Women, and all the people in their lives, are getting a preview this month, of how the Soft Metal energy might affect them in the new year. Along with the good and the not so good, there is the ugly. Mean girls and words that wound.
Soft Metal energy can cause people to be passive aggressive, defensive and overly argumentative. Everything from subtle jabs to outright backstabbing and minor disagreements to all out wars, this treacherous and combative behavior can be devastating to relationships. Sharp or harsh words can leave people traumatized, sometimes for life.
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words can do permanent damage.
~ Tim Chastain
This energy can inspire a desire to debate and win the argument at any cost. Compete in a battle of wits, prove others are wrong and be proclaimed victorious. Use the powers of persuasion to convince others of what is right and demonstrate having the greater intellect to earn coveted bragging rights. Or, at the very least, engage in friendly banter and offer acknowledgment of a well-made point with a lighthearted or pained "Touché!".
It can also encourage people to, instead of mince their words, premeditatedly hurt with their words. Shame people...just for fun, or to exact "well deserved" punishment or to seek "social justice" with some kind of moral superiority. Insult them to silence them or pressure them to censor themselves. Slander their name or reputation to harm them irrevocably. Make gravely injurious, karma creating statements that can't be taken back.
Soft Metal is represented by the youngest daughter. Verbal abuse is one of the most immature ways of conducting yourself in relationships and society at large. Resorting to name calling shows a lack of communication skills and intelligence. It's what children do when they are frustrated or aren't getting their way and don't have the words to describe how they feel or know how to ask for what they want.
Words can hurt whether they are heard through the grapevine or spoken directly. Feigning friendship while secretly talking badly about someone is a disappointing betrayal of trust. The other extreme of no holds barred brutal truth that cuts to the quick, can be ego destroying and life shattering.
Words are powerful.
Use them wisely.
~ Anonymous
Then, there are the lies. The tall tales and big fish stories that exaggerate the truth. The fictionalized stories of fantasy and false narratives, sometimes designed to entertain, other times to deceive and gate-keep the truth. The white lies and the seemingly "harmless" little fibs. Lies through knowing omissions and misleading half-truths. Lying through their teeth and then getting defensive when they get caught in a lie. But the compulsive liar's mirth gives them away despite their protestations.
Soft Metal is represented by the mouth and chest. The irresistible urge to get things off your chest and say what's on your heart. By all means, say what's on your mind, but first measure your words. Think before you speak.
Ask: Is it...
True
Helpful
Inspiring
Necessary
Kind
So, being impeccable with your word is not limited to the narrow context of being true to your word, honoring your commitments and following through on vows taken or promises made. Thoughtfulness and intentionality with every utterance is just as important, if not more so.
Soft Metal is also associated with large circles of friends and the greater social network. Content creators and social media influencers, especially those with large followings, who promote their particular worldview, normalize thoughts and ideas and support agendas and belief systems with every post, can cause great harm to those with a conditioned and unexamined mind.
While Soft Metal energy is primarily characterized by the spoken word, because so much of our communication is propagated via text, the written word needs to be addressed as well. Emails and direct messages, texts and tweets, blog posts and IG captions, and of course the comment sections of every platform must also be taken into consideration. Internet stalkers and cyber warriors, shills and trolls can make engagement and interactions unpleasant, even hostile. People can type things they probably wouldn't say to someone's face. And what makes this form of communication even worse, is that the tone cannot be heard when reading words on a screen.
Words have meaning. They carry energy. And the messages people deliver create karma. Sometimes positive karma and sometimes negative karma.
The anti-human agenda is prevalent on the Internet and has become so normalized people don't even recognize when they are being encouraged to hate themselves and each other. Harm themselves and hurt each other.
The newest trend is to be what influencers, celebrity authors, business owners and content creators call, being "real". I just call it TMI. In the name of being authentic, they out themselves by sharing aspects of their private lives, personal habits and innermost thoughts that no one needs to know...with the whole world.
To be honest.
To be vulnerable.
To be relatable.
To create content by pulling from their own struggles and shortcomings after they've run out of ideas for their quotas of an excessive number of posts per day. And in the process, they cross the line between public and private, break their own rules, disregard their own boundaries and violate their own personal space.
Keeping up the facade of perfect is exhausting and not sustainable. Keeping people interested with memes of famous quotes that have been shared ad nauseam and reworkings of other people's teachings from decades ago, eventually stops working, slows growth, reduces engagement and lowers the follower or subscriber numbers. Keeping the content "fresh" every day becomes overwhelming and ultimately impossible.
So, they spill their guts in Samurai harakiri fashion. They cut themselves open and bleed out all over their pages on the Internet. A journal entry that might have been therapeutic, even cathartic and healing, but definitely not appropriate for a million people to read and comment on. A mom boss admission to wishing her young daughters were at daycare, closed on a snow day. A marketing director's get to know me live, which she can't get through without her vape and juice. A biz babe who "jumps on" in her bath robe and messy bun to disclose the psyche meds she's on for mental illness. The young entrepreneur who thinks she can give life advice while using her platform to complain about how much her feelings have been hurt or reputation and business have been damaged by valid criticism, every day, for years, accompanied, of course, by a tropical island bikini selfie.
People love a good story. Good storytelling pulls us in and make us want to stay to the end for the life lesson, words of wisdom or valueable take away. Sharing our stories lets people in and builds rapport so they can trust us and feel invested enough to care about what we have to say or contribute.
Soft Metal is the archetype of The Storyteller. So, tell your stories. Write your stories. Share your stories. Master the art of storytelling.
Just remember to honor yourself and your family's privacy. You might want to show the whole world what you ate for lunch today, but you might not want everyone to have a front row seat to the glass house you've built with the exposé you've written about yourself and life.
Be open to sharing. But don't be an open book. Find a balance that makes you happy and honors your own boundaries for personal wellbeing and inner peace. Be mindful of what you say and to whom you say it. Keep some things sacred and shared only among your inner circle.
Fight the tendency to bicker, quarrel and feud. Remember, it takes two to argue. Listen. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Choose to be in relationships with people who have the space to listen to you and make you feel heard.
2020 will bring an escalation to arguments, even more childish name calling and insensitive and unkind words.
You can be the change by being conscious of what you say and being conscientious about the words you choose to use.
And avoid words that wound.
☯
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