Navigating by the Stars: Finding Our True Work

by Stephanie Austin

 

"What do you do?" is one of the first questions we ask upon meeting someone. In this culture, what we" do" says a lot about who we are. Not counting sleep, it's the single most time-intensive activity of our lives. How we spend that forty (plus) hours a week, forty-some years of our lives is indeed important, if only from the sheer quantity of energy involved.

And what about quality? Shouldn't those years be more than putting in time, marking time, serving time? Where did we hear that work had to be tedious, difficult, joyless? The language we use provides some clues. Webster defines vocation as "a call, summons, or impulsion". The word career originally meant "one's progress through life". Webster's first definition of work includes "purposeful activity".

So our work, career, vocation means much more than just collecting a paycheck. There is a wise Sufi saying -- "Work is love made visible". What we "do" best comes from love, from our hearts and souls. Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow by Marsha Sinetar was first published ten years ago but is still well worth reading. How many people do you know who can honestly say they love what they're doing?

Astrology is a powerful tool for identifying what we love. Our charts provide a road map for the most creative and meaningful directions in life. Each one of us is unique, and has a unique contribution to make. No one else can do the job of being ourselves. In fact, it's ultimately the most difficult job of all. But if we are "in sync", in our own rhythms and cycles, we move with and are supported by the greater flow of life.

I've been doing career counseling since 1985, first as a graduate student advisor at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, then as an astrological counselor. Countless times I've heard people say "I don't know what I really want to do". A few questions later, the visions and dreams start tumbling forward. What if you had six months to live? What would you do if you won the lottery? What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

When I ask those questions I hear three basic responses. There are those who say they have no idea, those who have some idea, and those who have a very clear vision. Those who have no idea need a supportive cocoon, a space to do some deep inner work so that the butterfly can emerge. Those that have some idea are often pioneers of new combinations or innovative services that are meeting emerging needs. Those with a clear idea need resources, networking ideas, and encouragement.

All three call for a tremendous amount of courage and creativity. The courage to say no to settling for the tried but no longer true. The creativity to weave seemingly disparate threads into a new design. It takes time. It takes trust. And it takes having support and stimulation to recognize and hold the vision. It's really about finding out what's inside that wants to come out, rather than what's available that we can fit ourselves into.

After talking to thousands of intelligent, talented people, I've found that the biggest obstacle to "following our bliss" (a beautiful phrase coined by the anthropologist Joseph Campbell) has to do with our beliefs. We either don't believe we can do it, or that it can be done. In astrology, the ninth sign and house of beliefs precedes the tenth sign and house of career. Seeing is believing, but the reverse is equally true. Believing is seeing. There is an intimate relationship between our paradigm of reality and our perception of reality.

And what shapes our paradigm, our perceptual filters? Astrology provides a detailed map of our assumptions and conditioning. The Ascendant, or rising sign speaks to how we began life, and to our first impressions and reactions to new experiences. Our Moon sign suggests the kind of messages we absorbed from our mothers; our Sun sign the qualities emphasized by our fathers. Each planet represents both an unconscious, conditioned tendency, and the pathway to a more conscious, creative choice. In order to find our "calling" we have to look at the whole chart, and our whole lives. The more we can bring of our true selves to our work, the happier and more successful we will be.

If someone had told me fifteen years ago what I would be doing what today, I don't think I would have believed it. I had a love-hate relationship with astrology for several years, because I couldn't see what it the world I was going to do with it. I had to silence the voices of doubt and peel away the layers of conditioning that covered my core values and aptitudes. I had to recognize the synchronicities as messages of support from the Universe. And I had to surrender needing to know the final outcome, and be willing to take what looked like the next step. I had to trust that the form would evolve as I did.

So how do you do it? How do you find a form that fits you, that expresses your unique constellation of gifts to the world? There is a part of you that already knows. Your birth chart is a road map, a reminder of your real job.

There is a Chinese proverb, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Take the next step, however small, and keep taking them. You will get there.

 

Journal questions:

• what would you do if you won the lottery?

• what would you do if you had one year to live?

• what would you want to be known for?

• what were your childhood dreams?

• what would be "success" to you?

• what would help you "follow your bliss"?

 

Stephanie Austin, M.A., is a full-time astrological counselor specializing in life purpose, career, and transitions readings. Stephanie also teaches astrology for personal and professional development, privately and at John F. Kennedy University. Her background includes a bachelor's degree in Psychology, a master's in Consciousness Studies, and deep interests in meditation, nature, and healing. For information on readings, classes, and tutorials, visit her Web site at www.EcoAstrology.com, or call (925) 254-6972 (San Francisco East Bay).