Today is Friday, Dec. 30, and this is the last Daily Astrology post of 2011. At the time of this writing, I’m sitting at my desk, the light is fading outside, and I am wondering – yet again – where this afternoon went. It’s a hologram in miniature of the year, I suppose: I’m not sure where that went, either.
In many ways, my 2011 has been marked by struggle and the unnecessary expense of energy. And yet I know I’m not seeing the whole picture if I stop there. Love and beauty and joy have been regular companions, as has growth. If you had asked me a year ago if I could do what I’m doing these days, I would have said no and thought you were nuts. I know that I am using my creativity much more than ever before and learning new skills; that others depend on me much more; that I understand much more about myself than I did a year ago.
From what I read here on the blog and hear from my friends, most of us are feeling a charged mixture of uncertainty and newfound confidence, edginess and a sense of being at home in our skins, anticipation and hesitation, feeling cornered and feeling spacious — about almost everything.
For me, something about 2011 has felt like the trash compactor scene from the original Star Wars movie. No sooner do I leave one crisis for safety, but I find myself in the next, trapped in a box filled with junk that isn’t mine, its murky waters hiding unknown creatures that will drag me (and maybe others) down if I don’t seek help, and the walls are closing in. But hey – at least I’m with friends, and they’re in the same boat. I’m not alone. Kicking and screaming gets me nowhere, but once a clear line of communication is established, friends with a different perspective can facilitate some breathing room.
Perspective; maybe that’s what this weekend, this turn of the calendar has to offer more than anything else. You might be looking back on 2011 and seeing a lot of difficulty, pain, challenge, loss – maybe even hopelessness. We’ve been though a lot, personally and collectively. We’ve witnessed great damage to our planet and great damage to our emotional bodies and our trust. The question is, is that really the hallmark of this year?
We’ve also witnessed great beauty, joy, new community, opportunity for transformation and a sea change of collective energy whose tide is only beginning to turn. I think that the old water is still on its way out. From Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, we are seeing actual movement toward clearing out what is stagnant, to release it and let it recede. I don’t think the tide is ready to come back in yet; we still have more to wash away, more beach to uncover and reclaim first. We’ll need to be paying attention for that moment of low tide, because at that point, it will be up to us to be sure the water flowing back up the beach is clean, fresh, alive. I won’t say ‘pure’ — even the ocean is not pure. But it will need to be supportive of life, and that means supported by us.
Having potential can be challenging; paying attention is a big responsibility. We’re being asked to see from outside our usual box (or trash compactor). Once we can see out of it, we need to find ways to live outside of it – ready or not, we’ll be coming out of it over the next several months. This will take creativity, faith, imagination, vision. It can be impossible to fathom when you’re inside the box, pushing on the walls and yelling at those who would help if they could. We’ll need to float above to see better; to be receptive to subtler tools of communication; to accept help even when we cannot see who or what is actually offering it.
We’ll need to distinguish getting out of the box from running along the edge. Yes, there is risk, but it may be more like taking the back roads through the woods, where we can’t see around the bend, rather than balancing on a cliff, where the view is wide open. That is to say, it may be that 2012 is asking us for clarity in our faith more than the clarity of our convictions. We can’t actually see where we’re going, but we can envision where we’d like to go, even if we’re not sure how we’ll get there yet. Being present, in whatever direction or dimension the moment stretches out in, matters – as does recognizing when you’re staring at self-constructed walls.
I want to thank all of you — our readers — on behalf of everyone at Planet Waves, for being present in this space, for contributing your ideas and questions, for being open in your fear and struggle and love and celebration. I also thank everyone involved behind the scenes in creating this gorgeous spot in cyber-space, this community; for carrying out this mission on a planet that needs us. We’ve had many contributors and much assistance in many capacities, and I feel blessed to be working and living and loving with everyone involved. It’s been quite a year; one I know I could not have navigated nearly as well without Planet Waves, complete with all the growing pains. I’m actually looking forward to 2012, but not because 2011 has been ‘bad’. Rather, I’m curious about all this potential, and the possibility of getting out of my own way enough to make something of it.
Take a little time this weekend to reflect on the road you’ve just traveled. And may the force be with you.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
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shanna — i will be missed?? where am i going??!!
by all means, if you know something i don’t know, please tell me… otherwise, i’ll see you all on these pages again very soon!
🙂
Thank you, Amanda, for your considerable contributions here this past year. Your work made a difference. Loved your photography and gentle honesty. (Trash compactor scene: too true!) You will be missed.
No way, no how, no sanity . . . would this year have been without Planet Waves. Whatta ride . . . so good to have company. Thanks every-ONE !
