The Great Conjunction

On the 21st of this month, there was a rare Saturn Jupiter conjunction that happens once every 20 years. Why do I say rare if it happens every 20 years? That’s because it was the closest since 1623 and the closest observable since 1226! I didn’t know about all this, my cousin had called up to inform me about this. He was so excited while telling me all this, that even I got hyped up about the conjunction.

As I was waiting for the planets to align, I texted my friends telling them about the same. Two of them didn’t understand what I was saying. That was still fine. Another friend did understand what I was saying. He texted back saying that, “Where is it? I can’t see it, is it even there?”

I called him up to tell him about the direction where it could be seen and at what time. He responded, “I’m already in the southwest direction and there’s absolutely nothing here. You can see it, isn’t it? Why don’t you send a photo of it?” and there was a distinct sound of someone laughing in the background, probably one of his friends. I could send a photo, but I knew it was gonna come back asking for proof that it was Saturn and Jupiter, and not some random stars in the sky. A little upset, I left the conversation at that. 

Maybe he was not able to see it. It could be cloudy at his place. It was a bit cloudy at my place too. But it doesn’t mean that if he can’t see it, neither can others.

This may not seem like something of much importance. And truthfully, it wasn’t. But the feeling of not being validated nagged at me. “Why was that?”, I asked myself. “Was it because my friend did not respond politely enough? Or, was it because he did not respond the way I wanted him to – with as much excitement as I was?

It could not be the former, because we talk to each other like that while lightheartedly bantering with each other. And that never hurt me before. 

That’s when it became clear to me that I was upset because he didn’t respond like I expected him to. Somewhere deep down, I think I was looking to be validated. I was expecting that if I tell others about something I am excited about, they’ll be excited about it too. But that’s no law, is it?

I think all of us have been through this at one point or another. We’ve felt dismayed when whatever we are saying is not received the way we expected it to be. This causes us more anxiety and worry than what it’s actually worth.

The only way to escape this anxiety is spreading information, but not expecting it to be received in a certain way and being satisfied if it makes you happy. Don’t keep your satisfaction dependent on someone else’s validation. 

Keep in mind, that the solution is not telling people anything at all. 

If that happened, other people would not know about things they could potentially be very fond of – like I came to know about the conjunction because of my cousin.

So keep your enthusiasm for life high and expectations low 🙂

That’s what I had to say to you, the last time this year. 

Wish you a belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year.

See you soon ❤️