Alysse Aallyn

Tag: Memoir

  • Purrsiflage – Daily Horoscope for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 11

    The Universe Says You Are Wonderful at Delegating. Do you often fantasize about Getting Help? In this pleasant reverie, you are engaged on any difficult task and Some Competent Dreamboat shows up to voluntarily assist. 

    Do you populate your dreams with villages and businesses that run seemingly effortlessly – everyone like the mailman, the crossing guard, the fruit seller, the fireman – setting about their Daily Chores like characters in a children’s book? We’re all nostalgic for that Perfect World of cooperation that never in fact, existed or can exist because we are all the stars of our own particular story. Exactly as it should be. But you, right now, need cooperation and luckily, as it turns out, everyone needs cooperation to survive. Cooperation is the key to civilization.

    You Don’t Have to Do Everything – It’s an enormous relief when you first realize you’re not responsible for everything. Children are very solipsistic thinkers – they “assume” magical responsibility not just for parental divorce but for World Wars. But we are tiny cogs in a huge enterprise.  Every task we assume is part of something much bigger. We are surrounded by helpers, if we could only see it.

    Purrson Challenge – In life we have Group Tasks and Individual Tasks. The challenge is to figure out which is which. Social pressure tends to ‘erase” the importance of our personal, individual tasks because the daily round is so overwhelming. Yet we must cling determinedly to our Personal Goals of maturation, Mastery, Learning, Finding Meaning & Bliss, Growing Love. Cooperation surrounds us in all these challenges if we could only access its benefits.

    Know the Game – Unfortunately capitalist societies are based on competition and scarcity. Politics maneuvers us into seeing others as competitors for scarce resources, instead of willing hands helping us build. No wonder Main Street is falling into disrepair, volunteer activities go begging and community resources are depleted! Without a sense of community we can’t see each other as anything but rivals. When looking for co-operators it is wise to re-visit our previous Wisdom warnings about avoiding people who seek not helpers but hostages.

    Avoid Spirit Crushers – Memorize these threatening warnings of an approaching hostile takeover. Don’t ask for anything from these people. We can’t repeat these dangers often enough: Write these down!

    • 1. Manipulation: Toxic people often use manipulation to get what they want from others. They may guilt trip, threaten, or lie to manipulate others into doing their bidding.
      2. Emotional Abuse: Toxic individuals may use emotional abuse to control and dominate their victims. This can include name-calling, belittling, and constant criticism.
      3. Lack of Accountability: Toxic people often avoid taking responsibility for their actions and may blame others for their own mistakes.
      4. Self-Centeredness: Toxic individuals are often extremely self-centered and may prioritize their own needs and desires over those of others.
      5. Lack of Empathy: Toxic people may have difficulty putting themselves in other people’s shoes and understanding their feelings and perspectives.
      6. Passive-Aggressiveness: Toxic individuals may exhibit passive-aggressive behavior, such as giving the silent treatment or making sarcastic comments.
      7. Inconsistency: Toxic people may be inconsistent in their words and actions, and may promise one thing but deliver another.
      8. Disregard for Boundaries: Toxic individuals may disregard others’ boundaries and may continue to push for what they want even when told “no.”
      9. Gaslighting: Toxic people may engage in gaslighting behavior, which involves manipulating someone into doubting their own perceptions or memories.
      10. Physical Aggression: In extreme cases, toxic individuals may exhibit physical aggression, such as hitting, pushing, or kicking.

    Stay Away!

    Purrson Opportunity – If you manage to avoid the above, you will meet Your Best Friends Ever! People who really have ideas and ENJOY HELPING. This is even more important than Getting “the job” DONE! Because Cooperation often redesigns the job in a positive, healthy way. Real friends last for life and they change YOU. Reach out for advice and cooperation to all who treat others with respect. You won’t be successful ALL the time – no one is – but you will learn so much in the course of finding out How to Live In the World and Who to be.

    Purrsons Know How to Lead – Purrsons understand strategy and dividing tasks into steps. Purrsons see into the heart of personal and personnel problems because they have confronted their own issues of courage, baggage, physical challenge and fear.

    Purrsons Know How to Play Their Position – For my part to work, your part needs to work. Division of labor knits efforts into a harmonious whole. Everyone gets a chance and everyone is satisfied with the result.

    Purrsons See the Entire Field – We know how to change course to give our best efforts their best chance. We know when to retreat and regroup. We understand the psychological build-up and the necessity of down-time, debriefing, and re-supplying. Everyone must feel that they are of value and no effort is in vain.

