Eclipse and Exfoliate
Spring is always a fast-paced, turbulent phase of the year. Once we collectively turn that corner into March, time seems to speed up. We start thinking about spending more time outside, making summer plans, and maybe even begin to plan for our gardens.
This March was particularly tumultuous for many reasons. Astrologically speaking, there was a LOT going on.
Venus (the planet of love and beauty) began its retrograde in Aries (a fiery sign of action). Venus is uncomfortable here and may struggle to be its best self. It eventually moved back into Pisces, a flowy, watery, and dreamy sign, where it is happy and comfortable.
Mercury (the planet of communication) also entered Aries. Mercury likes to be neutral and practical, but Aries charged up communications and made them spicier than necessary.
Mercury then began its retrograde too, causing delays or issues with communication, technology, and our abilities to express ourselves.
Then, we had a full moon and lunar eclipse in Virgo. This showed us how to release any perfectionist behaviors that have been slowing us down, rather than actually help us achieve our goals.
The sun also joined the party by entering Aries. This marked the Spring Equinox, the first day of spring, and the zodiac cycle began again.
The same week, we had a new moon solar eclipse (also in Aries!) This transit temporarily blocked out the sun, our one source of physical light in our solar system.
To put the icing on the cake, Neptune (planet of dreams and intuition) also entered Aries. So many celestial bodies in Aries! This is significant because the last time Neptune was in Aries was 1861-1875, during the Civil War in America. As many of us know, this was a time of significant change to the American government (which we may be experiencing something similar now), along with the end of slavery (!!!) Such a huge time for revolution; America was never the same again. Will we see similar shifts in the coming years?
That’s all I can safely say about March’s planetary transits because I’m not an astrologer, and can only reiterate what is my basic knowledge on the planets and the signs. Check out Chani Nicholas or Chris Corsini – they’re my favorite astrologers!
However, I do want to talk about the eclipses we just experienced. Lunar and Solar eclipses always occur together, about two weeks apart (a full moon and a new moon, respectively). These two weeks are referred to as eclipse “season” or an eclipse “portal”. Somewhere along my journey, I heard this time period referred to as an exfoliation of sorts, meaning this is a time to let go of the old, ready to bring in the new (right on par with Spring). For a gruesome metaphor, we experience the same concept as exfoliating dead skin cells so that new ones can shine through. Sometimes it can be painful to exfoliate, but ultimately it is necessary to continue growing, as our cells continuously do as long as we’re alive.
Chris Corsini described this time period as “a cycle of realignment...What once felt certain may no longer fit. What once felt out of reach may suddenly come back into focus.”
So, I paid attention to how this was reflected in my life. I kept a list every time something eclipse-y or exfoliant-like came up. In no particular order…
My parents sold a car that had been in the family for 15-20 years. The car insurance and upkeep were costing them much more than the car itself was worth. So, it was time to sell. I’m pretty sure my sister cried, as this was her first car. Again, here is an example of an emotionally painful experience (saying goodbye to something tied to so many memories) but was ultimately necessary and logical for the whole family. Exfoliation!
My kitten, Gilly, who is slightly immunocompromised, came down with a cold he could not fight alone. We had to put him on a (second) round of antivirals. Luckily, he improved within days. The prescription from the vet was to last for 3 weeks. My partner and I had planned a vacation out of the country for a week during this time. We had trusted our pet sitter to give him his medicine twice a day. But when we returned from our trip, it seemed like there were a lot of pills left, leading me to think she only gave him the medicine once per day. Which meant we had to continue to fight with this poor kitten twice daily to choke down this large, chalky tablet, which he absolutely hated. We really had to fight with him to swallow it, holding his poor little face closed until we could hear and feel him swallow. A painful experience that was for Gilly’s ultimate well-being (even if he couldn’t understand why we were torturing him). Exfoliation!
