-understanding and spiritual guidance using archetypal symbols drawn from planetary observation. In this class you will learn 1) what astrology is, 2) how it works (natal chart: signs, planets, houses, elements and modes), and 3) discover the best way to use it to your advantage.

Location: Foxfire Consulting, 9 N. Third St, Suite 205, Warrenton, VA

Fee: $35

To register: Info@FoxfireConsulting.com or (540) 222-0196

Friday, April 30, 2010, 10:45 am-Noon (link)

Breakthrough Barriers to Joy and Fulfillment

When life around us is chaotic and changes are happening faster than we like, our comfort and security are at risk. The next several years promise to be surprisingly transformational, but will we know how to make the best of it? Now is the time to learn strategies that will help you maintain your inner calm in the midst of outer turmoil.  

Saturday, May 1, 2010, 10:45 am-Noon (link)

Time to Let Go and Listen: Transiting Aspects between Saturn and Neptune

At times when Saturn and Neptune interact, we may be given an opportunity to listen to the “angels of our better nature.” Present reality structures (Saturn) dissolve (Neptune) and a window opens up for inner awareness to reshape our external life. We will discuss the dance between Saturn and Neptune and how to make the best of this opportunity.

Midwest Astrology Conference – Independence, OH

To register: (330) 540-2268 or (303) 641-6838

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Astrological Events

NOTE: These days contain strong energies that influence everyone to a greater or lesser degree. For more personal information, consult me or another astrologer.

Sat Feb 13, 9:51 PM ET – NEW MOON at 26 Aquarius, Mercury in Aquarius opposes Mars retrograde in Leo

As the Chinese New Year of the Tiger begins – symbolic of strength, courage, and passion – a contentious Mercury/Mars opposition could result in anger, frustration and polarization with others. The sensitivity and compassion from Neptune and Chiron offer the antidote. Allow the play of brilliant new ideas shared from different perspectives

If you wish upon the New Moon (within 3 days before or after), you have the possibility of fulfillment by the time of the Full Moon. Aquarius New Moon wishes relate to: inventive solutions, seeing the future, humanitarian attitudes, revelations, humor, friends, and avoiding excessive detachment.

Sun Feb 14 – Sun conjoins Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius

On Valentine’s Day your dreams could come true and healing is possible. Neptune inspires dreams and creative imagination as well as delusion and deception. Chiron suggests forgiveness for emotional pain from the past. Save your serious decisions for another day.

Tue Feb 16 – Venus conjoins Jupiter in Pisces

Love and romance gets a boost as charming Venus connects with extravagant Jupiter. Generosity of spirit overrides boundaries and walls, but love many not pay the bills that arrive in few days. 

Sat Feb 27 – Mercury conjoins Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius

Allow the day to have a slow start. Ethereal Neptune could be clouding your thoughts or perhaps offering inspiration. Either way, it would be better to dream than do strategic planning.  

Sun Feb 28, 11:38 AM ET – FULL MOON at 10 Virgo/Pisces, Sun conjoins Jupiter in Pisces

The theme here is how big a gap exists between your dreams and reality. Gushing about possibilities rather than imagining what needs to happen will not make them come true.

Wed Mar 3 – Venus conjoins Uranus in Pisces

Relationships may have a spontaneous or perhaps unexpected quality to them. With “wild card” Uranus involved you might try something new. Even finances could be a bit chaotic. Careful taking risks.

Tues Mar 9 – Venus in Aries opposes Saturn in Libra

Saturn’s sobering effect on relationships emphasis the work involved with our relationships. Setting limits around our commitments to others can facilitate developing deeper feeling in the long run.

Wed Mar 10 – Mars stations direct at 0 Leo

At last, after several weeks of feeling unproductive and blocked, Mar moving forward could release pent-up self-directed energy. You don’t have to accomplish everything today. Better to take a few days before you push forward with new projects.

Thu Mar 11 – Venus in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn

Financial matters and emotional desires get a closer look. Are there changes you need to make to bring your values in alignment with your actions?

Even though some have held that it is human nature to be selfish and self-serving, that “survival of the fitest” requires it, I never bought in to that line of thinking.

Now social scientists using a range of tests have determined that indeed we humans are evolving into more compassionate and collaborative beings as we seek to not only survive but thrive.

Just imagine what possibilitites lie ahead as we move toward the much anticipated Aquarian Age. Compassion and collaboration are particular attributes highlighted as we become a more integrated society. Awareness of our oneness with all life, the way I see it, can only produce more compassion and collaboration.

It’s great news! Read about it HERE.

This article written by the editor of SchwartzReport is too good to not pass on. I completely agree and it is part of why I am so excited about the changes ahead.