    Models & Mentors – “The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation” – Bertrand Russell

    “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success” – Henry Ford

    “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” – Isaac Newton

    “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Horoscope for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 10

    Today the Universe Invites You – To list your resources and prepare for a surprise. They’re always more out there than you think.

    Do you dream of wealth? Storehouses of goodies? Digging in the earth and finding treasure? Gold at the end of the rainbow? These are “resource” fantasies. In the Purrson Horoscope, the “Earth” archetype represents all possible resources because Earth is the source of everything mortal that is valuable to us. Where we are born determines the very language we will use to quantify, remember and share our world.

    You are a Wealthy Heir – All of us are born into fabulous possibility. However, the fear of emptiness and the dread of exclusion starts immediately. Focusing on the wealth we DON’T have prevents us from identifying the resources we possess now.

    Purrsons Are Anointed – We are Purrsons BECAUSE we recognize the sacredness of today. One day while swimming, sailing, sunning, soaring or dreaming WE FELT THE UNIVERSE LOVE US BACK. We were anointed Purrsons in the honor of Earth on that day.

    Let’s Figure Out What We’ve Got Going for Us. Health? Youth? Sight? Hearing? Intelligence? Talents? Love? Books? Libraries? Education? Family? Community? Faith? Roof over head? Food on Table? Money coming in? People we can depend on? Is there a patch of sky where we can see the stars? Is there a patch of ground where we can see the flowers?

    Sheltering & Mustering Resources is Key –  “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” says Shakespeare’s Richard III. But he doesn’t have a horse and his kingdom is lost. “A stitch in time”, etc. etc. Strategy is nothing without resources and resources are nothing if you waste them.

    Purrsons Nurture What They Love – Purrsons care for their equipment, their animals, their people and their environment.

    Purrsons Cultivate and Improve – We bring gardens where once were deserts, we bring children where life was future-less, we speak to animals and we communicate with trees.

    Purrsons Celebrate the Spirit of Life – We don’t mark joy with “getting wasted.” We nestle instead in the beautiful cradle of the universe we have helped to provide.

    Purrson Danger – There’s no question all our benefits can be improved upon. They are also subject to depredation, depreciation and degradation. It is a positive force to desire improvements, but it is dangerous to turn “wants” into rage.

    Purrson Opportunity – Often the one difference between happiness and misery is gratitude. Are you grateful for all you have been given? Do you feel lucky or fortunate in any way? To put things in perspective, lottery winners one year out are usually NOT AS HAPPY as those who have been in a serious accident one year previous!

    The Secret is Perspective. The lottery winners thought a pile of money would “solve” everything, the accident sufferers thought they were destroyed forever. Lottery winners learned how wrong they were about what they needed, while accident sufferers were focused on what they still had and what new caring relationships came into their lives. Begin to cultivate a practice of gratitude. It starts with a “Thank You.”

    Models & Mentors – “Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” – Carl Sagan

    “I only feel angry when I see waste, people throwing away things we could use” – Mother Teresa

    “Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed” – Mahatma Gandhi

    “The Earth has music for those who listen” – Shakespeare

    “Earth sustains us and we must sustain her”

    – Chief Dan George

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Horoscope for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 7

    The Universe Invites You – Focus Your Desires.  Time to make a plan. How much do you dream about the future? We all know the future is real – it keeps arriving every second! But how often does it match our aspirations? And does that ever matter?

    Purrsons Aspire – To aspire means to yearn for something better, to be able to imagine something better and to begin to mentally create a pathway to improvement. To eternally yearn for improvement means the ultimate can never be reached, and it is the process itself – the devotion to that process – that becomes the religion of the Purrson.

    Purrsons Plan – Today’s horoscope declares: nothing comes to reality without a Plan.  This is a main argument for the existence of God – a Planner of bluebells and quasars seems so real to us and the scope of the universe, its chemistry, math & physics, so orderly. Even the people who see only “chaos” outside don’t actually want chaos in their own lives. Is our mind greater than the universe? Clearly not. No single brain has been able to encompass the universal design – not even Einstein’s.  Wishing is helpless and works out so seldom it leaves us worse off. But plans evolve, along with us, and even when plans fail, WE succeed. Edison said he hadn’t failed at anything, he simply found “ten thousand ways things don’t work.” That’s the “empiric method.” It’s called knowledge!

