on lucky girl syndrome, the rise of anti-influencing, and Pluto in Aquarius

yes, we can have nice things // 04

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Photo by George Pagan III

Hey cosmic ones,

Happy March!

I’ve written previously about “being delusional” on this newsletter, and in that vein, I wanted to discuss another manifestation trend that’s recently become popularized by the TikTok girlies: lucky girl syndrome.

The concept is essentially the latest in a long line of interpretations/endless rebrands of the Law of Assumption on the internet. If, as Neville Goddard wrote, what we assume to become true will eventually become true, then anyone can be lucky, and everyone can be lucky, if we convince ourselves we are. If we think and act as though being lucky, being in a constant state of receiving, is the regular state of our reality, then it becomes so. Delicious, isn’t it?

I write this with the following caveat, however: Today’s viral manifestation trends can veer toward slightly, if not outright, problematic, because many are rooted in white Westernized culture’s obsession with individualism, among other things. i.e., they tell you this: if you can’t manifest this desired thing into your external reality, then the onus lies on you to take action, change your own limiting beliefs, etc. and if it still doesn’t work then you’re shit outta luck, instead of considering the oppressive nature of the ableist, racist, and sexist structures of the society we live in.

They do not take into account the very real limitations and issues—indeed, all the isms—that, well, pretty much anyone who is not white, deemed as conventionally attractive, and/or affluent will likely face under these systems. I will always advise engaging in practices like these while heavily checking privilege. (This Dazed article, Is it ‘lucky girl syndrome’ or is it just privilege? does a nice job breaking it down.)

But I do love the thought of convincing yourself that you’re a lucky person, because if you’re doing it with a healthy amount of awareness and not veering into toxic spirituality territory, then why not? Life today is fast-paced, overwhelming, alternately disparate and entirely connected. It’s unspeakably beautiful, full of possibility, and above all, full of nuance. Engaging in any spiritual practice requires the ability to hold the belief that one or more of these things can exist at the same time. And often, seemingly paradoxically.

With all that said, why not convince ourselves that everything is always working out in our favor? More on that below…

1. Continuing with the concept of lucky girl syndrome, “Everything always works out for me,” or “Everything goes my way,” is an Abraham Hicks-inspired affirmation that comes with a little disclaimer: You may find yourself annoying everyone in your near vicinity while saying it, not unlike Brian’s character in new Apple TV show, Shrinking.

With enough repetition, though, it’s a great little trick that helps the brain glean at least a singular shining positive from pretty much any situation. Your latest romantic “potential” ghosted you? Dodged a bullet. Employer hit you with an unexpected layoff just before you finally nabbed that much-coveted promotion? Cool. Now you actually have more time for your writing, which you’d said you wanted anyway. (Okay, maybe that one’s all me.)

2. Speaking of layoffs, this Vox article details the rise of vulnerability on LinkedIn after mass tech industry layoffs. Now, LinkedIn is nowhere near my preferred social media platform; it’s hard not to find it cringey at times, but I was chatting with a friend about this—about what a relief it was to be able to share honestly about my own experience—and the widespread transparency is a refreshing change from all the bullshit #hustleporn or humble brags that otherwise take up space there. Also, trends that encourage vulnerability and real authenticity on social media are ones I can get behind.

3. Maybe the above opinion is yet another cringey millennial thing, but you know what? I’ve been embracing my cringe lately, in more ways than one, and it is just as freeing as you think. Or maybe I’m simply aging. Either way, it’s working for me.

4. As I’ve started to compile this weekly running list, I’ve noticed that I’m doing exactly the thing I had hoped for when I started it—looking for the good in every week, even in every day. I’ve been parsing out every nice thing as it happens in real time, and that is a lovely feeling.

5. Beauty writer

Jessica DeFino

shares some thoughts on the rise of the new influencing trend, de- or “anti-influencing,” on her Substack, The Unpublishable. This trend is one in which, paradoxically, influencers have been using their platforms on TikTok and Instagram to point out products they wouldn’t buy, instead sharing other, more preferable products (i.e. cheaper ones, more environmentally friendly, etc). The term “de-influencing” makes us think that the trend is embracing anti-consumerism, when in fact, it is not.

