What is important for you?
Spring has started and we are busy cleaning up. In the first place we are clearing up our mental state. Researching what you find important in your life is essential for that. Only then can you consciously make choices that are good for you and can you shape your daily structure in such a way that brings you satisfaction. Last week I gave you the assignment to create your own feel-good mood board. I wonder how that was for you. Before we go into that, I would like to introduce something completely different.
A interesting but for many a total “out of the box” way to look at yourself is through astrology. And then I am not talking about the astro section of a random magazine but about a science dating from before ancient Greece and used by many fascinating civilizations. The symbolism of astrology is a wonderful way to reflect on yourself. It shows us aspects of ourselves that we do or do not recognize. In Western astrology, the basic assumption is that there are four elements.
These four elements are water, fire, earth, and air.
They form our physical world and are also present in our core being. However, there is one element that predominates and ultimately determines from which lens you view life and how you experience life. All your decisions are colored by that element. For example, someone with a lot of fire has, among other things, a strong need for mobility, intuition, creativity and freedom. The person with earth is often characterized by a need for structure, regularity, design, and matter. The individual with a lot of air needs many contacts, speed, versatility, and being mentally busy. Finally, someone with predominantly water feels a strong emotional attachment to other people and the things around him. The well-known psychologist Carl Jung based his personality theory on these four basic elements. He called the types sensitive (water), intuitive (fire), thinking (air) and feeling (earth). Curious about your element or type?
Below I have made a brief overview of the elements based on Western astrology. This overview is (in the simplest form) based on the time in the year you were born. Do you recognize the element in yourself?
21 March -21 April – Ram – fire
June 21 – August 21 – Lion – fire
21 November – 21 December – Sagittarius – fire
April 21 – May 21 – Taurus – earth
August 21 – September 21 – Virgo – earth
21 December – 21 January – Capricorn – earth
May 21 – June 21 – Gemini – air
21 September – 21 October – Libra – air
January 21st – February 21st – Aquarius – air
21 June – 21 July – Lobster water
October 21 – November 21 – Scorpion – water
February 21 – March 21 – Fish – water
If, as a result of this, you are interested in the symbolism of astrology and how it can give you insight into what you find important in life, please email me for an informal conversation at info@translucentlife.com.
And then we go back to your personal feel-good mood board. Did you manage to make a moodboard? Super, congratulations, you did most of the work!
You have dared to shake off the saboteurs and to stay close to your core feelings!
The next step is to clarify what it all means to you. For this exercise you take a piece of paper and you write words that come to you while you look at the pictures. See my example in the photo below.
So as an example:
- Power of nature
- Music
- Power of the lion
Then you stop at every word or comment and try to feel the underlying intention behind that feeling. Where does it come from? Sometimes it needs no further explanation and it is clear.
In my example:
- Power of nature – admiration for “something” greater than myself – being instead of doing
- Music – connectedness with people – beauty – admiration for “something” bigger than myself
- Strength of the lion – fearless, confident, self-directed, self-assured, leading.
Eventually you come up with a list of words that form the fundamental motives of your core values. Write this on a nice paper which you will hang in a place where you can look at every day, for example next to your bed or on the fridge. This will help you feel the values more and more and see what is important to you.
Listen to the saboteurs who have an opinion about everything. Recognize them and consciously choose to look at your core values and stay true to yourself.
If you are curious to learn more about yourself please mail me at info@translucentlife.com. For anyone who has not had time to start a moodboard, I will soon give a workshop on this. So keep following me for more info! Next time I am talking about your relationships with relationship therapist / psychologist Julie Sharon Wagschal. What is good for you and what should you pay attention to.
Hang in there, spring is in the air!
Warm greetings,
Peer
“Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching