To render illustrious.

Have you ever felt as if you are standing at a crossroad in your life, and you weren’t sure which way to go? I’ve had this feeling building inside of me for the last few months, and it has become all the more acute and intense after seeing the movie, “Into the Wild” last night. The film is based upon a true story of a young man choosing to leave his life and family behind to wander randomly across the country. He decided to do this for a few reasons related to his family situation, but mainly he just didn’t want to live the kind of life that was expected of him. So he wandered away, and kept on doing so, and never saw his family again.

I sometimes get this urge to just “wander away” from my life and leave everything behind – even Yuuki. But would I ever do it? The character in the movie seemed to realize far too late, that the most important thing he left behind were the people, but until his last moments of extreme aloneness he had no idea of their importance. I am older than he was, and I have already learned this lesson about the value of my relationships with other people. It is what ultimately keeps me from just wandering off into the wild.

The first horoscope of the year from Free Will Astrology…

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “It’s now possible to fake everything,” writes David M. Hopkins in his book *Counterfeiting Exposed.* He’s not just referring to digitally altered photos of celebrities and singers who lip-sync to pre-recorded vocals during their supposed live performances. He means everything in the world, from vintage wines to famous paintings to designer jeans. At least five percent of *all* products on the planet are phony. I bring this to your attention, Leo, because I’m putting you on high alert for frauds and cons and deceptions of every kind. You should be the top whistleblower of the zodiac in 2008, the chief bullshit-detector and constructive critic.

Yesterday morning I wandered into the printer/photocopier room at work, only to be startled by two pigeons flying out the window. Someone had left it open over the weekend, and as these birds have a tendency to do around our building, they took it as an invitation to come on in. It was quite a surprise. What really had me laughing, was turning around after closing the window and finding a pile of twigs and feathers in the corner by the photocopier. I’d mistakenly assumed they’d only just come in, when really they’d been moving in all weekend.

Into my life you came like a storm of monsoon banging down from the eastern sky.
And you scattered me, like the wind disperses dry grass and the petals of flowers.
Out of myself you scattered me into Nothingness,
Beyond the Nowhere, beyond the Beyond.
~ Irina Tweedie