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Love And Money And Blogging Astrology
Astrology in real life
Strange realization. I was writing another astrologer about how I don’t make money on this blog. I do make money doing consultations but the blog pays virtually nothing. I guess a lot of people may be surprised at that considering how hard I work and for how long but if you look around you can see there is very little opportunity for me to be paid.
So anyway, she told me I was loved and I told her the truth - that I did not really internalize the accolades when they came but that I was very aware of the negative repercussions of writing here which are in my face all the time. I stopped to think after I wrote that because it sounds as if I must be broken in some way but then I realized another phenomena…
The appreciation is fleeting. People come and they go or they go silent underground to be replaced by others but the hate is something else. Man, it doesn’t budge. And it’s very strange to do this kind of thing… to work this hard and have that be the lasting result. People just loathe me for reasons I cannot even begin to comprehend and it may be strange to say but I can’t say that I mind.
Fact is I don’t mind anything (except some bitch who thinks she is going to get near my man ;)) It just seems to be of little (no) consequence and I guess this is just the reality for a Saturn Neptune type like me. I guess I would like something else to happen but it never does and I surely can’t work any harder.
Every once in awhile I put a call out for some kind of validation. This was the last time - “All My Stories Are Real“. I wrote that in Feb 2007, I think and then updated it in Jan of 2008. I was floored by the response. I just had little idea all those people were floating around out there.
So you are floating around out there and I am floating around here. This is what it is like for me. What is it like for you?
44 Responses to “Love And Money And Blogging Astrology”
Elsa,
You and yours are astrology in action. You are excellent teachers. It takes a lot of guts to do what you do and be out there the way you are. I always figure that for each positive comment you get, 100 more are floating around, unsaid. For every negative comment, only 10 are like that. The positive is just as constant as the negative, and a lot stronger. We just don’t recognize it.
Maybe it’s the idealistic Pisces in me that is talking.
I love your work.
I really miss the Top 10.
Linea
Sometimes I just feel sort of hologramy…I think you might know how much you’ve changed my life in the past 7 years, but then other times I think my comments echo emptily and never really connect. I still can’t imagine someone hating you…but I totally believe that they are out there. I can’t always believe people hate me…but I have a few battle scars to prove it. Education reseach shows that it takes 10 positive comments to reverse the impact of 1 negative comment. I think Charlotte may be right!
Elsa, what you do keeps me sane and your blogs keep me going. There’s really a lot of love out there for you but I think people are shy to express it. I know I am. And I take it for granted. I really appreciate your work Elsa. You know what’s up, girl!
You rule!
xx
What makes negative comments more unsettling is that you don’t expect them. When you always give your best, you naturally can expect love or appreciation, or at least respect, but never hate. But I wouldn’t take this too seriously, because if they had to stand in front of you they wouldn’t dare to say or to do anything. It’s just the anonymity of the internet that allows them to project their own hell on others. It’s trash - delete, delete, delete.
I love your blog very much, it’s a living space of communication, a source of wisdom and human kindness, my favorite library and gallery. Thank you Elsa!
I have to say that I certainly feel the love and appreciation every time I come onto your blog ( every day!). The other thing is that you have connected people. Astrology is still something that is regarded as “out there”, so to be able to bring this out of the closet is a feat in itself! But to generate so much energy is an added extra, a bonus that gives people like me the knowledge that takes this eclectic subject to the world and gives them a voice. Thank you.
I would like that picture much better if it was covered with hundred dollar bills and not ones and tens, says Taurus. Too bad there aren’t million dollar bills and anyway, pissing people off, well, anyone with any kind of personality and who speaks is gonna piss off some people. I am just glad the mean ones of the lot don’t have MY e-mail adress!
Don’t forget, Howard Stern made a hundred million dollars by saying whatever he felt like saying. Go for it~!
Elsa,
I read your blog every day, in the morning and when I get home from work. I’ve been doing so for years. You’re a touchstone in a way — I check in to see what’s going on and what you are sharing. I haven’t been able to contribute financially, and I tend to be quiet more often than not, but it’s kind of the nature of the written word…I don’t like writing something down unless I feel I have something meaningful to say.
But I’ll do that today, because it is meaningful to let you know that we’re out here, and we appreciate all that you do. What you do here is a lot like teaching — it may never make you rich, and you really have to love it to keep it up in the face of all the ungrateful bastages that may come along, but you touch people in ways that you may never really see or understand and many years from now we’ll still be thinking about what you’ve said and done here.
