Beyond Schadenfreude

FIERY SUN AND MOON
The sun has been in Leo for over a week now and the moon is currently in Sagittarius. Both are fire signs, and therefore very passionate, and Leo is a very dramatic sign, while Sagittarius is the sign of exploration. Our outer nature will be drawn to drama and bombastic adventures, while our inner self longs to travel.

Speaking of travel, I am coming to you from the road. That's right, folks, I'm in transit from New York to Philadelphia, and thanks to yet another element, water, what should have been a two hour jaunt has turned into a five hour excursion. Still, I can't blame it all on the rain. There is a fabulously obnoxious practice that will never fail to create traffic even under the best of weather conditions.

As we crawled under the dark, pendulous clouds with gray rain sheeting around us, I suddenly saw the light. No, I had no epiphany; it was the familiar blue and red lights of a squad car. Aha! There was an accident. Being on the other side of the bus, I could not see what unfortunate event had occurred, but I did note that no sooner had we passed by that our speed began to increase and traffic seemed to disperse.

What could have possibly caused this phenomenon? There is a term that is an apt description of the situation: rubbernecking. The act of twisting one's head in order to observe and event more easily. However, when driving, that act can be very dangerous; ergo, most people will slow down in order to perform this irritating action.

What is this fascination we have with accidents? We describe other things, such as someone's outfit, this way. "It was like a train wreck. I couldn't look away." The human race is infinitely fascinated with seeing people fail. It's incredible to me. Specifically with roadside trauma, unless you are a police officer, an EMT, or some other service member who is able to assist, keep moving! Besides, if it's a big enough issue, it'll be on the news later.

Which brings up another point: why must the news be inundated with accidents, deaths, rapes, shootings, killing, murder, etc? It's so rare to hear about a good thing. The television has been referred to as the "idiot box." Why? Because it enables escape. It's supposed to free our minds; hence it being mind-less. The news does just the opposite; it smacks us in the face with reality, forcing us to acknowledge such horrible aspects of our world with wild abandon that it's overwhelming at times. I am amazed by people who can sit and watch the news all day. I go to my television to escape reality.

Reality TV shows are no better. While they don't quite provide us with "reality" as they claim, it's certainly enough of it to make me cringe. Shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance are great shows in their own right, I suppose, especially when (and if) you get to the point where everyone is incredibly talented. However, they televise the auditions and I have many friends who are uninterested in the show once the auditions are over. They love to watch people get shot down. That is not fun for me at all. People who have dreams of performing get crushed on those shows. And folks argue, "But it's good for them. Someone has to tell them that they suck." Fine, go ahead. I don't want to watch someone's dreams destroyed. I'd rather watch the last episode when someone's dreams come true.

This is beyond schadenfreude ("happiness at the misfortune of others"). I admit that, when watching a movie, I want to see the bad guy get what's coming to him, but it's not exciting to me to see the the average human being harmed for the entertainment of others. And roadside accidents are certainly not for the entertainment of others, but people certainly seem to view it that way. If you're one of those people who has to watch to see what happened, fine, but pull over! Otherwise, drive on!

The drama of misfortune has its appeal, but I prefer to attend such an event when it's planned and brilliantly written, rather than accidental or shallow. Perhaps the sun in Leo will not let us get away with banal tragedy. Yet, Leo's sun is playful as well and as I finish this blog, I can see it winking at me from behind the clouds.

Here comes the sun.

Happiness

EARTH TAKES OVER
Half of the major planets are sitting in Earth signs. Venus and Mars (love and strength) in Taurus (stubbornness), Moon and Saturn (hidden emotion and limitations) in Virgo (health), and Pluto (power, AND retrograde on top of it) in Capricorn (ambition). The one quality that all Earth signs share is practicality. They are the grounded signs, the ones who hold to stolid, steadfast logic.

Happiness is finding a pencil, knowing a secret, telling the time...

Happiness is fragile, isn't it? It drifts in and whispers in your ear and the corners of your mouth twitch. Your lips stretch into a smile; the quintessential sign that someone is happy. There are so many kinds of smiles, though. There are sad smiles, fake smiles, smug smiles, concealing smiles. There is so much meaning behind a smile and yet, we assume that when someone is smiling, it means that they are happy.

Yet, happiness itself can be a lie. It is fleeting. Only a word or a gesture and the feeling is gone. And we fear that. Even the Funny Girl tells us, "Don't rain on my parade!"

