Hey Baby, What's Your Sign?

Welcome to my first blog entry! I finally caved. I'm told I'll grow to love keeping it, though right now it seems a bit intimidating to force myself to be clever on a regular basis. :-)

January 2006 seems like a good time to begin new things, but since I avoid the New Year's resolutions like the plague (why set myself up for failure? Those extra ten pounds come and go every year, just like out-of-state relatives), I do the obligatory annual soul-searching a little differently. I like to look back and see where I've been before I move forward. Since I spend a lot of time wondering how to explain the unexplainable, here's my first 'musing' of the new year:

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Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign?

I’m not really sure how I feel about horoscopes. On one hand, they’re a guilty little pleasure I enjoy in the morning newspaper, and I’ve been known to surf the web for cool astrology sites. On the other hand, it seems a bit ridiculous to think that the alignment of planets at the moment of your birth could be so crucial to who you are.

But I’ll admit I like horoscopes. I’ll even admit I’m a bit of zodiac snob. We Scorpions are a proud group… passionate, intelligent, determined. Fiery-tempered but forgiving. Open-minded yet analytical.

See what I mean?

At any rate, I’m thinking about horoscopes because of one in particular. One that I saved from my birthday five years ago, and stuck in the back of my jewelry box. It reads:

‘If today is your birthday, you are dynamic, inquisitive and very serious where romance is concerned. You are a natural writer, psychologist. One day you could write a novel.’

On my birthday five years ago, I had about sixty pages of a very bad manuscript gathering dust under my bed. I had absolutely no desire to be a psychologist (though it’s surprising how often total strangers confide in me) - but I did want to be a writer. And there it was, in black and white. ‘One day you could write a novel.’

Were the ‘stars aligned’? Was my fate decided the day I was born?

I don’t think so, quite honestly. But five years ago my dream popped up in a very personal way, and beckoned me to pursue it. Two weeks shy of my last birthday, I signed a two-book deal with a major publisher. Would I have put all that effort and hard work into writing if I hadn’t read my horoscope that morning? Probably. But there’s something magical about being inspired, about taking a chance on yourself -about believing in yourself - whatever the reason.

I still don’t know if horoscopes are coincidence or just plain crap. Maybe one day scientists will discover some cosmic code that rules our DNA as much as genetics does. But I don’t really need to know to enjoy the possibilities of a good day’s horoscope. Planetary alignment aside, I’m pretty hopeful the universe is unfolding the way it should.