Elsa, my love for you spans yrs and yrs and I will always love ya even though I may disappear from time to time. You’ve seen my chart, so you know I’m a natural disappearing act 
I’ve known you since April of 2001 now, right? (we started on that other site just months apart, remember? I may have the yr wrong, but I’m pretty sure it was 2001) I still think you’re the most awesome chick I’ve ever had the privilege to know. 
You never fail to make me smile & yeah, make me cry - though they are usually tears of happiness or empathy/sympathy…If other people can’t see how awesome you are, then it’s their loss…I’m sorry you have to deal w/stuff like that, but you transcend, so it’s all good Much love to you and yours…
~Lilly (formerly known as azure mariposa haha, in case this IP is unfamiliar)
Carielle - thank you.
Lilly, yes, April 2001 but I started writing on bulletin board in 2000. The first accidental thread - my ex printed it and it was over 400 pages long! I wrote that thread in about 2-3 weeks and then there were 2 more threads before I started on Xanga. Jeez man, I had no idea I had anything to say!
Elsa, when the top ten first died, I had the vision of you taking your ‘net fame, and creating a top ten in another template. finding the right feed-type system for links, and then have it be a membership, bi-monthly dues or something like that. maybe it’s a good time to step into a structure that brings cap rewards (isn’t that your sun?)
It could be like the cafe that people drop into, with the latest stories. maybe a convergence of your two sites…..
you get so much traffic, that maybe you could sell ads. I’m just brainstorming here, and wanted to share that idea that came to me. Membership and ads would be the two ways you make it a source of abundance.
I’ve got Jupiter-Venus Leo in the 6th, and am probably a natural ‘career counselor’, though not always super-realistic, it’s always about something that could be expansive, fun, bring some attention your way.
just a thought.
Over the past few months, I’ve visited your site several times a day to see what you are up to. I come because you make me laugh, you teach me things, & I like your energy, which I find both raw and young, even though I am aware that you are not really either. If I had to pay for the privilege, I would still come visit, though probably far less often, economic times being what they are.
Forgive me if this offends you, but I also get the sense that you have an affinity for the “dark side of life” and draw in that manifestation of your experiences. Ultimately, we get what we need. If you have a need to confront the naysayers and affirm your worth, you will keep encountering that until you have satisfied yourself. Surviving battle gives you affirmation of your continued ability to survive. Maybe the soldier is not the only warrior in your household….
Thanks Molly, we are busting our asses behind the scenes to see what can be done. I know I will never do anything “membership” though because I am too Jupitarian and don’t like the closed model.
I will probably do some workshops at some point though. Get and keep a man type stuff - just blatant like thiat since the people who hang with me and work with me seem to be happier by the week / month with and in their relationships and this is so important to so many people. I just seem to have a knack is all but it would be so much work to organize (my mind) I would simply have to be paid to do it… or I will never do it.
Left to my own devices I will do exactly what I am doing as most other human beings!
“Forgive me if this offends you, but I also get the sense that you have an affinity for the “dark side of life…”
Not offended, Danielle. Most my life takes place in the shadow, and then I have this roughly 12% hologram that people see.
I don’t mind it. I really have no complaints about my life, only observation and commentary and some interpretation / speculation.
I credit a huge part of the success I’m currently having in relationships to reading here and learning from you for many years. Because of you I now recognize a good thing when I’ve got one, and put a lot of effort into supporting it. It pays off in spades.
I remember the class you ran some years ago (2003 I think), and still have it saved on my computer. I’d sign up for whatever workshop you decide to offer, cause it may not be what I had in mind but I’ll guarantee I’ll learn a lot.
I don’t comment terribly often cause, like Carielle, I figure I ought to have something meaningful to say, but I’m here almost every day and have been for years. Much love sent your way, Elsa.
-K
You intimidate me. Hehehe. I love this place I loved your other blog, I’m still subscribed to everything over, and I’m pretty sure its still set up so if anything ever goes out it gets emailed. But I kinda stay underground because if that knife comes out I’m dead and, y’know? I’m prone to the stupid. So I think about stuff over here and if I think I might be leaning on the stupid side, I keep my mouth shut. I have nothing but love, respect, and awe for this place though. I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot and I just appreciate the opportunity to be here listening and learning . . constantly, even if I’m quiet.
I like you lots Elsa. Your blog is my friend and helps me out of the dark spots in my mind sometimes. Thank you for all your work - weird how it is the things without money that carry the most meaning sometimes - I am being detached from money a lot in the past while and I have never had to worry about the basics even though I catch myself doing that. You are hugely loved, but research does tell us that we hang on to the negative more fiercly. Would like to invert that!
