Yesterday while I was working on my systemic re-ordering of the planets, I was simultaneously having a gentle laugh at myself. I'm not nearly a good enough astrologer to take on this project. For heaven's sake! My intention in writing "The New Astrology: On the Drawing Board" is to throw down the gauntlet to real astrologers, kick their asses into gear, or at least get them interested. It's a modest ambition, thank God.
Though I am occasionally entranced with the idea of creating some sort of legacy, over time, most of the huge ambitions of youth have faded, or been plucked out of my head and heart. Ten years ago I had a lengthy list of places I wanted to visit, subjects I wanted to study, things I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to be remembered. Now? It doesn't seem so important.
Today, on the verge of turning 57, I can with all honesty say that there are only two places I've never been that I would still love to see before my time is up: Iceland and South Africa. That's it. I've released my desire to become fluent in Italian and Mandarin. Instead I'd like to keep my mind sharp by expanding - and using - my English vocabulary.
Having ambitions requires a lot of energy and takes up a lot of space; in fact, it's exhausting! My more modest goals for this last bit of my lifetime fit better, feel better when I think about them. Modest ambitions provide a lot more wiggle room than I used to give myself.
As far as the new astrology is concerned, I don't have to invent it all on my own. I'm content to put a few first draft ideas out there and see what happens next. Somebody else can figure it out, yes? I say yes! What a relief!
Not everything about aging is bad, believe me!
21 comments:
You photos are an inspiration.
Yes, the ambitions of life are now revised almost daily. Now my ambition is to write an essay on the lost ambitions.
Just don't get Jupiter too near the Earth of we will all be smashed by its gravity.
i've got an idea that immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be...in fact this bug in my head is growing and may soon find itself leaking onto the page.
More, please, especially on Jupiter's rings!
I absolutely love the repeated paterns of growth in the shadows on the wall from the branching tree and the creeping vine. It echoes the growth of one's self.
I have three great mentor's for my after 50's. Mme. Alexandra David-Neil (must be googled), and A man who was both an artist who drew only elaborate weather vanes and was still on the ski patrol at 72, and my aunt who wrote letters while in her bikini from her balcony at a hotel in Cairo,Egypt. She was in her 80's at the time.
woohoo i am glad we are on your list! when are you coming? too many rigid plans leave no room for random events :-)
Iceland is on my list too, otherthan that, it's plan to be surprised. I love the unknown and discovering where i'll fit in it.(plans are good of course,but they change more often than not).
I really like what you had to say about bloggers, everyone has something to say.
Happy almost birthday!
Oh my god -- all those people in the tunnel with the light. A community near-death experience?
Meri, that's funny. I was taking pics in the subway when suddenly the train arrived. Seemed like the right idea to go with the blog, but I wasn't thinking GO TO THE LIGHT.
Maybe I should have used another pic!!
Yeah, please don't go to the light just yet! ;^)
I'm kinder and gentler to myself at this stage in my life, too, Reya.
Goldilocks would get herself onto a plan and over to sunny SA!
You're welcome here anytme.
I am sure you will make it to Iceland and South Africa. Just start a travel fund and then before you know it the funds will be available and you will be on your way. It is good to plan for some things, but for most everything else in life it is best to be spontaneous because life is all about wonderful and delicious surprises.
We get up each day not truly knowing what is going to happen, but we are hoping for the best. I love surprises!!!
Oh and when you go to Iceland, bring a bikini and a journal, you just never know....
God bless.
and sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel IS the train. Watch out Reya!
Iceland is a very strange and interesting place well worth visiting even for just a few days, if you don't have time to see it all. In the past there have been some excellent airfare deals there. It's expensive once you get there but there are ways around that. Also it's a relatively short flight compared to Europe and Africa. You should definitely go there if you can.
reya - i'm taking my dawson boy to iceland in the summer of 2011. bring a bicycle. see you there. steven
I love the top picture.
Paring it down to the essentials. A much lighter load to carry.
Steven, wouldn't that be a hoot!
The nice thing about growing older is that many ambitions from the past lose their importance. When younger I had a specific path set out. Now that path has changed completely into something that makes more sense and fits in with my life's purpose.
Reya, since you are an Aquarian strap yourself into your chair because your life is about to take off! Why? Jupiter is moving into Pisces on January 17 and the universe is providing a correction for those who had a dismal period in the last couple of years.
People should like Jupiter more because it brings financial luck and expansion.
Changes are afoot with the Eclipse on Friday which will be occurring in Washington, D.C.
i just love that top photo - there is so much happening in it....
I see many beings in the top photo. Don't know why...I don't usually "see" beings. I sense them, hear them, but see...no.
In the bottom pic I don't see go to the light, I see, the light is huge and always with you.
One of my good friends is an outstanding astrologer who has worked professionally in the field for over 25 years. She keeps waiting for the "big download" of information to happen to her but, nothing so far. Maybe you are her download. If you can state your idea clear enough for a neophyte astrology student to translate, I will approach her. You would like her and maybe this is what she has been waiting for. I'll re-read your post from yesterday and take notes. Any clarifications would be helpful to me as I present the project to her.
I feel the same way. As I age, my goals diminish, which is kind of nice. At this point, I just don't want to go hungry! LOL!
What I've noticed is this: people who travel a whole bunch don't seem particularly ennobled by all the time money and natural resources spent on their enterprise. Sorry, but true. And it's not great for "foreign" lands to become tourist destinations. Think Bangkok.
The inward journeys, I think, are far more likely to ennoble the adventurer, and meditating quietly a lot easier on the planet in terms on tons of CO2 spewed into our precious, thin atmosphere.
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