 |  Linda I is a hairstylist, designer, and an astrologist! Of Japanese American ancestry, Linda was born and raised in Sacramento and has been there all her life. Her father, a U.S. citizen, fought for the U.S. Army in World War II and her mother's family were farmers, put in internment camps. After the war, Linda was never taught Japanese because her parents wanted her to be as " American" as possible. From an early age, Linda was engrained with the cultural belief that she was suppose to keep her emotions to herself, so she was not prone to speaking up. And, being molested by her grandfather and having a controlling mom added to her hidden burdens. However, throughout her career as a hairstylist and then as an astrologer, she learned it was okay to have a voice, to speak, and have opinions. As a hairstylist, she connects with clients. By touching people while they are in the chair, they tend to open up and talk about many things. |
Astrology came into the picture when Linda was going through a divorce in her forties and was searching for answers. Intrigued, Linda took astrology classes and started doing readings. Astrology helped Linda embrace who she was and understand her strengths, as well as challenges to improve upon. Linda believes, "you only have growth when you have been challenged, you don't learn anything when everything is smooth sailing." In addition to astrology, Linda participated in a women's workshop to help her deal with her divorce which helped validate who she was.
| The strength Linda gained from her varied careers and going through a divorce helped prepare her for what her astrology chart was foreboding in 2010-a big hit that could have to do with relationship, family, and her breasts because the sun sign "cancer" which symbolizes breast popped up. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 at age 55, her attitude was : |  |
"I really feel cancer is caused by resentment, emotions, anger, and your state. I had a lot of family issues, lot of anger, and lot of resentment. I thought I dealt with all of that. Been through a lot of therapy. Went through a divorce. I was married to a Japanese American man. I felt I did a lot of work. So, I felt at this point, the cancer was created by harboring of all these issues, this is kind of the last thing. So my attitude was get rid of it, just get it out of there. I looked at it in that way. It was something that had to be physically removed. Emotionally, well first of all, you are just in shock, you almost don't know what to say. In my astrology readings, I always tell people life is a merry go round, good and bad times, ups and down. You are being challenged, you have to embrace it."
Linda decided to have a lumpectomy. She joked with her doctor, "the left breast is the bigger one so that's okay if you are going to remove a little section there." Her doctor allowed her to elect the surgery date based on his and her astrology charts. He called his mother to get his birth time so Linda could research his chart. After being in the operating room for fifteen minutes, Linda felt fine and not in pain. Her friend brought over soup and commented, "you don't look like you had anything done, you still have makeup on!" And, the good news was her diagnosis had been downgraded to pre-cancer.
Her doctor recommended radiation, she had 3 and 1/2 weeks of radiation, but within a week and half, she started getting burned. He also recommended taking a hormone, in the form of a cancer-treating drug, but she opted not to. Her doctor agreed because her diagnosis had been downgraded.
Given Linda's evolution, disclosing she had breast cancer to her friends and clients was not hard for her. Because she was self-employed, clients were very understanding when she had to change her schedule to accommodate medical appointments. With men she has been dating (none of whom she's been interested in getting intimate with), she tells people she's had challenges in life, one being breast cancer. Linda commented, " My dates are more intimidated by me and astrology, what I know!!"
Her doctor recommended radiation, she had 3 and 1/2 weeks of radiation, but within a week and half, she started getting burned. He also recommended taking a hormone, in the form of a cancer-treating drug, but she opted not to. Her doctor agreed because her diagnosis had been downgraded.
Given Linda's evolution, disclosing she had breast cancer to her friends and clients was not hard for her. Because she was self-employed, clients were very understanding when she had to change her schedule to accommodate medical appointments. With men she has been dating (none of whom she's been interested in getting intimate with), she tells people she's had challenges in life, one being breast cancer. Linda commented, " My dates are more intimidated by me and astrology, what I know!!"
"In the Asian community, we are taught to, well, I would say Japanese community, I can really only speak for mine, keep everything hidden and stuffed. But that's what creates a lot of illness in your body and disease. I read Louise Hayes' book where she's got a comment on all the different types of diseases and what the emotional issue is doing to the body. I feel better about being open about things and honest and I am just willing to share it. I can detect when people don't want to share things and talk about things and that's okay. I'm sharing things about what I've been through on my journey and it's been very therapeutic. Learning to know yourself. Women especially are so busy, being mothers, and
having careers, having a marriage and everything we are juggling things, we tend to put ourselves last. I don't have any children, but I did take care of my mother for eight years -five in my home, three I had to put her in a care home. I was working fulltime and I look back, don't know how I did it, but I think women put ourselves last, but really to fully honor yourself, I think you have to love yourself first, take care of yourself emotionally, physically, and mentally."
And, that's exactly what Linda is doing. She's thrown birthday parties for herself the last couple of years, turning 60 this year was a big one. She goes out regularly on weekends with friends. When she's giving too much, she's learned to replenish and nurture herself. Sometimes, she just needs to watch TV, check out, and be entertained. Quiet time helps her tone down "all that scattered energy going on in the universe." She's learned to become more independent and do more things by herself. She travels, and enjoys gardening, and doing anything creative with her hands. She's learned not to always want answers and rather to be in the moment, to be present, and not complain about the past.
"Journey has been good. Happy where I am. Just wished I had known that when I was 20, but, of course, that's not the case!"
