Water, Water Everywhere
I love the water. Plain and simple.
I have always loved being around it, as far back as I can remember. Growing up next to the Niagara River in upstate New York, I would take regular (almost daily) pilgrimages to sit at the edge of it. All alone, just gazing away at those murky waters, I would dream of someday living by the ocean, where I would spend copius amounts of time gazing at it as well. Assuming that the ocean water was cleaner and warmer than my neighborhood river, maybe I would even spend a little time actually swimming in it.
I also used to love riding my bike down to Lake Ontario. Now, this was a particulary long bike ride from my house (probably about a half-hour if I remember correctly), but I never cared. I always, always loved heading to the lake because, well....it was a lake! There was even a small patch of sand there. Kind of like a (very) little beach, if you were able to ignore all the rocks, I suppose.
I can still recall reaching that last stretch of road through Fort Niagara State Park on my way to the lakeside. I would bisect the soccer fields, all surrounded by beautiful green forests, and at some point could see the lake waters glimmering in the distance. That first sight of Lake Ontario's vast body of sparkling water would always make me smile. And pedal harder. Ahhh. Peace was soon to be mine. Get to the water, Paul! And during the summer, I could even go swimming in it. It was never that warm, but hey, I took what I could get.
I revisited these memories today while swimming in the ocean at Waikiki. I used to say I liked just being around the water better than actually being in it, but I have since begun to change my view. I think I love both equally now. Each time I plunge into the clear blue waters here, I get happy inside. There is very little adjustment to the temperature, especially at this time of the year, which makes it simple to just walk (or dive) right in and commence frolicking. After the initial entry, I usually hear myself let out an audible sigh of relief, as if all of my worrisome thoughts and fears of the day are being washed away by mother nature. I occasionally survey these surroundings and feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the ocean, and can't help but note how I am swimming in such a tiny, tiny little piece of it. Just a drop in the huge Pacific bucket. Inevitably, I smile and give thanks for living in a place where I can do this every day if my soul desires.
I was born under the astrological sign of Pisces. While pondering my love of the water, I laugh and think that I am just embracing my inner water sign (Pisces is a water sign, represented by the fish). Simply put, the water is and always has been where I find my center.
It is perhaps an understatement to say that I enjoy reading about astrology and its subtleties. OK, I really dig it. As a young child I received a chain with a Pisces medallion attached to it. I had absolutely no idea what Pisces meant, except that it was my birth sign and that I loved it for some reason. It was not until many years later as an adult living in Atlanta that I started to investigate all of this further. I stumbled into a bookstore called The Phoenix and the Dragon (what else?), picked up a book called "You're Every Sign!" by Phyllis Mitz, and commenced reading.
As I perused the gory details of my sign, I recognized every one of them. Good and bad, they were all there in black and white. Next I started to read up on my friends, previous lovers, and family members. Wow. Even if this made no sense to anyone else, I didn't care. Somehow it made perfect sense to me. I loved that this woman researched all of the signs and at least offered some explanation for our crazy behaviors. And I loved even more that it seemed so accurate! I have said it before, and I will say it again: If someone tells me something that just might help me gain more insight into myself and others, I will listen. I will take it for what it's worth, naturally, but I will certainly pay attention and give anything a chance to work for me.
Reading through my own Piscean characteristics, I felt as if this woman had been following me around all my life, scribbling away at her notes while I dreamed away the years (a classic Pisces trait) and used my vivid imagination to try to escape my miserable realities (there's another one!). And when she mentioned our extreme sensitivity to everyone and everything, I might have shed a tear. Someone finally understood me! Need I even mention that this is yet another typical Pisces trait (feeling misunderstood)? I thought not. Or that Pisces naturally are drawn to the occult and other intangible offerings, such as, um....astrology? Shocker!
I am in no way suggesting that my birthdate and its accompanying sign are solely responsible for my behaviors. Even I know that would be absurd. But it does give me a little peek into some of my more natural behaviors and tendencies as a personality on this earth. And more importantly perhaps, it allows me to understand someone else's a little better, too.
