The Sean Orford Blog

What was good?

So, how did you do? If you did the task, you will be feeling the reward. How hard did you find it? Was it difficult to be positive? When you first try, it is tough. The paradigm, the monkey, in your head will want to take you back to same old, same old behaviour. It is the same for all of us. But that is the good bit. You are not alone, you are simply being normal. For some reason, not known by me, the human race finds it easier to tune into the negative, as evidenced by every news broadcast on the planet. Good news is rarely considered newsworthy. That is not because it is not newsworthy, it is because it is the habit of generations to focus on the negative.

Those that are negatively focussed do so because of internal fears and doubts. Globally, people fear wars and famines, unrest and terrorism, shortage and lack, depression, credit crunch, you name it. Once we have fear, we have doubt and we have uncertainty. Personally, we may fear for our job, be fearful of debt or the fidelity of a partner. Once we have fear, the universe ceases to be a safe place and once safety is lost, our creative potential is often the next casualty.

The cycle of life

Life, in the physical world, is a cycle. There is nothing wrong or fearful about death; it is as natural and as timely as birth. There is nothing fearful about financial downturns; they are as natural as upturns. Autumn and winter are the precursors of spring and summer, and they in their turn will fade into another autumn; it is simply the way that it is.
Yet to the human mind ‘this is the coldest winter on record’ – no, it’s not, that was the ice age, or ‘this is the driest summer since records began’ – have you ever been to the desert? The planet moves in cycles. In the cold phase, the water of the planet is locked up in the poles and glacial formations. The land currently under water is exposed as sea levels drop. In the warm phase, the water held at the pole melts and the previously exposed lowlands experience ‘the flood’ as sea levels rise again. It is a cycle. In our heated and controlled living environments, we in the West are in danger of losing touch with the natural cycles around us. Our ancestors marked the changing seasons and cycles with festivals and offerings.

Summer solstice

In the northern hemisphere, June 21st is the summer solstice; this is the longest day and the shortest night. From here on, the days get shorter and the sun will set earlier each day right through to the winter solstice on December 21st that will be the longest night and the shortest day. Then the cycle will begin again as the days begin to lengthen. We all live within cycles of life and of death.

Moon cycles

Women often have a greater awareness of cycles, as each month their menstrual cycle reminds them. Men have a monthly cycle too, though not so pronounced. At different times of the month, a man’s facial hair growth will be more vigorous and his sexual drive stronger. We are all doing it.

When is your New Year?

In the cycle of the year, we identify January 1st as the New Year, but your New Year begins on your birthday. That is your cycle. That also means that your mid-year is six months on from your birthday. Astrologers would tell that this is when you are at your lowest ebb, at the furthest point away from your birthday, when you would be at your highest point of energy. This is the point where your bio-energies are weakest. I was born in February at the point when Aquarius and Pisces meet, in the second month of the year, so my low point is the eight month. What is yours?

Perhaps we would benefit from acknowledging the older customs that mark the seasons.

I hope you had a happy solstice.

Sean x

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