A Star Is Born

In a time long ago, on March 29 1982, the earth bound stars of Hollywood gathered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles to be honored at the 54th annual Academy awards. Back then, the path to becoming a star seemed much more like the hero's journey in the myths of the ancients that birthed our archetypal understanding of the constellations. The internet did not yet exist, allowing for a person to reach the heights of stardom for having a cat that can flush the toilet.

The sun was moving through the constellation of Aries, the cardinal fire sign that marks the beginning of the new astrological year. Aries is the 'spark' that breathes life into the seeds of spring, giving them the courage to burst forth from beneath the earth. In Aries season, you can feel the lethargy of winter begin to fade and adventure appears on the horizon as the days get longer in anticipation of summer's fruit.

'Charriots of Fire' won best picture that year, while 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' brought home the most awards. Both of these films are great examples of the Aries archetype! 'Chariots of Fire' tells the story of two British athletes training for the Olympic games, capturing the essence of the competitive spirit of an Aries person. Indiana Jones was most likely an Aries ...

Fearless and ready for anything!

Somewhere not on the red carpet, my mother read a handwritten card from her mother that simply stated, 'A Star is Born' as another Aries was about to embark on the adventure of life - ME!

Welp ... for the first part of my life I sure took my Grandmom's note to heart! As a loud, and boisterous 5 year old, whilst belting 'The Sun will Come out Tomorrow' from the musical 'Annie' (on the front lawn so the neighbors could hear of course) I decided that it would be my destiny to win an Oscar on my 29th birthday on the 29th of March. I began a ritual that year of saying a prayer before bed (to any God that would listen) to help me reach my 'destiny' and become a 'star'.

I wrote a song about that ...

Aries people are known for their 'spark'. Being the first sign of the Zodiac, in their highest and most positive expression, they are often recognized as children of curiosity and wonder. They are courageous, marching into the unknown and leading the way so that others may follow. In their not so positive expression, they are impatient and impulsive, and don't always think things all the way though.

So ... in typical Aries fashion, as an ambitous teenager with no money or true plan, I arrived in New York City on September 11th 2001 to realize my dreams of Broadway Stardom. Since I had driven from Toronto Canada with my mattress on the top of the car, and not thought things all the way through, the torrential downpours that day had penetrated the flimsy plastic seal I had wrapped around it. So there I sat, cursing my own stupidity with a flimsy hairdryer in my bedroom (a pseudo wall with a curtain door) as two planes crashed into the twin towers.

In the spirit of being the 'children' of the zodiac, Aries people can have a tendency to be a bit 'ME' oriented - and on this morning my entire 19 year old, Aries view of life was totally turned upside down. In an instant, I realized that my little dreams were nothing compared to the bigger dream that existed beyond my small and disillusioned ego self.

To this day, I am so very grateful that I was there to experience the true resilience of the human spirit at such an important time in my own little life - to witness how a city of millions of 'strangers' each having arrived with their own dreams, banned together in the face of unthinkable tragedy. I won't ever ever forget. Because of everyone who lost, suffered and sacrificed on this day, and for those dreams that were shattered, reshaped or turned upside down, and the ones that would never be realized....I have remained inspired to show up and to keep realizing my dreams for those who never would.

William Shakespeare got it right when he said:

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

My destiny changed that day, as a wider world opened up to explore. I wanted to understand how something like this could happen, and though I did stay in NYC for a number of years, my desire to understand the human condition inspired me to purchase an 'around the world' plane ticket (yup. they did used to have those) One stipulation of such a ticket is that you have to use it in one year. That turned out to be an impossible feat for this Aries, as I found way too many adventures to ever be done in a year!

Though I have yet to win an Oscar, what I did win was much much greater than a flimsy statue: the inner knowing that my Grandmom was right - that I AM indeed a star - we ALL are!

At this moment, for the first time in over 2000 years, humanity has entered into a new astrological age—the Age of Aquarius. Throughout history, humans have always looked to the stars for guidance. We have studied the angles of celestial bodies in the cosmos and observed and experienced their effect on our outer reality. One of the challenges in the digital age is not to become overwhelmed, and to develop a higher capacity to make choices. It has become imperative that we reclaim the wisdom known to our ancestors. As we usher in this new and exciting time of innovation and evolution, we must remember that we ourselves are made up of the stuff of stars, and our unique astrological blueprints encoded at birth are available for us to understand and experience within our very beings. We must remember that we are all connected to each other as we are to the very stars above from which we were created.

Over the years, I have grown to see life and my experiences as a reflection of the processes happening in the cosmos. Aries people can be impulsive, and we are good starters, but because we have so many ideas we have a hard time finishing what we start as we are distracted and eager to start the next adventure. One day, after preparing juice, I saw something shiny and forgot to clean the juicer - the milky way was reflected even in my forgotten moldy juice pulp:

It is my belief that the constellations are like maps and if we choose to follow them, they can lead us to our highest expression and greatest acts of service to humanity. Astrology is a beautiful tool for self understanding, teaching us to embody the energies of the cosmos and express them here on earth in our own unique way. Your zodiac sign is what you are learning to 'become'.

I identify with the Aries spirit as my last name is Flax, just like the seed that I am. I am committed to becoming my best Aries Self, scattering star seeds and leading the way alongside my brothers and sisters into a new and better world.