At this time of the year blogs, magazines & newspapers are full of stories about how to make & keep New Years Resolutions. Whilst I know that most don’t get kept, so this year I have put substantial thought into mine & have a list- on the basis that:

• There is safety in numbers
• Whilst many may get broken, statistically surely some have to be achieved

Apparently resolutions should be things that inspire you & that you have control over. They should also be for changes rather than symptoms. Interestingly this year the one that will not be on my list is the one about losing 20kgs- the number has stayed the same for the last few years, so I figure that particular one is a symptom… Anyways, my list:

Financial Goals

As a triple Pisces with a strong Pluto control freak underbelly, I am both repelled by & attracted to numbers. Yet, financial independence is a key goal, so to help this along:

1. In 2010 I spent enough money on books & music to finance a trip to Europe at the pointy end of a full service plane. In 2011 I have a budget I have to keep to. Hubby has bought me a kindle for Xmas (yet to arrive- he didn’t order it before Mercury went retrograde), so books should be cheaper. And seriously surely I can re-read stuff, & have enough music to fill the ipods of a dozen people with completely different musical tastes.
2. In fact I will have a budget for all sorts of stuff next year. Information is power…apparently.
3. Currently I buy both breakfast & lunch most work days. This adds up…and tends to be a high carb no other alternative. It’s stopping…well all but 2 lunches a week- I need my clear thai noodle soup
4. Grow my blog readership. Between February & December 2010 my average daily hits have doubled- my goal is to do the same in 2011…but with a substantially greater “sticking” rate & more comments that don’t offer me things like penis enlargements or cheap Viagra- neither of which I have use for.

Travel Goals

1. First up is Bali at the end of February with a friend. I have done some pretty heavy training so far for this:

• Booked travel there
• Booked some great accommodation at Legian Beach which, based on the US dollar is getting cheaper by the day
• Spent the last few days practising lying on a lounge by the pool slathered in sunscreen & reading
• I am yet to book a return airfare, but that will happen. I promise.

1. I promised hubby that I would not go anywhere else this year without him or Five Foot Nothing (work trips are, of course, excepted). I even cashed in all of my AMEX Frequent Flyer points on his Xmas present so that I wouldn’t be tempted… It helps that I am still in arrears in my annual leave account J. That doesn’t meant that we can’t go somewhere.

Personal & Physical Goals

I was thinking about saying something like “be a better Mum”, but I am actually a pretty good Mum (Five Foot Nothing told me so) or “be a better wife”, but I think this is probably as good as I am likely to be at that…& I did cash in all my amex points for him…

So, in 2011, I will finish things:

1. Finish a book- I have 2 manuscripts on the go- both a differing levels of completion- which I will complete & send out into the world:

• My NaNoWriMo novel tentatively titled Instant Karma or It’s Pandemonium (I haven’t decided).  I am mid way through a re-write.
• An astro book about weight loss & the planets with the coolest title that I am about halfway through a 1^st draft on. Given that I have been at the half way status for about 12 months, that is a challenge.

1. Finish painting the trims in our house- all of them (except maybe the bathroom)… I still have 4 bedrooms & the living areas to go…
2. Finish the Couch to 5km running program.
3. Finish the Sun Fun Run from Dee Why to Manly (7kms) in February…even if I do walk a (large) part of it…
4. Finish getting fit- properly life fit not just gym fit. Assuming that my cruddy ankle will hold up to this, I also intend doing the City to Surf (14kms) in August, with a stretch target of the Lake Burley Griffin course (I think that is 21kms) by the end of 2011.

My Number 1 Goal For 2011

Is to be Happy. Properly now happy not just will be happy when such & such happens or will be happy when I lose 20 kgs or will be happy when I am financially independent or will be happy when my job title is Author/World Traveller. Happy now happy. And at the end of the day, if hand on heart at midnight 31/12/11 I can say that, nothing else on this list really matters.

I have been doing pretty well faff all today…& it has been delightful. Back to work on Tuesday, but in the meantime I have pretty well gone from lying on the lounge & some meaningful catching up of TV programs I had taped to lying on a pool lounge floating around the pool with a book.

I know I should be thinking about goals & stuff & sort of have been, but am not getting real far.

I read a great post in Tiny Buddha this morning about how resolutions can’t work because they address only the symptoms of whatever needs to change. It’s a pretty cool concept.

On the recap viewpoint, I have had a major Jupiter say yes year…I pretty well said yes to everything that got thrown my way- regardless of whether I wanted to or not.

So now, before Mercury goes direct, the highlights:

• New York New York in February- seriously the most amazing place I have been & to see it in the snow was just too good.

