Allergic to bitterness? What to do about it

"Every member of my immediate family spent years wallowing in bitterness—except for the two of us that are still alive. Living in a family like that is like living on a toxic waste dump. Bitterness poisons your relationships, your daily life, your chances of a better tomorrow, and even your health.
A strong natal Pluto or a series of long, slow Pluto aspects by transit can provide clues to areas where bitterness can build up over time if you let it—and where your repetitive thoughts and feelings may wind up being a daily dose of self-administered arsenic...Being a Plutonian person by birth and family legacy, growing up in a cesspool of bitterness made me wildly allergic to being around it. I don’t quite break out in a rash, thankfully, because there are no shots for that. But my stomach churns and I can hardly breathe.

"The most important part of getting free of resentment and bitterness is persistence in noticing as quickly as possible that you’re slipping into it. Then yank yourself right out of that rut and get to work on understanding what’s going on inside you to create that emotion. - Donna Cunningham

My former writing buddy and internationally respected Donna Cunningham lives in Portland. The other day another of my writing buddies and long-time friend was talking about Portland as a place she's focused on these days. Seems the drive between her home and Seattle has turned from long, but tolerable, to insanely intolerable. So she's weighing up a change in venue for entertainment and fun: Portland and points south. With Portland on my mind and the wind blowing ferociously through the trees here I went searching Donna Cunningham's astrology blog for something to help rid me of a bitter taste in my mouth: Pluto!

The paragraph that opens Cunningham's post "Purge Yourself of Pluto’s Negativity—Get Free of Bitterness" begins with her family of origin. For all the good that is my family legacy there was also that "like living on a toxic waste dump" inheritance that I must be oh so very conscious of. Dangling participle? Yes, but worse than that is the predisposition to remain forever bitter. The season of damp and cold can trigger Pluto in its most destructive manifestations. Or, on the flip side  choosing Mars(action) coupled with Pluto(deep transformation) can be, according to Cunningham, "the manifestation magnet. In birth charts, it is the aspect of a magician, and that’s true for transits as well.  It’s  inherently neither a positive nor a negative aspect. Some use it against themselves and others, attracting destructive outcomes by obsessing on resentments. They generally have no awareness of the consequences of dwelling in such negativity. Others who have it natally use the combination for good by consciously and conscientiously focusing on healing and transformation."

I felt myself triggered by the allergic reaction of bitterness the other day. So close to being sweetly successful I felt the reaction that swells up from bitterness-- the habit. I'm recovering well today, my personal boat visualization is intact; aware of the habit and wise enough today to recognize the manifestation of Pluto for what it is. Whew! Donna Cunningham's article and links to many other Pluto-rich posts is here for you to follow up if you think (or know) you might be allergic to bitterness and ready to point to something sweeter.