Somewhere along the way, we lost ourselves. We gave ourselves up. We relinquished command. "Ground control," we said, "take over. I'd rather watch TV."
We are no longer captains of our own ships, commanders of our own fates, masters of our own destinies. We are like those unmanned drones over Kandahar province. The true pilot is not within because we are just an empty shell.
The panic evident in my Facebook friends' updates over possibly losing their Zodiac signs was a stark reminder of how prevalent it is. Someone was terrified that they might no longer be a Taurus, which would have meant they are not as passionate as they thought they were. Someone else was bemoaning the loss of being a Sagittarius and the fact that they didn't know how to be someone else.
In "An American Prayer," Jim Morrison of the Doors tells the crowd that he is a Sagittarius, "the most philosophical of all the signs." Some random girl shouts back, "Me, too, me, too!" He responds, "But anyway, I don't believe in it. I think it's a bunch of bullshit." Girl: "Me, neither! Me, neither!"
Most of us saw some article or another about the astrological signs changing. It caused utter chaos! People just weren't what someone else had said they were anymore. Chickens. Heads cut off!
People have actually made life decisions based on their horoscopes. There are books, websites and various quacks telling you whom should befriend, love, socially avoid, break up with. Because Geminis may not mix well with Capricorns.
I wonder if broken couples will be getting back together. Will they remarry? Will others divorce when they had decided to stick it out? Will people quit jobs? Be bold? Withdraw? Be hateful?
And remember when James Randi went into a classroom and told the students that he was a famous astrologer, that they should write down their birthdays on a sheet of paper and that he would return the next day with their horoscopes? Well, he came back the next day, gave them each an envelope, and most of the students thought it was right on. Nail on the head. Boy, oh, boy, is this guy good! He then asked them to pass their envelope to the person in front of them. To everyone's astonishment, it was the exact same horoscope.
I think we should take inventory of who we are. We should see who it is we really are and how much of what we are doing is because someone else has defined us. I realize that we cannot be islands entirely isolated and shielded from what others think, but for crying out loud, Ground Control, let them take the wheel at least once in a while!