Sunday, July 29, 2012

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 80~ Berkeley And The Age Of Aquarius


 

 Aquarius { 5TH Dimension}

When the moon is in the seventh house
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars


This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius, Aquarius
Aquarius

Harmony and understanding, 
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the minds true liberation


Aquarius. Aquarius

 When the moon is in the seventh house
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius, Aquarius
Aquarius

 


The pictures posted in this entry aren't the best ones I have ever done, not by a long shot, but when I look at them I always smile. I always feel warm inside. It's not the pictures themselves, it's the circumstances around the photos, and the moment, or possibility hour, of perfect serendipity that allowed me to have this bit of luck. Or was it magic? Maybe it was just written in the stars.


One day, in April of 2007, I was in my therapists office, working on some monumentally painful things in my life. Things that now, in complete retrospect, shouldn't have been given nearly as much power and attention as I was giving them. It was long past time for my having moved on from people and situations I had no control over, but being the sentimental person that I was, I was finding it difficult. Moving on isn't easy for a sentimental person, which is not a legitimate excuse by the way, but I think in my particular case, I couldn't let myself move on because I think I was afraid on some level that if I did so, then I would also have to face the loss of the love that would accompany it.


Therapy is hard work. Heartbreak is devastating, and at times damn embarrassing. My main question was, how could something hurt, and embarrass me as much as this did, without actually killing me? Whose stupid system was this? Really? No shit... I wanted to know!


So, in the middle of a paid hour of self pity, with my eyes red and puffy and otherwise swollen shut from the effort to fix my problems, I glanced outside the window of my therapists office, to see what looked like an old record resting in the window of the apartment building next door. Those particular apartments sat just a couple blocks off the Cal Berkeley campus, and as such, there was always something wonderful and unusual that could be found nearby or in the neighborhood. It's just quirky that way.


I had made it a regular part of my visits to my therapist, to bring along my camera, for those times when I would reach a wall/ If that happened I would take the camera out and snap something. A shadow on the wall. A bird that would sometimes come and rest on the small ledge outside the window. Whatever caught my eye, and could serve as a momentary break from the pain I was in. It always worked to help me focus, and then resume the dialog with the therapist.


I was intrigued by the sight on an old fashioned record in the window. What could it be? Was it something magnificently meaningful, like an album of Jack Kerouc poetry? Maybe it was a full album of The Mupputs singing the best of AC/DC. Or perhaps it was William Shatner singing Rocket Man, by Elton John. I sat the rest of the hour, in a lot less pain, because I was more interested in what the record was, then wallowing another second more in my own useless whining. So, when the hour was up, I snapped off a few photos of the window next door, and the record, so I could find out when I got home, what had saved me from myself that day.


 


The record was Side 2 of the soundtrack to the movie Hair. LOL. How cool is that? Here I was, in downtown Berkeley, Hippie East Bay, and that record could have been anything, but it wasn't, it was Hair. You know...the play about the counterculture of the 1960's which overall message was one of anti-war, but also about how one should stop taking life so hard, and embrace it. Life is for the living. Sigh, Messages I really needed that day. Things I really needed to deal with.


I won't go into anymore detail about what specifically was hurting me that day, I will just share that it felt very much like the universe was telling me that yes, it was time to move on. And yes, it was ok to do so.


Sometimes, the universe sends you all you need to know... you just have to be willing to listen.




 And now, a little music... enjoy!


  The Original Motion Picture, Hair, "Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine"



5TH Dimension...  "Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine"





~Me :)


2 comments:

jr cline said...

Yep, heartbreak is devastating. Sometimes I move on easily and other times I just can't seem to let go. These days I let go easily. I've had to let go of a lot in the last decade and there is a lot more to let go of in the next two years. :/
Such is life eh?
And like you said, Life is for the living.
I miss many things about the Age Of Aquarius. I guess I can't let go of the hippie in me. Actually, I don't want to let go of that. I think it is one of the best things about me. lol

Link: http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/07/apadf6-79.html

Jama said...

Now that is an odd place to hide the record! Been a long time I've seen a record like this, the hubby used to have a big collection of them but the sold them off a couple years ago when we ran out of storage.