As we enter the final days of 2016 I find myself reflecting back on the past year with a lot of mixed emotions. This past year, like every year, was filled with many wake up calls and opportunities for learning and growth, most notably the election of Donald Trump. Like many people, I tend to live immersed in the bubble of my comfortable life, relatively content with the status quo and not really seeing the need for significant change in my life. That bubble burst for me this year. Suddenly “reality” seems much more real than before. For years, as I drove around in my car, I listened to music because it made me happy. Nowadays I find myself listening to NPR most of the time, catching up on world events, particularly the post-election fallout. Every day we get the L.A. Times delivered to our door, and I used to read mostly the sports and entertainment sections and do the crossword puzzle. Lately I’ve been devoting much more time to thoroughly reading the news and the Op Ed pieces. Most of the news is horrific—the war in Syria, the terrorist attack in Berlin, the deadly fire in Oakland, the latest Trump nominee for his cabinet, etc.—but I haven’t been able to look away. It has been a very sobering year in many ways and my heart has been feeling heavier than I would like it to as we come to the end of it.
As an antidote to my current state of angst I went to a couple of movies last week. Rather than going to see some good escapist fare like Office Christmas Party or the latest Star Wars movie, I chose the heaviest films I could find—Manchester by the Sea and Lion. They were both excellent films—gut wrenching, heartbreaking, and very cathartic. Nothing like a good tear jerker to make you feel cleansed from the inside out. As they say, “When you’re going through Hell, keep going.” I’m happy to say that the movies were very therapeutic and I’ve begun to have flashes of my old happy go-lucky self. For the past couple of days of been listening to music again in my car and ignoring the front page of the L.A Times. Maybe ignorance is bliss.
Tomorrow we have a New Moon at 14 degrees Sagittarius in Purvashadha Nakshatra. Retrograde Mercury joins the Sun and Moon tomorrow in this auspicious sign. The presiding deity of Purvashadha is called Apah, the goddess of water, and the prevailing energy is called “Varchograhan Shakti”—the power to bring about invigoration. It will be a good day to avail our selves of the healing power of water through bathing or swimming or finding a means of getting the emotional waters within to flow more freely.
Sorry to strike such a heavy tone this week, but I found that keeping my misery to myself wasn’t helping. Thanks for listening. Happy New Year!
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