I have been telling my partner almost every morning of late, “Work, work, work, that’s all we do”. I told May, my friend today that my cousin asked me whether I’m excited about learning calculus, a course on Coursera that I discovered. I said on reflection, no I’m not excited. I’m back to “school” as I don’t want to be one of those who complain about their work/career/life in their early 40s. May questioned my motive for wanting to change my career as me describing my supposed future career path as work doesn’t bore well.
Hours later, I was walking my dog in the nearby park. I thought of how I see practising piano, a supposed enjoyable activity, as work too. I wonder why. I suppose it’s not a walk in the park. When I practise the piano, my practice objective is to memorise the music and over time, aim for execution of the piece in a performance setting. Are there times where I enjoy practising? I suppose yes, towards the end when the music comes together. I do wonder now as I’m typing this whether practising can be described as enjoyable? Based on my recollection, I don’t think so as each repetition is so focused and mindful that it takes 101% of my concentration, which essentially describes me when I work in my day job as an accountant.
During the walk, I thought about the astrological transit that I’m going through now. Transiting Pluto in 8th house is opposing my natal Sun in 2nd house. As a modern astrologer, Pluto co-rules Scorpio, which is the sign on the cusp of my natal 6th house. Is there any wonder why I have been feeling it’s all work and no play nowadays? What’s more, natal Pluto is in my natal 5th house. So, I tend to experience work in my leisure activities (Pluto co-rules 6th in 5th).
How about a different spin on the 6th house? Instead of work and slavery, why not think of it as service to others and even work routine to master and perfect a skill (like 8th of pentacles in RW tarot). Well, I certainly feel like that – work to master a skill. Actually, I’m more of an apprentice to a skill i.e. the processes I’m going through now is part of becoming a concert pianist, a machine learning engineer, etc.
What’s interesting is that my natal Sun rules the 3rd house of learning. No wonder I feel all my learnings relating to piano, computing, etc is so heavy and intense, uncomfortable, just like how a caterpillar probably feels when it is undergoing a metamorphosis to become a butterfly.
Practical Astrology 