With the new year, we are all wondering about how it is going to be like. We ask ourselves, “Will I make it this year? Will I meet someone; overcome this pain; start the diet… next Monday?” And we look at the horoscopes thinking, “Is it a good year for my zodiac sign? Who am I compatible with? Ok, I should avoid Taurus.” (You should)
For a long time, during my teenage years, I followed Gemini’s predictions as if they were indisputable Universe’ laws; because “If the moon influences the water on this earth, and the human body is mostly water, there must be some truth in the zodiac sign.”
It was kind of reasonable. Don’t you think?
But one Sunday morning, I read the horoscope from another magazine which was saying the opposite would happen to my creative kind. And then I read another saying basically the same for all the signs but using different words.
“What the heck.”
Fun Fact: One guru (tarot reading and Astral chart) and twenty years later, I discovered I may not be gemini. Because nobody knows when I was born. It’s all good. I never turned forty.
Around that time – early 90s – a famous Argentinian writer and poet named Ludovika Squirru was becoming trendy for her books on the Chinese horoscope. She had grown up in China and studied its culture, and that made me feel she was the real deal. So, I gave her a shot.
Now, the story I’m about to tell you goes far beyond the Chinese horoscope. It’s about a journey that ended with me learning to visualize the right way.
Let’s make this fun and move right away to achieving our dreams 😉
So! Super quick trip to the 90s! (Do you need a moment to sigh?)
I am a teenager with boiling hormones, an undiagnosed ADHD and a few traumas already in my backpack, who is positive she is adopted but “better keep it to myself.” But somehow, I am happy.
(I recently discover there’s a “happiness gene.” I shit you not. I’ll come back to this with another post.)
The hippie ladies on TV giving predictions on the zodiac signs, with the cheesiest background (of a green screen someone didn’t know how to edit) and with freaking crystal balls over their table, are starting to become to me… something I am to stop watching.
Ludovika is becoming trendy with her Chinese horoscope, and I think, “Well, Chinese’s culture is millennial. They must know something else.” So, I get her book.
I look up “who” I am to this new horoscope: a serpent of fire. And after reading its traits, I feel as if someone has unveiled my soul.
Serpents’ traits such as their necessity of seeking to know everything about anything; their big and wild dreams of fame and fortune which they know they will get and for which they’ll devote their lives, they all defined me from head to toes.
Hence I conclude: “This woman has all the answers I need. Gotta go to her book signing.”
On the way to the book signing, I was super anxious thinking how I could raise my hand, and ask my question looking “normal,” because… 🥴, I just wanted to say:
“Could you please define me and tell me exactly what I am to do? Because I do not fit in this world, and I am pretty sure that I am stupid even though I know I am freaking smart. Thank you. You are awesome.”
Once we got there… Geez… She’s such a character! Big red hair. Colorful cloths over he shoulders… waving 😝. Seriously! She has that presence that exudes energy, wisdom, mysticism, making you believe in everything she says. You know what I mean?
I was in owe…
And then something happened.
She said something like,
“This is what the stars say for your sign. But it is up to you to let it happen, make it happen or change it.”
Her explanation was something like this: If the horoscope says great opportunities will come on your way, seek for them, be ready to make the most of them. They won’t come if you don’t leave your house. And if it says you’ll have health problems, take care of your health, and avoid them!
And that seemed very reasonable to me. Wouldn’t you agree?
So! I got an arm bracelet with the shape of a snake. I considered getting a tattoo with a snake. And over the years, I forgot all about it. 🙄
Actually…, it’s like I became so desperate trying to find guidance; trying to make sense of what I was feeling and how I was not fitting in this world, that I’d take any kind of sign.
Any kind of sign. Anywhere. A phrase on a billboard; a number on a ticket; anything that could make me feel, “That’s for me! That means I’m gonna make it.”
Are you feeling related?
I lived like that for a long time. Seeking for signs. Reading horoscopes to see if the Universe had removed my name from its blacklist. (Because the things I went through …🤦🏻♀️)
Eventually I learned how to visualize (so trendy these days!) I thought, “Ok. I simple gotta keep working. I am making the stars cheer for me.”
But I heard…
… nothing.
Last year I discovered two things: one, I was doing it wrong; and two, that all the signs we need come from our brain.
When we visualize, we program our brains. Then they run the program, and we kick ass.
This isn’t about the stars and the Universe cheering up for you. This is about your own thoughts leading the way.
It’s science. And it is super easy to do!
How to Visualize?
In a nutshell: every day, take at least 10 minutes to picture a moment in which you are everything you want to be. And feel everything you’d feel at that moment. (This is how you visualize, how you program your brain.)
If you do it right, if you picture as many details as you can and truly feel what you’d feel at that moment, your brain will believe that is actually happening now. Hence, it’s going to respond as if you were in that moment. (This is your brain running the program)
Then, the result: Day by day, you’ll find yourself thinking, “I need to do this or that! How didn’t I think about this before?” (Your brain has left hints for you)
Finally, you follow the hints, and you conquer your dream!
Do you want to do it now?
Visualization Exercise
Given that we’re having fun today, I am adding a little bit of it at the end. 😉
Follow my lead:
You are at a kitchen you love. (Yours? Your grandma’s? Your dream kitchen? Picture as many details as you can.)
There’s a lot of light coming through the windows. It’s summertime, and hot. And it’s around noon.
You are sitting at the table. Over the table there is refreshing beverage in glass that’s sweating… Because it is super hot. You are sweating too because there’s no AC. The sunlight coming through the window draws a line over the table and over your drink. You move the glass…
You look up, because there’s a woman in front of you talking. (It doesn’t matter who right now) She’s telling you how much she’s struggling with her life. How much she’d like to change, make her dreams come true.
You feel a little off because you felt like her once. You dry the sweat of your forehead with your hand and think, “I’ve been there.”
And suddenly you feel a chill running up your body! And Joy. You get the goosebumps. And you tell her,
“Hey, it’s gonna be ok! Look at me! I am where I am today because I visualized it. I learned about it at Laly’s blog last year!”
“Laly, who?”, she says
“That blogger everybody is talking about! I read her post last year, I started visualizing what I did … And now, look at me now! I’ll show you how!”
“I don’t know…”, she adds.
And you say,
“I’m serious! I’m here because I visualized it! Geez… I can’t believe I am here. I am so grateful.”
Happy now? See you on the other side, friend.
