An Important Update from Rainbow Reflections
Welcome back to the Rainbow Reflections newsletter.
I hope this message finds you well. As a Leo rising, the current astrological transits are profoundly impacting me. On July 15, Mars will meet Uranus in Taurus. Collectively this warrior meeting the planet of unexpected plot twists is bound to leave its mark, especially in the natural world. While this transit peaks next week, I am already feeling its influence on a personal level. This transit is urging me to jump into the unknown, leave behind my comfort zone, and take my first steps into doing something extraordinary with my life. The transit is occurring in my 10th house, which means my career is being directly affected. It is testing me, in ways I have never considered before.
Given the current astrological climate and after much consideration, I have decided to take a break from the Rainbow Reflections podcast for the foreseeable future. Here’s why:
HEALING OVER HIDING
Recent experiences have brought my trauma to the surface, and the coping mechanisms that served me for most of my life are no longer working. It's time to dive deeper and find true healing rather than dissociating and ignoring the root issues. I owe it to myself to confront my personal demons and heal, especially as I move closer and closer to my wedding and a new chapter in my life.
I am not at a point yet where I'm ready to discuss this healing journey I am on, but knowing myself, at some point I will. Stay tuned for updates and insights over the course of time as I heal.
UNCOVERING IMPACT
In order to create positive change in the world, I need to prioritize my own healing and growth. I am also thinking about, observing, and uncovering ways that I can actually be impactful on the world around me, while also keeping in mind that the weight of the worlds problems is not solely on my shoulders. This is not something I have figured out yet and am actively in progress with, so I will share what comes up and how I get on with this as time goes on.
This became abundantly clear to me from reading Doppelganger by Naomi Klein, a book that delves into the themes of identity, societal divisions, and the impact of the pandemic on our lives. As someone who has watched so many people I cared about and was in community with diagonally shift from the new age spiritual community into the conspiracy space, this book brought to light a lot of the inner turmoil I've been feeling about the world since the pandemic began.
Furthermore, Klein calls for a shift from seeing our global social issues as isolated problems to understanding them as interconnected challenges that require coordinated, collective responses. This approach is crucial for building resilient communities that can better withstand and address the multifaceted crises we face. I highly recommend reading the book if any of these topics interest you.
FACING EXISTENTIAL DREAD
In light of what I've been recently reading and engaging with online, I refuse to sit idly by and let life move in directions I deem negative. The climate crisis, genocide, economic collapse—all of this makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry. And while life right now feels particularly hard, I want to do my best to move through the dread I feel and transmute that into more meaningful action.
The online space can feel super performative, and I'm looking to shift away from performative action to meaningful action in the real world to make the world a better place. This involves facing my existential dread and actively working towards positive change in the world around me rather than just screaming into the void online.
Some ideas I have so far for this:
I want to find ways to build community with those around me, as brought to my attention by Shelbizleee.
I want to reduce my consumption of new things, especially clothing, as suggested all the time by the Clotheshorse Podcast.
I want to spend more time outside enjoying the natural world around me, something I'm constantly reminded of by listening to the National Park After Dark Podcast.
I want to figure out my place in the world and collective healing as explored on the recent We Can Do Hard Things podcast with Resmaa Menakem.
REEVALUATING THE NEED FOR A PLATFORM
I've come to realize that not everyone needs a platform, and I no longer believe in the rat race that capitalism throws us on. As Kristen Leo shared in her recent Substack post, “For me, being an [online business owner] has been a blessing and a curse. What a gift to earn a living by...working remotely, receiving so much praise from people. And what a terrible thing to have to appease twisted algorithms and an overstimulated crowd that’s ready to start throwing tomatoes at you before you even go on stage. We’ve become clowns doing the same bit again and again because that’s now our 'niche.' We’re mouthing lyrics off-sync like lobotomized housewives praying the trending audio gets us more views. We’re becoming bland and vanilla just to not offend all the chronically online hysterics desperate to victimize themselves. We’re mentioning Taylor Swift 24/7 to get clicks. Raises hand I’d like to excuse myself from this madhouse.” Me too Kristen, me too.
Kristen then shares that, “my break from all this noise was therapeutic—as a creator and a consumer. It helped me reevaluate my online existence and hit a much needed refresh button.” What I've taken from this discourse is this: if I don't have anything meaningful to say right now, it's okay to be quiet and leave space for those with more important messages. Saying things just to perform on the hamster wheel that is social media isn't cool. So, with that, I decided to pause the Rainbow Reflections podcast.
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein also explores this as well. The book calls for a reevaluation of how we interact with and understand the world around us, especially the mirror world we all currently inhabit. It also explores the role of personal branding in this current digital landscape, which I found particularly fascinating as a brand designer myself and will probably share more on soon once I've had time to process it all.
SHIFTING THE CONVERSATION
While the podcast is on hiatus, the newsletter will continue. I will still share my thoughts and ideas, but in a way that feels less energetically taxing to me at this time. Podcasting is time-consuming, expensive, and involved, and right now, I don't have the capacity right now to manage it alongside my healing journey. Plus, I want to figure out a way to share more of my insight and knowledge in a way that both serves me and my audience. I think, ultimately, this will mean shifting what I'm doing on the podcast into a different kind of offering.
For example, right now I am toying with the idea of building some sort of mastermind or course container where I can help more people with my expertise than I can on my own via 1:1 work. This type of container would be less energetically draining for me and be more structured of an offering, which I think would help me feel more at ease with sharing it with the world. On top of that, it would be a reciprocal offering where I am properly compensated for the work I put into the venture. This also feels supportive given the current economic climate that we all still need to survive in.
Does this mean the podcast will be gone forever? I'm not sure.
I don't have the answers yet, or anything figured out. What I can say, though, is I am looking to use my energy creating things in my business that both benefit me and benefit others. That being said, we shall see what ends up coming through because I'm not quite sure what it will be yet.
CONCLUSION
The way forward won't be clear, and it will stretch me physically, emotionally and spiritually. Astrologically, the Sun in Cancer adds another layer to this discourse. It is challenging me to manage stress and take care of my essential needs to avoid feeling overwhelmed. It is pushing me to prioritize my own needs at this time so I can be my best, most resourced self on this new path.
This isn't a goodbye, just a shift in how I communicate and share with you all. Thank you for your understanding and support during this time. Your presence in this community means the world to me, and I look forward to continuing our connection through these written reflections.
Wishing you Rainbows,
