ChatterLog Fall 2010
Balance
Greetings everyone and welcome to the Fall ChatterBulletin. Some of you may have noticed that we did not have a bulletin in September, and so now having moved through the sign of Virgo, we find ourselves in the month of October and the Astrological sign of Libra. This is quite fitting really, because back on September 21st, when we reached the Autumnal Equinox, we experienced a day of “equal light and dark,” marking the halfway point between the Summer and Winter Solstices.
And from there the symbol of a “perfectly balanced day” is continued on into the sign of Libra, whose job in life is essentially to attain balance and harmony, not just for their own benefit, but for all mankind. This “balance” is clearly seen in their symbol, the scales of justice, and why many of them are associated with or work in the legal profession. And so, not surprisingly, the theme for this bulletin is Balance.
Balance is something that we certainly all need in our lives and if something is out of kilter somewhere, we will surely suffer. It might be your health (mental, emotional or physical), or perhaps your environment or your relationships, but whatever or wherever it is, there must be balance. We can go back to the basics of yin & yang, night & day, black & white, but the whole idea is that there are two equal and therefore “balanced” and harmonious halves. For example, let’s look at the idea of “black & white” for a moment. Some of you may already be aware that Libra is the sign associated with partnerships, and why it is also associated with marriage, and the color white – does a “virginal” bride not wear white for her wedding dress? What some of you may not know is that this sign is connected not only with weddings, but also with funerals, and therefore the color black. There’s our yin & yang balance yet again. And so we complete the couple’s marital promise, “until death do us part…” and continue the cycle of life. The sign of Libra is also known to exhibit “grace under pressure” which is why they also make great wedding planners and funeral directors.
Another reason for choosing the theme of Balance this month is because it reminds me of a certain quality that my father used to bring to our family when we were growing up. And, it also brings us back to the reason as to why there was no September bulletin and why I am dedicating this one to my dear papa, who passed away on August 25th. When we were younger, my father was often the “voice of reason” for any type of emotionally charged outburst or family chaos. It was pretty much a sure bet, for example, that following an argument between my mother and my sister it would always be our father who was dispatched (or perhaps self-appointed) to calm the situation down. He possessed the necessary patience to talk calmly with my sister and persuade her to come back into the family fold after running away, yet again…
So when the source of that balance, that “equalizer” was taken away, unexpectedly, the loss we felt was enormous. And when I say loss, I was not talking so much about when he died recently – I am talking about when he left all those years ago, when our parents split up, and subsequently divorced, and the very person who had kept some sort of a balance in our household literally jumped ship, and left us in the lifeboat without him. That was a long time ago, but no matter how many years have passed since then, and how many more marriages there may have been, how much therapy and how much talk has been devoted to the subject, and given that we have all grown up now and can be adults and forgive and move on, those old wounds never really go away. And what was interesting is that losing my dad when I was 56 reminded me of how much I had missed him since I was 14 years old.
This is a “family” photo, probably from the early 1980’s, that was always one of my sister’s and my favorites. What I find especially fascinating is that it was taken some time after our parents had divorced, but looking at it, you’d never know? Despite their divorce, and despite the family craziness, my parents always had an undisputed friendship until the day they died. And even though Mum would usually say something derogatory about him the minute he had turned his back, she had, after all, given birth to his two daughters and still had an unbreakable attachment to him. So on this particular day, for some reason, we were altogether and as usual we went for a walk in the forest with the dog. The energy was good between everyone so I took out my camera, balanced it on a large log, set the self-timer – and there we are!
In closing, and back to our theme of Balance, Libra and the Scales of Justice – who else could illustrate this topic more perfectly than TV personality “Judge Judy?” To begin with, Judge Judith Sheindlin was born on October 21st on the cusp of Libra and Scorpio, and you can see how she combines her legal brilliance (Libra) along with her no-nonsense approach (Scorpio) inside the courtroom. If you have never watched her show, it is a fantastic study, not just of her, and of how her mind works, but also of people and humanity in general. After a while, you can tell who is lying, who is listening, or which ones are just plain stupid. But you wouldn’t want to cross her – she is too smart and quick-witted for most people. Just look at the titles of her books, for example, and that should give you some idea as to her way with words and her colorful character. Her 1st book was called, “Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining” (love it!) and the 2nd one was “Beauty Fades, Dumb is Forever!” And finally, while my sister and I were reading about Judge Judy we found to our amazement that 4 out of her 5 children have the same names as our cousins on our father’s side! Gregory, Jamie, Jonathan & Adam! How strange is that?
