it IS rocket science & it IS brain surgery

just sayin...

I have to admit I don’t have the greatest patience with folks who don’t use the tools they have at hand. Nor do I have the greatest empathy for folks who spin in tail-chasing circles of self-sabotage when they have readily cottoned on to alternatives. Today I found myself muttering, “It’s not rocket science.” Which of course made me think of its bedfellow, “It’s not brain surgery.”

Then I realized it is.

For me these things are now second nature, partly because of my inherent nature but mostly because I have spent decades (re)patterning myself to pathways of awareness, evolution and equanimity. So I’ve done the brain surgery on myself. And still am. I’m still in my scrubs in the theatre, rewiring bits and pieces here and there, but for the most part I’m now far more facile at redirecting tail-chasing energies into mission-driven movements and manifestos.

And that’s the rocket science. That’s when things really start to take off. The ground work of daily patterns has been laid and substantiated, tested and torn asunder to then be recombobulated again. I’ve recombobulated myself in so many time zones, both hemispheres (of the planet and my brain), inner and outer space, and in a multitude of cultural contexts.

My plane-repairing brother said, “I’m not happy unless I shoot a rivet here or there.” I learned from him that precision is paramount when you’re planning for lift-off. So, in its own way, yoga/spiritual evolution - or whatever you want to call your shift from mindless karma to all kinds of compassionate dharma - IS rocket science. It does demand a certain level of technical proficiency, devotion to discipline, and propensity for precision - both temporally and spatially.

Half-assed rockets just don’t fly.

So while Sam could recombobulate a complex hunk of metal parts, controlled by electrical impulses and commands, he could not manage to recombobulate his own complex hunk of carbon parts that were also controlled by electrical impulses and commands. I’m guessing he didn’t get the training in the army that I got at the ashram. It’s too simplistic to say that’s why his hunk of carbon crashed and burned, for, just as equally, I (sure as hell) would not put anyone I cared about on a hunk of metal I had shot some rivets into.

All of this to say that I’m grateful for the skills I’ve been gifted and have managed to embody. I’m grateful to be reminded of how valuable they are, and of how important it is to be a little more patient and supportive of others as well as myself, because, for sure, I still have my own areas of rocket science and brain surgery to up-skill in.

As we head into the next few hours (and the reverb rolls over into the next few weeks) of the full moon/lunar eclipse, this is my suggestion - should you wish to take it on:

Allow the dissolve. Instead of trying to solve.

We’re in Scorpio season, a sign known for its secretive complexities. I tell ya, the number of Scorpios I’ve known who work in physics, statistics, esoterics… So there’s a tug towards trying to figure it all out. Well I say don’t. Just leave it for a spell.

The full Moon is always opposite the Sun, shining the Sun’s light back to itself, as reflected off the Earth’s atmosphere. In Taurus, the Moon says to the serious Scorpio Sun, “Take a bath, get a massage, dance a little, curl your toes into the earth, eat and sleep well.” Two luminaries lighting up on either side of us wee humans, huddled here on this remarkable blue and green marble whose balancing of elements includes the inner molten fire, the essential and edible earth, the remarkable waters of life, and the very air we breathe.

Here’s a breathing practice I love for it’s effect and for how silly it looks. In case you’re currently as serious as Scorpio season and a human world on fire can provoke you into being. The one before it in the Sounds module is even more relaxing, and there are others, so choose the tool to shift your brain wave/state-of-being that you’re drawn to.

I recommend this one because it’s a purifying practice and the lunar eclipse means that the realm of our inner, default self - the Moon - is coming to light, and then being obscured by shadow, and then coming to light again... To be rugged about it, this is what I said out loud to the person who’d caused me to mutter under my breath (and whom I thank for aggravating me into clarifying and sharing here with you, for what it’s worth),

Don’t miss the opportunity to throw out your shit by holding tighter to it.

Or mistaking yourSelf for it.

The only thing we have any remote level of control over is ourselves. And most of the time, most of us, fail to manage even that. Start with your very own piece of terra firma, your Self.

KISS KISS (Keep It Simple & Silly),

Mox

PS—I apologize for the recent radio silence. I’m in the last (literally) day of assignments in my first term of grad school and it’s been a doozy, so I’m still finishing off a 10 page report. I just felt compelled to transmute this little aggravation into something purposeful. Next week I’ll be back with you to catch up on Round 3’s of First Spring (Southerners) and Autumn (Northerners) and to share some of what I’ve been exploring and learning in geospatial technologies, conservation and wildlife biology, research methodologies, and biogeography and geomorphology. Meanwhile, have you done Round 1 Autumn or First Spring's Round 1, or Round 2’s (the links above) yet?!

The rocket all-ways needs a rivet tightened here or there...

Thanks for reading me and blessings to you!