Beauty is not a luxury but a strategy for survival
We need beauty to thrive
Beauty is not a luxury but a strategy for survival.
—Terry Tempest Williams, Finding Beauty in a Broken World
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EXPLORE THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with my EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES for the Coming Year:
What new influences and opportunities will be headed your way in 2023? What fresh resources will you be able to draw on? How can you conspire with life to create the best possible future for yourself?
Beginning this week, and for the next two weeks as well, I'm exploring the BIG PICTURE of your life in my Expanded Audio Horoscopes.
If you slip into a philosophical, visionary mood at the end of each year, you might appreciate my perspectives on your long-term outlook.
To listen to PART ONE of your BIG PICTURE horoscopes online, go to https://RealAstrology.com
Register and/or log in through the main page, and then click on the link "Long Term Prediction for 2023."
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The cost for the Expanded Audio Horoscopes is $7 per sign. (You can get discounts for multiple purchases.)
Each forecast is 7-9 minutes long.
P.S. You can still access last week's Sneak-Peek at 2023. In these expanded audio horoscopes, I describe some major themes I think you'll be working and playing with in 2023. After you register and/or log in, click on "Last Week (Dec. 20, 2022)."
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“SUFFER BETTER”
"Suffer better," advised Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.
I've been working to do that, with good results. I've taken a vow that all the suffering I feel will enhance my empathy for the suffering of others, including both humans and animals—and deepen my resolve to do what I can to reduce the suffering in the world.
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Thich Nhat Hanh on suffering: “If You Know How to Suffer, You Suffer Less”: https://tinyurl.com/BetterSuffering
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Buddha says there are two kinds of suffering: the kind that leads to more suffering and the kind that brings an end to suffering.
—Terry Tempest Williams
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Your suffering needs to be respected. Don't try to ignore the hurt, because it is real. Just let the hurt soften you instead of hardening you. Let the hurt open you instead of closing you. Let the hurt send you looking for those who will accept you instead of hiding from those who reject you.
—Bryant McGill
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We need the compassion and the courage to change the conditions that support our suffering. Those conditions are things like ignorance, bitterness, negligence, clinging, and holding on.
—Sharon Salzberg
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We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can't relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.
—Pema Chödrön
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Whether you like it or not, you are committed to the human endeavor. I cannot ally myself with such a purely negative goal as avoidance of suffering. Suffering is a chance you take by the fact of being alive.
—William S. Burroughs
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The trick to healing from suffering, I think, is deciding that the pain was worth it.
—Aella
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Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
—Don Miguel Ruiz
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Without suffering and doubts, the mind will come to rest on cliches and stay there, until the spirit dies as well.
—Robert Greene
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God creates us free, free to be selfish, but He adds a mechanism that will penetrate our selfishness and wake us up to the presence of others in this world, and that mechanism is called suffering.
—William Nicholson
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Strong people alone know how to organize their suffering so as to bear only the most necessary pain.
—Emil Dorian
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It takes great courage to open one's heart and mind to the tremendous injustice and suffering in our world.
—Vincent A. Gallagher
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The law is simple. Every experience is repeated or suffered until you experience it properly and fully the first time.
—Ben Okri
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Perhaps watching someone you love suffer can teach you even more than suffering yourself can.
—Dodie Smith
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We often cause ourselves suffering by wanting only to live in a world of valleys, a world without struggle and difficulty, a world that is flat, plain, consistent.
—bell hooks
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Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
—Helen Keller
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Our past may explain why we're suffering but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage.
—Joyce Meyer
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Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.
—Patti Smith
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Almost all our suffering is the product of our thoughts. We spend nearly every moment of our lives lost in thought, and hostage to the character of those thoughts. You can break this spell, but it takes training just like it takes training to defend yourself against a physical assault.
—Sam Harris
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Handling our suffering is an art. If we know how to suffer, we suffer much less, and we’re no longer afraid of being overwhelmed by the suffering inside.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
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Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands.
—bell hooks
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I DON’T KNOW
The Beauty and Truth Lab researchers' sunny dispositions are made possible in part by the mantra, "I don't know." It's an unparalleled source of power, a declaration of independence from the pressure to have an opinion about every single subject.
It's fun to say. Try it: "I don't know."
Let go of the drive to have it all figured out: "I don't know."
Proclaim the only truth you can be totally sure of: "I don't know."
Empty your mind and lift your heart: "I don't know."
Use it as a battle cry, a joyous affirmation of your oneness with the Great Mystery: "I don't know."
