Well we’re basically to the end of July (which means there are only five months left in the year). I really do wish that time would just slow down a little—I mean I could swear that yesterday was Memorial Day and a three-day weekend. Anyway the moon has spun through Capricorn, and Cancer constellations and will be entering into Aquarius. And with this transition, there is also going to be a solar eclipse (that I won’t be able to see since it won’t be visible from the US).

So to begin, I’m going to take a look at “Moonology: working the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, to see what questions one can be asking themselves during this Aquarius full moon:

Have I been pragmatic to the point of losing the romance of life?

Have I been living too much in my head and not enough in my heart?

Have I been trying to do things my way, just for the sake of it?

Have I been trying too hard to befriend people, and for the wrong reasons?

Have I allowed myself to move forward this month?

So with numbering the above questions 1-5, I think that my answers would be as following:

• I’m not really sure how to answer this one. I’ve never been in a relationship—I was picked on through out public school, and then I was concentrating on classes and working throughout my undergrad and grad school times. When I moved to Boston for my first postdoc—I was focused on trying to find a balance between work and life (and never really did find it). After coming home, I’ve been focused on trying to determine what my career is going to be (probably to the determent of having a social life). Plus I figured that I’d only be back for a couple of years, and I don’t want to have to deal with the idea of a long distance relationship. So my answer would have to be maybe???
• Yes, I probably have been living too much in my head and not enough in my heart. It’s just easier that way right now. I don’t have the energy to try to figure out what my next career path is going to be and try to balance that with a social life. I know that I probably should be a little more social (would probably help in dealing with social anxiety)—I just don’t have the energy right now to do it.
• I think the answer to this question depends on the context of the question. What things are we referring to? At work there really is only one way of doing most things when it comes to setting up the reactions and getting the plate run on the machine. Cooking and cleaning?? Maybe I do things my way, but that’s just because that’s how I like to do things. So I think that this question can be misleading. I know that things change and there can be faster and quicker ways of doing things—the question one has to ask themselves is this: Is the new way more cost effective than the old (in terms of certain science practices), and what would happen if we ran out of money (is there someone that can do it the old way)?
• I don’t think that I’ve been trying too hard to befriend people, and for the wrong reasons. I know that to get forward in industry, one has to network. The networking can take time depending on how many conversations you have between the two of you before you are able to send your request for an informational interview or a referral. I know that I’ve had people reach out to connect with me on Linkedin, and then almost right away ask for help in their job search. When this happens I politely say no that I don’t know of any openings and wait to see what their response is.
• In terms of moving forward this month—I’m hoping to move forward in terms of my transition plan. While I think that my current job is secure until sometime next year, I do need to aim to be somewhere else by April of next year (this is currently 9 months off). I’m doing LIIFT4, so I’m also trying to move forward with my workout schedule and trying to get back into shape as well.

So this transition of the moon through Aquarius is also having it pass through my fourth house or home and family zone. This can be a time to where we can make changes to where we live, work on any issues we might have with family, and again try to find balance between one’s personal life and one’s career. For me this basically means still working on my transition plan to move into industry but at the same time trying to keep a balance to where I’m not spending all my time outside of work working on it (I can probably do some stuff during the day at work [like read coding books to figure out how to set up a webpage and things like that]).

So my goals for this full moon period include:

• Continuing with LIIFT4 (currently I’d be ending week 2; so that by the time that we get to the next new moon—I should be through week 4).
• Renew some professional memberships (and possibly see about joining one that is slightly outside my area of expertise so that I could possibly go to a “blue networking event”).
• Continue working on my transition plan (there are some areas that I think I need to freshen up or redo; which is why this transition plan document is over forty pages).
• Strive to find that balance between work/job searching/and trying to have a life (socializing, crafting, spending time with my animals).