We are in the midst of a nostalgic and reflective time. Comfort zones are easy, but we don’t grow there. This is a time to challenge yourself to move forward in areas where you may have been stuck. This doesn’t always look like productivity, maybe it is about doing less.
Some patterns feel very comfortable, but don’t really give us anything. The gravity towards these things is strong right now. We do things and then later we question them. These aren’t really mistakes, but visitations into parts of ourselves that aren’t always exposed. When seen in the light, it’s much easier to understand what has unfolded.
We are being driven to the core of our people pleasing and self soothing. The ‘do everything right and no one will get upset’. This way of being and thinking is almost always subconscious, so we have to work a little bit harder to notice and bring it to the surface. With the current astrological landscape, that option is open to us, if we want it.
Finding the ability to disappoint others and confront issues as they arise… this is our challenge.
Can we do this with grace? Can we do this at all? Can we just stop momentum that is going to a place we aren’t comfortable? It’s a good question, and only time will tell.
For now, just know that all efforts to speak your peace will be rewarded in the end. In the same vein, attempts to subdue or block your own needs will backfire, and quite quickly. Take some positive support from the universe, and work to assert your needs and desires. All the while remembering that it is your expression that heals you, not what you get in return.
Uranus Rx
When Uranus moves forward, lightning strikes consistently but randomly. As Uranus stations, the changes that ensue from the strikes become something more profound and life altering. If you were given little shocks, one at a time, all around your body, it would be exciting and keep you present. If you were tased for a minute, it would do something quite different.
As Uranus stations this marks the closest that Uranus has been in trine to Pluto since the early 1930’s. This trine will be active until over the next three years but within orb until the Spring of 2029.
Uranus stationing direct as Pluto re enters Capricorn for its final visit in our lifetimes may well represent a comfort zone. I am not saying that it will be comfortable, but the comfort zones from the last 15 years showing themselves. As we all know, comfort zones are places where we don’t do a ton of growth. They are more for our regeneration and rest. Too much of this has detrimental effects on our mood, confidence, initiative, and sense of purpose.
We will always need spaces that are safe, convenient, and comfortable. Those places, both physically and metaphorically, are shifting.
Nothing better than water in the desert.
Consider where you put your excess energy. When you have feelings that are just ‘too much’, what are you doing with them? On a personal level, where might you be hiding from yourself?
I know these are not easy questions to answer, but they are essential and very rewarding. Like removing a thorn from your foot. Every step you take as you move forward, things become easier.
When we were young, we were taught many things, both consciously and unconsciously. Our lives are based upon beliefs developed as children and young adults. It is impossible to have experienced life without taking on some level of programming.
It would be nice if we all felt aware of how our inner processes work. It would be nice if we always felt safe and capable of talking about these things. In some ways, it is up to us. In many ways, however, its just part of life to be in the shadows around our own unfoldment.
Without judgement, it has become clear to me that some people are more inclined to understand their inner workings than others. In the same way as another person can better operate a forklift or a semi truck, there are just some people who can navigate and observe their deeper psyche.
Just as the certified operator of construction equipment is benefited in the practice of building homes, the adept navigator of the psyche is benefited in the practice of relating to self and others.
A good sense of direction in the wilderness is certainly something you can practice, but some people just have a natural knack for it. All brains are wired differently.
Comfort Zones Shifting
The psycho emotional comfort we offer ourselves is essential to survival. Some are slowly exposed to the realities of life throughout their childhood. Others are bathed in the alienating discomfort of being human very quickly. One way or the other, we all learn defenses against the harshness and brutality of life.
Cognitive dissonance, suppression, and repression are all tools that enable us to move on and survive day to day.
My self defenses are falling apart…
As I grow older, these practices are becoming less and less easy to maintain. My awareness just continues to grow. Each passing day teaches me more and more about my reality. The ways in which I have orchestrated and manifested the events of my life. On an even more profound level, I am seeing how these events were exactly what I needed. That without certain cataclysms, I would not have ended up with key elements of my personality.
Avoiding truth and arrogantly denying responsibility becomes exhausting and pointless.
It was during my Pluto square, between 2017 and 2023, that I began to understand how I am implicated in all of my suffering. I began to perceive things quite differently. My anxiety, my fear, my anger, and especially my sickness or disease was caused by me. Every time that I had a twinge of victim hood, I saw it differently. While it is true that we can be the victims of the actions of others, I now refuse to believe that I am a victim of God, luck, circumstance, or the universe.
The broad expanse of a sky island in the Sonoran Desert.
Navigating Victim Hood
When I feel like a victim, I am really saying… ‘I don’t want to be responsible for this experience.’
This is a valid choice, but a self pitying one at the same time. There is an inherent lack of faith in self and spirit in the victim mentality.
Tremendous nuance is necessary to navigate the transition from victim to victor. One must simultaneously set boundaries with a wounded portion of themselves, while compassionately holding space for the pain and suffering around the wound. The inner victim is justified in their view and feelings. To shift too quickly to ‘toughen up and press on’ will only hurt them further and ingrain the struggling victim hood.