In my days as a manager, I would notice how my hiring choices tended to run towards the signs I was most compatible with (and of course, I would never know birthdays when the hiring decisions were made). Pisces, Scorpio, Cancer, step right up. I started to see it more as a language being spoken under the surface. You know, sort of like how most managers say they just got a "good vibe" from a prospective employee they ended up hiring. The vibe is the language, I decided.
And so it goes every day. We meet people who we connect with so easily and willingly invite them into our lives as if they were always there all along. No language barrier at all. Then there are others whom we meet and get no good vibes from. These folks we may never see again, probably because they seemed to be speaking Chinese while we pontificate in English. (All under the surface, of course.)
Still others come along who we don't have an immediate connection to, but will take some time to burrow their way into our consciousness. In those cases, it is almost like a different dialect. Maybe two Americans speaking English, but from vastly different regions of the country. And here's the funny thing: it never matters what actual language is being spoken. It is more about the connection, the vibe if you will. It is all unspoken, somewhere beneath the surface, and it knows no barriers.
So I spend time with myself, trying to see what language I am speaking in this moment. I learn more about myself each day. I now recognize that so many of my personality traits can be used as natural strengths for me. Today at work, a co-worker jokingly referred to me as Sensitive Sally. I laughed. Yes, I am a sensitive person. And instead of fearing it or watching it be used against me, I am learning to own it. I have a sensitive heart, and that is not a bad thing. It is so interesting to me how those traits that always seem to get me farthest in the game of life and happiness are so often (in my own mind at least) the ones that I have traditionally tried the hardest to hide.
Socrates' guiding rule was "know thyself". At the end of the day, that is what makes the most sense. Know thyself. Cultivate all of what makes me ME, like a big garden full of unlimited potential. Use any means necessary to get a better understanding of who I am, and what language I speak under the surface. Get more in touch with my inner Pisces, along with every other sign, trait and vibe that I am capable of portraying. After all, we are each every sign, just like that book was saying. If I embrace it all, it can only help me relate better in this world. I truly believe that.
Of course I do. I'm a Pisces.
I have always loved being around it, as far back as I can remember. Growing up next to the Niagara River in upstate New York, I would take regular (almost daily) pilgrimages to sit at the edge of it. All alone, just gazing away at those murky waters, I would dream of someday living by the ocean, where I would spend copius amounts of time gazing at it as well. Assuming that the ocean water was cleaner and warmer than my neighborhood river, maybe I would even spend a little time actually swimming in it.
I also used to love riding my bike down to Lake Ontario. Now, this was a particulary long bike ride from my house (probably about a half-hour if I remember correctly), but I never cared. I always, always loved heading to the lake because, well....it was a lake! There was even a small patch of sand there. Kind of like a (very) little beach, if you were able to ignore all the rocks, I suppose.
I can still recall reaching that last stretch of road through Fort Niagara State Park on my way to the lakeside. I would bisect the soccer fields, all surrounded by beautiful green forests, and at some point could see the lake waters glimmering in the distance. That first sight of Lake Ontario's vast body of sparkling water would always make me smile. And pedal harder. Ahhh. Peace was soon to be mine. Get to the water, Paul! And during the summer, I could even go swimming in it. It was never that warm, but hey, I took what I could get.
I revisited these memories today while swimming in the ocean at Waikiki. I used to say I liked just being around the water better than actually being in it, but I have since begun to change my view. I think I love both equally now. Each time I plunge into the clear blue waters here, I get happy inside. There is very little adjustment to the temperature, especially at this time of the year, which makes it simple to just walk (or dive) right in and commence frolicking. After the initial entry, I usually hear myself let out an audible sigh of relief, as if all of my worrisome thoughts and fears of the day are being washed away by mother nature. I occasionally survey these surroundings and feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the ocean, and can't help but note how I am swimming in such a tiny, tiny little piece of it. Just a drop in the huge Pacific bucket. Inevitably, I smile and give thanks for living in a place where I can do this every day if my soul desires.