    Purrsons Take an Active Role – Don’t bother investing pride and honor in being “right” – with a universe this complex, NOBODY’S right. Invest instead in having a good, flexible plan that evolves along with you. Plans are adaptable – they must borrow from all disciplines.  Plans can be Art – art is what this universe IS – including the people in it. Give your Future Map room to grow.

    Purrsons Create a Future Worth Having – Without this effort all our futures would fade into entropy, a constant winding down into muck, inertia and dissolution. Understanding the Purrson’s commitment to betterment means accepting our obligation to advance the lives not only of ourselves and our loved ones, but unmet and even unborn others.

    Purrson Danger –  Never forget Fundamental Attribution Error. There’s a lot of coincidence and happenstance, which is what the phrase “Being in the wrong place at the wrong time” expresses. Therefore, our plan must always be modified to deal with tragedy –the ongoing and universal tragedy of illness, war and disaster. Purrsons try to avert these things, will continue learning how better to avert them – but everything isn’t up to us. There are perverse, dark forces at work that enjoy harm and destruction.  We can’t become over invested in “winning” because we can’t see or know everything.

    Purrson Faith – This is where Faith comes in. Jesus said evil will not win, and that’s good enough for me. Find your own mantra to help you stay strong and to keep working on a healthier you by designing a healthy plan and promoting people around you who can make your plan better. You will also be contributing to their plans – and that’s gratitude. And love. Win-win!

    Self-Definition is a Joy – Even though the Ultimate can never be reached by in this lifetime and is always just ahead, it gives us a concept of Paradise we can work for. This work provides the deepest pleasure and connection between persons that is achievable on this planet.

    Models & Mentors – “The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment” – Pema Chodron

    “The future starts today, not tomorrow” – Pope John Paul II

    “A good education is the foundation of a better tomorrow” – Elizabeth Warren

    “An uncertain future is not oppressive when Hope guides us” – Charlotte Bronte

  • Purrsiflage – Horoscope For Your Inner Cat with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 6

    Uh Oh! Horoscope says Your Down Days Will Continue Until – You need to wake up. You’re running scared. You feel “out on a limb”. This is for a very good reason. You’ve been encouraged to be a rugged individualist but you know you can’t make it on your own. 

    We Are Social Beings, Who Need Other Purrsons. Think of all those characters who people your dreams. We are DEPENDENT on them. This is such a tough thing to face that there are whole categories of people who go around insisting THEY “made it without any help.”  They’re the only ones who believe it!  They’ve actually assembled a vast team, and not only that, they are dependent on teams set up by others to provide safety, water, heat, light, transport. Visit a country where this isn’t a given and realize what a massive enterprise smoothly and quietly takes place around us every day. Current efforts to “break the system” by people who would rather buy a third yacht only provide additional proof in the power of community.

    Your Panic Will Subside When You Adopt

    “Flourish, Don’t Exploit “ as your mantra. Give Back! Pay it forward! Symbiosis benefits everyone. If it leaves you “worse off” it’s not symbiosis, it’s exploitation. In our dreams we fear depredation, loss, failure, humiliation. Our sleep world is the theatre where we rehearse our fears, presumably making them LESS LIKELY to come true! We fear dependence because that means our “supply” can be cut off. But we also provide supply to others. What, and who? Any way we can improve the supply lines?

    Purrsons Commit to Understanding Systems – We live in flow. Achieving psychic flow state allows us to contribute to the constructive flow of life. Blockages are caused by greed, (wanting too much) by envy (desiring others’ take-down) and by narcissistic rage (if I can’t be happy, no one gets to be happy.) Purrsons demonstrate positive flow with their lives, their relationships and their bodies.

    Purrson Danger – Interdependence is a delicate balance, requiring sensitivity, reflection, and the capacity to change. Above all we want to avoid “Doomsday thinking” in which “since” the obvious entropy of the universe ruins all relationships eventually, so, by this reasoning, they must be ruined NOW.  This “fear” completely overlooks the spiritual growth which time can foster. Interdependence gives us insight and time and improved relationships – a recipe for emotional and intellectual thriving.

    Purrsons Collaborate – Collaboration is inspired sharing. We are born with “essence” as our own unique mandate, and we acquire positive skills on our path through life. We contribute our skilled essence to the flow, and everyone has a different skilled essence to contribute. We inspire one another to our best achievements. We don’t want to live in a lonely universe.

