Yesterday I posted some fun stuff on numerology, based on a blog post I'd seen from John Michael Greer. It doesn't matter whether you (or I) take it seriously, but some of the correspondences were striking, even if coincidental. One of the statements that came out of it was that for me this coming year -- 2022 -- will be the wrap-up of a cycle of nine years. "This is a [year] of completion and karma. The cycle that began with 1 ends this year, for good or ill; your actions in previous years will determine how this one turns out. If you don't like the outcome, learn from your mistakes and prepare to try again."
So this morning, I began to wonder, What has the cycle been like? What patterns am I winding up? And I tried to think of any commonalities among the last eight years.
The cycle began in 2014: that was my first full year out of the house (since I left in 2013). Debbie broke up with me in January. I started my relationship with Marie a couple of years later. Also during this time I started traveling for vacation: to Peru with Son 2 in 2014; to Greece with Marie in 2017; to New Zealand with Marie in 2019. I continued to travel for work, and got particularly known for a set of skills that made it worth letting me travel even when the country was shut down for COVID-19.
In fact, let me compare the nine years against what Greer says each of them is supposed to be like, to see if there are common themes.
2014: "1. Ruled by the Sun, this is a number of new beginnings and opportunity. This is a time of practical action and constructive change. It's a good time to take direct action and to start new things in motion, so long as they aren't complex or evasive. Move ahead forcefully during this year."
- Debbie broke up with me.
- Took Son 2 to Peru.
- Wrote 175 posts during the year, the most in any year since I started the blog.
- Packed off Son 1 to university.
- Started volunteer work.
- Did a lot of work with Hil, wrote long letters to Elly, and began making friends with Suzie. But I didn't really push to make any of these more than a friendship, and so none of them became more.
- A lot of my blog posts from 2015 were multi-part, meditative posts turning over some topic to look at it from all sides, starting with this one in January, and continuing straight through the end of the year.
- Joined a Working Out Loud circle at work: spent a lot of time thinking about it but didn't do much with it.
- My father died.
- Tried to resume contact with Marie after decades, but she rebuffed me.
- Began the relationship with Marie, which involved tip-toeing nimbly around emotional landmines at first.
- Met some of Marie's family over the Fourth of July. This meant organizing flights on the spur of the moment, and so on.
- Packed off Son 2 to university.
- Tripped and fell multiple times when I wasn't being "nimble."
- Finished the Separation Agreement from Wife early in January, but it took until June for the state to record it.
- Visited Debbie for the first time since we broke up.
- Traveled to Greece with Marie.
- Found out I was going to be demoted at work. Tried and failed to get another job at my existing level.
- Car troubles meant I almost got killed on the road.
- Wife announced she wanted to come to my family's Christmas celebration.
- Fell on the ice in Sticksville and cracked my head, interrupting my memory.
- Son 1 moved in with me.
- Traveled to New Zealand with Marie, her sister, and others.
- Bought a new car.
- Got really irritated at my cousin's parenting, but backed away and didn't make an issue of it.
- Fantasized about getting out and away from my job, but never actually changed it.
- One factor we didn't know about yet at the beginning of the year was the COVID-19 pandemic.
- That gave me time for some philosophical contemplation, and I wrote a bunch of pieces over on the Patio.
- My company decided to close the office I worked in, here in Beautiful City.
- Despite lockdowns I was authorized to travel for work ("things get weird").
- But I sure had "depressing thoughts" related to losing my job, or the alternative of moving to Sticksville.
- Visited Debbie and she actually poured me out a glass of alcohol ("things get weird" again).
- Got in touch with my old friend Fillette, only to discover that she had fourth-stage sarcoma. She died the same year. ("Ruled by Saturn.")
- Had to end my volunteer work, because of COVID-19.
- Decided not to move to Sticksville. This means I was laid off work.
- Despite being laid off work, I did not successfully find new work. And I felt this was OK.
- In fact, I began to think I might not have to go back to work ever.
- Spent time with Debbie as she was in-state to look after her declining mother.
- Concluded that I like having solitary space inside a relationship.
- Worked to address a difficult patch with the boys.
Are there any common themes? Maybe a few, though I'm not sure they add up to a consistent picture.
- Travel for vacation.
- Flirtation and almost-but-not-really romantic interaction.
- Real relationship, but with gaps, long distances, and solitude in it.
- Sons growing up.
- No success at finding new work.
Is that enough to base any predictions on? Or is there something I'm missing?
I guess I'll find out.
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