There were some painful emotional lessons this year. I am glad it is over and on to 2012. Thanks PW folks for lighting the way through this past year and on to the next.
Dear Amanda,
You said it! Just how it has felt to me too. Glad to have this year almost in the rear-view mirror. And I am so deeply grateful to this excellent tribe of visionaries and luminaries for traveling companions as we traverse the next leg of this amazing journey…together!!
VERY best wishes to all the fabulous writers, editors, visitors, viewers and participants of this amazing community. Happy New Year everyone!!
beautiful picture, beautiful sentiments, beautiful words, beautiful online community. wishing all lots more beauty and positive energy/vision in the coming times.
paz y luz
thank you all for your kind words, support and offerings from your own lives. it’s a pleasure to be in such great company.
ooh — and don’t forget: Mercury leaves its shadow at half-past midnight EST tomorrow night!
off we go!
’tis always a pleasure cooking with you, girl. More adventures to come!!
Thank you, Amanda, and may your next year be easier but no less constructive or creative.
Thank you, PW clan, for being here this year. May we all strengthen and grow in the new year, and make it a year to remember.
Thanks, Eric, for giving us this space to dream and live.
Amanda – you pretty much summed up my 2011. With all its ugliness and hardships I feel there was phenomenal growth and a more determined will to move beyond all that has been to something better. Purging all the bad conditioning and letting go of all the negative thought patterns and beliefs that have been passed down from one generation to the next. I feel as though I have been through a battle field for the last 10 years or so and yet I feel a surge of such positive, creative energy rising up from my very core. It’s like the Phoenix rising from the ashes to rebuild everything anew. In life I believe nothing is truly lost, only transformed. For those of us who are “awake” to this amazing soul transformation should be looking forward to 2012 with newfound hope and optimism that the suffering we’ve endured will bring forth a new “birth” in us. It will certainly NOT be a year that is business as usual. In my never to be humble opinion, the only way to go from here is up!
Namaste,
Virgoan
9/20/64
so many beautiful thoughts run through me now … and it’s the LOVE most of all. thank you, dear Amanda. thank you and all of the PW people for such a wonderful place to rest a while each day as I make a plan for the incoming. I truly feel all kinds of blessed that I’m welcomed here.
mary
PS: perspective … that word and sentiment really spoke to me initially. I’m noticing how this natal Chiron in Aquarius (@ 1 degree) has affected my own perspective in communicating on the physical. I’ll be witnessing that and feel lighter for it.
PPS: wishes to all for a wonderful 2012!
Thank you, Amanda, from my heart to yours. Your honesty is a gift.
And to everyone here on Planet Waves, a Happy New Year. Here’s to new beginnings, a new life. xxxxx
As a final entry for 2011 … I would add my appreciation of your work Amanda! The blend of visual imagery with its accompanying descriptive astrological prose is a delight to find!
My bestest for 2012 to you and PW!
I have just heard that malaria nets that have been provided for villages in West Africa are being used as fishing nets!
The mind-boggling choices that we face on a day to day basis are going to get more difficult.That is for sure!
A big love to you all!
Paul Hill
Thank you Amanda, for all your lovely work. And thanks PW team for working so diligently in the background. And my sincere thanks to Eric. I have learned so much reading the amazing articles and comments from wonderful insightful peeps reading here alongside me.
Hugs to all from Mr. Hugging! 🙂
…and here’s a cool 2012 “song” just to kick it street, yo – check it out! –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO91uccMbZo
Thanks Amanda !
weeks ago I came up with a sound bite for the coming year. I have heard it every day since. “Game Changer”
Great job Amanda, thank you for all your efforts this year. I’m looking forward to 2012 also, and even though we all are dancing as fast as we can, it is a great feeling to participate in something bigger than our individual selves isn’t it? Happy New Year to you and everyone.
patti.t16, appreciated your comments too. Thanks for sharing.
be
Love the Star Wars imagery! There was this flippant pundit on the news this morning doing a review of 2011 and he quipped that it was as if life was competing for attention with our iPhones and twitter. I thought the comment was interesting (even if he wasn’t). We’ve been asleep and autopilot for so long. Call it life, call it our collective or personal shadows, junk and baggage, but it won’t be ignored. Thanks PW for your insights during this challenging year which have been so helpful in my own process of sorting what belongs in that trash compactor and what can be salvaged/recycled/repurposed. Looking forward to that walk in the woods (and to more of Amanda’s stunning photos – you’ve got a great eye, girl!) Peace and love to all xx
Happy New Year Amanda – happy New Year all – as someone said to me today, “May it be care-free”. xox
We love you, Amanda.