Dealing with the Downer Horoscope
Tuesday, 17. October 2006, 15:59:51
About three weeks ago, I guess at the beginning of the serious part of getting ready for my move, I started reading and taking real interest in my horoscope. I found that the Tarot.com horoscope syndicated on my Google Start Page was particularly meaningful and accurate, and so I subscribed to the feed and began to check it most mornings before work.
The first few days, the content was pretty benign and helpful. It went something like : Today is a great day to achieve things you've been putting off! Go ahead and tell people what you really think today, because honesty will only bring your friends closer now.
But by week two, things were getting a bit darker and the content had devolved to something more like : Though you have the best intentions, your actions just don't seem to get you anywhere today. Be alert to the dangers that surround you.
By the end of that week, it was this horrible downer to the effect of : As your dreams come crashing down around you, your only hope is to try to minimize the damage. Loved ones no longer trust you.
Today's I can quote verbatim. It reads : You may not be ready to do what is being asked of you today, but your feelings are less important now than your obligations. Instead of thinking about your needs, you must now attend to those around you. Consider the usefulness of anything you say or do prior to taking action. Remember, efficiency is temporarily more essential than comfort.
Isn't that so heavy?! Makes you want to stay in bed.
But try as I might, I can't seem to stop reading them, and thinking thoughts like, "well, you should read today's; it might turn out to be a good day and you won't know unless you read it." The impulse is a combination of what I imagine a gambling addiction would be like, and the same responsibility that forces me to open the bills and pay them. So that's like, "you have to confront this or things will get even worse".
Which is ridiculous. The actual truth is that on these supposedly horrible days, I always forget that they were supposed to have been horrible, and the day flows, and then at night, when I remember what the horoscope said, I can usually apply it to some not-so-traumatic thing, like, "oh yeah, I guess I did have to wash a lot of socks today" or "Stephanie did seem kind of grumpy."
So definitely not the life-altering trauma that is so dramatically implied by whichever florid and dissatisfied Tarot.com employee gets to wrap words around these planetary events.
Some person interprets the formations of the stars and planets, and tells some writer, "such and such planet and star are near each other today so Cancer is going to have to make a decision" and then the writers says to herself, "fine, but how can I make that DRAMATIC?"
"Despite your best efforts, difficult choices are inevitable today. Brace for the impact."
This is the same thing that happened to television journalism when ratings became involved. Suddenly the anchors have to look like washed-up soap stars and the first 75% of the show details the different violent ways in which people recently died.
But as much as I'd like to end the post with a commitment to stop reading these things, or to stop taking them seriously, I don't think I could deliver. Something in me needs to 'confront' them.
The first few days, the content was pretty benign and helpful. It went something like : Today is a great day to achieve things you've been putting off! Go ahead and tell people what you really think today, because honesty will only bring your friends closer now.
But by week two, things were getting a bit darker and the content had devolved to something more like : Though you have the best intentions, your actions just don't seem to get you anywhere today. Be alert to the dangers that surround you.
By the end of that week, it was this horrible downer to the effect of : As your dreams come crashing down around you, your only hope is to try to minimize the damage. Loved ones no longer trust you.
Today's I can quote verbatim. It reads : You may not be ready to do what is being asked of you today, but your feelings are less important now than your obligations. Instead of thinking about your needs, you must now attend to those around you. Consider the usefulness of anything you say or do prior to taking action. Remember, efficiency is temporarily more essential than comfort.
Isn't that so heavy?! Makes you want to stay in bed.
But try as I might, I can't seem to stop reading them, and thinking thoughts like, "well, you should read today's; it might turn out to be a good day and you won't know unless you read it." The impulse is a combination of what I imagine a gambling addiction would be like, and the same responsibility that forces me to open the bills and pay them. So that's like, "you have to confront this or things will get even worse".
Which is ridiculous. The actual truth is that on these supposedly horrible days, I always forget that they were supposed to have been horrible, and the day flows, and then at night, when I remember what the horoscope said, I can usually apply it to some not-so-traumatic thing, like, "oh yeah, I guess I did have to wash a lot of socks today" or "Stephanie did seem kind of grumpy."
So definitely not the life-altering trauma that is so dramatically implied by whichever florid and dissatisfied Tarot.com employee gets to wrap words around these planetary events.
Some person interprets the formations of the stars and planets, and tells some writer, "such and such planet and star are near each other today so Cancer is going to have to make a decision" and then the writers says to herself, "fine, but how can I make that DRAMATIC?"
"Despite your best efforts, difficult choices are inevitable today. Brace for the impact."
This is the same thing that happened to television journalism when ratings became involved. Suddenly the anchors have to look like washed-up soap stars and the first 75% of the show details the different violent ways in which people recently died.
But as much as I'd like to end the post with a commitment to stop reading these things, or to stop taking them seriously, I don't think I could deliver. Something in me needs to 'confront' them.
WIDGETIZE