Independence makes you free from something.
I have found that the two kinds of freedoms, 1. freedom from and 2. freedom for are a team.
People have a different level of craving for one of these freedoms, and that’s what drives their growth.
My stronger driver, for example, is ‘freedom for’. And I liberated and empowered it in me from the moment I first heard the Rainer Maria Rilke poem quoted on a Landmark Education event back in 1985… “If I don’t manage to fly, someone else will. The spirit wants only that there be flying. As for who happens to do it, in that he has only a passing interest.”
I remember whispering it to my myself: Please god, let it be me.
At that point I had no idea that there is anything to be free from… free from gravity, history, ego, and fear. That came later.
Mine is one possible type of growth…
The other type becomes free like a bird through liberating themselves from the earth bound existence. And then they realize that they still need to activate something within. something that was nearly killed off in their slavery. enthusiasm. The spirit.
Whichever is your “style”, you need to attend to both kinds of freedoms or you’ll remain earth-bound. forever.
Independence is the freedom from… and rebellion is the freedom for.
We celebrate Independence Day in the USA today. although everyone just calls it the 4th. that way they don’t have to stir anything within, and they can continue staying asleep. Somnambulist.
But if you think you are ready to stir Life in your soul… this day is an excellent day for that.
I got the idea from Rob Brezsny’s horoscopes that hit my inbox today… because it is not just Independence Day today, it’s also Tuesday… lol. They come on Tuesdays like clockwork.
Your job is to pick the perfect “reading” for you. The perfect reading that like yeast in bread, will start working in you to make you lighter, and help you take off.
You may want to let me know which one seems the perfect fit for you in the comments… I’d love to compare notes.
OK:
1. No lifting power? No words, no feelings: This may be perfect for you:
It’s prime time for you to break through any inhibitions you might have about accessing and expressing your passion.
To help you in this righteous cause, I’ve assembled a batch of words you should be ready to use with frequency and sweet abandon.
Consider writing at least part of this list on your forearm with a felt-tip pen every morning so it’s always close at hand: enamored, piqued, enchanted, stirred, roused, enthused, delighted, animated, elevated, thrilled, captivated, turned-on, enthralled, exuberant, fired up, awakened.
2. Trying to live up to unrealistic expectations, and everything anyone says devalues your precious I? this may be perfect for you:
Matt Groening, creator of the cartoon series *The Simpsons,* says that a great turning point in his early years came when his Scoutmaster told him he was the worst Boy Scout in history. While this might have demoralized other teenagers, it energized Groening.
“Well, somebody’s got to be the worst,” he triumphantly told the Scoutmaster. And then, “instead of the earth opening up and swallowing me, instead of the flames of hell fire licking at my knees — nothing happened. And I was free.” I suspect you may soon be blessed with a comparable liberation, Leo. Maybe you’ll be released from having to live up to an expectation you shouldn’t even live up to. Or maybe you’ll be criticized in a way that will motivate your drive for excellence for years to come.
3. De-energizing yourself by trying to be modest? Trying to acknowledge everyone but yourself? This may be the perfect medicine for you:
Nineteen of my readers who work in the advertising industry signed a petition requesting that I stop badmouthing their field. “Without advertising,” they testified, “life itself would be impossible.” In response, I agreed to attend their re-education seminar.
There, under their tutelage, I came to acknowledge that everything we do can be construed as a kind of advertising. Each of us is engaged in a mostly unconscious campaign to promote our unique way of looking at and being in the world.
Realizing the truth, I now feel no reservations about urging you Virgos to take advantage of the current astrological omens. They suggest that you can and should be aggressive and ingenious about marketing yourself, your ideas, and your products.
4. or this… because if you don’t love yourself, who will? No one. If you don’t value your achievements, who will? If you are not for you… who is for you? There is no god… so you are screwed… unless…
In 2003, the American Film Institute announced the creation of a new prize to honor acting talent. Dubbed the Charlton Heston Award, it was designed to be handed out periodically to luminaries who have distinguished themselves over the course of long careers. The first recipient of the award was, oddly enough, Charlton Heston himself, born under the sign of Libra.
I hope you’re inspired by this story to wipe away any false modesty you might be suffering from. The astrological omens suggest it’s a favorable moment to create a big new award named after you and bestow it upon yourself. As part of the festivities, tell yourself about what makes you special, amazing, and valuable.
5. If you are addicted to the search but don’t even notice what you find… this is for you
Here’s your riddle: What unscratchable itch drives you half-crazy? But you’re secretly glad it drives you half-crazy, because you know your half-craziness will eventually lead you to an experience or resource that will relieve the itch.
Here’s your prophecy: Sometime soon, scratching the unscratchable itch will lead you to the experience or resource that will finally relieve the itch. Here’s your homework: Prepare yourself emotionally to fully receive and welcome the new experience or resource. Make sure you’re not so addicted to scratching the unscratchable itch that you fail to take advantage of the healing it’s bringing you.
6. If your eyes are glued to the future, to some agenda, to some goal, but you are not moving… this may be the perfect reading for you:
The best way to go forward is to go backward; the path to the bright future requires a shadowy regression. Put another way, you should return to the roots of a triumph in order to find a hidden flaw that might eventually threaten to undo your success.
