accessing that big vein in our necks ..... without any sharp objects although toxic odors and permanently stained fingers may be required

 "Listen to the sound of the waves within you -

you are dreaming your thirst,

when the water you want is inside the big vein in your neck." - Rumi

lucita peek polarity locket

When I was a little girl, a hippie cousin a few years older than me introduced me to Rumi - the 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic.

Charlene spent part of a summer at our house sneaking visits with the boyfriend her parents had forbidden her to see while my mother pretended to look the other way.

I spent that summer obsessed with Rumi and my new colorful, thick permanent markers that left my fingers stained for weeks - making posters that read stuff like - "let what you love be what you do" and "what you seek is seeking you".

 (almost everything ever worth saying was said by Rumi seven hundred years ago)

I started 4th grade a totally different person. No one noticed.

I want to dedicate another summer to Rumi (and yes, I'm buying some poster board and colorful thick markers - I might buy the washable ones, but if they don't have that same toxic marker smell and I don't think they do - I might have to buy the old school kind and just work on the front porch) and since this a business blog (sort of) I have looked to see what Rumi has to say about 'work'

(although everything Rumi says applies to everything, but just so we have a kind of jumping off point).

"Everyone has been made for some particular work

and the desire for that work has been put in every heart."- Rumi

Let's start with this. It feels kind of like summer to me (and yes, I realize I am rushing things a bit - it is still spring in some parts of the world, although it is like 40 degrees in the shade here right now) - but it feels like the heartfelt work of summer to me. 

The best thing about being an artist now is that we do not have to wait for someone to hire us before we can get to work - we are not waiting to be picked anymore - not waiting to be discovered - we are done waiting.

Part 1 this week - vocations and avocations since the shift

"If you are irritated by every rub - how will your mirror be polished?" - Rumi

(just remembering how I irritated the sh*t out of my mother with this one everytime she complained about the heat that summer)

also this week we have to talk about the new moon / solar eclipse in Taurus -  this one is about security and self worth and anarchy and buried treasure - what a week!

maybe life is just an endless quest without knowing what our quest is ...

I have been advised by hubs

(yes, more than once)

that the cereal dust at the bottom of the box is not a good enough dinner for us.

And I would agree that it probably lacks vitamins and minerals

(unless some of the stuff the cereal company has sprayed onto the raisin bran in the raisin bran factory has managed to dislodge itself from the plastic bag and glob onto the crumbs on their way into our mouths)

But faced with the possibility of face-planting myself on a hot stove - it's all I have the energy for.

I know you are thinking, but Cat, you just had a vacation remember, a beach vacation with sun and fun and a freakin' GOLF CART - you have only been back from vacation for exactly 22 seconds, so why all the whining ...

(and if you are thinking this, you probably do not know me as well as you think you do)

I have no explanation.

I am going to take a catnap and try to put some sensible words together tonight (as well as possibly a dinner that does not include sugar coated raisins).

In the meantime I will admit I stole my title from this insanely intelligent 9 year old boy - if you missed this somehow it is certainly better than anything I could say right now and definitely worth a listen.

today's lunar eclipse - balancing our sails and scales now

We have a lunar eclipse (moon passes directly behind the sun) today at 5 degrees Scorpio on the fixed star Gacrux.

The Crux constellation signifies guidance in general and it will be rather an important eclipse for many - its effects last for 6 months - and will be reactivated 11/1 when there is the final Uranus square Pluto hit.

So, what the hell does this mean?

Lunar eclipses bring endings or culminations of matters at hand. There is an emphasis on the things we leave behind - a little sadness connected to loss here.

(solar eclipses on the other hand - we have one in a  couple weeks - are all about birth and of courses, births bring on endings, too - but usually with births we are so focused on the new that the old can slip away easily and unmourned - with lunar eclipses there is some mourning going on; sometimes a whole lot of mourning)

If we know where this eclipse transits our birth chart (this can help you figure it out) - we can sometimes make the transition a little smoother. This particular lunar eclipse, because we have that Crux (crossroads) can make the ending even more acute.

The cross also represents balance.

During the next six months, it is important to find a balance in our lives between work and rest. If we have been working too hard then we need to schedule time for rest and replenishment. If we have been resting too much our bodies (or bank accounts) will require change.

The house where the lunar eclipse falls in our chart will show exactly where we need to make a change and will take something away that forces us to adjust our sails/scales and bring things into balance.

We are always reconstructing ourselves choice by choice.

Know that any losses we experience now (and by now I mean 2-3 weeks plus or minus the eclipse) is not a punishment but simply a re-balancing.

There is also some universal connection going on with this eclipse. Neptune would like the stars and planets to connect all of us - no boundaries. But Saturn reminds us we are still on earth, there are only so many hours in the day and the line has to be drawn somewhere - where is the balance missing in our lives?

back to the real world ....

cat and geo vaca - north captiva island

10 Things I Learned on Our Florida Vacation

1.  I MUST get a golf cart

(there are no cars allowed on this island and the golf cart

was wicked fun - I don't want to learn to play golf

and can't support all that green grass watering -

I just want to  drive the flippin' cart/car - what is it called?! - 

SO MUCH FUN)

2. Never wear flip flops when hiking

(I lost mine in wild rushing water - day 1- 

and had to hike 2 miles over hot sand and through dense brush

in just hubby's socks - I will never make 

fun of his socks with sneakers again - I think they saved my life)

3. Everything tastes better cooked on a grill

(even stuff I make, I knew this already, but forgot somehow)

4. The new Harry Potter land at Universal

(yes, we spent one day in Orlando)

is highly overrated

(I convinced hubs we needed to make a 

3 hour drive to Orlando to see Harry -

we had to check out of our beach house on Saturday

and our flight home wasn't until Monday morning 

and we had to drive 3 hours back
to the airport the next day -

I really wanted to experience

what many are calling "the best amusement park ride evah"

I got instantaneous motion sickness

and spent the ride flying from dementors

with my eyes closed, trying not to puke
and missed the whole thing)

5.  I am not afraid to swim in the ocean 

many better swimmers are - for some reason I'm not

maybe because we saw dolphins everyday and I think where

there are dolphins there are no sharks 

(I passed this info on to a few people on the beach 

before realizing it was probably not a good idea

to spread this around since it is most likely that I made it up)

once the dolphins were only about 25 feet away from me

they told me they prefer Pottery Barn to Target,

Trader Joe's to Whole Foods,

and they wish to God we'd stop peeing in the ocean.

6. Next time I will bring half as many clothes

and twice as much food

(don't be scared - I won't be wearing half as many clothes

at one time - I will just be wearing the same things
over and over again because that's what we did)

7. Never buy your first smartphone

right before your vacation

because you will not know how the hell it works and will be
asking 13 year old strangers to help you

8. (this one is hubs lesson not mine)

When new becomes normal, it stops being made of magic

(he got a little bored - although this could be due to the horrific sunburn he suffered

on the very first day - pic is from day 4, yes it was even worse than it looks here)

9. When hubs says he has put on sunblock -

he has not put on sunblock

10. Beach vacations will always

end the same way -

me clinging to the boat and screaming

that something is wrong with the calendar -
it is really only Tuesday and
I have 4 more days ...

and then of course the Island Police,

handcuffs, fingerprints and some crazy woman
demanding of the officers 

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"

 - not because I'm famous of course, but just

because my memory is so bad ....