Two great friends of ours just made a huge move from San Diego to London. For months, they downsized in preparation for the move; they must have had three or four yard sales, and everytime they visited us they left boxes and bags of household items. They spent weeks scraping and patching and painting the 1913 bungalow they’d called home for more than a decade, getting it ready to sell. It sold quickly in a soft market; and last week they packed up the remainder of their belongings, gave away their car and relinquished their elderly cat to a doting new home, and flew away to the U.K.
Can I just say here how much I miss them – but also, how very, very jealous I am?
I’ve been feeling very stuck, very much in a rut these past few weeks. My days have been as flat as a soda that’s been sitting around with its cap off. To put it bluntly, I’m tired of who I am, what I have, and how I spend my time. And my life is by no means bad! Neat husband, swell house, good friends, modest success in my chosen profession. So what gives?
This morning, looking at my chart, I was struck by several things. First is that Uranus/natal IC-MC transit, which is kind of old news at this point. I’ve been feeling itchy for awhile, restless for a dramatic move or even a change in my career. And while my back was turned transiting Saturn turned retrograde and is once again perilously close (5 degrees) to my natal Sun. It sucks to simultaneously feel as though you want to make a change and at the same time to feel as though you’re pinned under something heavy.
But today I also noticed that transiting Pluto has inched into my second house (the house of possessions, for those of you keeping track at home), and that furthermore it’s getting mighty close to opposing my natal Venus. And that really nailed it for me – the tremendous urge to jettison cargo, you know, to empty out the closets and get rid of old junk, to sell the house and rent for awhile, to go on a fast and dump a bunch of weight. I feel the need for a new relationship with stuff, and with the shape and structure of my days.
From experience, though, I realize that often, when you feel stuck, modest changes in routine can be almost as refreshing – and certainly a lot less traumatic! – than large ones. Paint a room, cut your hair, take a weekend trip – or even, as my mother once told me, “Just clean out one drawer, anything to get you moving.”
So tell me: What do you do to get out of a rut?
