After moving to Colorado in 2011, I heard a constant chorus of people claiming that they experienced more conflicts when the planet Mercury was retrograde.
This year, Mercury is retrograde from December 2, 2023, for a month.
It's when the planet closest to the Sun appears to move backward in its orbit.
However, scientifically, that's not the case. Mercury appears retrograde due to its position relative to Earth. Spoiler alert: It's not moving backward.
A woman I dated in Boulder, Colorado in 2013 explained how Neptune, which doesn't get as much popular press as Mercury, could affect our mood. I googled it. She didn't make it up.
I heard someone say that Saturn, along with the Moon, can trigger depression.
I'm not an expert in astrology or planetary alignments.
Whether it's higher than a king's grade, what I've realized over the past 20 years is that we've increasingly shifted our personal and collective ways of thinking from individual responsibility, patience, and choice to being more of a victim. It affects us all.
It's common to blame someone or something when heading south.
Today it's Mercury. Tomorrow it's the weather. The day after, it's something else.
Everything related to facing racial discrimination is as follows.
Many people are constantly striving to fight against racial discrimination and the structures and systems that perpetuate it.
Unfortunately, some fights unintentionally promote the victim mentality.
Many solutions fall short in helping the powerless. Some have set low expectations starting at a young age.
Other efforts are so focused on the injustices of the world that they forget to celebrate the innate.