TINY TINY FRAGILE BEINGS
I wrote an instagram post last week about judging a loud talker on a cell phone at a coffee shop. He was going on about his latte and stuff, and then at the end of the call he said, "See you at dad's hospital room tonight yeah?"
It was the best reminder. It was the kind of thing I wished was happening more because obviously I need it. Like every time you judged someone suddenly the most vulnerable thing about them became visible, or audible. It's a very important cue that snapped me right back to the miracle of the everyday. I was confused for a moment (who knows how long), about what was going on. I thought that what was going on was a loud person who seemed entitled to take up a lot of space with his phone and voice. When what was actually going on was me just being really confused by carrying this idea of how the world 'should' be for me. I was silently demanding a lot of space, by insisting that everyone should follow my rules of quietly talking on their cell phones, or moving away from my body to talk on their cell phone. Maybe you would still insist he should have been quieter, but the only thing that happens in that situation is you are mad that he's not being quiet because you think it should be different. So nothing else is happening except you, being mad, which disconnects you from your life, which is a bummer. Which was what was happening to me.
This is what being on a spiritual path means to me, why I meditate, what all of this is about for me. What I'm doing writing horoscopes, doing astrology readings, teaching. It's about reminding myself and everyone else who is interested, in returning to our birthright as interconnected beings sharing a planet. I'm talking about staying connected to the truth of the immensity of every single being's vulnerability, because when I am connected to this, a strange joy is always available to me, because I am living very close to life.
Suddenly this person sharing the details of his latte became an incredible luxury, a delight of mundane life worth sharing loudly over the phone! Who knows how many days and nights he had just spent at the hospital! Who knows who he was talking to, and how many days and nights they had spent at the hospital! The point is everyone's dad is in the hospital at some point, meaning every person on this earth will reckon with loss and heartbreak in some way, meaning everyone, no matter how much of an asshole they seem, is just a tiny, tiny fragile being and if remembering that is what it takes to demonstrate compassion, then let's do everything we can to remember that. Not because it makes us 'spiritual!' But because it makes our lives, my life, worth living.
ARIES | March 21-April 19
Question - What have you done so far today?
Meditation - being while doing
Assignment - Make a list throughout the week of things you've done. Notice what you think of first as going on the list, and try to add things you don't normally even see that you do, like, sleep, or eat a bagel, or walked to the store, hugged my partner, cooked eggs, went to the bathroom, brushed my hair. Keep this list as a way of noticing, expanding your vision of what you do. How does this noticing change what you think about what you do? How does our hierarchy of tasks keep certain things out of our view? What comes into view with this way of seeing?
TAURUS | April 20-May 20
Question - What in your life connects you to your purpose?
Meditation - purpose.
Assignment - Write about your purpose this week. Reconnect to it. What activities, people, experiences remind you of this purpose? How does it feel to be in it / with it? How does it feel to be disconnected from it? What ways can you bring it in, connect to it, more regularly?
GEMINI | May 21-June 20
Question - What are the simplest tasks you perform?
Meditation - simply alive.
Assignment - Connecting to the simplicity of being alive this week. Byron Katie says, you do three things in life, sit, lie down, and stand up. That's it! That's all that's actually happening! We make things very complex, all the time. So this week, keep it simple. Ask yourself, what am I doing right now? Am I sitting? Am I standing? Am I lying down? What is needed in this moment? Do what is in front of you, be what you already are, today.
CANCER | June 21-July 22
Question - How far does your vision extend?
Meditation - horizon lines.
Assignment - How often do you look far away? How far into the distance can you see from where you are right now? It's important for you to remember experiences and visions and lands far from yours, when you do this it helps you get perspective and keep yourself from being inside the cave of your own feeling for too long. Try out some views if you can get them this week, spaces where you can see into the distance, remembering you are small, in the best way, in the context of all the moving forces at place in the world.
LEO | July 23-August 22
Question - When do you feel most invisible?
Meditation - seeing yourself.