For most of my life my family ( my mother really) dubbed me the “writer” of the family. I was actually more the musician of the family but whatever. When I write without asking anything in return, and anonymously, I am often complimented or asked if I am a professional writer..etc.
Because of this I’ve tried writing professionally a couple of times. It usually turned out okay. At one point I was working really hard. But I realized several things about being a writer — first of all it exposes you without the transpersonal exposure in return. People see you and you can’t see them. It’s uncomfortable and leaves you vulnerable in an unexpected way — in a way most people who aren’t writing can’t understand. There’s no sympathy, no empathy. I have never, no matter what, ever thought anything ever accepted for publication was any good. I would end up feeling sorry for myself and the editor. And even if I thought it was good when I wrote it I’d reread it months later and think, oh hell.
Writing is lonely. You have to arrange your whole day yourself instead of allowing the world to set your schedule. People are oddly discouraging about the whole thing. No one understands how deep you have to go and then pull yourself out again. Everyone thinks they could easily do what you do if they just…you know, had the time and did the work and sat by themselves all day for hours at a time doing something almost pointless for no money. My final assessment of all this was that I could not write full time; I needed to relate to the world face to face at least some of the time or I would lose perspective.
I’ve taken in several pieces of advice over the years — one is to treat this like a practice, like yoga or saying rosaries. You just do it because it is your work, and you do the best you can, because it is your work. The other is — once it’s done, it’s done, finish it and let it go. One is a Virgo sentiment,and one is a Pisces sentiment. Yeah?
Also, if you’re home writing full time do something every day that gives you personal satisfaction outside of your work. This way you will begin to naturally separate your work from the rest of your life. You have to or you’ll grind yourself into a pulp.
Saturn’s got something for ya, looks like to me.
Elsa, I’m sure with the traffic you get you could work with an advertising network like BlogHer and get a 50% commission on revenue. Also, it may be worth experimenting with the placement of google ads, because clickthroughs vary widely depending on layout. (My two cents!)
I’m sure the Love far exceeds the Hate. I’ve read that if people hate you, it means you’re successful.
“I’ve read that if people hate you, it means you’re successful.”
ha ha ha, Jeffrey. Something to look forward to - yay!
On the other, while I appreciate the suggestions (and you have tried to help me before)… it is all too technical for me. I am so focused on creating, the other makes my head swim and tears threaten.
This is a song as old as time, I guess.
Whatever Heather Armstrong did, you should try that! I think she is a part of BlogHer as well. Do you read her? I love her. You deserve that!
(One more thing I just noticed is she wears her hair and earrings just the same as I do, and we are the same age. And we have the same taste in home furnishings and music. But whatever.)
If we didn’t love you and what you have to say, why would we come back several times a day to see what you have added? Hmmmm?!
The lack of money needs to be remedied in some way because you do put a shit load of work into the blog.
“If we didn’t love you and what you have to say, why would we come back several times a day to see what you have added?”
Agreed, Tam. I realize this is a phenomenon however it is how it is and the upside of that (as I see it) will be soon posted.
i don’t think i’d ever stop reading.
i come here because i like your take on reality, and your willingness to be honest even if people choose to be upset by the truth as you see it…
i mean, you’ve said some things to me in the past that were pretty harsh… but also very accurate. i guess a lot of people have trouble handling that sort of thing (like you said with the jack nicholson quote in another post) but, by heavens, i am sure going to appreciate it when i find it!
even if i don’t always say much.
and love is an energy too, even if you can’t see it quite the way you can a troll’s posts. i’d hope at least some times parts of running this blog buoy you up
wyrdling - I have been INCREDIBLY harsh with you and I am glad you have been able to see it in the spirit I have intended because to answer the questions in any other way would have compromised my integrity and been disrespectful of you.
As for saying it… it’s funny the people who are most supportive (people like you) tend to undervalue their contribution I think.
I think it’s hard to figure out how to make money off creativity. I haven’t managed it (Neptune in 2nd doesn’t help any). I find that it drains all the fun out of it to try to think in a business frame of mind. Like the year I tried making a lot of hemp jewelry to sell at the local hippiefest, and not a dang thing sold. You’d think that would be a big seller intellectually, but not so much. The only things I sold that year were stuff I’d had on sale for years and nobody was interested in it until that year! I just don’t understand these things.
There is a glassworker guy I know who makes and sells bongs. He’s bored to death of making bongs by now. Now, I’ve been to SF and seen ginormous bongs being sold in fine stores for over a hundred bucks, so I believe him when he says that makes the money, but I think prioritizing making money over the creativity gets to you.