I had a 9-month CD mature with our credit union . I had never used a CD before, but it had a good APY, so I tried it out. It was rather difficult to not touch that sum of money for 9 whole months. I was fearful that something would happen where I would need to tap into those funds. However, I celebrated when it matured. I couldn’t easily withdraw the money online, and had to go in person. The bank wasn’t pleased I was taking out my money rather than re-investing, but I had my reasons. Not so much a painful experience, but it felt like an exfoliation – my funds were now back in my own hands, and the power to spend and invest however I would like was mine again. Exfoliation!
TAXES! Everyone’s favorite time of year, if you report annually like I do. We all know it can be a painful experience, yet we must do so. Filing taxes can be challenging, but this year they didn’t take too long and I was proud of myself when I was finished. Exfoliation!
This next one is a small example, but it makes me smile. I had a rubber padding on the bottom of my laptop that was fraying for over a year. Every time I took out my laptop, I would try to put the rubber back into place, knowing it wouldn’t stick or improve the situation in any way. Each time, I imagined myself using glue to repair it. But what type of glue would I feel comfortable using on my laptop? (No answer ever came.) So, I eventually grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped off the fraying piece (it had accumulated to 4-5 inches of fray at this point). I threw that snip away and didn’t look back. This is one tiny aspect of my life that would take a microscopic amount of my energy and thoughts every single day. Such things really do accumulate over time, and I don’t even notice the rubber missing from the bottom of my laptop anymore; it works and sits just fine without it. Exfoliation!
Spring’s slightly warmer weather made me want to spring clean. I spontaneously found so much energy to clean all the little things that I notice day after day, but don’t have the time to tend to or simply don’t prioritize. It’s a time to open windows, let in fresh air, and clip all the dying leaves off my indoor plants. Exfoliation!
Along the same line as spring cleaning, one of our smoke detectors ran out of battery and demanded we change them immediately. The loud beeping is so obnoxious that it seemed to me like an unpleasant experience. However, we all know that smoke (and carbon monoxide) detectors are necessary and save lives. Gene Hackman (actor) along with his wife AND DOG all died in February from carbon monoxide poisoning. It was on my mind to check my detectors, especially because we removed one or two that were so sensitive they would go off every time we cooked or took a shower and the steam leaked into the hallway. But our other detector demanding new batteries came at the appropriate time, methinks. Exfoliate!
Daylight savings. I know many of us have mixed feelings about daylight savings. It seems like such a timeline shift for me. Our bodies and minds get so accustomed to having the days get microscopically longer and longer, until BOOM! That all shifts and shocks our systems (slightly for some, significantly for others). I do enjoy having more sunlight in the afternoon and evening. It may seem like a small thing, what’s an hour here or there? It feels bigger than that. Not necessarily on the same wave as the other eclipse themes, but it was a tilt to many collective lives. Exfoliate!
Lastly, I officially changed the name of this project from “The Collective Healing Habit” to “The Collective Healing Club”. “Habit” never perfectly resonated with me, but I thought that I could drive the point home and use it as a spin to get people interested in my mission. However, when “Club” came to me, it felt happier and lighter. More fun. “Habit” also has negative connotations, like how smoking cigarettes is a bad habit. In our culture, we don’t often talk about good habits. Club” felt like something inclusive enough yet could also spark curiosity in people who would be interested in what we stand for. Almost everyone wants to be included in something special, and now we all can be. It wasn’t the easiest transition, as I had already paid for the website domain and had given it out to some people, but ultimately I believe the new name is more aligned with my mission. I hope it will carry me much farther and allow me to feel better throughout the process. Exfoliate!!!
It feels amazing to get a few baby steps closer to my mission as I continue to build this website day after day, week after week. This is something I truly believe in, and had thousands of ideas before The Collective Healing Club came to be. I still have hundreds of ideas, but it now feels more narrowed-down, allowing me to focus more of my energy on less. I hope everyone reading this had a relatively painless eclipse exfoliation experience, and I truly hope that everything that happened was for everyone’s ultimate well-being. Take some time to reflect on what has changed for you over the past month. If it feels bittersweet, I hope you can also feel that it was ultimately for your overall best interest. After all, if you want to bake a cake, you have to break a few eggs. Let’s support ourselves and those around us as we continuously heal through challenging times, changing tides, and cosmic shifts.
