March 2020 – The learning curve is steep.

When the visible center does not hold, we turn inward to create our own scaffolding.

March is a seven month in a four ( it can read as a 13 or a 22) year.  We’re called to look inward, assess our inner strength and do what it takes to shore it up.

A seven month, brings us up short though, forces us to catch our breath in disbelief, momentarily frozen by our new realities. Yes, life has become starkly overwhelming. Again!

As we grapple with new realities, it’s clear we cannot not unsee what we have seen, we cannot deny the warp and weft of the thing before us, we can’t dismiss its downright traumatic, certifiably crazy vibe. We’re living in a catastrophic moment waiting for our bottom, awash in the overwhelming throes of inevitability.  This is the compelling condition of being a conscious and sentient being.  We are cognizant of our twin capacities for greatness and for gutlessness. We’re aware of life’s dispassionate highs and lows. We know we’re not as in control as we’d like to think we are.

The year, demands action, calls us to task, to duty, to accountability.  But in the face of epidemics and recession, where can we create positive outcomes?  In the tight space available to us as a pandemic and economic slide bears down world wide, what little agency is afforded us?  How can we act in a way that augurs good?  How can we be proactively useful?

The message of the seven month is unequivocal. In the face of real sadness and even global affliction there are up front opportunities for action: we can be purposefully introspective while being staunchly protective of the social safety net (Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Enforce the concept of social distance to reduce chances of transmission. Tell your family and friends).

March asks us to shore up those basic foundations. Support each other. Support ourselves. In a seven months, often that work is done in solitude and in seclusion. Pray, meditate, sing, chant, engage in smile therapy, pet an animal, take your pick. Just proceed from where you are, gathering what you need to shore up your moral, ethical and spiritual scaffolding. There’s never been a better time to do so.

“The shadow that falls between our own intention and our act frequently takes the form of an overwhelm of inadequacy so great, we stop trying.”

Pat Scheider, “How the Light Gets In”

On feeling that anything we do is not enough:

“I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her name was grief.”

Quote from Big Sky Astrology Podcast

In times when we feel trapped, ineffective, helpless, all common occurrences in a seven month, we must face our frustration. As the karma is ripening, we maintain what must be maintained and search for meaning within.  We donate to organizations that do the good work, that bring real value to our society, to groups that help.   We must do the outer work (See CDC mandates here) in tandem with our inner work. If religious? Pray. A meditator? Double-down on mindfulness. Theurgist? Plan and practice your spells. Atheistic? Put your secularist mindset to good works and self-examination. Creator? Create. Caretaker? Take care. You get the picture.

In a seven month, your inner game will be as important as your efforts to address the serious viral outbreak in the world (and anything else that comes our way.).

“In the dark times will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing about the dark times.”

Bertol Brecht, via Austin Kleon

Sacrifices will be necessary. There have been and will be casualties. Breathe that in. Nevertheless, be informed. Be kind. Be compassionate. Be actively introspective. Stay awake.

If a Seven month is a time of inner learning, in a Four year, it’s a time of learning hard, but very basic lessons. And from those very basic lessons knowledge and enlightenment and renewed civilizations bud and blossom. We grow (even as we grieve).

Questions for growth that I pose to all of us (thank you to Nadia Gilchrist, Ralfee Finn, @daylaborernetwork ):

• Where are we shutting down or giving up (and how can we redirect our fears into small, positive action?)
• What do we believe in? What/ who motivates us?
• In our present circumstances we are learning things that we’ll need to know to for the future. Going forward, what must we not forget? What can we let go of?
• Where can we show compassion, create beauty, contribute to calm, help others persevere?