Trends That Will Affect Your Future…: A Secret in Plain Sight by Stephen A. Schwartz

If I told you that I could make you smarter, improve the structure of your brain, reduce your stress level, make you sleep better, concentrate better, be more creative, have a better functioning immune system, and become a better lover, would it catch your attention? If I said you could achieve this essentially cost free and it would only take a few minutes of your time each day, would you be interested? Or would you just assume I was some kind of scam artist trying to pick your pocket with outrageous claims?

If you chose the second option, it wouldn’t surprise me. But the truth is, each of the above claims is backed by peer-reviewed, published, research papers, and they number into the thousands. I am speaking here of meditation. Its power to change our lives from the vitality of our cells—to an enhancement of our capacity for creativity—is extraordinarily well documented. Read complete article HERE.

While on a late summer’s silent retreat this weekend and after a particularly deep and rich meditation for what seemed like hours, I decided to explore the facility where I was staying. I wandered into a sunlit corner lounge and found an empty room with a large-screen TV that at that moment showed the seating of the last dignitaries for Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral. I didn’t leave.

I stayed for well over an hour as family members and dignitaries such as President Obama eulogized the man who served 47 years in Washington and was the only one of four Kennedy brothers to die of natural causes. Here is what arose within me as a result.

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Our lives are not ultimately measured by our imperfections but by the caring and compassion we express for others. We spend untold hours of our life struggling with our insecurities, when perhaps our very foibles are the keys to keeping us humble enough to reach out to others. I believe it is by our caring and compassion for others that we are truly measured.

Having been born into a rich family with the veritable “silver spoon” in his mouth, Ted Kennedy had no reason to be concerned for the poor and disadvantaged. Yet he did. He is an example of the best of affluence, the person who without the stress of meeting his survival needs was free to pay attention to the survival needs of others.

In light of the current dissention and conflict over providing guaranteed healthcare to every citizen, it would be well to consider his example as he lived the words Jesus spoke found in Matthew 24:40 – “Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it for me.”

If we could all, in our own little sphere of influence, express our caring and compassion without worrying about our personal imperfections, the world would indeed be a better place.

Today is the 40th anniversary of one of man’s paradigm breaking feats – the moment a man first walked on the moon.

I have a vivid memory of that day. As I watched the TV as Neil Armstrong took his step, I was nursing my first born, Erica, who was a mere 3 weeks old.

What an incredible accomplishment! President Kennedy’s visionary commitment to land a man on the moon was successful. It seemed to prove there were no limits on possibilities if only you set your mind (and committed your resources) to it.

But was it necessary? Perhaps not in the sense of absolute need. We have benefited, of course, from the inventions and discoveries that made it possible. But more than that, we gained a greater awareness of the universe we live in and the glory of dreams fulfilled.

Using that happening as a metaphor, I ask myself…when have I stretched to commit to something that at the time seemed unattainable? I know I did just that when I studied and passed my certification as a astrological professional. But that was several years ago now.

To do that I needed to focus and direct my energies toward that one goal. I did not allow distractions. I even cancelled magazine subscriptions because I didn’t want to be tempted to read anything but astrology books and magazines. It was that intense focus that made the difference between pass and fail.

What is your “Apollo 11″ experience? Surely there are new dreams, new goals, and new focuses calling for your attention. Will you commit to them? Or just drift from day to day.

We just returned from a lovely driving tour of Maine and the maritime provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island). Moving back into the rhythms of my daily life, I realize it have the option to change whatever I have done before.

Rather than dive into answering email first thing, as has been my norm, I could establish an entirely new norm. Why not take a walk, meditate and then enter my office?

A vacation is an excellent tool to scramble your well-trodden life path, open up new vistas and possibilities and offer a fresh look at your life. Perhaps that is why it is well-known that a vacation can revitalize your attitude about your life. Do you need a revitalization plan?

Let me add my encouragement to not let the summer get away from you before you have found at least a long weekend to venture out of the ruts and into an exploration of some place, some experience and/or some one new.

The following is an article written by my friend Bev Hitchins of Align, a unique and integrative approach to clutter and balance. I offer what she has written as insight into one way we may prevent ourselves from letting go of the past, even while the future can hold fertile new possibilities. As Bob Dylan sang in the 60s, “the times they are a changin’!” 

Bev can be reached at info@alignyourlife.net or visit her website at www.alignyourlife.net.

A student in my “Clutter Clearing is Spiritual Business” class was struggling with an area in her laundry room.  The area was filled with materials and tools to make stain glass art.  She admitted a substantial financial investment in an avocation that in the end she only initially dabbled in.   

She shared a photo of the area with the class.  Everything was so neatly arranged and organized on shelving.  In fact, it was so trimly placed that to take anything out would have probably dislodged the order she had taken pains to devise. 