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YOU ARE AFFECTION
You are affection. You are the present moment. You open our house to the frothy winter and its beloved murmur.
You purify our food and drink. We stand erect with our amazement and stunned tenderness, watching your strength and love pass by in the ecstatic storms.
You are attention. You are the future. You are the charm of fugitive truths and the superhuman delight of staying still.
You are love, perfect and reinvented measurement, miraculous and unforeseen reason, and eternity: an instrument beloved for its unpredictable powers.
We have all known the terror of your yielding and of our own: rapture in our good health, surge of our brilliant faculties, selfish passion for you -- you who love us for your infinite life.
You have known us all and loved us all.
From the turbulent trees nourished by the wind to the sentient mountain rejuvenated by our joyous surrender, from the crowded cities to the empty beach, from numb glare to enchanted glance, with our songs and feelings unraveled, may we learn to see you and hail you.
Beneath the tides and at the summit of snowy deserts, may we drink in your vision, your breathing, your body, your light.
—a mixed creation by Arthur Rimbaud and me
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EXPLORING CONSCIOUSNESS
1. While doing my job of exploring and researching alternate modes of consciousness and non-ordinary realities, I am skeptical (in an open-minded way!) about pretty much everything ever written and taught about alternate modes of consciousness and non-ordinary realities.
2. Everyone who expresses their hypotheses about alternate modes of consciousness and non-ordinary realities is more wrong than they are right. Yet many who dare to speak about these mysterious matters act as if their words are extremely reliable and authoritative.
Even those I regard as geniuses of spiritual exploration, like Sri Aurobindo, Rudolf Steiner, Dion Fortune, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, Robert Moss, and Paul Foster Case, were wrong a lot of the time. The non-geniuses are lucky if their guesses are ten-percent correct or useful.
3. My research into these mysteries definitely benefits from the use of the scientific method -- but only to a point.
Alternative modes of consciousness and non-ordinary realities are not as objectively measurable and understandable as the material world.
So I am always on the lookout for new strategies to test and probe what happens in those frontiers.
4. Profound humility is de rigueur if I hope to stumble upon any useful new revelations concerning these enigmatic subjects.
5. Everyone has a piece of the truth, but no one has all of the truth.
6. Do you have any of your hard-won truths to give me today?
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Art by Camille Flammarion. Colored by Roberta Weir
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning December 29
Copyright 2022 by Rob Brezsny
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In accordance with your astrological omens in 2023, I've chosen a quote from Capricorn storyteller Michael Meade. I hope you will make it one of your core meditations in the coming months. He writes, "All meaningful change requires a genuine surrender. Yet, to surrender does not simply mean to give up; more to give up one's usual self and allow something other to enter and redeem the lesser sense of self. In surrendering, we fall to the bottom of our arguments and seek to touch the origin of our lives again. Only then can we see as we were meant to see, from the depth of the psyche where the genius resides, where the seeds of wisdom and purpose were planted before we were born." (The quote is from Meade's book Fate and Destiny, The Two Agreements of the Soul.)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In addition to my career as a horoscope columnist, I have written novels and other books. I have worked as a singer-songwriter in rock bands and performed a one-person show in theaters. As I survey my history, I always break into sardonic laughter as I contemplate how many businesspeople have advised me, "First, you've got to sell out. You've got to dumb down your creative efforts so as to make yourself salable. Only later, after you have become successful, can you afford to be true to your deepest artistic principles." I am very glad I never heeded that terrible counsel, because it would have made me insane and unhappy. How are you doing with this central problem of human life, Aquarius? Are you serving the gods of making money or the gods of doing what you love? The coming year will, I suspect, bring you prime opportunities to emphasize the latter goal.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I've chosen a sweet taste of advice for you to keep referring back to in 2023. It's in rapt alignment with upcoming astrological omens. I suggest you copy my counsel out in longhand on a piece of paper and keep it in your wallet or under your pillow. Here it is, courtesy of author Martha Beck: "The important thing is to tell yourself a life story in which you, the hero, are primarily a problem solver rather than a helpless victim. This is well within your power, whatever fate might have dealt you."
