Horoscopes and Elves
Daily Horoscope November 21, 2023
Why are you doing whatever you’re doing today? That might seem like a simple question, but you’ve actually got more to think about than usual when you’re doing so. Things are different now.
I am at my best when my world is ordered. I like my house clean and quiet. My daily routine begins with a cup of tea while feeding our animals followed by walking the dogs and scooping out the litter boxes. Once the kitchen is tidy and a load of laundry is the washer, I read a bit of scripture followed by checking out my horoscope. Today’s reads like a riddle followed by a curious message: Things are different now.
My husband’s cousin Jorge came up from Guadalajara, Mexico to help us with projects here at the house and out at the airplane hangar. I had talked for months about ripping out the carpet in my office and laying tile. It wasn’t on the project list until my husband announced, “Let’s do it!”
I am not good with change and certainly not change that disrupts my inner sanctum, i.e. my office. One minute I was sitting at my desk grading a mountain of literary critiques, the next I was packing boxes before heading to Lowe’s to pick out tile. Head spinning, anger brewing, I kept my head down because in the end, I wanted the office tiled, and Jorge was only with us for a few weeks.
I’ve been out of sorts since the project began. Untethered from my routine, I’m constantly trying to slow life down. To get a grip on my time. I haven’t written in a while. No blog posts. No editing short stories. No working on the collection of essays I began a year ago. About the only thing I have written are to-do lists.
I have rituals that alert my mind and body that it is time to write, to drop into that space where I am most content. These include eating a bowl of granola with blueberries, making a second cup of tea, and clearing off my desk. But for several weeks I didn’t have a desk. It was out in the garage with the rest of my office, including my books, journals, and paintings.
Jorge left last week. The tile floor is gorgeous, and my desk is back in my office in a new place where, after reading up on feng shui, I face the back door and entryway to my study. However, most of my office belongings are still in the garage, and I don’t seem to have the time or energy to put things back where they belong.
Today, I should be grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, or vacuuming, or cleaning the bathrooms, or…. But instead, I am here in my office where my desk is a mess, writing. My horoscope asks: Why are you doing whatever you’re doing today? I am writing because it grounds me. The chaos and noise of daily life dissolves when I’m wrapped up in my thoughts.
The second part of my horoscope states, …you’ve actually got more to think about than usual. Right now, I’m thinking about a video I saw years ago when taking a course in Stephen Covey’s, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and what he presented here has stuck with me. In it, Covey has several big, colorfully painted rocks, each one representing the important things that should matter in life: relationships, employment, community/church, etc. There is also a large, clear bowl filled with pebbles. These represent small, daily distractions and obligations: cooking a meal, meeting deadlines, running errands, etc. He asks a volunteer to fill a clear bowl with the pebbles then arrange all the big rocks to fit into the bowl. There are too many pebbles, so several of the large rocks won’t fit. Then he has the volunteer put the big rocks in an empty clear bowl. Of course, they all fit. He then asks the volunteer to pour the pebbles over the big rocks and tad-da all the little pebbles fit. The exercise illustrates the importance of prioritizing those things that are most important and making time for them. In doing so, there should still be time to get smaller, less important things done. Never mind that Stephen Covey couldn’t possibly have understood the myriad of small pebbles that morph into boulders in the daily lives of women, the exercise still holds merit.
I admit I tend to focus on the little things that drive me crazy and steal my time. I am often up to my neck in pebbles. While Jorge tiled my office, I tried writing in another room, but each time I sat down, I felt like an imposter and was distracted by the kitty smudges on the windows that needed cleaning and the cluttered kitchen counters I couldn’t live with. So, here I am this morning, with a to-do list a mile long that will have to wait until after I obey the big rock that screams, “WRITE!”
The Holiday season kicks off the day after tomorrow with Thanksgiving. I usually love this time of year, but right now I am simply overwhelmed and in need of a nap. Maybe I will write through the Holidays, allowing others to cook the meals, decorate the house, shop and wrap gifts, send out cards and invitations, bake the pies, and make the candy. Maybe an elf or a gaggle of elves will appear at my door, offering to do my Holiday tasks. And as elves often do, they will fill our house with merriment and good cheer while I write and enjoy afternoon siestas. Anything is possible. As my horoscope reminds me, Things are different now.
