Being a Libra

I am a Libra and it has played a larger aspect in my life than I ever would have liked, and honestly being a Libra sucks. There did I win the money? No? It has to be at least six hundred words you say, well okay than... While the scale being the symbolic representation of Libras would lead one to believe that we live well balanced lives, able to way the pros and cons of any decision in a factual and none biased way. While most Libra’s (Myself included) are fairly left brained most people don’t appreciate that way of thinking. In fact it often makes one feel like a jaguar in a zoo seen as both beautiful and foreign but glad to have a barrier just in case.

Let me back up a second, what does it even mean to be a Libra? Like with all signs depending on where you go for your research you will get slightly different answers and that’s just for the basics, start a Google search for some kind of annual horoscope and you will be amazed at the plethora of variances you get. Still if you look hard enough one can find a common thread in all of the jargon about what it means to be an air sign or having Venus as your ruling planet. In the end you will come up with a general framework for what a Libra is suppose to be. We are always presented as deep thinkers, methodical in our actions, often reserved sometimes problematically so and almost always have strong feelings on what is right and wrong. Not to mention stubborn often to the point of detriment, dismissive when we don’t like you but your best friend when we do. Whether by chance, something to do with the alignment of various celestial bodies or just a plain old need to conform to social norms for acceptance, I find that many of these traits line up with me as a person. I tend not to be rash, many even when disagreeing with me find what I say to be logical and well thought out, I am also one of the few people I know in my age group without heaps of debt because of purchases well above my price range. Upon meeting people I rarely speak at first trying to get a feel for a given person and once I have decided my opinion on said person or subject it is traditionally very hard to make me change it, and many have noted quite a dichotomy in how I treat people depending on my personal view of them. Putting me firmly in the camp of someone who feels comfortable with the label of Libra.

Before circling back and explaining the effect being a Libra has had on my life or maybe because I truly exemplify my sign I feel the need to throw in a counter weight observation, namely that most information on a persons attributes in regards to their sign are incredible gauzy and can be attributed to just about anyone who is willing to do enough mental gymnastics in all but the most extreme cases. For instance it would be hard to convince someone you are a Libra if your hallmarks are impulsiveness and being easily convincible. But I digress this article is about the effects of my sign on me personally and not a philosophical debate on the inherent validity of Astrology.

The true effect of being born with the sole inanimate object as your sign (I mean really we are the only ones, everyone else is either an animal or an archetypal human it really isn’t fair and makes your Halloween costume much lamer.) is in how people have always treated me after my Libraness is revealed. Never have I ever looked at my daily, monthly, yearly or any other kind of annual horoscope of my own volition and to be honest I find the notion that the various bodies orbiting our solar system are responsible for anything but the most trivial of details. Yes I know that there are statistics saying how more people end up in hospitals on full moons so I will be the first to admit that yes maybe we can be effected by the large rocks and burning balls of fire that orbit over head. But I hate how everything can be attributed to someones sign. I grew up hearing over and over again how being a Libra made it hard for me to make decisions. I can remember vividly an ex girlfriend angrily leaving a date because I didn’t agree with her assessment of a movie because (and I quote) “Libras can never just agree with you,” or even my own mothers telling my wife that being with me might not be that easy because I’m a (You guessed it.) a Libra. Or my wife even dropping shade while watching the Kardashians because she feels bad for Kris Jenner because she constantly has to deal with Libras. (Feel free to fact check that by the way, I have absolutely no idea what any of their birthdays are.) I have had multiple conversations were people have complained ad nauseam to me about how hard it is to be friends with or date a Libra. Heck once I had a woman tell me that she really liked me but just couldn’t see a future with because I was a Libra. Add on top of that the uncountable YouTube videos and articles about the horror of dating a Libra or the constant manipulation you will be under should be foolish enough to befriend one of us. After awhile it’s hard not to take it all personal and it makes it hard to convince anyone (Including yourself) that you are worth anything just because we were unfortunate to be born between September 22- October 22. After awhile you starts to feel like a Gillac on Regor 2 (Kudos to any fellow Orville fan who got that reference.) and want to just go live in a cave somewhere and befriending and defending woodland creatures.

This feeling of disdain is not unique to me, while my experience should not be taken as gospel I have never had a conversation with another Libra who actually derives any pleasure from their astrological sign. The best I’ve ever seen is a complete rejection of the notion in its totality which seems to lead to a slightly happier life. Most however just get that familiar distant eyed look as they replay clearly uncomfortable situations before finding a way to pivot to another subject. The irony of it all being that Libra’s seem to be the most affected by our sign even though most don’t put too much faith in the subject. It always makes me wonder how I might have been different were I been born a Scorpio, or any of the others or if the Zodiac wasn’t a thing at all. All I know is that being a Libra has helped define who I am whether I like it or not.