Assignment - Invisibility can feel so painful to Leo, which is why the more conscious you are of when you feel this, the less you will feel it. When there's a gap between what others see and what you see, and it feels like you're not being appreciated, consider letting people into your world more. Instead of defending or feeling defeated or misunderstood, invite more connection. The more you invite people in with your warmth, the more seen you will be, and paradoxically the less you will feel the need to be seen.
VIRGO | August 23-September 22
Question - How do you relate to the morning?
Meditation - sacred morning
Assignment - If you don't have a ritual in the morning that grounds you, and gives you time to orient, and connect to something larger than yourself, find one for this week. It could be meditating, or lying outside on the ground, or writing for a period of time each morning, or drinking tea in a very focused way, etc. Don't look at your phone while you're doing this. Look around, be curious, be open, reconnect with yourself. If you already have a ritual, reconnect to it, ask about how to deepen it. We live our lives one day at a time, so it's important to not miss a day by not being awake to what is happening in it.
LIBRA | September 23-October 23
Question - What do you notice in the dark?
Meditation - outside at night.
Assignment - If you don't typically walk around or at least sit around outside at night, try that out this week. See what it feels like to be outside at night, especially if you are in a city. It can be a way to connect to the natural world, if 'nature' isn't available to you as much where you live. See what stands out in the dark instead of the light, and how this changes your perceptions and feelings, your mood. Let yourself be open to new experience this week, do some weird things.
SCORPIO | October 23-November 21
Question - What does your breathing feel like right now?
Meditation - breathing is a divine life force
Assignment - Here we are again, still breathing. This is the most basic thing we do, that we are conscious of. Which is why it's so important to be connecting to it, daily, hourly. Just simple noticing of a miracle your body performs all the time. How does this put whatever is happening into your life into perspective, to reconnect to your breath? Someone wise said, it's much harder to feel stressed and anxious if you are consciously breathing. If you've strayed from your awareness of breath, return to it as an old friend. If you do this regularly, slow it down more and renew your commitment to this gentle awareness, as a way of healing your life, in this moment.
SAGITTARIUS | November 22-December 21
Question - What are you learning right now?
Meditation - a spiral
Assignment - Learning happens in a spiral - we get something at a certain level, or a certain amount, and then we encounter it again later, and see how much we really learned. How much we forgot. This is how it works, this is not a problem! So when you notice that you're relearning something, try to embrace that it's happening, not lament that it's slower than you'd like. Use your capacity for wide view to reconnect to the truths about how learning works, and practice patience. Take note of what you are learning now, not whether it should be faster or slower, so that you don't miss out on what is being offered to you right now!
CAPRICORN | December 22-January 19
Question - When do you laugh the most lately?
Meditation - laughing
Assignment - You need it. More than you even know. Make it happen, put it on your to do list, This cannot be emphasized enough. It's not an addition to life, it's required. It's practical. You know this deeply, but you have to re-prioritize it over and over. Return to your spiritual home as a jokester, today. In other words, the more connected you are to your spiritual self, the more connected you are to laughter. The more connected you are to laughter, the more connected you are to your spiritual self.
AQUARIUS | January 20 to February 18
Question - Where are your new life influences?
Meditation - puppies and babies.
Assignment - That's right, get around some, if you aren't already. Include that new life energy in your world this week. It's so important. You might think other things are more important, but this is what needs to reframed at the moment. You don't have to leave all the other things, but you need to find ways to cultivate, to consciously bring in, this playful, easy, curiosity again.
PISCES | February 19 to March 20
Question - How often do you exercise your capacity to balance?
Meditation - balancing
Assignment - Balance and imbalance go together, we need both to be able to identify balance. So remember that when you aren't 'in balance', it's information to help guide you to balance. And if the balance gets stagnant, life offers you imbalance to wake you up. But we can practice balance, be more conscious of it, with how we live but also with movement and body practices. This is the benefit of balancing exercises - to practice on a smaller scale what we want to embody in a bigger way in our lives. Start with the physical, the small, and eventually scaling up becomes easier.