Times Square on a blizzardy February morning- Pic by me

• Watching the top of the table AFL clash at the MCG with 90,000 screaming others. I lost my voice- it was that good
• Hong Kong at Easter. Sure I had to work. Sure I was on my own for Easter & it was hard hard hard & more lonely than I can say, but that just got me out & about even more than usual. One of the most vibrant cities & home to the worlds best dumplings . Even my mishap in Macau was fun in retrospect.

Hong Kong- Pic by me

• Finishing the 1st draft of my novel. I am a Writer.
• Cruising the South Pacific with my family in July- next time I will take an ebook reader to save on luggage space.

The view from Deck 9

• Getting this blog- the ramblings of a totally chaotic Pisces mind- into the list of Top Astrology Blogs…consistently- even after the rating system was changed.
• So many many more wonderful things & people…you know who you are.

To the skies…the Moon will be in Scorpio through until mid morning Sydney time on New Years Day. Don’t let the intensity dampen your spirits too much, although it certainly isn’t a high spirited party Moon . The square between Mars & Saturn is separating & Mercury will be direct. Of most interest is the final conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus for the next 12 years or so. My friend Kelly Surtees says this best:

“This aspect promotes creative brilliance and brings unexpected opportunities for growth. Getting out of your comfort zone never promised so much. Where are you prepared to experiment?”

Me in Central Park

© Andrymorphy | Dreamstime.com

I am naively optimistic (some may say delusional), but this doesn’t stop me from:

• Checking under the top of drink caps to check if I could be a winner
• Wondering about the pot of gold at the end of each rainbow
• Assuming that every cloud has a silver lining
• Still being amazed that bad things continue to happen to good people
• Assuming that people mean the things they say

To perpetuate this optimism (some may say delusions):

• I don’t watch movies or TV shows or read books where anything happens to the kid or the dog
• Same regarding anything with a known unhappy ending
• Likewise books or movies with inspirational messages- they always make me cry & I spend a lot of time trying to avoid just that.

I also steadfastly refuse to believe that there are intrinsically “bad” planets or intrinsically “bad” transits. Shit happens, but sometimes under a so called good transit by a so called benefic planet. One of the most difficult 2 weeks in recent years was when Jupiter crossed my Midheaven. Conversely, the first few months when Pluto moved to square my natal Moon 4 years ago was emotionally one of the most exciting times…although granted, the brown stuff did hit the fan soon after…

The only exception I make to this rule is regarding Saturn. As far as I am concerned nothing good ever happens under a Saturn transit (see my post on Saturn & I Irreconcilable Differences). Many astrologers call Saturn transits “skinny transits”…I don’t even get those good bits. When Saturn was opposing my Pisces Sun & Moon in recent years, I have been fatter than ever before. (I hold out more hope for an upcoming opposition to Venus).

Despite their pain, Saturn transits are for me relatively straight forward to predict- they will always involve a mountain that I otherwise would have no interest in climbing, they will always involve a lesson of some description, they will always be a reminder of the structures that I don’t have right & they will always involve a general melancholy or depressive & negative viewpoint. When Saturn comes calling I stop looking under drink bottle caps.  

Given that Saturn is in my 1^st house, Saturn transits are usually accompanied by a joint, tooth or bone problem of varying pain & associated expense- all designed to remind me that I should have:

• Remembered to floss more often
• Kept all those chiropractor appointments
• Not tried running on the crap ankle
• Not used boxing as an alternative to anger management
• Looked after my weight & boundaries

But not everyone has problems with Saturn. My theory is that I do have these issues because Saturn is unaspected (I only use same signs) in my chart & in the sign of his fall. In this regard, transits to & by Saturn throw a Saturn flavour on my chart which is missing natally. I have similar problems when the Moon is in Saturns’ sign (Capricorn or Aquarius). In contrast, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, The Sun & the Moon are all connected to each other natally, so part of their energy is in virtually every part of life for me.

So, just because I have problems with Saturn, should I assume that others have the same issues?

Call me Pollyanna, but one person’s Plutonic journey into hell may present an opportunity for complete transformation to someone else. One may suffer a physical loss, while the other may have a spiritual rebirth.

Likewise Uranian transits can be exciting and restless like falling in love. But they can also be frightening and unsettling and upset the very core of your existence.

Take my Jupiter Midheaven transit- I had to be presented with a crisis and a loss in order to see an opportunity…and I had to see that opportunity in order to understand what I needed at that point in time.

Ultimately what we do with transits is done out of free will & will be a reflection on the potential of our whole chart- & can therefore not ever be looked at in isolation as being good, bad or otherwise.

So, when I post about transits of particular planets, should I dwell on the more potentially challenging possibilities of that transit (as some may say, tell it like it is) or the potential growth that may come from that transit? I think both, but in reading comments on other sites, maybe I have a responsibility (another Saturn word) to warn a little more- the whole forewarned is forearmed theory. Which then raises a whole new set of questions- what do you do with that information?