I’m not sure making this blog into a moneymaking endeavor would necessarily work for you…at least, it’ll put you in a drastically different frame of mind when you work. If you find a way to do it where everything doesn’t revolve around the money, maybe it could (ask Jeffrey how it works for him). But it is definitely tricky to find a balance.
perhaps not directly relevant, but i’m betting a hunk of your consultations come from people who initially became familiar with your work through one of your blogs. so indirectly, perhaps, it does help finiancially as well as putting the energy out there.
and i hope you already know i love you, e. regardless of whether or not i agree with any given point on any given day, you’ve got integrity and i respect the hell outta ya.
Well Elsa, I’m quite new to your blog, but I really enjoy coming on and reading what you (and the soldier) have to say. Most times I’m having either a little chuckle, or an all-out belly laugh.
As I’ve mentioned before, for the last few years I have led a very solitary life. I love coming to my mailbox and reading what people have answered to your various posts, or how they have responded to something I have written. It brightens my day, and makes me feel not so alone.
You said that it doesn’t bother you what people say… I know that my skin has been thickening up over the years, and I wonder if that has been happening for you as well…
You are so refreshing in this world of political correctness! You say what you think, but not with a mind to be mean.
Well, first, Elsa. You changed my life. I was in therapy for a number of years and it wasn’t until I “accidentally” came across a comment of yours on another (non-astrology) blog I read and followed you here, that I got the answers I was looking for (of course, I had to ask the write questions, but you led me there).
That was a year ago this month.
And just last night, in a consultation, I told you that you solved the “situation of my life.” Which has been going on for a year.
Your contribution to my life and the changes I have undergone is incredible. It’s hard to even put a value on it.
So I wish there was some way I could support your blog more, other than reading it several times a day, tipping when I can, and leaving comments.
I don’t know how people make money off blogs - I don’t know how all that advertising stuff works. Does HQ know? Can’t they hook you up with some good advertising so you’re bringing in some dollars from this?
Short of that, I agree with goddess that the blog is good advertising for consults.
But I’d try hiring a business type who can brainstorm ideas with you - like a publicist, get you out there. You can tour the nation talking about how to get and keep a man!
Doh. Of course I meant, ask the “right” questions
Snapdragon - I am only mean about every 5 or 6 years, except to the soldier, I am mean to him every 2 weeks or 10 days for reasons unbeknownst to both of us.
OH… WELL…. mean once every 5 or 6 years…. what is that, anyway!LOL
Poor soldier, maybe your staying in fighting form with him?
:::smiling:::
Well, we just have that opposition and that is all there is to say. Usually I listen to his whatever but sometimes he just pisses me off and when we fight well… well he DOES have a thick skin so you pretty much have to get a pic ax…
All right, I’ll shut up after this, but I didn’t really answer the question - the experience of reading your blog is like having the WWED (what would elsa do) phenomenon reinforced every day - through all your stories, your points of view, your observations, your comments and reports on the sky.
You have a very sobering take on things. it’s REAL. and sometimes it’s just nice to have that REAL place to check in to…
over and out.
I think that if a lot of people ADORE you you are successful - particularly when you (meaning YOU, Elsa) are adored for ALL the right reasons. You are incredible on many levels. I know.
I see no hate at all.
I try to stop by most days to read - some days more than once to see what else was posted. I greatly appreciate your blog. I have much to learn and you seem to have much to share. Thank you.
Love your work Elsa,miss the top ten also, will be writing for consultation in a little bit, getting finances together. Thank you for not giving up on blog!! Oh it ain’t that great being a floater. Having to get used to working.(rolls eyes) Gotta do something for myself finally, or just what I think. Words are going to bite me if I don’t stop typing.
wow. i just about almost cried
wow, i am such a newbie in your group, but that’s cool. I wish some of the other older people who just read and don’t talk would speak out more because I do feel like an outlier sometimes, but it is what it is!
”I think it’s hard to figure out how to make money off creativity. I find that it drains all the fun out of it to try to think in a business frame of mind.”
OH I know what you mean! I have Neptune conj my Sun in 10th house . And NN in 2nd.
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Well, I think the love is constant too. In fact, every time I come here the love is present. There is a constant stream of love from so many people here, Elsa. You are loved. But like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman says, “sometimes the bad stuff is just easier to believe”. I don’t think this is exclusive to astrology or to the Internet, for almost everyone, an insult or attack will always impact so much more than a compliment. I have so many people tell me they love me but 10 people telling me that will not affect me as much as someone telling me they think I suck. It’s just human nature.