    Purrson Challenge – To become independent (i.e. free) we must intellectually face the fact of our dependence on others and their dependence on us. Is there harm involved? Depredation? Abuse? Don’t make me repeat the 17 warning signs of an abusive relationship. You should be able to recognize them by now so that you can strategize a way out! If you DON’T recognize them there’s a very good chance your dreams DO. Pay attention to those. 

    Your Dreams Are the Horoscope that Warns You. It’s possible to be abused by relationships with people we’ve never even met (they like it better that way) – banks – corporations – landlords – employers – if this isn’t an equally mutual beneficial relationship we’re OUTTA HERE. (This is why authoritarians fear Cancel Culture. It reduces their depredation pool.) Yes, you CAN demand & secure relationships that are more beneficial.

    Purrsons Don’t Self-Sabotage – Purrsons don’t foul their own nests, pollute their springs or wage zero sum games. Purrsons understand that win-win supports all life in general and their lives in particular.

    Purrson Opportunity – Concepts of worldly “perfection” are a persistent psychic problem because Perfection is about death. Perfection is “finishing.” Perfection is stasis when growth has stopped. WE Purrsons must be about change, evolution, and becoming. Wisdom! Sharing joy! A back and forth process involving OTHER PEOPLE. Let’s work on our confidence. Let’s work on our spiritual muscle. Let’s work on our mapping abilities so we have a good idea where we’re headed. Expect surprises and greet them when they show up: “Hello old friend.”

    Models & Mentors –  “Symbiotic relationship in nature teaches us cooperation and shows that we are all connected” – Sanchita Pandey

    “You are in a dynamic relationship with the universe because your existence is win-win” – Teal Swan

    ‘Symbiosis is a much higher reflection of intelligent life” – Frederick Lenz

    “Love is a positive, symbiotic, reciprocal flow between two or more entities”

    – Inga Muscio

  • Purrsiflage – Your Daily Kitty Horoscope With Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 4

    The Universe Encourages Purrsons to Express All Genders.  Are you an empath? Do you identify easily with multiple avatars? Are you happiest with fluid roles in a relationship? Do you dream of the fetish trophies of gender; makeup, wigs, shoes, sports equipment? Do you have frequent “freedom” dreams: flying, swimming? Waking up damp, pulses pounding?

    Love Opens Purrsons – Empathy Ennobles Purrsons – IS there an “opposite” sex? Deep empathy makes us worthy to be our own romantic partners, the subject of our lifelong pursuit.  This is nothing but the honorable, deepest desire to truly know oneself AND others;  to master selfhood and compassion before leaving the planet.  C.S. Lewis says we are not a Body with a Soul, we are Souls with a Body.

    Purrson Strategy Requires “Becoming” the Other –  Strengthening our imagination, we see through the barriers raised by the fearful and the pugnacious. What is “winning”? Empaths double – triple – multiply our vision, our power, and therefore our souls.

    Don’t Fear Gender – Purrsons who perform “gender specifics” are limiting themselves. Purrsons who look for opportunities to expand their reach encompass the powers, the delights, the ecstasies of all humans. What we absorb, we reflect.

    Purrsons Don’t Fear Physicality – We express ourselves with this gloriously gifted, given body, coming through this gloriously gifted, given world.  We expect, even worship, Transformation. Woody Allen says bisexuality doubles your chances to get a date on Saturday night. Anything wrong with that? Purrsons never “force” themselves to perform sexually; that is subjugation.

    Purrsons Move Slowly to Absorb, Interpret, Comprehend – We desire to see, to know, to experience everything. Always move as slowly as you feel comfortable with, keeping all options and emotions alive. The “sexual revolution” was a lot of fun, but it was spoiled for many by a witless prejudice against “reserve.” Revulsion, instinctive distaste and doubt tell us plenty. We are on this earth to hone our “gut” instinct as well as our sensitivities. Gavin de Becker, danger specialist, reminds us that fear is an insight, an intuition, a God-given “gift.” Honor it.

    Purrsons Educate Themselves on Risk – Dangerous “bad sex” stories start with substance abuse, usually undertaken with a nervous desire to get into a more relaxed or even transcendental state; but all that actually achieves is to skip over the “informed consent” that is such an important feature of identity and will. Predators with a need for speed drug their prey! Afterwards the complex feelings of violation and shame can take a lifetime to deal with. These facts mean we must study “trust” BEFORE we study sex. What is trust? Safety? Honor? Let’s work on those issues while we develop a free space to evolve, experiment and grow.

