During an impromptu trip in New Prague to scour our mother’s CD collection for the purposes of decking out our iTunes library, we found ourselves discussing horoscopes – among several other topics. If you have met any members of my family you would know we tend to be long winded…and opinionated to boot.
After covering such topics as Dick Cheney and the destruction caused by “hydraulic fracturing” to yield natural gas, the greed of the American people, the late Bobby Kennedy’s speech on the “Menace of Violence”, his brothers infidelities and a sprinkling of other light hearted topics we stumbled upon the most recent phenomenon that littered our newspapers: your astrological sign might not be what you thought it was! [Pause for shock] Before I move on - I maintain that this is the typical American families’ Saturday afternoon banter.
The trouble started a little over a week ago when my distraught older sister called to proclaim that some asshole had changed our astrological signs and after proudly flying the Leo banner for the better part of 30 years she was now a Cancer. This was more than slightly upsetting to her on a couple levels; on the one hand she isn’t exactly a person who accepts change with out -stretched arms - on the other, we come from a lineage who has unfortunately dealt with more than their fair share of cancer. To attempt a great deal of reasoning wasn’t going to work in this particular situation – because if you know the said person I am referring to, it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. So I offered my condolences and wished her well.
Later that day as I was sifting mindlessly through the internet, likely Facebook stalking along the way, it struck me that I should do a little research into this zodiac tragedy which had so greatly affected my sister. One Google search later I had my answer – this wasn’t a new discovery at all rather the product of a slow news week for the Pioneer Press that welcomed the syndicated cover story. Without getting too far off the beat and path let us reflect briefly on where your “sign “originates from. Essentially the Zodiac is the ring of constellations that lines the rotation of the sun throughout the year – astrology dictates that there are 12 equal zones and therefore 12 zodiac signs. One step further – there is the tropical zodiac which correlates with seasons and which the Western hemisphere adheres to and the sidereal zodiac which is fixed to constellations – that the Eastern hemisphere adheres to. Long story short, if you were a Leo for 30 years and have a zip code that resides anywhere west of the Atlantic you are still a Leo. Being the loving sister that I am, I immediately copied the link and sent it through digital space to my sister in hopes of easing her rather busy mind.
And so this afternoon, after having burned roughly 10 CDs into our iTunes library I inquired as to whether she’d actually read the article I sent her. She had not – but said she felt better just knowing there were arguments circulating which supported the contrary. This immediately catapulted into a rather in depth examination of our individual zodiac signs and how closely, if at all, they matched our personalities. Yet another Google search later - I was broadcasting the description of our signs: Leo, Virgo, Aries, and Scorpio. Of course we snickered along the way as we resonated with the adjectives that were attempting to label each of us but ultimately walked away with the conclusion that anyone could relate in some way to all 12 signs. So while I can certainly respect the notion of horoscopes for their truly romantic means of considering our fate – I would argue that we should be creating our own horoscopes and “signs”. In a world where we are so eager to conform and equally adverse to intangible labels (not to suggest that individuals shutter at the notion of being labeled beautiful, rich or powerful but those labels come with their own degree of solitude) – why should we allow a zodiac label to dictate how our love lives are going, when our next raise will come or how inspired we should feel that particular day? Should I consider myself down and out if the Star Tribune hands me and “Average” day horoscope? How ridiculous would that be?
I challenge not only you – but myself – to write your own sign and horoscope. What do you want to stand for? How do you want to be perceived by the greater population? Hell – compile every adjective you can find that describes all 12 signs and create your own. There is an incredible array of variables we cannot control – but how we choose to live our lives and carry ourselves is not one of them. Wake up each day and write the horoscope of your choice on your heart, soul and mind and carry it with you. Choose to find motivation in yourself, to resist adversities, to focus on the positive, to relish time with loved ones, to feel the sunshine on your face. This life is what we make it and should we wake up tomorrow to another “breaking” story declaring that things aren’t exactly as they seem, take the time to reflect on the insight being handed to you and have the conviction to say “No Thanks” – for we have the unique ability to create our own realities. Define who you are, strengths and weaknesses alike – recognize them, internalize them and remember that only you have the power to change them.