Correct that flaw now and you’ll make it unnecessary for karmic repercussions to undermine you later. But please don’t get all solemn-faced and anxious about this assignment. Approach it with humorous self-correction and you’ll ensure that all goes well.
7. If you are experiencing being tied down and already engaged to something within that seems to hold you back from freedom, the freedom to engage without, this may be your perfect reading:
Are you familiar with the psychological concepts of anima and animus from Yung? You’re in the midst of being intoxicated by one of those creatures from inner space. Though you may not be fully conscious of it, you women are experiencing a mystical marriage with an imaginal character that personifies all that’s masculine in your psyche.
You men are going through the analogous process with a female figure within you. I believe this is true no matter what your sexual orientation is. While this awesome psychological event may be fun, educational, and even ecstatic, it could also be confusing to your relationships with real people. Don’t expect them to act like or live up to the very real fantasy you’re communing with.
8. If you are one of those campaigners, who love animals, plants more than people, who hate fully and love fully… while they don’t do anything for their own growth and evolution, this may be the perfect reading for you:
As a recovering save-the-world addict, I have felt compassionate skepticism towards my fellow junkies who are still in the throes of their obsession.
But recently I’ve discovered that just as a small minority of alcoholics can safely take a drink now and then, so can a few save-the-world-aholics actually save the world a little bit at a time without getting strung-out. With that as a disclaimer, Aquarius, I’m letting you know that the cosmos has authorized you to pursue your own brand of fanatical idealism in the coming weeks. To keep yourself honest, make fun of your zealotry every now and then.
9. If your life is a series of blah-blah pleasures, a little skipping here, a little cheating there, a little skimping here, a little candy, a little this and a little that… if you spend all your pleasure spreading it thin… then maybe this is the reading for you:
The potential breakthrough I foresee for you is a rare species of joy. It’s a gritty, hard-earned pleasure that will spawn beautiful questions you’ll be glad to have awakened. It’s a surprising departure from your usual approach to feeling good that will expand your understanding of what happiness means. Here’s one way to ensure that it will visit you in all of its glory: Situate yourself between the fabulous contradictions in your life and say, “Squeeze me, tease me, please me.”
10. If you have given up on innocence and desires because you need to, want to, should be an adult by now, and you are dead and dry and juice-less, maybe this is the perfect reading for you.
Unless you were raised by a pack of feral raccoons or a fundamentalist cult, now is a perfect time to dive in to your second childhood. Is there a toy you wanted as a kid but never got? Buy it for yourself now!
What were the delicious foods you craved back then? Eat them! Where were the special places you loved? Go there, or to spots that remind you of them. Who were the people you were excited to be with? Talk with them. Actions like these will get you geared up for a full-scale immersion in innocent eagerness. And that would be just the right medicine for your soul.
or this: “If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility!”
– Kierkegaard, Either/Or
…or this… 11. for you dried out souls…
What I wish for you, Taurus, is toasted ice cream and secrets in plain sight and a sacred twist of humorous purity. I would love for you to experience a powerful surrender and a calm climax and a sweeping vision of a small but pithy clue. I very much hope that you will get to take a big trip to an intimate turning point that’s not too far away. I pray you will find or create a barrier that draws people together instead of keeping them apart.
12. If you love to do the impossible for the fun of it, and never even considered where it is leading, whether it is giving you any results you want… this may be the reading for you. I am almost certain you are not one of my students… I see myself a little bit in this reading…
In Dr. Seuss’s book, *Horton Hatches an Egg,* an elephant assumes the duty of sitting on a bird’s egg. he is committed to keeping it warm until hatching time. The nest is located high in a tree, which makes the undertaking even more incongruous.
By the climax of the tale, Horton has had to persist in his loyal service through a number of challenges. But all ends well, and there’s an added bonus: The creature that’s born is miraculously part-bird, part-elephant.
I see similarities between this story and your life right now. The duty you’re carrying out doesn’t come naturally, and you’re not even sure you’re doing it right. But if you keep at it till it’s completed, you’ll earn a surprising reward.
Read all of them. Try them on for size, for color, for feel.
If you hesitate, you probably live in a tiny box, where you think you know everything. And your vibration is probably very low…
Just by trying these on, one by one, you’ll liberate something in you, something that has been stuck maybe forever… and you’ll be able to actually celebrate Independence Day, be a little freer, a little happier, a little more playful.
Don’t forget to share which was the best fit for you. Thank you.
1
Rainer Maria Rilke QuotesLive your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers.
If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.
The only journey is the one within.
Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.
Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.
The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.
I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.
This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more they give, the more they possess.
A person isn’t who they are during the last conversation you had with them – they’re who they’ve been throughout your whole relationship.
I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.
Yes, I did.
I see. I bet you spent the long weekend in little pleasures… how do I know? I measured your vibration. One long weekend… all the gains gone. Sigh… such is life. Fair.
I related first to #5, then #2, #1, #4, then #9. Thanks.
good work. I see all four of them as perfect “reading” for you. thank you
For me it was # 4 , then #6 , #5 and number #3
I take it as a promise.
I’m going to be more assertive and not feel apologetic towards others when I do something for myself.
I see… will you do anything the “reading” suggests you do?
#10 is according to your birthdate… hm. interesting.
#3 fits me the best, then 7, 10 and 11..