Living the Post-Ecliptic Life
by
Sarah Varcas
As we find ourselves in the wake of the eclipse we may be wondering what hit us or, alternatively, what hit everyone else! As mentioned previously, the impact of this eclipse will take several months to unfold, but in the immediate term we may well be dealing with disruptive influences and heightened sensitivities. Granting ourselves and others some space to manage the everyday challenges right now is well advised. If it doesn’t have a pressing deadline, let it rest for a minute. If it really doesn’t have to be done by tomorrow, postpone it for a few days. If you really don’t want to do that thing you said you would, consider whether apologies can be made so you can do it another time when in a better frame of mind to do it well. There is something of a pressure-cooker feel to the heavens right now and rather than courting disaster by pushing ahead regardless, stepping around it is far more sensible!
That said, it’s not all stress! We also have powerful indicators of hope and possibility beamed through the cosmos now, which is why it’s a good time to ease off and allow ourselves to absorb some of them instead! The 9th October sees this choice offered in very stark terms: we can allow all of life to become an irritant to our already irritated self or we can step out of the fray and focus on what matters, allowing the rest of it to drop away. Of course, what really matters will vary from person to person, but the most important ability to have right now is the one that enables us to prioritise effectively and release that for which we have no realistic time nor space. We are not super-heroes and we don’t have to keep every single plate in the air, only those which truly matter to our heart and soul. So much of life is a distraction from these things, but right now we are encouraged to focus on nothing but these priorities, giving them the time, space and energy that they have always deserved.
Between 9th and 12th October we can watch ourselves living life: our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, how we make decisions, what we prioritise and why, who we have around us and where we focus our attention. The results of such an exercise may well surprise us as we begin to discover how poor we are at energy management, how easily we are pulled out of ourselves by the demands of the outside world, of other people, of the petty aspects of everyday life which, yes, need to be addressed, but out of which we make a mountain when they are barely a molehill. This is effectively an exercise in balance, because without it we cannot apply ourselves to our priorities in any focused way. It is also an opportunity to discover just how out of balance we truly are, in terms of managing our attention and energy on a daily basis.
Come 12th – 13th October the heavens point to the vital role of hope, faith and quiet confidence in the living of a balanced life. In times such as these when our everyday experience can be so intense, we cannot afford to allow emotional ups and downs to colour our perspective. Whether everything is coming together beautifully or it’s all falling apart this is just one moment, not a destination. We are not here to turn life into a sequence of still-shots from the best or the worst moments, but to live each moment, whatever its nature, in order for our presence on this earth to be conscious and embodied, not one that hankers only for what was or what ‘should’ be. To be present we must be open to what is. This is, itself, an act of faith, a demonstration of certainty that whatever occurs we cannot be diminished where it matters. Our very essence, the very ground of our being, the stillness at the heart of all emotion, all thought, all reaction, remains forever whole and untouched by the vicissitudes of life. It is through knowing this as truth, lived and experienced, that we can maintain balance throughout the ups and downs, allowing the winds of change to blow through us, sweeping us up in their current whilst remaining still and focused at our centre.
In the wake of the eclipse we have the opportunity to embrace and live this fact; to experience what it means in practice, to know that no matter what, we remain forever complete. And as we embrace this fundamental truth we can consider how much of our activity, our stress, our dis-ease arises from failing to recognise this truth, believing ourselves to be defined by what we do, how we feel, the opinions of others. This is how we leak energy, lose it, invest it unnecessarily: in the frantic activities of a life dictated by the belief that SO MUCH matters, when in fact what matters is very little in the greater scheme of things. Peace, wisdom, personal sovereignty, authenticity, these things matter. Being someone no matter what, making our mark, being seen, affirmed and adored, avoiding suffering, controlling the world around us, all of this is a waste of energy, a red-herring. It tells us we are someone that we are not, that we are dependent upon all kinds of externals for our worth. When in fact we are perfect just as we are, right now, in the still centre of our being where no words are spoken and nothing is done; where there is no point to be made, no identity to uphold, no demonstration of significance necessary.
When we live a balanced life we can return to this place as our true home and gradually begin to live each moment from there. When life falls out of balance we shift further and further away from our core, from truth in all its forms, and we are left wanting, bereft of the very thing we need to be fulfilled: intimacy with our true self which forever waits patiently for us to return.
Sarah Varcas