    Purrsons Seize Opportunity – Fresh interpretations of “gender“ make this a glorious time to be alive. I can recall when gender was a prison sentence of compulsion and rigidity! Now it is an invitation to live more fully, to experience oneself and others more richly, to participate in that fruitful, heavenly life for which we all yearn.

    Models & Mentors – “The great gift of human beings is we all have empathy. We can sense a mysterious connection to each other” – Meryl Streep

    “Leadership is about empathy. It is about relating to people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives” – Oprah Winfrey

    “The capacity for empathy leads to a genuine encounter I which heart speaks to heart” – Pope Francis

    “I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization” – Roger Ebert

    “Empathy has no script…there is no right way or wrong way…there is only listening, emotionally connecting, communicating the incredibly healing message ‘You’re not alone” – Brene Brown

  • Purrsiflage – Horoscope for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 3

    The Universe Reminds You to Evolve – You are never static. Your caterpillar is bursting its cocoon. Have you been dreaming about pets? Little wild animals? Gardening? Shepherding projects through to completion? These are Nurturing dreams. Just like a child with totemic objects you long to care for another entity and encourage it to flourish to its fullest potential. You long to protect and succor and at the same time, protect, succor and nourish the lost, frightened, wild, shy, needy parts of yourself.

    Purrsons are Anointed to protect the growth pattern of the universe. Through our bravery, intelligence and commitment we nurture the world and make the world safe for the magic of growth.

    Purrsons Are Stewards – Anxious about climate change? Are you vegetarian or vegan? Find yourself enraged by animal abuse, factory farming and climate denial? Having nightmares about tsunamis and volcanoes? Do you see the whole of Mother Earth in your care?

    Purrson Challenge – You can stand up for your beliefs and test them.  You will make a difference. Remember the legend of the one starfish the little girl saved? She couldn’t save all the starfish, but that one she freed made all the difference. Think about karma.  Karma is your cosmic bank account. When that little girl gets to heaven and that starfish testifies, she is Good to Go.

    Purrson Danger – The only danger here is that you will forget to apply your own oxygen mask BEFORE you go seeking oxygen for everyone else! Rookie mistake!  Also, a “gathering” signal to predators everywhere that you will neglect your own needs to give to others. A moment’s thought tells you this is a zero sum game where everyone, ultimately, loses. Replenishment is key. Give a man a fish and you have one less fish. Teach someone to fish and you’ve upgraded a human. Develop a method of fish replenishment and you’ve got a sustainable economy.

    Purrson Opportunity – As in the fishing analogy, you are being offered endless chances for Learning, Invention and Creativity. You are lighting one candle after another in a very dark world, to the benefit of everyone who comes into contact with you.

    Purrsons are Entitled – To be effective, Purrsons must learn the paths of growth. Purrsons become expert at detecting causes of destruction and disability. To see this, Purrsons must acquire the Wisdom of the Ages, thus giving themselves the greatest benefit the universe can confer: becoming Visionaries and Old Souls who are the keepers of universal order.

    Purrsons are Humble – The temptations of power are the number one cause of degradation, destruction and disablement. Purrsons are constantly offered opportunities to interrupt the growth cycle and harm others. Humility keeps us sane, modesty keeps us honest and fellowship keeps us free.

    Receiving in Love, Purrsons Will Be Received – Purrsons are certain of their reward. When Love is the light you live by, you become a conduit for intergenerational, even interplanetary Love. Your faith ennobles you.  The love of a child for trustworthy parents is the model Jesus set forth for our relationship to God.

    Models & Mentors – “The only limitation to our realization of tomorrow are the doubts of today” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

    “A tiny change today brings a dramatically different tomorrow” – Richard Bach

    “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, “I’m Possible.” – Audrey Hepburn

    “If a problem is fixable, there is no point in worrying. If a problem is not fixable, there is no point in worrying.” – The Dalai Lama

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Horoscope for Your Inner Cat with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 2

    Today the Universe Wants You to Know – You are standing on the edge of possibility. Imagination tells us what COULD be. Potentiality alerts us to the possibilities. In the multiverse, physicists assure, everything is happening somewhere. The stick-colored, dead-seeming chrysalis contains nature’s most beautiful sprite, the butterfly. The invisibility of potential discourages predators by daylight, but at night, the chrysalis opens and we are free.

