Living Your Visions

These are anxious times, and stress levels are high. In her October newsletter, shamanistic author Sandra Ingerman writes that she sees people getting angrier and divisions growing. And yet, many are reacting to chaotic change by sincerely seeking ways to be the change we want to see in the world, as Gandhi said. But this is not easy in those moments when stress is overwhelming. Ingerman's message is that being the change is not a state to embody with a perma-smile. It's just trying each moment to live your values, and going past limiting beliefs.

This month, the Sun is in airy Libra, inviting us to upgrade our thoughts. Ingerman writes, "This world can and will be created by the minute to minute changes we create in our lives. We can choose to react to what is happening or we can choose to reach deep within to the spirit and source that is within and make choices of how to respond with more consciousness, respect, and compassion." She encourages people to take time to envision, with all your senses, what kind of world you want to create.

This is something I've experimented with in my morning meditation, and I always get the same farm-like setting with orchards to the left, and a cottage set against a mountain. My North Node is Taurus, and my soul's compass is pointed toward pastoral scenes with baskets spilling over with food, something tasty cooking over the fire. I'm wondering if someday we'll see this place, and I'll know I've had a hand in creating this scene! On her suggestion, I'll see if I can bring the other senses in, and smell the flowers and herbs.

I appreciate Ingerman's message that the future is unfolding from each small choice we make today. Right now, it's not easy to get past the frustrations of the mind, as Mercury retrograde in Virgo is bringing our focus to what's wrong in our lives. This retrograde is testing our patience and putting everything broken or discordant in harsh light. Self-criticism and negative thought spirals can be out of control! But the light of Libra and Aquarius planets trigger surprising alternative big pictures to ponder, even as we get ever more involved in the small.

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