A Bigger-Than-the-Sky Post
© 2009 - 2011 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved
Like everything in life, astrology has a bigger
context—a perspective that’s even bigger than the sky. This is the first in a
series of periodic posts, not specific to astrology, but to the larger issues
of why we’re here: the laws of dynamic attraction, soul evolution, the workings
of karma and reincarnation, just to name a few. Some of these articles were
originally written for my spirited living blog, Hot Flashbacks, Cool
Insights. I suspect many Radical readers will resonate to these posts and
wanted to share them with you. I think they fit right into the Radical Virgo
blog’s habit of making round-trips from Earth to Sky and back—and to the idea
that there are even bigger universes to explore—and to which we also belong.
~Joyce
here is a law of dynamic
attraction in the universe where like attracts like. If being positive didn’t
simply feel good on its own, this magnetic quality of “good draws good” is the
other reason for adopting a permanently upbeat attitude.
I want to take it a step
further. Being yourself—authentically you—is one of the most difficult
challenges of being human. No man, woman, or child is an island. We need to
belong, and the truly happy person has not just friends and family, but
community. All these levels of connection are essential to joy.
Yet we so often give parts of ourselves away to meet the energy of others in
the middle, like politicians who tone down their stances and beliefs in order
to appeal to the most voters. Our blending behavior creates a bigger zone of
safety and acceptance in our minds. But does it really?
Holding Back: A Survival Strategy
I feel especially qualified to talk about holding back your true energy or
resonance to blend in. I’ve been trained to do it since childhood. I was adopted
when I was three weeks old, and my parents were very different from me in a
number of essential ways. We just weren’t wired the same. Yet, they were so
loving; I didn’t even realize it until I grew up! Mom and Dad made me feel like
I truly I belonged, and I was willing to sacrifice some of my individuality for
that sweet prize. As I started coming into my own in my twenties, I was stunned
to find out that my way of being, based on their programming, was far different
from who I really am. My poor mother didn’t know what hit when my move to
California, the women’s movement, the ‘70s and my first group therapy
experience all conspired to steal her daughter right out from under her—or the
one she thought she knew and had molded.
To be fair, my adoptive parents’ differences from me were also a big plus. I am
naturally a non-stop thinker—very mental. They were down-to-earth, practical,
and totally heart people. My development would have been lopsided, had I grown
up in my birth family. My birth mom made my constant cogitation look like
child’s play! (I was reunited with my family of origin in my late thirties, and
I have a perspective that not many people enjoy of being able to see which
parts of me came from nurture rather than nature.)
Still, “not being you” can harm you in the end.
Drawbacks
of the Quick-Change Artist
With all my talents for blending in, I had a knack for finding the wrong
relationships, whether friends or prospective mates. There was nothing wrong
with these individuals—or me. We were just mismatched at an energetic and
evolutionary level. I was not putting out who I really am, but rather, morphing
myself, like a chameleon, to fit the energy of the people I wanted to please or
whose lives I wanted to be a part of. Frankly, I didn’t think there was anyone
like me out there! Never having met people on my beam, I didn’t believe they
existed.
What I didn’t understand: I could not draw to me anyone like me because I
wasn’t being
me.
"Banding”
Together
Ultimately, I learned that as energy beings, we emit a frequency of our true
selves that is like a radio wave. When we’re “on,” being our essential selves,
people on the same bandwidth are drawn to us. When we are broadcasting our
frequency, others on the same or nearby frequencies pick up on it and hone onto
our signal like a tractor beam.
This all happens in the ethers. It’s invisible—you can’t see or hear it while
it’s happening—then presto! Some new person pops into your life who’s an
obvious member of your soul family. We hear the expression “putting yourself
out there.” That’s what it takes to make energy-based matches with like-minded,
compatible people. Only it’s not so much a matter of pushing your energy
outward. It’s more about being centered in who you are and allowing the
universe to draw in the relationships you need.
It’s so human to make the same mistakes over again. If we’re growing, we make
them at higher levels, getting the same lesson more clearly each time. I still
morph myself—sometimes all but turn myself inside out—to fit in. It often
happens unconsciously, when more kindred spirits aren’t available to play or
when I don’t know a person or group well enough yet to realize we’re on a
different frequency. Then, of course, there are all the many things we can want
from someone or a group of some ones that interfere with being in integrity:
love, sex, career advancement, fun.
Recently, I became aware that I was being a contortion artist in some
relationships and had to reassess my participation. When I decided to let go of
what was becoming negative for me, draining, and far from an energetic match, I
created the usual void left by surrender.
While I was still making the decision to let go of my latest energetic
mismatches, someone literally honed in on me when I returned to my own center
and self. Out of the blue, I got an e-mail from a reader of one of my astrology
articles that I had written 17 years prior, a perennial favorite. Soon we were
e-mailing like mad and could not believe how much we think alike and share the
same views of Spirit, the world, and how to live in it. It was simply
exhilarating, and a true testimony to why it is so important to be true to
yourself. It takes courage and trust. It’s worth it! This “chance” encounter
was the catalyst for creating this blog just after Spring Equinox 2009, named
after the article that had touched him so deeply, “The Radical
Virgo.”
Energetic
Shift
In the larger sense, the shift we all need to make is to do less and be more.
We are called human beings, not human doings. While I know the importance of
frequent meditation—how it strengthens our energy field and helps us resonate
to our core selves, I still have a hard time with the discipline of doing it. I
even try to “do” when the practice calls for me just to “be” there. Show up,
sit in my meditation spot, and close my eyes. What could be simpler? But “human
doings” can’t seem to accept that our value is inherent. Too easy? How the
human mind loves to complicate things.
If you’re a helper and a person of compassion, my closing thought is for you.
It’s an expression I’ve heard about what it is to really help others—and
ourselves.
It’s not what
you do; it’s who you are.
~~~
Photo
Credit: BEAM © magann - Fotolia.com
Thanks to
Leslie Smith of Inner Sanctuary blog for first
publication of this article.
