Maturity and the Inner Child
October 8th marks the beginning of the Yang Wood Dog month. Yang Wood represents the youngest life phase (think of a baby sprout shooting out of the soil), making this time equivalent to the month of the puppy. The Dog totem on the other hand is one of the elder animals in the zodiac, a protector of traditional values that is concerned with duty and responsibility. By combining the conservatism of the Dog with the youth of Yang Wood, this month's theme is Maturity and the Inner Child.
Maturity is the responsibility of being oneself. The more you mature, the more conscious you become. The more conscious you become, the more you must take responsibility for your life. Consciousness is not about expanding your mind, it is about becoming more responsible for who you are. When you feel stuck, you are experiencing an inner resistance to this responsibility. You must face your fear of growing up: the fear of taking more responsibility for your life. The child is unaware of this - they can participate in their life, but they are not conscious of it.
How do you integrate your inner child with being a mature adult? Consciousness is like a blossoming flower - once you begin to bloom you cannot return inside the bud. But you can choose to blossom with ever more availability to the wonder, adventure and playfulness of life. There are no guarantees on the road to awakening, but you can choose to face the unknown with curiosity, humor and amazement. You can choose to live freely, which is to drop out of the serious world.
Seriousness created the institutions of control and managing reality - religion, economy, philosophy, politics. Seriousness runs the mechanisms of authority, but you can choose to take responsibility by authoring your own life. By making conscious choices and not deferring to what has been established - you question, reconsider, imagine and create. This is how you carry your inner child through to adulthood, in a dance of ever-unfolding awareness.