Hudson Valley Astrologer

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

~ E.E. Cummings

Like a page taken from an old newspaper the many jobs I’ve had in my past could be easily found in the “classifieds”: Paper boy, lawn boy, snow shoveler, roofer, gas station attendant, fast food counter, bar tender, and demolition laborer. All of these roles I played for pocket change while living at home. Mom ran the house as a single parent. I was one of nine. So, there was never much money, but plenty of chaos.

Once out of school and after a stint at college I moved into white collar jobs, from insurance agent, to mortgage broker to banker, eventually ending up as a financial advisor. There was more money, but chaos (Uranus) and the unpredictable lurked, perpetually it seemed, to shock and awe, and unexpectedly surprise me at every turn.

Life appeared to be random on its face, control or self-control (discipline/Saturn) was lacking. A reflection of the household I grew up in, but was my experience truly random, or fate? Why was I on a roof in the middle of December, wearing a winter coat, boots and gloves? Was it purely happenstance? Sweeping snow off the roof jacks and boards so that we had a place to stand, so we could see what we were doing, and preventing someone from slipping was smart. However, no one stopped to consider the insanity of young unsupervised workers hustling ahead of the winter solstice, as the day and season rapidly lost light. It was cold! The temperature had dropped into the twenties, but there was an emergency and the home owner needed their roof done. Lucky for me he hired a group of us without much experience or insurance. Stupid of him really, god forbid one of us fell, but he got away with it because we did the job, and there was no catastrophe. He saved a few bucks, and we made some cash. Two of my friends had done a couple of roofs before this, but it was my first time.

The roof on my house needs replacing now. I wish I had that seventeen year old body… I’d hop there and do it myself with a couple of kids from the neighborhood. It’s fun actually! Good, hard work. Today “the few bucks” I’d save might amount to thirty grand, or more — which is wild because that’s probably what my parents paid to buy the house where I grew up. Now? You only get a roof.

A dear friend who has been an astrologer for fifty years has had to double as a carpenter’s helper from time to time, during the lean years when commissions were scarce, and he had to make ends meet. Carpenters are good at that, “making ends meet.” What we do along the way, to become who we are… is like that. We are looking for the ends to the means, trying to connect what we do with who we are and bring ourselves into alignment — with our identity.

Can we say “you do what you are?” Or should we say, “you are what you do?”

A job is a reflection of our identity, not only who we think we are, but in some respects, at the time we are doing it, we are that. At the root of what we do, jobs represent how we value ourselves, what we believe, our personality, our character. When our actions lead in development we are in the process of becoming that which we already are, our true identity. However, when our actions do not lead, but instead follow some image, perhaps a figment of something other than we are, then what we “are trying to be” may not be in alignment with our inner most selves, our true identity. You might recognize this phenomenon as imposter syndrome.

“You do what you are” is a reminder that lasting change starts from within. By understanding and embracing your true self, your actions will naturally follow suit—leading to a more authentic and fulfilling life. Embracing authenticity and aligning your actions with your real identity can help reduce imposter syndrome and engender confidence

There are vocational guidelines suggested by the natal chart that can help point us in the right direction, and the all important “finding a purpose” that feeds into finding personal fulfillment in life. This aspect of astrology is no doubt one of the most important objectives of an astrological consultation. But the vocational profile isn’t always clear. Sometimes the life is overwhelmed by job vagaries that reflects ambiguity in the chart, and a person’s actions following a false image, rather than those actions leading from a sense of knowing — THIS IS WHO I AM.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

HVA

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