This year we are all learning lessons about Flow. February brings us our first small taste of what that may really mean in our personal lives.
“Flow” is a name coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his 1990 book by the same name. As reviewer Tom Butler Bowdon describes it:
Flow makes you feel more alive, certainly, but it has another perhaps surprising effect: the growth in complexity entails both awareness of your uniqueness simultaneous with renewed understanding of how you fit into your world and your relationships with other people. Flow reconnects you to the world as well as making you more unique.
In a year dominated by celestial events in the water signs of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces – integrating your emotions and intuition into all things that you do will be essential to your well being. It won’t be enough just to think about what you are doing, you will need to surrender to the feeling and experience of life as well.
The cosmic tides will carry clues to you about how to get started. Both action-oriented Mars and chatty Mercury enter dreamy Pisces the first week of February. The Sun joins them on Feb. 18 and Venus on Feb. 28 (and Neptune who is already there), for a splashy five-planet Pisces pool party. Pisces planets strive to live holistically, integrating experience on all levels of being. Notice how often you are feeling an emotion — when you realize the answer is “always!” you’re on the right track.
February also begins with all planets moving in direct motion – that’s sunwise – with little to hamper events. But things downshift dramatically in the third week of the month when the planets Saturn and Mercury begin their retrogrades on Feb. 18 and 23 respectively. Don’t be surprised if your best laid plans encounter obstacles and opposition. Both turn retrograde in water signs, encouraging you to be like water and learn to flow around obstacles and course changes. Consider challenges as your opportunity to practice listening to your dreams, intuitions and emotions to find creative solutions.
Following the Moon’s cycles is also a potent way to work with our fluid nature. New Moons are potent times to start something new. For example, the New Moon in friendly Aquarius on Feb. 10 says find a mastermind or networking group of like-minded souls to support you on your journey. Full Moons on the other hand can be a time of heightened emotions. The Feb. 25 full Moon in Virgo may challenge you to release your expectations and remain calm despite life’s unforeseen obstacles.
Water has its own logic. It unites and synthesizes rather than analyzes. Prepare to step through the looking glass…
Coming next month…
During the first few weeks of March we continue with our creative, intuitive theme. By March 10 and 11 there are six “planets” in Pisces — Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Neptune — which portends well for all new creative projects. The last few weeks of the month we move into more action-oriented Aries. Have all your bags packed because you’re likely be ready to step on the accelerator.
It already feels exactly as described…and March is setting up to be filled with creative projects early and non-stop activity toward the end of the month…. Now if I can only learn the part about “flowing” around the obstacles!