It had been years since those objects so neatly arranged had been touched–yet she was struggling to let go.   

Her situation reminded me of the box of fine yarn, needles and knitting directions my mother bought me when we took a vacation to Quebec City. I was 16. The sweater would have been exquisite had I knitted it.  Instead the box and its contents sat in my closet, and I dreamed I would knit that sweater one day.   

That day never came.  When I was in my 30s or maybe even 40s, I let it go with some pain.  How can a box of yarn, needles and directions cause pain?  I think it was the dream I ascribed to it.  I would make a beautiful sweater, wear it, and feel accomplished.  Maybe I would even get compliments! 

It was a fine idea when I acquired my mother’s gift.  Once I returned home, however, I had moved on.  Other achievements were in my line of sight, and knitting wouldn’t get me there.  The dream had evaporated though the reminder of failing to live the dream lingered as long as I held onto to the box of yarn.  

What temporary dreams are you holding onto?  Perhaps you’re ready to release those that no longer serve you, so you can move more fully into the here and now.  I encourage you to let them all go and make new dreams that you can fully embrace.

While having breakfast this morning, my husband and I were sharing and discussing some differences and issues that have come up recently between us. Just as all relationships have moments of stress, there are times that even my relationship with my beloved Chuck can get intense.

It was after some very good sharing and processing that the following words came out of his mouth:

“The things that I don’t like about myself are the very things I don’t like about you.”

What an amazing awareness! Actually, I consider this the basis of most conflict in the world. Those things we don’t like about ourselves are what trip us up when we interact with others.

I have long believed that the way to world peace is through finding harmony and inner peace with who we as individuals. The work of world peace is the work we must do to really know, love and appreciate who we are.

So my task (our task) is to become conscious of all the things about others that bug me and turn that awareness around 180° back toward myself.

What part of this annoyance that I find in others is really an unhealed or unloved part of myself? That is the real work toward enlightenment!

When we open up to living with Spirit in our everyday lives, it seems Spirit’s wisdom is all around us.

After a very long, exhausting plane trip returning from Thailand and Cambodia recently, the first thing I did was race for the Starbuck stand to get my favorite drink, a decaf Americano. Coffee was as available as tea in Thailand, but when I asked for “decaf” I received a blank stare. I suspect that my loving the taste but not the caffeine hype doesn’t make sense there.

Swilling down the lovely brew, I noticed the saying on the side of the cup:

“People need to see that, far from being an obstacle, the world’s diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious opportunities to recognize ourselves in others.” ~ Youssou N’Dour, Musician

My heart swelled with joy. That described completely the journey that I have been on in the last several months. Blessed to spent most of September in India and now two weeks in January/February in Thailand and Cambodia, what I enjoyed most were opportunities to find myself in the faces and faiths of others.

This is a completely Aquarian theme. As I write we have a cosmic pile up in Aquarius (North Node, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Chiron and Neptune) that won’t end soon. Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune will be dancing a rare dance around each other for most of this year. I will write more about this in the future.

The energy of Aquarius is both eccentrically individual and socially humanitarian, but what I love most about Aquarius energy is its ability to detach from having to fit in or match anyone else while also valuing all connections equally.

This unity in diversity theme, if really implemented in our community, would allow each of us to shine in our own uniqueness. We would have no need to measure ourselves against anyone else. Yet, we would never feel isolated and alone. Contributing our unique gifts while being able to ask when we have needs could bring more harmony into living.

We are moving ever closer as a society to these Aquarian approaches. To thrive in the current economic climate we will need to draw around us a tighter community for mutual support.

Some have asked if I think we have entered the Aquarian Age as a highly circulated email suggested might be signaled by the planets on Valentine’s Day. What I think is this:

The turning of the Ages happens every 2150+ years. In such a slow cycle, I can’t accept that in one day we will move through the doorway from one Age to another. Rather I see we are in the cusp period when the old Piscean devotion to hierarchical power is falling away to people power.

Since the birth of democracy and the founding of our country, the world has been moving in that direction. All the speculation as to when the Age begins is less important than birthing a more humane and equalitarian society. In my opinion, more work is to be done before I believe we will have fully entered the Aquarian Age.

For now I am heartened that more and more reminders of our mutual interests with all life are appearing everywhere – even on the side of Starbucks coffee cup.

A Quote of Note

“If diverse and ordinary people are given adequate information and a chance to deeply hear each other and reflect together about public affairs, there is a natural tendency to come to see a larger picture together through each others’ eyes, and to then wrestle in good faith with the implications of that larger picture, so that in the end they find that their diversity is a resource, stimulating each other into remarkable creativity. Suddenly options that make sense to all or most of them emerge – possibilities often unseen by any of them when they began talking.”
~Tom Atlee, Co-intelligence Institute