Well, now that my Aquarian fourth house isn’t  weighed down with planetary transits, I can see that developing a routine of practicing shodo every day has really helped me cultivate a sense of peace in a very chaotic time. 

Every month my good friend and I do a daily drawing challenge based on a prompt. I developed a daily drawing routine last year but wanted to spice things up this month. My friend and I chose an old prompt but we liked this one best.

I was frustrated when the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars joined Pluto in Aquarius because all of my best laid plays kept falling by the wayside.

My trip to FL to meet up with 2 rockstars: one is Mount Olympus and the other was a love at first sight connection I wanted a second chance with.

What happened was I snubbed rockstar #2 because I was playing small during a wild love at first sight meeting in Denver. Never in a trillion years did I think that would happen when I bought tickets to his show. But I walked away from him because I was playing small and thought if something feels too perfect it’s best to play it safe..

Then read about him online and kicked myself in the ASS for not taking a chance with him because we like all the same THINGS! A feeling of dread sank in my stomach because I blew a once in a lifetime shot.

Then one morning I woke up and said, “That’s it, I’m going to his show in FL.” It was his last tour stop and then he was back to the UK.

I also concluded that since I would be in FL, it was time to break the15 year long sexual tension with a pro wrestler I used to work with and see how that felt.

In other words, I was ready to take a chance for the sake of change and in the name of trust.

I was ready for serendipity and adventure.

It was the holidays and working PT in retail is where the money’s at. So I worked HARD for that vacation. I cried ny eyes out at my part time job slaving away under the abuse of crazy holiday shoppers. I spent the holidays alone because I worked so hard and booked my trip on Christmas as a victory lap.

The plan was to fly to Tampa to see Rockstar #1 and see how that goes. Then take the train to Fort Lauderdale to see if serendipity favored me for a second chance after I experienced love at first sight with Rockstar #2 during a chance encounter in Denver.

I think I packed more lingerie than outerwear because I was ready for my sexcation.

I read the stars but should have gotten a second opinion on my timing because I failed to consider what houses auspicious transits fell in …

… plus I was scheming with Aphrodite and I guess the gods found my scheme conniving because a snowstorm RUINED my trip and I had to cancel at the LAST MINUTE. 

I lost ALL the money I worked for on cancelations too!

Then I tried to enter an art show to cheer myself up and things kept going wrong.

I got booked to read a short story and I got scheduled to work at my part time job and missed sharing a really great story.

I definitely had a temper tantrum because no matter what I did, I kept ending up at home. I was so frustrated that I finally pulled out my astrology books and learned that 4th house is the house of developing new routines and focusing on day to day activities. I thought that sounded boring as hell.

But I had time to take space to figure out what means most to me. In the end, I picked my creative life. So I decided to quit my part time job and I’m wrapping that up this week.

But I did pick up a new routine without realizing this is exactly what I was being called to do.

So now, every morning I practice shodo (Japanese Calligraphy).

First, I practice my word on my white board.

Then I move to paper and use my practice pens.

After that, I use my brush pen.

Lastly, I try sumi which is a different kind of style but I enjoy that too. 

I must admit, I’m not great at shodo or sumi but the shodo community on Instagram is very supportive and encouraging.

And I’m starting to feel a way back to Japan opening. I woke up one morning and knew. I couldn’t tell you when, the time to return is coming soon.

So I’m preparing to write a charm for lunar new year to gain more insight.

I feel excited to create this charm but I’m confused as to what characters are best to write because the direct translation is not what I’m seeing shodo artist writing. So I’m not sure which way is correct. I may have to ask someone but I’m shy! 🤔💭💭💭💭 

This weekend, I’m going to buy a board for writing my charm at the Japanese grocery store. I bought a shodo kit and some paper so I’m ready to practice. 

And this is how I’m finding peace these days in the midst of chaos.