Lessons in neglect, not poison, message in a bottle, the 2014 benevolent neglect plan

A lesson in Neglect:  The first summer we moved in, I was overwhelmed by raspberries.  So, I made jelly  and more jelly and  infused raspberry vinegar. I also made 5 gallons of raspberry wine with the intent of turning it into vinegar.  I  didn't do anything right with this wine.  I put it in a corner of the guest room, wrapped a blanket around it and forgot all about it. I never racked it off, so it sat on top of its own sediment for a year.       A couple of times  I noticed the aerator was dry and once I noticed that the aerator wasn't even on it.   About four  months ago I noticed the aerator was missing and  because I couldn't find it, I just put some plastic wrap  on the  top. I found the aerator under one of the dressers two days later. I'm pretty sure it was  used as a cat toy. Around the beginning of December I was cleaning the guest room for holiday company.  I decided that I needed to get rid of the  neglected mess.  I huffed it into the kitchen and put it on the counter next to the sink with the intention of pouring it out and scrubbing the carboy for use in 2014.  That curious part of me decided to taste it first , just to see what kind of  disaster had been brewing in the back bedroom.   I sloshed it into a glass  and  took a tiny sip (just in case it had turned into poison).  What passed my lips made my eyes  water... with tears of joy.  The failure I had expected was manna from heaven.  Smooth, sweet, full bodied raspberry  wine that  IS  nirvana on the tongue.
I just stood there frozen  with shock. How did this happen without my tender care and nurturing attention? What did I do wrong that was so right?  And then I thought (because its how my brain works).  Is this a message from the gods?  Am I over nurturing too many things in my world?  Can some of my many failures this year be attributed to trying to hard?
I  struggled very hard in 2013 with the  'wall of no'  that has been surrounding me.  It smacked me in the face in  every direction I turned.    At the beginning of Nov, filled with manic frustration , I finally just sat down with ten years of stargate SG1 and about two dozen unfinished crochet projects.  None of which are finished because I would crochet two rows,   feel frustrated and bored and put it down and pick up another one hoping that it would satisfy that need to do SOMETHING, to complete SOMETHING,  to feel accomplished at SOMETHING.  nope.  So I just sat there quietly pissed off.   Jimmy started to get worried, he started making comments and offering suggestions that might get me moving again. Then he started to treat me like I had a bad case of the flue. 'can I make you some soup? ' he would say or 'can I get you another blanket? Would you like me to open the curtains?'  He brought me the cat to pet and called me to the window to watch the 'cute and funny' antics of the chickens.  I just smiled and nodded , said thankyou when appropriate and went back to being quietly pissed.  Then I tasted the wine that should have been part of my great wall  of no.  
Did I have an epiphany? Not sure.  Did I get some clarity?  Maybe but, its a myopic clarity at best.  Can I move forward now? I don't even know what that is anymore.  Seriously...forward? What does that mean? Did the  wine tell me I should  be looking at other areas of my life that I have neglected to find satisfaction?  I did that and discovered that there hasn't been much neglect anywhere. I've been  right there ,in the moment, present with everything I've done.  I've paid attention to every detail and made it a point to jump through every fiery hoop placed in front me. And here I am.
I'm choosing to believe that the universe sent me a message in a bottle. The full message appears to be in code so it will take some time to decipher it.  But even I cant miss: Back off! Leave it alone! Good things happen when you are not looking. 
So, benevolent neglect  will be my  theme for 2014.  I'm  gonna slow way down and turn my attention away from doing everything right.  I'll do what needs to be done to keep things from completely dying off , but the hyper attention I  have been giving to every detail stops today.

Thank you.

 Now I'm gonna go have a glass of raspberry wine.

Venus Retrograde 2013 / 2014, Prophet Frankie hath spake

Venus Retrograde 2013.  I'm a few days late getting this information out.  The RX started on the Solstice.  The stars  don't usually hit us in the face with surprises  so we get a period before each personal planet retrograde called the 'shadow period'.  This is where we get hints from the universe about the   theme of the retrograde.  The shadow period for this one began on Nov 13th.  On the solstice the gentle hints  brought hard reality. In general all retrograde planets bring up old issues and then pretty much force us to deal with them.   Venus' specialty is love, money, relationships, and art/creativity.  Venus is the planet that we use to attract things and people to us.  During a  Venus RX you can expect  people, that you thought were long gone, to show up in your life again  in various forms and degrees depending on the level of resolution you and the other party experienced when you parted.  This could be an old friend or the dreaded ex.  The arena where this occurs  depends on where Venus is located in your personal chart.  This VRX is located in Capricorn for everyone so authority issues (sample: this could be your boss at work, or if you are the boss it could be  highlighting the way you manage things), limitations, hard work and personal responsibility  are major themes here.  Capricorn and Saturn (its ruler) want you to follow a step by step process to achieve your goals.  When a personal planet  retrogrades in Capricorn , you have to go back and complete those missed steps.  We all have an area of our lives where we are called upon to dance to Saturn's tune.  And right now there are a lot of dance lessons going on.
Venus is unique in that it follows a specific cycle.  Venus retrogrades every 18 months (in a beautiful lotus blossom pattern).  Every 8 years it returns to a sign a few degrees later than 8 years previous.  If you go back 8 years to December 05 and January 06  you will see what Venus has you working on in the long term.  What comes up during this retrograde will be a work in progress until Venus retrogrades again in another 18 months and changes your focus.  
The peak point of this retrograde happens on January 11th (give or take 48 hours either way).  If a lot of pressure has been built  up in the VRX arena and you have not been dealing with it ,this can be a pretty explosive point.  This is the day  relationships hit a breaking point, folks get fired, cars break down, your computer crashes and so forth.  If enough pressure has been built up in a specific area  and no release is in sight  this is the day that accidents can happen.  So, drive carefully, be extra aware when handling heavy machinery or sharp objects.  Try not to schedule things like climbing on top of the house to clean the gutters or standing on a wobbly chair to  change a light bulb.  Awareness is everything during  an RX peak. 
Now that the potential for negative outcomes has been embraced, lets look at the bright side of the VRX.  For all artists this is a great time for completing  projects that have been hanging around unfinished.  Venus can be very inspirational and many artists (actors, musicians, dancers etc.) do some of their best work during the retrograde , provided its not a new project .  Some of those old relationships that show up can be  delightful reunions.  Money you gave up on or forgot about can show up in the mail.   Be grateful when Venus  gives you a gift.
The best use of this energy is to focus on whatever needs to be completed.  Try not to start anything new because  typically when Venus stations direct,  the new thing will just disappear  anyway and you will have wasted a perfectly good opportunity to make space  in your life for the lovely things that Venus has planned for you over the next 18 months.

PS  Retrograde planets love to use stupidity to teach lessons, so please be careful on New Years Eve, make good choices and ...seriously ... watch out for the other guy.   Not everyone is armed with this info and  crazies will be out in high numbers on this  NYE!

 SPECIAL NOTE  FOR RESIDENTS OF THE PNW:.  The shadow period kept threatening us with snow so, there is a good chance that January 11th will  bring us a fat snow storm.  You 've now been warned and can plan accordingly.