The Power of Ten
The Power of Ten
I wasn’t always fascinated with the number ten. For a math phobe like me, this is wildly surprising. Neither did I expect after a lost decade of working as an administrative assistant at a New York City law firm, to abruptly resign. But I did. The power of ten took hold of me. The number ten symbolizes completion of a cycle, fresh starts, new beginnings, personal growth, wholeness, completeness, order, precision. Kabbalists consider the number ten as a symbolic representation of the Ten Commandments and the Sefirot or emanations of God. Each Sefirot has its unique qualities and reveals an aspect of the divine nature of God. The Pythagoreans considered ten to be the perfect number because the sum of 1,2,3 and 4 equals 10. They divided the universe into 10 spheres or levels, known as the "decad." Each one was associated with a lofty attribute, such as wisdom, justice, or beauty.
After the robotic routine of ten years of uninspiring work that narrowed my life, I began to design “decad[e]s” of my own. The first one, spanning the years from 1995-2005, I named the Decade of Deprogramming. I needed to be free from corporate culture and the world of dunning work. I swore off high heels, pantyhose and power suits. I read Duane Elgin’s Voluntary Simplicity and Vicki Robin’s and Joe Dominguez’ Your Money or Your Life. I downshifted.
Doing so made my life more spacious. It was like upgrading to first class after sardine squeezing into an economy seat. Having “leg room” to recalibrate, shape shift, self-actualize and see a multiplicity of selves emerge was exciting. Space is needed for rhythms to emerge, themes to be seen, synchronicities to surprise. American trumpeter, Miles Davis, said, “The space between the notes is just as important and the notes themselves.”
The first lifestyle tweak I made in the Decade of Deprogramming was to forgo the celebration of annual birthdays. I choose to let the magic of compound interest accumulate ten years worth of celebratory returns, then I have an extravaganza of epic proportions.
From 2005-2015, I was ensconced in the Decade of Spiritual Transformation. My reading list ranged from The Message Bible, a modern translation of the Kings James Version, to Autobiography of a Yogi, to Saint Germain on Alchemy. My companion practices included stillness and contemplation, Pilates and Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR). The work initiated in this decade remains ongoing.
This current decade, from 2015-2025, has been both challenging and gratifying. In this Decade of Getting It Done, the COVID years made doing so difficult for all of us. Pre COVID, I overcame a serious health challenge. Post COVID, I completed a life coaching certification program, and built two online communities. With the final year of this decade just beginning, I’m enrolled in professional astrology training program and laying the groundwork to become a snowbird, escaping the east coast chill to live in Barbados for the winter. Ease of mobility and connectivity will allow for latitude in choosing different life/work venues and ways to work for us all. Then there’s the option not to work at all.
We evolve as the decades pass. Dormant talents, dreams deferred and back burner interests blossom tenfold in time, so don’t choose the annual plan. Live exponentially and embrace the power of ten.