A quote I found particularly illuminating:

“If telling your audience not to buy a particular product is so revolutionary that it gets its own microtrend rebrand and is positioned as somehow anti-influencing, that's sort of a confirmation that influencing really is just glorified consumerism. Maybe that should make us think a little harder about how much trust we place in influencers, our own desires to become influencers, where influencers fall in the space between corporations and customers, and how that line has been blurred.”

—Jessica DeFino

This is just one of many shifts that I think will gather strength with Pluto entering Aquarius on March 23. Influencing becomes de-influencing becomes—what next? As more and more people continue to become influencers, how will the influencer economy as we know it transform further?

6. We’ve certainly heard it before, but this kind of transit is yet another “once-in-a-lifetime” occurrence, as the last time Pluto was in Aquarius was in 1777. This YouTube video from astrologer Evan Nathaniel Grim discusses the above question, positing it as the “end to fame,” as well as providing a variety of interesting predictions as to what may occur during this time.

Another example he parses out is the potential shifting of the balance of power over time, from the Capricorn mentality—embodied in part by the capitalist expectation of climbing the corporate ladder—to the Aquarian community-first mindset, and how that may manifest. We’ve already seen so many fundamental changes in societal attitudes toward work over the past few years, undoubtedly exacerbated by the pandemic. There are jobs now that we couldn’t even have imagined when Pluto first entered Capricorn in 2008 (what do you know, around the same time as the second-worst financial crisis America has ever faced…).

And that, too, goes hand-in-hand with the proliferation of newfound technologies. It will be fascinating to see how that continues to advance, and rapidly, during the Pluto in Aquarius era. First, though, it’ll give us a little sneak peek from mid-March through June, reentering Capricorn after that time for its goodbye tour, and then moving into Aquarius once again in January 2024, where its stay will span the next two decades.

7. While on a cute little dinner date with my dear friend Elaine last week, we just so happened to discover a bottle of wine with my name on it! This has never happened to me before, and I’m not ashamed to say that it made my night.

8. I’ve recently started using the word-processing platform Scrivener, thanks to a reco from Isabella, an old MFA friend, and I’ve been nerding out on it since. Seriously, if you’re currently engaged in a book-length writing project, it is an incredibly helpful tool.

9. Lane 8’s Spring 2023 mixtape was released on the 2nd, and I’ve probably already played it at least 4 times through. Currently working on my 5th while writing this newsletter.

One commenter wrote that “The flowers and trees outside of my house started blooming once [this started] playing…” and um, yeah, that’s exactly how I feel, too.

10. This guided walking and poetry tour of the Presidio, created by San Francisco poet laureate emeritus Kim Shuck and historian Barbara Berglund Sokolov, seems utterly delightful.

11. Joy Harjo won Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American poetry. Incredible. Amazing. Spectacular. Much deserved. Of course, she’s won so many other accolades, but this latest inspired me to dive back into her work, and there’s truly never a bad time to read Joy Harjo’s work.

12. In that spirit, a poem of hers that I felt called to share:

a woman can't survive
by her own breath
               alone 
she must know
the voices of mountains
she must recognize
the foreverness of blue sky
she must flow 
with the elusive
bodies
of night winds
who will take her
into herself

look at me
i am not a separate woman
i am a continuance
of blue sky
i am the throat
of the mountains
a night wind
who burns
with every breath
she takes

—“Fire,” What Moon Drove Me to This? 1980.

Last up, your witch tip of the week:

13. Want to dial up the energy of prosperity in your daily life? Try working with crystals like Tiger’s Eye, which helps open us to opportunity; Green Aventurine, which attracts success and financial abundance; and Carnelian, which fosters confidence and courage.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please feel free to click the ❤️ button so that more people can discover it on Substack!

xx Kimia