After covering such topics as Dick Cheney and the destruction caused by “hydraulic fracturing” to yield natural gas, the greed of the American people, the late Bobby Kennedy’s speech on the “Menace of Violence”, his brothers infidelities and a sprinkling of other light hearted topics we stumbled upon the most recent phenomenon that littered our newspapers: your astrological sign might not be what you thought it was! [Pause for shock] Before I move on - I maintain that this is the typical American families’ Saturday afternoon banter.
The trouble started a little over a week ago when my distraught older sister called to proclaim that some asshole had changed our astrological signs and after proudly flying the Leo banner for the better part of 30 years she was now a Cancer. This was more than slightly upsetting to her on a couple levels; on the one hand she isn’t exactly a person who accepts change with out -stretched arms - on the other, we come from a lineage who has unfortunately dealt with more than their fair share of cancer. To attempt a great deal of reasoning wasn’t going to work in this particular situation – because if you know the said person I am referring to, it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. So I offered my condolences and wished her well.
Later that day as I was sifting mindlessly through the internet, likely Facebook stalking along the way, it struck me that I should do a little research into this zodiac tragedy which had so greatly affected my sister. One Google search later I had my answer – this wasn’t a new discovery at all rather the product of a slow news week for the Pioneer Press that welcomed the syndicated cover story. Without getting too far off the beat and path let us reflect briefly on where your “sign “originates from. Essentially the Zodiac is the ring of constellations that lines the rotation of the sun throughout the year – astrology dictates that there are 12 equal zones and therefore 12 zodiac signs. One step further – there is the tropical zodiac which correlates with seasons and which the Western hemisphere adheres to and the sidereal zodiac which is fixed to constellations – that the Eastern hemisphere adheres to. Long story short, if you were a Leo for 30 years and have a zip code that resides anywhere west of the Atlantic you are still a Leo. Being the loving sister that I am, I immediately copied the link and sent it through digital space to my sister in hopes of easing her rather busy mind.
And so this afternoon, after having burned roughly 10 CDs into our iTunes library I inquired as to whether she’d actually read the article I sent her. She had not – but said she felt better just knowing there were arguments circulating which supported the contrary. This immediately catapulted into a rather in depth examination of our individual zodiac signs and how closely, if at all, they matched our personalities. Yet another Google search later - I was broadcasting the description of our signs: Leo, Virgo, Aries, and Scorpio. Of course we snickered along the way as we resonated with the adjectives that were attempting to label each of us but ultimately walked away with the conclusion that anyone could relate in some way to all 12 signs. So while I can certainly respect the notion of horoscopes for their truly romantic means of considering our fate – I would argue that we should be creating our own horoscopes and “signs”. In a world where we are so eager to conform and equally adverse to intangible labels (not to suggest that individuals shutter at the notion of being labeled beautiful, rich or powerful but those labels come with their own degree of solitude) – why should we allow a zodiac label to dictate how our love lives are going, when our next raise will come or how inspired we should feel that particular day? Should I consider myself down and out if the Star Tribune hands me and “Average” day horoscope? How ridiculous would that be?
I challenge not only you – but myself – to write your own sign and horoscope. What do you want to stand for? How do you want to be perceived by the greater population? Hell – compile every adjective you can find that describes all 12 signs and create your own. There is an incredible array of variables we cannot control – but how we choose to live our lives and carry ourselves is not one of them. Wake up each day and write the horoscope of your choice on your heart, soul and mind and carry it with you. Choose to find motivation in yourself, to resist adversities, to focus on the positive, to relish time with loved ones, to feel the sunshine on your face. This life is what we make it and should we wake up tomorrow to another “breaking” story declaring that things aren’t exactly as they seem, take the time to reflect on the insight being handed to you and have the conviction to say “No Thanks” – for we have the unique ability to create our own realities. Define who you are, strengths and weaknesses alike – recognize them, internalize them and remember that only you have the power to change them.