An Astrological Introduction

My closest friends never fail to roll their eyes at any mention of astrology or the zodiac. I assure them that I’m just having some fun when I say:

To both my Aries sister and my best frenno (i.e. the affectionate way we refer to each other as friends), it’s admirable how you two don't give a flying fuck about what people think of you, but it can sometimes make you a pain in the ass too. As for you, my brilliant Sagittarius lover, be forewarned that your confidence looks an awful lot like arrogance, so take some time to be tactful in your approach with others, especially with me, because I will drop kick your ass so fast if you don’t check yourself.

Yeah, don’t get me started on how I’m surrounded by these carefree fire signs. Ugh.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the zodiac. I like the idea that there is some metric out there for understanding yourself which can help you make better decisions throughout life. Nevertheless, I dislike the idea that something spiritually governs not only my behavior but also who I am as a person on this earth. Alas, I still have fun with it all. It is against my better judgement that I eagerly read all kinds of blogs and articles based on my sign, so I have inevitably found many parallels between the mythological sea-goat and myself.

My Traits

As a Capricorn, I’m apparently ambitious, realistic, practical, disciplined, and financially responsible. These are all very nice things in my book. At the same time, I’m called a workaholic, pessimistic, dry, uptight, and cheap. What the hell? The zodiac is as hot and cold with Capricorn as I am with the zodiac. Am I as responsible and loyal as Queen Elsa or am I as unforgiving and condescending as Severus Snape? Wait.. They’re both Capricorns? Oh..

I’m kidding. Every sign encompasses a colorful spectrum of personality traits. Too much of a good thing can indeed make it bad. For example, I admit that I can be too pessimistic under the guise of being realistic. I can’t help it sometimes! If my head is ever in the clouds, it's because I've hiked a mountain using every ounce of hard work and determination to get there. You see? My feet will still be firmly planted to the ground. I may occasionally be the grumpy side of a reversible octopus plushy, but it’s not without good reason! I just take a more pragmatic approach to things. This is best exemplified by my college journey.

At the impressionable age of 16, I had already decided to stay local for college (practical). I grew up in a small metropolitan area of the Midwest, easily within driving distance of actual farms and actual livestock. Hell, I played in cornfields and creeks well into my pre-teens. Nobody growing up here WANTS to stick around past high school graduation. We all aspired to move to the west coast to soak up the sun and start our own businesses or to the east coast and climb up the corporate ladder of some Fortune 500 company. Anything to make us more successful than anyone in our family history could fathom. Don’t get me wrong – this was and still is my goal (ambitious). However, I had a few significant challenges to face first.

1. Neither of my parents had a college education so I was figuring this all out on my own for the most part.

2. We couldn’t afford a college savings so I had to consider the cost very carefully.

3. My sister would be attending college shortly after me so I wanted to be considerate of my dad’s financial burden since he would be assisting us both.

Thankfully, since I graduated in the top 5% of my class (hard working), I earned two years of free tuition to a local community college. Realistically, how does anyone turn an opportunity like that down? I satisfied the same core curriculum that would have been required by any university. Then I used the money I earned from grants and scholarships to cover the cost of books (financially responsible). Conveniently, a major public college in my state opened a new campus in my town. I transferred there to earn my Bachelor’s degree. All the while, I was working either one or two part-time jobs at any given time. Upon graduating, I took a job working full-time at a Fortune 500 company. In classic Capricorn fashion, I dedicated myself to the job and earned the trust of my superiors. I quickly became someone they could rely on and earned a few pay raises. I saved and saved and finally set my sights on my dream job. Now, I’m preparing to teach English in Japan for a year with the intent of pursuing a career in international business (ambitious much?).

Might I add that in classic Aries fashion, my sister ditched free tuition from the community college and attended a university out of state on dad’s tab? How’s that for balance in my Libra dad’s life?

My Relationships

It is in matters of love and friendship that you start to see my rising sign shine. Capricorns are usually described to have a hard exterior that requires a bit of work to break through. However, as a rising Libra, this is very much not the case for me.

I’m actually quite sociable. It’s easy for me to engage in conversation with people whether I’ve known them for 12 years or 12 seconds. Great things have come from this such as a catering gig while I was looking for some extra money. A small business was catering for an event I was supporting at my college and I jumped in to help and struck up a conversation with the owner. He passed along his business card in case I wanted to try it. On the other hand, this friendliness has led to some trouble too. I’ve mistakenly led many a guy on thinking I had made a new friend when he was really aiming for something more. It would save me a lot of trouble if I were better able to give the cold shoulder to strangers at the get-go. Oh, and when it’s women, I usually am solicited to join a pyramid scheme selling cutlery or whole grain oats. I promise I just wanted to make a friend, ya’ll.

Another rising Libra trait that hits the nail on the head is an instinct for making peace. I dislike conflict and will do my best to keep the peace when navigating my own relationships and supporting others. Though, still characteristically stubborn (Capricorn), I have a hard time backing down when confronted, even if I am in the wrong. I’m trying to work on that.

Overall, I can’t help but think that my zodiac is right about me, especially when you consider my rising sign, too. My moon sign is also spot on, but I don't like talking about my feelings so you'll just have to trust me on this. Mind you, none of this means that I will start reading daily horoscopes or paying any mind to sign compatibilities. However, I will use this as an opportunity to reflect upon myself and become more self-aware. Ever since elementary school, I’ve been driven to improve myself any way I can. I took many things seriously growing up: Education, friendship, morals, extracurricular activities, integrity, and more. I hold myself to high standards and am determined to meet them. For better or for worse, I am who I am. It’s just nice that I can conveniently summarize that to anyone by telling them my zodiac sign.

P.S. Goats creep me out, so that sucks.