When I look at the transits about to hit my chart, I look at the possibilities & the dates & generally do nothing. For no reason than despite being a control freak, I do work best & respond best under chaos & tend to unconsciously cultivate that. I thrive on resolution even when that resolution means major change- simply because something is happening. What if being forewarned & forearmed meant that the safe harbour was chosen rather than pushing the boat out in a storm towards something that could be really great? What if it means you ignore the potential cool stuff?

Me? I am convinced one day that I will find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…possibly after climbing a Saturn mountain to get there. For me, that is telling it like it is.

Poppies- Pic by me

Today was one of those beautiful sunny days that Sydney gets all its’ good publicity for. Not too hot, not too humid, clear as a bell. I am still on holidays, so spent this afternoon swapping between the banana lounge & the (surprisingly clean) pool. Even threw the cocker spaniel in for a swim.

And isn’t that just what one should do under a Libra Moon if at all possible- lounge around? I have also spent some quality down time playing with a negative & slide scanner (it was gadget & speaker year from the big fat jolly red fella in Chez Tracey this Christmas) & got some really cool effects out of some old slides- some of which I’ll share in this post. At one point I was into the really super fine slides with really really low ISO numbers & no tolerance at all for light levels. These ones are just way too fine for the scanner to deal with (they were scanning in at 8 & 9 megs!) hence the really weird exposure effects.

Poppies- pic by me

The Saturn/Mars square I spoke about yesterday is almost exact. Whilst I am not blaming that (necessarily), I was in an absolute shit of a mood this morning, but a trip to the gym & the 1st proper workout in a week cured that. Expect any effects of this square to intensify as the Moon moves into Scorpio from around 6.30am (Sydney time) tomorrow. Thinking before you act (or in my case before you speak) will make it easier on yourself & those around you.

Also of importance is Mercury hitting his stationary position before turning back direct. So, tie up any unfinished business, go back over your plans & tighten up those New Years Resolutions & start 2011 as you mean to be going on with. A friend commented on a Facebook post I made the other day along the lines of “whatever you do on New Years Day sets up the theme for the year”…that certainly explains an awful lot!

Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous on top of The Rock

We are in that time of the year when Xmas is over but the new year isn’t quite on us. Sort of a calendular no mans land or limbo. New Years Resolutions are still a few days away & (personally speaking) I am more over Xmas than I can express.

Today I took a break from the cleaning, but unfortunately not from the eating & drinking. After having a few too many with my baby brudda in the cold of his Central Coast holiday caravan last night, entertaining today was just a top up. In the immortal words of Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous “the last mosquito that bit me had to check into Betty Ford”. Hmmm somehow I think the New Years Resolutions need to start sooner rather than later! I looked at my bathroom scales this morning & I do believe I heard them groan.

With the Moon in Libra today, sociability & moderation & balance are the key words. Given that we were entertaining friends today, I certainly had half of that equation nailed. No prizes for guessing which part.

By tomorrow morning the Moon will have hooked up with Saturn in Libra. For many people this can be a difficult time- fortunately it is over quickly. One of the potentially most blah days from an emotional viewpoint of the month. You will feel this most if you have a strong Moon allegiance or have your Moon in one of the water signs as this conjunction is one of those times where you may feel that your emotions have attached themselves to someone else & walked out the door without their mobile phone & no other way of contacting them.

To make this a tad more challenging, Mars is moving towards a square aspect with Saturn. The good part of this is that both Saturn & Mars are exalted in their respective signs. Mars in Capricorn is naturally more cautious than he is in other signs, so this square is perhaps not as frustrating as it could be. This is one of those days where you may find yourself listening to negativities a tad more than usual. The traditional interpretation can be to have problems with someone in authority, but it may be as simple as taking to heart an over heard comment.

As an example, someone who I respect, actually am a little in fear or awe of, asked me the other day what I am working on. I replied that I was working on a manuscript, to which she replied “yes, but that is your heart & won’t keep you in shoes. What is happening with your real work?” At the time I laughed & replied that I considered my writing to be real work- I’m just not working on a voluntary basis at present . But part of me allowed that little worm of doubt to start wriggling through my highly suggestable Pisces mind. And that makes me feel angry.

Under this square you may feel that something is holding you back. Be honest, is it fear or are you listening to the expert opinions of people who should keep their big mouths shut? Use the next few days to plan your goals. Revisit the year that was. What have you done, what have you achieved? What has been the theme of 2010 for you? If you were to write a letter to yourself dated 31/12/11, what would it say?

More on this tomorrow…