    Remember: You Contain Multitudes – Your real self is still asleep. What color will it be? It will be every color. You are the apex of your family tree. Walt Whitman describes us, as well as himself. Be wary of the “restrictions” others place so confidently upon you. Question them. Be the first in your family to — do something. Because you ARE the first in your family to be you. You are unique. In day dreams and night dreams, on conscious and unconscious levels, you explore all the odds and contingencies.

    Don’t Be Sidelined – People we love, need and admire, keep trying to pin us down. They want to get to “know” us so they can “rely” on our sameness. They want us to stay where they left us, like a coat or umbrella. We willingly place limits on ourselves, just to be accepted. But you are unrestrained in your wild and dreaming imagination.

    Preserve Your Inner Wildness – Think of the story of Max, who voyaged overnight to play with the Wild Things until he finally decided he wanted to return to his safe, warm, familiar bed. Every action you perform, every thought you think, suggests and then creates its opposite or “shadow” as Jung would say. Free yourself to consider all the alternatives. Then Purrsons fly above them.

    Purrsons Are Warmed by Inner Fire – Purrsons don’t listen to the limitations others have set on them. Who would believe that dried up ugly chrysalis is going to turn into a magnificent butterfly? Yet it will. You have the butterfly within you. When you concentrate, you can feel its wings stretching and expanding.

    Can We Lose Ourselves?  Will we become Peter Pan who was replaced and now can never come home? Fear is a valid reaction when danger is about. But danger is triggered by lack of escape. Keep all your psychic escape hatches open.

    What Fable Do You Cherish?  We tell ourselves stories. Harry Potter, Narnia or Marvel? Expand it outwards. Insert yourself. So many discoveries have been made from and through fantasy fan fiction they are too numerous to mention here. But allowing yourself to dream is key. Imagine you are outfitting your inner butterfly. What colors? How about all colors, constantly changing?

    Purrsons Are Quick-Change Artists – Purrsons might become a butterfly or a snowflake or an orchid or some new form that hasn’t been created yet. Purrsons are always avatars. Every cat is distinct. We keep ourselves at peak readiness to accept the universal challenge. We realize life is a dance, we can adapt to its steps and offer steps all our own.

    Purrsons Protect Their Potential – Others will constantly try to constrain and define you and herd you into their enclosure. Don’t go. What you will become is not up to them, it is not even up to those who mentor and love you. It is up to you.

    Purrsons Protect the World’s Potential – The young, the aged, the helpless, the teacher, the crossing guard, the medic, the harvester – these are people who shepherd the universe into a positive becoming. They are occupied with vital work and can’t protect themselves or those they help. Life’s Purrsons will protect them. The forces of destruction are all around us, the universe can’t afford to waste a scrap of its positive potential.

    Models & Mentors – “The only person you are destined to be is the person you decide to become” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

    “Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams. Think not about your frustrations but your potential.  Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed but with what it is still possible for you to do.”        –  Pope John XXIII

    “Our essential nature is one of pure potentiality”

    – Deepak Chopra

    “Accept whatever comes and meet it with the best you have to give” – Eleanor Roosevelt

  • Purrsiflage – Your Inner Kitty Horoscope with Alysse Aallyn

    Jan 1

    Today’s Horoscope Emphasizes Youth – It’s still there, bubbling away inside you. You’re always ready to bounce back. Have you been dreaming or thinking about your childhood? Your conscious mind is always “mining” your subconscious for guides to the way you feel now. Did you pick the wrong path, and if so, why? Can you summon the effort to go back and fix it?

    “You’re as Young as You Feel” is a true saying! Ever met a “young” seeming old person? They are interested in everything. They are not frightened by new ideas. They don’t talk endlessly about their illnesses, complaints, how the world has gone to hell.  

    They look forward to the future. The nature of “resilience” is that you “spring up”. Launch yourself! You can actually use mistakes as energy, to improve your future planning. Surely you’re familiar with the principle behind “resistance training.” You get better muscles that way!

    Purrsons Are Battle-Tested – How does the kitten inside you feel eternally “young” when life keeps beating you down? The way to improve your resilience is to improve your philosophy. Do you believe people get old, they can no longer participate in the rat race, are shoveled under and it’s over? Now there’s an inspiring pep talk for the locker room!

    Purrsons are Resilient – Purrsons are young forever because they never give up. Resignation is never in their vocabulary. Combine that with the far-seeing wisdom that accelerates planning through experience and you have a Superpower.

    Love and Intelligence REQUIRE Wisdom – Adopt a philosophy that gives you hope. This is easier to do around young people. Grandparents identify with grandchildren. It’s good for both of them.

