Looking at the ephemeris, this week, Mercury is at a stand-still. Mercury will be in apparent retrograde motion until July 7, 2007, and then, towards the end of July, Venus turns in apparent retrograde motion. July 27 to September 9, more or less. October 11 until the 31st? Mercury again. Mars, then, November 15 through January 30, 2008.
A faithful reader e-mailed and asked for guidance through this dark and difficult time. I continue to travel and work. It’s simple, really.
Borrowing from my own work, it’s easy to see a simple and reusable schedule. A process that can be duplicated and expanded as needed, a scalable solution to planet problems. Retrograde planets, especially the inner two, Mercury and Venus, as well as, Mars, since this is a fairly common one, this material is easy to work with. My normal schedule is to write in the morning, with a simple goal of four pages of manuscript done before anything else. No breakfast, no clients, no nothing until I’ve done the four pages. Simple, easy goal. Works out to roughly a thousand usable, salable words, something I’m happy with, or, at least not dissatisfied. That’s the start. There’s a rhythm, a beat, sometimes music, sometimes great ideas, sometimes just material, but it flows. The point of creation is the happiest time, for me, or so it would seem. That’s the fun part.
When Mercury is backwards, I’ll stop working on new material. Plain and simple. I get a three week break from writing a new column, weekly astrology column. I’ve got a few of them done, almost six weeks’ worth, so I’m safe to rest.
But the world doesn’t grind to a halt, when the planets go backwards. So what I do is dig for ideas. I try to keep a pen or pencil on my pocket and scrap of paper. I’ll scribble cryptic notes to myself, one-word reminders about a sign, or a instance, or an example. Something.
Better yet, point and click digital photography. Good example. I’ll take hundreds, thousands of pictures, maybe tens of thousands of digital images in a year. Out of that? Hundreds, maybe just tens, maybe just a few images are worthwhile. Good time to sort through the old material? When the planets are backwards.
So back to the notion of writing, and stopping production work when Mercury is backwards. That doesn’t mean that I’ll stop everything, just generating new material. I get a chance to amuse myself with proof-reading, adding quaint links to punctuate points, and generally cleaning up mistakes I’ve made.
Then too, borrowing page from Sister (Gemini), I keep those scraps of paper, little notebooks and such, all on hand since I’ll come up with a wealth of ideas during this time. Wonderful material that could be used as a perfect example to illustrate Mars or Venus, or any of the planets in action, and I’ll make a note to myself. Good stuff to go back to when I feel a little stuck, in the future.
Nothing is more daunting than a blank page.
Another way to consider to use retrograde periods? I’m an unabashed Apple guy. Just the way it goes, been using the computers for a long time, and I happen to be fond of the software/hardware/little guy image. Apple stores, two in Dallas, two in Austin, one in San Antonio, several in the Houston area, all offer free “workshops” that run through the software, what it will do, how to use it, and so on and so forth. Maybe an hour, maybe less, the workshops are geared towards amateur and new users. But with the planets retrograde, and I covered this in the weekly video, it is possible to learn something new from old material.
Making the assumption that I know everything about a particular product or even an astrology chart is a false. What better time to go back review the old notes? In a conversation with a client the other afternoon, she made a point about something I’d said about certain astrology aspect. I wouldn’t say that now, but at the time, it seemed to make sense. Although, I do have new input since I’m constantly learned, unlearning and relearning the material. Humans are funny like that.
Review classes, just going back to textbooks, maybe a little revision is always in order. The planets just provide a better time to do that. Now. Or, as noted, coming up.
Unrelated: Dell –
Dude, you’re recycling a Dell? (Anything for good PR.)
Unrelated (I spy):
I always like the declined to comment comment.
Unrelated comics:
Bizarre observation.
Dancing about:
Makes you wonder at $3 per gallon for gas.
Surely you jest, good sir:
I can’t tell, is this for real?
Traffic:
More unpleasant news, but it begs a question, I mean, I never did think about conspiracy theories until now, look at that list. Kuwait. Didn’t we “liberate” them from oppression, like in Gulf War I?
Two Meat Tuesday (the book)
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