There is a balance to be found between the polarities. (remember I am not talking about men or women here) The hyper-masculine approach or ‘walk it off’ mentality has great victor energy but lacks empathy for the victimized and hurt part of us/other. This is seen in the military or many organized sports. We even see it in many competitive work environments where people refuse to miss a day of work when they need it. The hyper-feminine approach of ‘becoming the wound and exploring all it’s depths’ can work to enable a feeling of being victimized and weigh us down as we keep reliving the situation. We see this one in dramatic displays between friends and family. We also see this in talk therapy at times. Just talking about something over and over again with no plan of action doesn’t serve us. Just as making an aggressive plan without acknowledging pain won’t get us very far. Finding the middle ground is key, and the process of healing is unpredictable.
My approach…
I tend to respond to hard times by feeling inward. While I may be angry or frustrated, these energies are contained and, again, are focused inward. This has the effect of weighing me down into my feelings. I can feel trapped and dense. For this reason, the balance for me is to take action.
I like to start with activity and then find stillness. To become too still and present with my pain can lead to a lack of motivation and desire to cocoon too far into myself. Through starting with an active approach, I am ensured that the energy is moving.
This looks like going to the gym, getting things done around the house, going for a walk or hike, or running errands. It’s amazing what exercising, doing dishes and cleaning the house can do for a sad vibe.
Once that energy is moving, it is a good time for me to sit and check in. My perception is influenced by my mood. When I reflect inward while in a terrible mood, I am more likely to feed my sense of despair and sadness.
Regularity and Consistency
I observe, learn from, and acknowledge my feelings and experience. I may only have a few moments to do this. More than being present in depth and for long periods of time, it is the regularity of the practice that is ultimately helpful.
Patterns and habits are built over time. Something that we do regularly will become part of our lives, in an almost effortless fashion. Practicing awareness of my feelings and thoughts was the best investment I have ever made. It has become part of my every moment. Whenever there is a reaction, I witness my feelings and the thoughts surrounding them. In doing so, I am reminding myself that I am MORE than all of it. Through acknowledging them and giving them space, I am respecting and honoring the role that they play in my life.
I was very fortunate to meet so many amazing teachers throughout my life. The path that I walked led me here, and I couldn’t imagine missing any step of it. In my late twenties and early thirties, I found the gifts of mindfulness, reflection, and meditation.
The most healing practice that I now know, is to sit and observe myself. This simple act allows my entire body and mind to reset and recalibrate. The recalibration is a literal undoing of the core generators of my imbalance.
We are perfectly designed, yet exploring ourselves often to our own detriment.
Begin to notice this detrimental patterning. Witness the entire process. Show it love, and tell the core conspirators (your beliefs) a different story. From there, you will begin to have a different experience (your emotions).
A steep view into Willow Canyon. Mt Lemmon, AZ
This Work is the Core Work
I urge you to find this practice of silence and self reflection. So much of what runs our world today is motivated by underlying patterns of unresolved conflict. The conflict is within us. It becomes our identity when left unchecked. From here, we project out to others in an attempt to understand and resolve this frequency of imbalance.
Were we, as a globe, to look inward more than we look outward, things would be radically different. When we can find answers, validation, and purpose from our rich inner world, we no longer need to turn the world into such a battlefield. Once you understand how complicated and nuanced it is to grow from within, it sheds light on how our world can seem so chaotic.
Lost souls, looking for answers to which only they hold the key. Battering each other with expectant and grieving hearts. Of course we cannot be fulfilled by what is outside of us. We hold the keys to our own fulfillment. The outer will always be a guide and a tool to find your own enlightenment.
When people find peace and acceptance within, they add that energy to the world around them. When we are lacking and empty, we spill that same energy into the field around us.
Everyone is a combination of these and many more. We can only do so much. However, our focus on self discovery and responsibility is key to tipping the scales in the favor of peace and harmony. A place where the same work is being done, but in a far more efficient and enjoyable manner.
Triggers are just that. Stimulus that begins a reaction within us.
Our reactions are not about someone else. The dynamic unfolding catalyzed by an outer experience is literally US coming out. Without these unknowing souls ‘triggering us’, we may be in the dark to our own programming. Programming which leads us into infinite loops of self sabotage, heartbreak, grief, and despair.
Don’t shoot the messenger…! For the messenger is delivering exactly what you’ve ordered.
Your Attention is Your Energy. Your Energy is Your Magic.
Where are you putting it? Are those who seek to feed off of you actually getting to you? If so, it is up to you to change that. Are there current social events that are unfolding, and only really require you to show up for a moment. Instead of just showing up in early November, you are spending hours upon hours thinking and pontificating about it? Are you sending energy to people that you will never meet, never know, never engage? Good, bad, or ugly… does this sound like you? Well, you are wasting your time. You are giving away your magic. I want to tell you to stop doing that, but that is your job to navigate. I hope this served as a reminder, good luck. Stop being a bitch to the predictable crooked system. Live your own life, take your energy back.
Thank you for reading. If you feel drawn to it, reach out for a session or send me a message. Gaining this kind of perspective requires patience and support. Sometimes, all we need is someone who can give us a window into that perspective. If you are looking for this, consider reaching out for a session.
I offer 30, 60, and 90 minute sessions. Each will offer the full range of James’ gifts. Astrological insight in a healing and practical container. You’ll receive a recording of our session and can ask him whatever questions feel right to you. Having trouble deciding what to do, where to move, how to handle relationship challenges? James can help, just reach out.
