Hudson Valley Astrologer

“The Deadline for Complaints was Yesterday…”

My complaints, when I have them, are trivial compared to others in life. This coming March I turn 64. I‘ve noticed a distinct change in my energy levels; I tire easily; there is an unfamiliar tendency towards feeling achiness. Other than that, life is good! I have nothing to complain about unless it’s about other people; people who don’t think or behave I. Accordance with what I might consider just and moral; I complain about shit that is not in my control (but making a concerted effort not to do this).

I also try and not “complain” about something that is quite natural and expected, aging. But I have to admit that some days I feel like I am hauling around a sack of potatoes. So, part of the daily ritual has become not to ask, “good morning, how did you sleep?” or “how do you feel today?” Instead I’ve resorted to asking, “hey, how’s your body battery?” (Garmin watch owners know!)

Sometimes I hit 100%, but not often. The twenty-something and thirty-year-olds seem to hit 100% more frequently and easily, even if they are up all night or working a 24 hour shift at the hospital.

At around age 60, Saturn Returns to the same place it was in a person’s chart when a they were born. Astrologers call transiting Saturn the Saturn Return, whenever it revisits the area of the chart it was in at birth. People don’t necessarily complain about the Saturn Return, but there is undoubtedly a story to tell whenever it happens, which is around the ages we turn 30 and 60. I went through a divorce when I was 30. Then at 60, I had a kidney removed, due to kidney cancer. Saturn can be brutal like that, taking away or eliminating things in our lives that might harm us, or remove us from situations that no longer serve us. But for some reason is the process can be very painful because separation involved. Usually the separation goes against our will, or expectations, because we tend to cling to the past (also a Saturnian attribute). So, Saturn transits can be partly emotional but also partly physical. It takes time to recover, to reorganize the parts left behind, to pick up the pieces and step into a new sense of self, to take charge again and move forward once more.

My response to both of these course corrections in my life was to get fit. In my 30’s I became an accomplished triathlete, at least at a local level. We used to call ourselves weekend warriors. Today, I follow Adrian on Peloton, who curates awesome strength workouts. I ride with Matt, and have done a yoga session or two, but time (Saturn) is really the issue. I just don’t seem to have the time necessary to put in quality workouts of at least 45 minutes to an hour each day. Nevertheless, I make the time, because it’s important. That’s when the other stuff I need to be doing goes undone.

I have my friends and family members who complain about “the socialists,” and “the elites,” and they’ll complain way more than I do about what they see in the news. Mostly, because I don’t watch the news anymore. Other friends and family members complain, sometimes in great detail, and with an emotional huff and puff that feels like it might blow the house down. Their existential fret is real, and they complain about “the authoritarian” movement that has a grip on the world, and the rise of “populism.”

Just now a friend sent a text complaining about how people in power justify horrific policies targeting the disenfranchised, to dehumanize and scapegoat large swathes of society who are relatively powerless against them. Atrocities against other human beings are apparently OK. so long as those other people are “demonized,” and as Native Americans were, considered “savage.” This observation is not an isolated phenomena I. The world today:

• Gaza: Massive destruction of infrastructure and 90% of the population displaced by war.
• Rwanda and Darfur: Genocides, superiority narratives and systematic weaponization of sexual violence used to dehumanize adversaries.
• Myanmar: Rhohingya minority populations subjected to genocide and ethnic cleansing.
• Migrant Populations: Immigrants crossing the Mediterranean and U.S. Mexican border face detention, abuse, and neglect of their basic human rights.
• Nigeria: Division between Christian and Muslim populations fuels hostility and violence, deep seated psychological warfare affects intolerance, fanaticism, victimization, religious and ethnic prejudices, and identity politics that exacerbate projections of being “less than.”

Complaining about having low energy or experiencing aches and pains, seems petty as compared to how much other people are suffering in the world. I really have nothing to complain about!

I’ve got some things to do today. Things I don’t really want to do, like painting the woodwork that is long over due. I could complain about it. I could also complain about not having sufficient cash flow to just hire someone to do it for me. But that would simply add a layer of emotionally ladened frustration on top of my already low energy. Not at all productive.

Maybe if I get moving, set up the ladder and drop cloths, and just get started I will feel a rise in my body battery, and the movement itself will loosen me up, warm these old bones. Maybe I’ll discover that these are good problems to have, especially compared to the deliberating homeowner wrestling to do their chores in Deir al-Balah, or the Donbas region, or perhaps Dresden 1945 the day before the bombs hit.

The Moon is transiting my 4th house so it makes sense to start a home project… it’ll circle back to the 4th house in 28 days. Wonder how much I can get done between now and then?

Transiting Mars is traveling through the 8th house, so there is a real drive to tear through superficialities and get into something deeper, but Mars sometimes operates on a hair trigger when traveling through the 8th house.

Note to self: proceed with caution. Mars will be back to this same place in 2027, two years.

Note to reader: I stopped writing and went and started my renovation project. The hardest part was getting started. Complaining about something, no matter how intense the grievance, I am afraid doesn’t change anything. It just creates more grievances. The country may be on its way to learning this important lesson.

HVA

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