The recent Scorpio Eclipse sets the tone for the next 6 months. What Scorpio can teach us about society and the definition of "success," especially through the American lens: ☮♥
-HUGE- Lightbulb Moment today listening to our Friend Tom Lescher this week- as our most recent Eclipse in Scorpio, indicates the major theme for the next 6 months, what a revelation to examine the central themes of Scorpio as compared to its opposite, Taurus.
The motto of Scorpio is "I Rely"~ 'I evolve through connection and relationship' and learn to confront the needs, fears & pride related to those things. Taurus is "I'm Self-Sufficient" 'I've got it all worked out, I have everything I need, I've got it handled.
This provides deep insight into the main discussion during our most recent election. As half of the Country has been promoting the Taurean view, while the other half is bolstering the Scorpio view. Both are necessary in a healthy human existence, both are valid and anyone who Lives a Life of any length will work with both on Mastering both these dynamics.
It has become very clear to me that there's a misconception in this Country that has powerful implications in how we perceive our neighbors and fellow Countrymen and women, and the policies that we are willing to support to these ends. This misconception comes from confusion between Success and Highest Potential.
The recent standard Americans concept of "success" is that everyone who is successful is financially self-sufficient. I challenge this notion with the Truth, which is: Everyone who is doing what they are here to do is successful. Another way of saying what we are here to do is 'fulfilling our Highest Human Potential.' What we are Really here to Do, where our Heart and soul is continually leading us, and the highest aspiration that a human can achieve is fulfilling our Highest Human Potential. And, that society functions best when everyone is fulfilling their potential far better than if everyone was a well paid corporate manager.
This is difficult for some Americans to swallow, as the quintessential American Myth is that success is a straight line, and that everyone willing to work hard will "succeed" financially (the assumption of the flipside being that everyone who isn't financially secure is lazy).
This philosophy ignores, among other things, the fact that the wealthy have created a very exclusive club in which they support each other's business agendas and share information on market trends and investments, and outsiders are not privy or welcome to. And then, they break their arms patting themselves on the back for their "successes" and judge everyone on the echelons below as less smart, less hard-working, less valuable... none of which are true.
And, there's the important point that needs to be made about integrity. I could have the same MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS as Mitt Romney, if I was willing to suck the money out of the same companies that he did, and then profit off of the interest & investments for the rest of my Life. But my integrity and Love of people won't allow me to do that. So let's stop pretending that the wealthy in society are automatically to be admired, revered and modeled after.
Let us first agree that society was never designed to be filled with 100% wage earners, as we are a diverse tapestry that includes our elders, children & young people, special needs people, the infirm, etc. Not to mention the seasons in Life where the winds of fortune send us in directions that take precedence over our career objectives, of which I won't go into at length, but that a person of any maturity and Life experience can imagine.
Fulfilling one's highest potential is as individual as each person. When we define success as fulfilling our highest potential, financial returns are secondary, as for a child, their highest potential may be to Love, to heal an adult's childhood wound, to demonstrate play or to express natural emotion. Just because a child isn't being paid a wage doesn't mean that their contribution is less valuable than a high level corporate manager. In fact, often the opposite is True, that the world needs a lot more of what the child is bringing to the table than the working professional.
Nor does a person have to be a child to have a highest potential along the lines of Loving, acceptance, forgiveness or holding a high vibration. Some of us were put here to Live in a cabin in a remote forest, others to meditate in groups at an ashram. Maybe for just a time, maybe for a Lifetime. It is only in the Heart and soul of each person to know what their Highest Potential is. Just because a man's father may want him to be a Doctor doesn't mean that is what the young man is here to do. We must give ourselves and all of those in our sphere permission to identify, to explore, to know and to pursue their Highest Potential.
Stephen Hawking broke a lot of misconceptions in people's minds about potential. And while there was demand and a market for his scientific theories, if there wasn't, his contribution wouldn't be any less. Painters are here to paint, sculptors to sculpt, tax geeks to know tax code, explorers to explore, farmers to farm, teachers to teach, writers to write, thinkers to think and dancers are here to dance!! Some will find a paycheck for their contributions sometimes, sometimes enough to Live on and sometimes not.
It is time that we unlock our self-worth from our income. Yes, there is a feeling of accomplishment that comes from being able to pay our own bills. But it in no way compares to the feeling that one receives by giving to the less fortunate!! And, it takes an equally developed soul to be able to receive with grace, and to ask for what one needs. So, let's stop pretending that maturity begins and ends with 'working a 'good' job and paying taxes.'
Most people work jobs while also pursuing and perfecting their craft. While the jobs are not one's Divine Life Purpose, they tend to be less than inspiring, passion-driven or well paid. There are those who are fortunate enough that their highest potential is in an arena that America values, be it as a professional athlete or as a musician with a major label record contract. They are a rare exception.
There are those who are here to be Business Owners, Managers, Leaders. One of the things that the world desperately is in need of is excellent employers who view their employees as whole people, who advocate for wage and benefit increases for the workers and policies to create a healthy, dynamic and supportive working culture.
As interconnected beings, who inhabit a Living Earth with an interconnected web of Life, we must acknowledge that everything that affects one affects the whole, and that we are family, we belong to one another and that we are invested in the well-being of each and every Living thing. And that we all do better when we all do well.
A healthy person is someone who is capable of both giving and receiving in equal balance. And someone who accepts and acknowledges that the Truth of Life is that sometimes we are on the Giving end of the cycle, and sometimes we are on the Receiving end.
The last thing on this point that I would like to emphasize, and leave you with is that Motherhood is damn hard work. And there's no paycheck, no vacation, no sick time, no 401K, etc. Just because there's no one paying wages to Mothers doesn't mean that their work is not real, not incredibly important and not vital to a functioning society. I'm tired of people portraying stay at home Mothers as "Living off of the system" or "Living off of their husbands." Nothing could be further from the Truth, and if you don't think so, may I recommend that you spend a week being the care-taker of four children and then we'll revisit the issue. What is closer to the Truth is that the system is benefiting from the labor of Mothers for Free. And it's high time that Mothers are revered and respected for what they do!
When we were an Agricultural Society, it was understood that everyone in the family had to contribute for all parties in the family to Live. Children went to school and/or helped out in the field, Mothers sewed, cooked, tended to the children and Fathers farmed. It wasn't until we became an Industrialized Nation that suddenly men were labeled as "Producers" as women were labeled as "Consumers". In case you ascribe to that particular philosophy, I challenge you to imagine what the world would be without the unpaid labors of women.
Namaste' ☮♥