I was born under the astrological sign of Pisces. While pondering my love of the water, I laugh and think that I am just embracing my inner water sign (Pisces is a water sign, represented by the fish). Simply put, the water is and always has been where I find my center.
It is perhaps an understatement to say that I enjoy reading about astrology and its subtleties. OK, I really dig it. As a young child I received a chain with a Pisces medallion attached to it. I had absolutely no idea what Pisces meant, except that it was my birth sign and that I loved it for some reason. It was not until many years later as an adult living in Atlanta that I started to investigate all of this further. I stumbled into a bookstore called The Phoenix and the Dragon (what else?), picked up a book called "You're Every Sign!" by Phyllis Mitz, and commenced reading.
As I perused the gory details of my sign, I recognized every one of them. Good and bad, they were all there in black and white. Next I started to read up on my friends, previous lovers, and family members. Wow. Even if this made no sense to anyone else, I didn't care. Somehow it made perfect sense to me. I loved that this woman researched all of the signs and at least offered some explanation for our crazy behaviors. And I loved even more that it seemed so accurate! I have said it before, and I will say it again: If someone tells me something that just might help me gain more insight into myself and others, I will listen. I will take it for what it's worth, naturally, but I will certainly pay attention and give anything a chance to work for me.
Reading through my own Piscean characteristics, I felt as if this woman had been following me around all my life, scribbling away at her notes while I dreamed away the years (a classic Pisces trait) and used my vivid imagination to try to escape my miserable realities (there's another one!). And when she mentioned our extreme sensitivity to everyone and everything, I might have shed a tear. Someone finally understood me! Need I even mention that this is yet another typical Pisces trait (feeling misunderstood)? I thought not. Or that Pisces naturally are drawn to the occult and other intangible offerings, such as, um....astrology? Shocker!
I am in no way suggesting that my birthdate and its accompanying sign are solely responsible for my behaviors. Even I know that would be absurd. But it does give me a little peek into some of my more natural behaviors and tendencies as a personality on this earth. And more importantly perhaps, it allows me to understand someone else's a little better, too.
In my days as a manager, I would notice how my hiring choices tended to run towards the signs I was most compatible with (and of course, I would never know birthdays when the hiring decisions were made). Pisces, Scorpio, Cancer, step right up. I started to see it more as a language being spoken under the surface. You know, sort of like how most managers say they just got a "good vibe" from a prospective employee they ended up hiring. The vibe is the language, I decided.
And so it goes every day. We meet people who we connect with so easily and willingly invite them into our lives as if they were always there all along. No language barrier at all. Then there are others whom we meet and get no good vibes from. These folks we may never see again, probably because they seemed to be speaking Chinese while we pontificate in English. (All under the surface, of course.)
Still others come along who we don't have an immediate connection to, but will take some time to burrow their way into our consciousness. In those cases, it is almost like a different dialect. Maybe two Americans speaking English, but from vastly different regions of the country. And here's the funny thing: it never matters what actual language is being spoken. It is more about the connection, the vibe if you will. It is all unspoken, somewhere beneath the surface, and it knows no barriers.
So I spend time with myself, trying to see what language I am speaking in this moment. I learn more about myself each day. I now recognize that so many of my personality traits can be used as natural strengths for me. Today at work, a co-worker jokingly referred to me as Sensitive Sally. I laughed. Yes, I am a sensitive person. And instead of fearing it or watching it be used against me, I am learning to own it. I have a sensitive heart, and that is not a bad thing. It is so interesting to me how those traits that always seem to get me farthest in the game of life and happiness are so often (in my own mind at least) the ones that I have traditionally tried the hardest to hide.
Socrates' guiding rule was "know thyself". At the end of the day, that is what makes the most sense. Know thyself. Cultivate all of what makes me ME, like a big garden full of unlimited potential. Use any means necessary to get a better understanding of who I am, and what language I speak under the surface. Get more in touch with my inner Pisces, along with every other sign, trait and vibe that I am capable of portraying. After all, we are each every sign, just like that book was saying. If I embrace it all, it can only help me relate better in this world. I truly believe that.
Of course I do. I'm a Pisces.
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