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor," writes Aries author Anne Lamott. "It will keep you cramped and insane." I think that's a key theme for you to embrace in 2023. Let's express the idea more positively, too. In Navajo culture, rug weavers intentionally create small imperfections in their work, like odd-colored beads or stray pieces of yarn. This rebellion against unattainable exactitude makes the art more soulful. Relieved of the unrealistic mandate to be flawless, the rug can relax into its beauty.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Here are my four decrees for you in 2023, Taurus. 1. You are cleared to be greedy if it's in service to a holy cause that fosters others' well-being as well as yours. 2. It's permissible to be stubborn if doing so nourishes versions of truth and goodness that uplift and inspire your community. 3. It's proper to be slow and gradual if that's the best way to keep collaborative projects from becoming slipshod. 4. It's righteous to be zealous in upholding high standards, even if that causes less diligent people to bail out.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 2023, many interesting lessons will arrive via your close relationships and collaborations. You will have the potential to learn more about the art of togetherness than you have in a long time. On occasion, these lessons may initially agitate you. But they will ultimately provide more pleasure and healing than you can imagine right now. Bonus prediction: You will have an enhanced talent for interweaving your destiny together with the fates of your allies.
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EXPLORING YOUR LONG-RANGE FUTURE
Would you like some inspiration as you muse and wonder about your upcoming adventures in 2023?
In this week's EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, I offer you a long-term, in-depth exploration of your destiny in the coming months. This is Part One of a three-part series.
Part Two and Part Three will be available in the next two weeks.
Access them at https://RealAstrology.com
Register and/or log in through the main page, and then click on the link "Long Term Prediction for 2023."
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You can also still access my Sneak-Peek forecasts for 2023 from a week ago. To hear these, click on "Last Week (Dec 20, 2022)."
The cost is $7 per sign. Discounts are available for bulk purchases.
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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here are some projects I'd love to see you pursue in 2023: 1. Teach your allies the fine points of how to cherish you but not smother you. 2. Cultivate your natural talent for appreciating the joys of watching and helping things grow: a child, a creative project, a tree, a friendship, or your bank account. 3. If you don't feel close to the family members that fate provided you with, find others you like better. 4. As you explore territories that are further out or deeper within, make sure your Cancerian shell is expandable. 5. Avoid being friends with people who are shallow or callous or way too cool. 6. Cultivate your attraction to people who share your deepest feelings and highest ideals.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Mystic teacher Terence McKenna said, "You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding." This will be key advice for you in 2023. You will be wise to craft an updated version of your personal philosophy. I suggest you read a lot of smart people's ideas about the game of life. Make it your quest to commune with interesting minds who stimulate your deep thoughts. Pluck out the parts that ring true as you create a new vision that is uniquely your own.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): How should we refer to your romantic adventures in 2023? We could be whimsical and call them "Ritual Mating Dances on the Outskirts of History." We could be melodramatic and call them "Diving into the Deep Dark Mysteries in Search of Sexy Treasures." Or we could be hopeful and call them "A Sacred Pilgrimage to the Frontiers of Intimacy." I think there's a good chance that all three titles will turn out to be apt descriptors of the interesting stories ahead of you—especially if you're brave as you explore the possibilities.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "Coddiwomple" is an English slang word that means to travel resolutely and dynamically toward an as-yet unknown destination. It's not the same as wandering aimlessly. The prevailing mood is not passivity and vagueness. Rather, one who coddiwomples has a sense of purpose about what's enjoyable and meaningful. They may not have a predetermined goal, but they know what they need and like. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the next six months will be an excellent time for you Libras to experiment with coddiwompling.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the theater of ancient Greece, the term anagnorisis referred to a pivotal moment when a character discovered a big truth they had previously been unaware of. Another Greek word, peripeteia, meant a reversal of circumstances: "a change by which the action veers round to its opposite." I bring these fun ideas to your attention, dear Scorpio, because I think 2023 could bring you several instances of an anagnorisis leading to a peripeteia. How would you like them to unfold? Start making plans. You will have uncanny power to determine which precise parts of your life are gifted with these blessings.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Winters are cold in Olds, a town in Alberta, Canada. Temperatures plunge as low as 24 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. But an agronomist named Dong Jianyi has built a giant greenhouse there that enables him to grow vegetables year-round. He spends no money on heat, but relies on innovative insulation to keep the inside warm. In 2021, he grew 29,000 pounds of tomatoes. I propose we make him your inspirational role model for 2023, Sagittarius. My guess is, that like him, you will be a wellspring of imaginative resourcefulness. What creative new developments could you generate? How might you bring greater abundance into your life by drawing extra energy from existing sources? How could you harness nature to serve you even better?
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Homework: What one element could you add to your life that would bring a major enhancement? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
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Gonna drop in here some of John O'Donohue's thoughts on beauty:
"The human soul is hungry for beauty… When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul."
Good grief! Serving the gods of doing what you love. Sage Aquarian wisdom and worthy of all my efforts