    Don’t Get Stuck in a “Feedback Loop.” Don’t hang around depressing, toxic people who mouth depressing, toxic notions. In our society, old people are shunted off onto sidings, gathered together in communities that focus on “nursing”. Depressed yet? Re-orient your mind to focus on “health.” Resilience is a requirement to embrace healing for wounds of all types.

    Purrsons Preserve the Hope of Youth – Hope is the Purrson’s religion. Life will always win out, will grow even against despair.

    Purrsons Preserve the Joy of Youth – Fighting difficult battles (even with oneself) means the relaxation afterwards feels extra delicious. Purrsons can play with anyone because they are still their child-like selves. That is part of what we are fighting for.

    Purrson Opportunity – In a famous letter to Ann Landers, someone who wanted to go to medical school bewailed that they would forty years old when they got out!  Forty! Landers asked, “How old will you be if you DON’T go?” “Wise” people are those who realize HOW YOUNG THE REST OF YOU really are, many of whom complain vigorously about being “too old” to do whatever they dream of. 

    You have plenty of time, because ALL time is NOW. Your new mantra? “Spring back.”

    Purrsons Never Give Up – Surrendering can be a strategy. It is not giving up. There may be snow on the roof but there is plenty of fire in the fireplace. Sometimes, however, it is good to keep our fires to ourselves. Timing is critical. We know how to bide our time.

    Models & Mentors – “Reasons for hope – our clever brains, the indomitable human spirit and above all, the commitment of young people when they’re empowered to take action” – Jane Goodall

    “We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward” – Isabel Allende

    “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts’ – Winston Churchill

    “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny”

    – C. S. Lewis

  • Purrsiflage – Your Daily Inner Cat Horoscope with Alysse Aallyn

    Dec 31

    This Morning the Universe offers the warning: consider the unseen. Are you dreaming of reversals?  Sudden surprises or a creeping sense of unease? Upsets? Do you wake with a sense of having forgotten something important you almost understood?

    Something’s Not Quite Right – Ever have that sneaking sense you’ve wandered into a masquerade? We are trying to learn the rules, but the rules keep changing. Someone’s moving the goalposts. By the time you’ve arrived, the “promise” has “expired.”

    Impostor Syndrome – Are we the fake, or is it everyone around us who’s faking it? “Fake it till you make it” is definitely a rule. But is the game worth playing? Your Training Journal reflects the Purrson Reality. Meditation will reveal your wholeness to you.

    Activate Your Spidey Senses – First, have a self. This ought to be the easy part! Everyone has a self – right? If only! From our earliest memory not only was “love” conditional but ALL rewards were. We wanted to find out who we really were and what we were capable of but it never seemed the right time. Let’s start by taking our suspicions seriously – you’re not paranoid if they’re REALLY out to get you.

    Purrsons Are Sensitive Instruments registering seismic shifts and deep tectonic disturbances below the threshold of consciousness. Something always IS “going on” and you have studied long enough to be alert to the many warning signals! This can be exhausting. We long for relaxation, peace and quiet, a clear blue sky without a single cloud.

    Purrson Challenge –The key to intelligent management of dissonance is to think of the world as an orchestra playing a symphony. The more able we become to distinguish the varied instruments and musical lines the more we will appreciate and enjoy the experience. Balance is key. We schedule regular periods of rest and renewal.

    Purrson Danger – Avoid a “bunker mentality.” The universe has many bunkers, but it is bigger than any single one. We must cultivate a hierarchy of response. We get out of bed in the middle of the night for a fire alarm, not a phone notification. Don’t allow yourself to become dismissive and numb but seek out advice and encouragement from others who understand a healthy growth process. All of us live in groups, curate your group to promote intelligent awareness in an atmosphere of hope. Dissonance and dormancy are not doom.

    Resistance Is Never Futile – We each will be given a chance to spend our night on the watchtower, but you don’t need to spend every night there. Consider dissonance and discord invitations to accept maturity. We are putting away childish things. The sky is NOT falling, but the climate is under legitimate scientific threat. Strategize ways to band together with like-minded members of your community to take useful action. This is an opportunity to show self-love, as well as love for the group, the environment, the world and the future. The attitude, “I care about you so I’m going to take care of you”, keeps us sensitive to the message of Universal Love that is always waiting breathlessly to embrace us.

