Conscious Community

by Carrie Chesney

It’s a new year. What comes with the New Year? New challenges? New opportunities? It seems that the heralding of a new year always brings with it expectations, hence the creation of new year’s resolutions. While they are not a formal obligation that we all must fulfill, for some reason people always seem to feel the need to make some rules for themselves … things that we feel we must fulfill within a specific time frame. A close friend once told me, “Time is always chasing us; however, we kill time by ignoring it.” Linda Goodman ignored time, as she refused to be ruled by it. With unreasonable expectations comes disappointment, and with time constraints comes the fact that we, as humans, usually cash in our chips too early. A good basis is what is needed, but in modern times where everything travels at the speed of light, it is a rare event that the foundation is laid for a stable relationship, a stable home, a stable life. Everyone fears losing precious moments of their life, when in truth, they lose far more than that when they don’t take the time to build it up, brick by brick.

Now, as far as astrology goes, we know that Saturn is the great ruler of time, the master of limitations who reminds us daily that our time here is finite. New Year’s celebrations are always homage to him — out with the old and in with the new. Celebrate while there is still time! Hold your loved ones while there is still time! Live your life while there is still time! It all becomes the cry of Saturn. Have you ever noticed, though, that instead of being a blessing, that cry becomes a burden, a fear that strikes at the heart? What if I don’t have enough time to fall in love? What if I don’t have enough time to have a family? What if I don’t have enough time to travel the world or get to the highest position in my company? So on and so forth it goes … Life then becomes a race. It is no longer about savoring the moments we have with one another. It is about how you can get to your desired goal the fastest. What’s the old saying? Rome was not built in a day? Well, this is true, but for some reason, within our westernized culture, we are obsessed with the idea of the time-effective. If we get it done faster, though perhaps more shoddily, we will be able to have more time to ourselves. What do we do once we have this time though? We throw it away by starting in on some new quest or some new desire. It is all a covetous circle. Time, like money, is one of the most earth-binding pleasures we have. Perhaps that’s why we have the saying “Time is money.”

We all worry about how old we’re getting and how much we haven’t accomplished, don’t we? It’s rare that we stop and look around and look at all that we have accomplished. It’s rare that we stop ourselves and look to the ones we love and give them our time. Time, like money, can also be a gift. It should be given away … Often, when we stop and listen to another person, and give them our time, it we develop a bond that never breaks. When we listen to another’s story and pains and joys, the time we give becomes a salve for the soul. We see ourselves in another person, and that is a perfectly wonderful gift, for both people. So what if you don’t get to do this or that or the other thing? Did you still not do something worthwhile with your time? Did you not grow and learn and enjoy the journey, rather than just the result? We should all ask ourselves this as we walk through life, because we all have the same end result … We all die.

Saturn teaches many lessons. Until this past semester, I don’t think I fully understood what people meant when they said that the greatest joy comes through the greatest sorrow. This is often what Saturn comes to teach. While he is the great teacher, he is often feared by the people who don’t understand that just because something is hard, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Have you ever noticed that when people face their greatest adversity, they often come out stronger than they were before? It might also make them more cynical, and perhaps, in many ways, wiser than they were before. It is only those who don’t have a good base to begin with who often spiral downwards. That’s not to say that adversity is easy to overcome. It’s not. Often, we are faced with things in life that we never thought we’d face, anything from violence to homelessness to addiction, or worse. We turn to places and people we never thought we’d have to go to. We find emotions that we didn’t know existed and courage that we didn’t know we had.

Always remember that everything is transitory. “This too shall pass,” is a very true saying. I’ve heard people say that a certain situation will kill them, and I look at them and I ask: “Why? Will you stop breathing tomorrow if things don’t go your way?” They of course say no, but so many people feel that THIS is their last chance. They will never have another one. Truth be told, love, money, jobs, and relationships of all sorts come and go. As long as there are people out there, there is always someone for you to reach out to and someone to reach back.

So, when someone shares their story with you, in that little piece of time you might give them, don’t listen with your ears. Listen with your heart. You might find that someone else’s truth is part of your own, and that someone else’s courage is so admirable that you will carry it with you for the rest of your days. Never let yourself be limited as to whom you can listen to either. Everyone has a story to tell. Just because a person looks or thinks a certain way doesn’t mean they are a certain way. The trick is opening yourself up to the people and possibilities that are out there.

* White light and love for… *

• The earthquake victims of Bam, Iran, where tens of thousands died in December.



• Dong-Yue (Cecilia) Zhang, a 9-year-old who was kidnapped from her Toronto home in October and is still missing.



• Terri Schindler Schiavo, the disabled Florida woman whose life hangs in the balance as her husband fights for her “right to die.”



• Moonflower’s friend’s mother-in-law, Mary, who is recovering from a stroke in a nursing home.



• Toks and his brother, the terminally ill boys fascinated with fairies whom Gladeyes asked forum members to send fairy e-mail to some months ago. With no recent contact from the nurse who was relaying the e-mails, we don’t know the boys’ status now.



• Moonflower, who is having tests related to a breast lump that fortunately has been determined benign.



• Woodchiro’s mother, who is having health concerns, and Veneo’s mother and former mother-in-law and a cousin, who are all suffering from cancer.



• Terri and her family, who are recovering from the flu and pneumonia.



• Amykins’ cousin, James Dean, who was in a car accident and declared brain dead. His father is having to decide whether to take him off life support.



• Bluedove and the new baby she is expecting.



• Gregory’s financial needs and the Community Co-op’s success.



• Searching’s friend’s niece, who was pregnant with her second child when she was involved in a bad car accident. She is in a coma and the baby was delivered alive in emergency surgery.



• Rainbow’s friend Sharon, who lost her brother in a car accident, and the surviving family.



• WriteOn’s grandfather-in-law, who has knee-replacement surgery scheduled and has other conditions that could make surgery more dangerous.



• Woodchiro’s daughter (Veneo’s stepdaughter), Krista, who is dealing with the aftermath of an incident of victimization by an adult.



• Veneo and her son, Tom, for healing of physical fatigue and illness and troubles with Tom’s father’s side of the family.



• Moonflower’s e-mail friend, Ann, and her three grandchildren, who have been through upheaval in their homelives. The children are now out of foster care and with their grandmother.

I wish you all a wonderful new year, and I ask that if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or white light requests either e-mail us at metamorphosis@consciousevolution.com or PM me (enchantress299).