2011 "BELIEVE"

Believe was chosen for a few reasons. This is a year where we, the masses, are faced with too much, and yet don't have enough. We continue to make ends meet by doing more with less. Conserving has been growing in popularity. We are spread thin again, pushing ourselves harder. We may be looking for a plan in 2011. We may be searching because the times have us spinning in place. This is a time to develop our beliefs for our personal lives as well as our businesses. This is a good year to develop our goals, career, or business to fit the times. These are the potential outlets that may offer us more opportunities this year. We cannot remain the same; social, political and business rules are changing. We all may need more time to think, step back and see what to do next.

A "just do it", message ends 2010 and begins 2011. Our confidence and desire for independence rubs up against being socially responsible. There is this drive and ambition that has directed us in 2010, but if we are not careful there will be consequences; much like the BP oil spill. Greed has its price. It is not just about a single identity this year. It is about the effect our goals have on the greater good of all.

The Great Recession hits. We have been dancing with it since September 2008 when the stock market started sliding up and down by 100's of points in either direction within a day. It will take Uranus to go into Aries in March 2011 for us to wake up about the real debt we are in. The blinders come off. Stories will break that can send us reeling. There has been this illusion similar to the roaring 20's right before the Great Depression. Then, it was the development of credit card spending and the futures in NYSE that gave US the illusion that we were still in prosperous times. (Green, Jeff. Uranus; Freedom from the Known. Llewellyn Publications. 1993.) What news could possibly hit that would put the world on edge in March? More news of a broken economy? Health Care Reform? More taxation? More info-leaks? World War III? Anyway, we turn the information, leadership is weak.

We have been under the spell that Obama would change what Bush created in 8 years. We now begin to see that Obama is going too fast, like the maverick he is. He wants progress yesterday. Brilliant, with humanitarian goals but he is going way too fast for what the economy and what our pocket books can handle. In March, we all will wake up from the spell we have been under.

In order to get along with others this year, whether personal or business, include others in your plans. For example, your work would gain support if it is environmental or eco-friendly. The environment continues to pose challenges, especially our water; this includes ice caps, snow, clean water supplies, and the weather.

This is a year to retrofit your business if you are in high end retail, hospitality businesses, art, fashion, interior design, and home sales. There will be better years ahead. Any business attached to sports, military and defense is big. War is really just getting started. Businesses relating to water, wine and all liquids are a go. Spiritual leaders, teachers and healers are on the rise. Inspirational music is in. We are searching for answers.

Money can still be made in any market. Times continue to belong to the inventors and entrepreneurial spirit even with the wake-up calls that are due. This is a year to step back and see our lives from a distance. We may discover this year that we need more education or a new attitude in the new emerging markets or perhaps even a retirement plan. The answers are being presented. We are looking to relate differently and carve a new identity as we enter 2011 it may 'ruffle some feathers'. When the student is ready the teacher(s) is/are revealed and vice versa.

The social rules are changing, there are eye sores. There will be many opportunities to pull the human spirit into balance in 2011. We glorify, fantasize over what technology can do, yet it cannot meet basic needs of the human spirit; like contact, intimacy, warmth and real, not imagined, fun. Sadly, our younger generations are teaching us about the consequences of too much technology and not enough connection. Isolation and suicide are on the rise along with a growing population. The stories continue, many needs have not been met or even developed. The eye sores continue in 2011. Parenting issues are big this year; expect disagreements on the right course to take on dependents and pet projects. Identities will go undernourished and underdeveloped if they are not discovered. This country was built on creative minds and spirits. This is a year to get outside and think and learn for ourselves.

This year, a partner may be a burden, we may face limitations on how close we can become to our spouses as well as co-workers. We may begin to notice the distinct differences between ourselves and others. It is an opportunity to create healthy boundaries. It will come easier thru 2012. Diplomacy works.

Step back. Progress is not always measured externally. All the running around on a daily basis, the emphasis on details is taking us nowhere in 2011. Starting as early as April, there will be more time to work on the inside. Soon the gossip and the media will be over the top with info leaks and too much trivia. This is a year to turn off the television, computers, cell phones and get outside; travel, get more education, see the bigger picture and figure out what you believe in.

This is a year for inspirational leaders that pull people together, from the spiritual to the political. We begin searching this year; searching for the right answers. I have to say, that the time in history is ripe for a prophet, perhaps even a false one or two if the motive is right. By the end of 2011, a new type of inspirational leadership pulls us to unite amongst the economic, geo and political stressor of our times.

Far reaching social, political and cultural changes are in progress as we close out the year. We all may already realize that a new evolution in our technological developments have us leaping forward in time and questioning our rights to privacy. Technology can never replace real human contact. As September rolls in, we will begin to come together around perceived weaknesses in leadership; perceived because it will ultimately be the strength that pulls the masses together. The flip side of the same coin. We can expect more organized protest at our nation's Capitol. This is something I have not seen in over a decade, expect a taste of the 60's as we close out 2011. A United America over weak leadership? International leaders quietly cooperating behind closed doors for the betterment of humanity? Imagine that…believe.

Carrie Henderson-Lever, November, 11, 2010