Why February 29th is My Favorite Day of the Year

It may seem strange to say a day that only "exists" every 4 years is my favorite day of the year, but as an Astrologer, and an observer of nature, leap year is a perfect example of man kinds need to simplify what should be appreciated for its beautiful complexities. Nature is, by design both wonderfully simplistic and unfathomably complex; a dichotomy of the most extreme, living side by side in perfect harmony with no compromise and no apologies for being difficult to understand.

The idea of a leap year is a compromise for the world at large. The ability to easily cut up our years into months, our months into weeks, our weeks into days, and  days that can all be ticked off by hours and minutes, into easy to work with numbers, has long been a quest of evolving man. There’s only one small problem with that idea; the universal clock doesn't work with our number system! There always seems to be this "leftover" bit of time that adds up!

It's this idea of extra time that I love as an astrologer. Does the fact that we are unable to simplify the complex cycle of our planet make sunrise to sunset any less a full day? We adjust our clock for daylight savings time in order to feel like we are living our typical work week during the peak hours of light, but couldn't we just adjust our work day without adjusting the clocks on the walls? What is this obsession we have to cut everything up into pieces, analyze the pieces, and assign value to them? Once they are in little pieces we then declare they are understood. Once we take these pieces of our world apart, does the whole still exist?  It would be very easy for mankind to simply live with the natural rhythms of the sun and the seasons, take the days for what they are and leave well enough alone, but that  seems to be completely against our own nature.

A natural human instinct seems to be the need to explore the world around us and then try to harness our surroundings to best serve us. We have been trying to bend the earth to our will ever since our ancestors began plowing the fields. At the heart of all mankind has done in the name of science, is the basic knowledge that to understand the repeating cycles of time is to master the universe. Leap year is a reminder to me that mankind is still a long way off from mastering time and space. February 29^th is a symbol that we, too, are a complex dichotomy of simple and complex. We can sit back and enjoy how very sweet and easy it is to move through a lazy Saturday in August, and not care one bit how many minutes are in a day. Later that night we can look up at the planets and stars and be marveled at all we still can't comprehend.

That little bit of time we don’t know how to justify with our current clock and calendar system, other than clumsily adding an extra day every 4 years, reminds me that we as a civilization are still evolving. We are not yet masters of the Universe. Leap year gives us the illusion of an extra day every 4 years, as if our mother Earth built in a reminder to stop, pull back, and put that balance back in place. That one out of place day, reminds me as an astrologer that my clock system may be more complicated than would be practical for the every day work week, it is well worth knowing and sharing. Much like everything in nature, my complexity lives in harmony with the everyday simplicity and we don’t complain.

 Leap year is a lot like what I do as an astrologer. I remind people how simple and how complex life can be, all at the same time. I help people understand the wonder and beauty in the natural systems and cycles we live with every day. Astrology as a discipline dissects life and the world around us, but as an astrologer I get to look at the magic of putting it all back together. Just like our days and seasons would continue on without our calendar, there is nothing I can tell you as an Astrologer you wouldn’t find on your own eventually. However, with all that being said, isn’t it nice to have a system in place to let us know when winter is coming? 

As an astrologer I look at seasons. I look for clues of how you naturally adjust, and let you know how you might best prepare for what is coming. I love watching clients start to unfold to their own natural rhythms and embrace the dance they alone can share. Without leap year our simple system wouldn’t work anymore, and regardless of its limitations and imperfections it does work. I don’t claim to read the future any more than our calendar does, but I do know how to help you find your seasons. What an incredible job I have!