    Suit Up for the Long Haul – There’s a reason you are alerted to the ‘dissonance” archetype. You can sense something moving just out of your peripheral vision. Someone in your closest circle is lying to you. Do you know how to check for honesty? Test for reality? Check their pasts. Interview their friends AND their enemies. Are they pushing too hard? Trying to “sign you up?” How do they treat wait-staff? Do they speak disrespectfully of others? What’s their philosophy of life?

    When It’s Too Good to Be True – That often means the trap is just about to be sprung. Purrsons must learn to think for themselves.

    Models & Mentors – “When you light a candle, you cast a shadow.” – Ursula K. LeGuin

    Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to fads, trends and popular opinion”

    – Jack Kerouac

    “Better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation”

    – Herman Melville

    “If you don’t fit in, you’re probably doing the right thing” – Henry David Thoreau

    “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth” – John F. Kennedy

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Horoscope for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Dec 30

    The Universe is Telling You It’s Time to Make Friends with Yourself. To become self-sufficient. Are you good company? Have you been fearing time alone? It is vital that we carve out time to reflect on all that is happening to us and the part we play and want to play. Our dreams alone could fill a shelf of books – plus we have to cultivate, curate and care for our daytime Purrson. Sometimes we have other people to care for and relationships to manage. We need to learn how to be our own best friend.

    Your Mind Is Your Most Important Tool – Sun Tzu reminds us that all battles are won and lost in the brain. Your mind determines your experience which controls your mind which develops your experience in a perfect feedback loop. In a culture based on “likes” from strangers we are all too ready to hand the reins of our brain over to some algorithm. Advertisers, influencers and partisans do NOT have your best interests at heart. We must learn how to turn that feedback loop into an upward trending spiral.

    After the Party Comes Cleanup – We have been taking control of our routine, our trajectory, our dreams and our thoughts. Now we need to develop self-confidence. Frustrated Purrsons devour themselves. We need to trust, not fear, our responsive reactions. This takes practice – “reps” in the words of the physical trainers. There is no need for two weeks alone on the Appalachian Trail (nice as that would be) because we are already alone inside our heads. Check your voices: what are you saying to yourself? “Good effort” or “Idiot”? It matters! Many of us treat ourselves worse than we would treat any other human (or pet.) That must change today.

    Purrson Danger – We are not proposing a life without feedback or a divorce from reality. If you really were your own best friend, you would protect, not exalt yourself. You would strategize towards health and having something worthwhile to share, not secrecy and isolation.

    Do You Hate Your Thoughts? – A recent poll discovered that most people would rather experience electric shocks than spend time alone with their thoughts, doing nothing but thinking. Just as mapping your future is a Purrson’s job, so is mapping your brain.  Make yourself a person it’s a pleasure to spend time with. You are not lonely when you enjoy your own company.

    Your Training Journal Is Your Mirror – It anchors you with its reflection. It is not necessary to write long pieces – lists or single words are adequate. Visual thinkers may want to sketch out or paste in pictures. Your Training Journal answers the following questions: Where Have I Been? Where Am I Going? Who Am I? Meditate 20 minutes a day on these issues.

    Purrson Opportunity – find a voice you respect and admire on which to model your new internal voice. Can you check with this person that you are on the right path? We all need a life coach or a cheerleader in our corner. Learn to enjoy time alone by building in rewards – indulging in nourishing hobbies as simple as walking and reading. You don’t need rocket science, you need a healthful day to day peaceful retreat inside your own head.

    Ask Yourself What You Take For Granted – This is the part of the picture that’s hardest to see. Because we take it for granted! Here is where your study of models can be helpful because you will be surprised by other people’s automatic assumptions.  For example, some people assume being a Purrson means putting yourself at the mercy of fickle public taste, whipsawing between hedonism and rejection in an atmosphere of deprivation and hardship, but to me, Purrpersonhood  is the peace of totally owning oneself, exploring one’s ideas and being responsible for oneself.  It is serfdom to the malignant or shallow minds of others that spells suffering and hardship.

    Gratitude Practice – Gratitude must be part of your everyday practice. Give thanks for this wonderful body, with its aches and cuts and bruises, as it eagerly shapes itself according to your efforts.  Give thanks for the freedom of your mind. Give daily thanks for the honor of being a Purrson.

    Models & Mentors – “Loneliness is the poverty of self – Solitude is the richness of self.” – May Sarton

    “The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude”  – Voltaire

    “Solitude is necessary for creativity” – Picasso

    “The best thinking is done in solitude” – Thomas Edison