Life is so harsh. It forces us to be practical, even negative at times. There's the fear that someone will burst your bubble. And it takes so little, doesn't it? It's very often with respect to love. New relationships bring so much happiness, but have the potential for so much heartache. It may be ourselves that brings about the fatal pinprick. There's a tendency to watch everything we say for fear of breaking the euphoric trance that we're in. Relationships can be like a drug; they bring incredible highs and tremendous lows and we struggle to find the right way to achieve the fix that we felt at the beginning. Is that possible? Was that true happiness? Or does true happiness lie within the latter parts of the relationship?

What is true happiness? And in finding it, does it contain within itself the seeds of its own destruction, usually manifesting in fear? Can we recognize it when we have it? Hey, everyone, if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands! Clap and you get to save a faerie, for when a baby laughs for the first time, it becomes a faerie. So says J M Barrie. Clapping has been tied to happiness since we were children.

It's so hard to find this elusive element of life and yet, when you find a small pocket, you want to stay in its warmth forever. This is not always tied to relationships. There are many areas of life that may bring incredible happiness. Sadly, even then, it is a breakable quality and it usually takes something to small to douse the flame. Some way to "bring someone back to reality" that forces the happiness out, which begs the question, is happiness diametrically opposed to reality? Is it unreal? Surreal? Insane? Is ignorance really bliss?

This was explored somewhat in the previous blog Reworking Rene, but where that was a study of mind vs. heart, I want to know why happiness is so hard to pin down. Does the practical element of Earth have its own measure and method? Is its stolid take on life a weight that prevents those who attempt to soar from achieving flight? Or does it protect us from the Icarian fate that awaits those who soar too far?

I don't know these answers, but I do know that I shall cling to that sliver of insanity, that attempt to soar. As is said in Jeffrey, "How dare you not lunge for any shred of happiness?"

So I lunge. Don't rain on my parade.

Fantasy vs Reality: Which is Real?

PISCES POWER!
Today, there are four planets in Pisces: the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Uranus. That's a whole lotta water and it's overflowed into the sky (it's raining in New York). Pisces is a sign of dreams and illusion, be they for good or ill and to have four planets traveling through this spirtual sign will show an increase in daydreaming, fantasizing, and idealization. The other side is that it's going to increase in delusion, both self and otherwise.

With Pisces so strong, is this a wonderful or dangerous time?

Let's face it, reality can be a true bitch - we're talking nose in the air, designer clothing, froo-froo dog in the bag, bitch. And that's the masculine side. Why do you think people say, "You have to face reality." Reality's not going to come to you. It's already there and when you wander away, it's waiting to slap you and wake you up. So why wander? Why even bother setting yourself up for that slap in the face?

I think fantasy is essential for survival. Humans need to dream. It's what gives us courage, makes us stronger, shows our true colors. We must have something to strive for. Most of the abstracts that we believe in - love, justice, fame, even (dare I say it?) religion, are leaps of faith. We dare to dream of them and in dreaming them, we have caused them to be. Dreams are the seed that allows belief to grow. Whether any of these abstracts actually exists is unprovable by science and technology, but because we dared to dream of them, we believe in them and they have become integral parts of our society. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the number of love songs, the plethora of lawyers, the idolized celebrities, the multitude of varying religions. Even atheists and agnostics have dared to dream of another option: the possibility of nothing. Before everyone goes flying off the handle because I grouped religion with fantasy, think about it - what staple of our world has not been given weight because of a belief? Money is just a piece of paper. Gold and silver are stones. Boundaries and borders for nations are man-made.

There is incredible power in fantasy, such as the power for self-delusion. Humans have a fabulous capacity for creation and sometimes, that works against us. We choose to believe a lie because it's easier than "facing reality." At times, that can be a good self-protective mechanism, but what about when it's destructive? We choose to believe someone because we love them, even though they are hurting us. We choose the path of ignorance when there is wrong going on around us. When is the fantasy dangerous? And for that matter, who gets to decide? Are there really people who are insane or folks who saw reality so differently that the powers that be decided it was too dangerous to have them around? There was a time when the Earth was flat and the center of the universe and it was unthinkable to say otherwise. Are the insane so far advanced that they can see what fantasy can create? Who could have foreseen computers, let alone the internet, a century ago? Would they have been considered insane? Or visionary? We have all accepted certain things as real and of course, that's also essential to survival. Still, our dreams can reshape our world. It's why we read books, watch TV, and attend movies. We still long to dream of more than what we see around us.

I think Jane Wagner had it right when she wrote, "Reality is nothing but a collective hunch." We make our own reality. The irony is that reality once started as fantasy.

So, I say, go for it, Pisces! Bring on the whimsy; I'm ready to recreate my world!