Kate Bush, Leo. Photo illustration: by Preeti Kinha; Photos: Getty
Thursday’s new moon in Leo invites you to live boldly, even in undesirable or uninspiring circumstances. If you’ve recently put aside your own needs and desires—to care for others or to deal with crises, personal or societal, that the world keeps throwing at you—then this is your chance to reclaim them. Then, later that afternoon, Jupiter retrograde begins. Over the next four months, the planet of growth and luck will appear to be moving backwards across the sky. This is not the best time to make significant progress toward your goals, but it is excellent for reflection. Are you growing in ways that feel beneficial and authentic to who you are? If the answer is no, it may be clear that you are at a turning point and ready for a change. Know that you are not late.
No one can avoid making mistakes from time to time, and for the most part, you’ve come to terms with it. This week, however, you may find yourself doing more of them than you’re used to. You may find that you drastically misjudged someone or supported a bold new work strategy that ultimately fails. It’s only natural to get discouraged, to get frustrated with yourself, but you’re actually doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. Mistakes mean you’re trying, that you’re asking bigger and better questions, that you’re brave enough to aim for something wonderful. Don’t give up now.
It’s nice to know that the people in your life need you. It reminds you that your work and care are valued, that you play an important role in this interconnected world. However, the pressure of others’ expectations can become too much. If you’re stressed this week, ask yourself if you’re getting enough care too. This doesn’t mean that all relationships are transactional or that you should keep a ledger of emotional debts you have. It’s just that, you can’t give forever without getting love in return. Ask for what you need.
Lately, your mind has been buzzing with the constant awareness of how precarious happiness is in your life. You are hyperaware that everything you have achieved and strived for can crumble and everything you love can be ripped out from under you. This is an overwhelming and stressful mindset to maintain, so this week try to remember that the opposite is also true. If the good is impermanent, the bad is also impermanent. If sweetness is not guaranteed, then neither is greed and cold-bloodedness. There are no foregone conclusions. The future may be bleak or it may be more beautiful than you can imagine.
It takes openness and generosity of spirit, an authentic willingness to engage with the world, to recognize the beauty that exists all around you. You have this gift of noticing what is best and most beautiful in other people. The problem is that you can’t always see these same qualities in yourself. Up to a point, this humility is admirable. But you deserve to afford kindness, too. You are already too familiar with your weaknesses, with all the flaws you want to change. This week, find enough compassion and love in your heart to keep some for yourself.
Wanting to be liked by the people around you is not stupid or shallow. As you well know, it’s important to consider how your words and actions come across in order to be aware that you are part of a larger network of social connections. At a certain point, however, it is possible to give too much weight to the opinions and impressions of others; you stop listening to, let alone trusting, your own inner voice. This week, continue to be considerate of the feelings of those around you. But if their judgments prevent you from being free or authentic, it’s okay to prioritize yourself.
Sometimes you feel like you’re the only person who takes any of the world’s problems seriously. On social media, you see others enjoying their lives, laughing and joking as if nothing is wrong and as if they don’t care at all. It is an unbearably lonely position to be in, to imagine yourself alone in your anxiety. This week, remind yourself that we don’t all process stress, fear, or pain the same way, and an Instagram post doesn’t tell the whole story. The masks people wear in public do not always reflect their true feelings. If you can start from the assumption that you are not alone, you will find that you have more allies than you think.
Even if you’re prone to exhaustion this week, try to give others the benefit of the doubt. Not necessarily those with political positions, but the everyday people you meet throughout the day, in all their wonderful, confusing and sometimes maddening humanity. Not because everyone is always nice or because as a good person you owe them your good faith. Rather, everyone wins when we create opportunities for people to be good, honest, brave. When you give others a chance to be the best, they might take it.
Some people’s natural talents emerge in times of change; some shine brightest when they feel most secure. It can seem unfair how everything keeps changing, hindering your ability to envision, let alone build, a long-term future. But this week, don’t take it for granted that you’re out of luck. Consider that you have gifts that you don’t know about yet because you’ve never needed them before. Try to have faith that you are where you are meant to be and that you have important contributions to make – even if you are still discovering what they are.
If it were up to you, you would always be learning, growing, experiencing more and more of the world. But no one, not even you, can live in a state of constant cultivation. This week, pushing too far or too fast is likely to get you into trouble, depleting your emotional resources and getting you involved in projects and dramas you have no interest in. Trying to do less may feel unnatural. Do it anyway. You’ve been on the move for so long; you deserve some time to do nothing.
Nothing (not your job, not your friendships, not your hobbies) is easy these days. Even the most basic errands seem to require more effort than before; there are so few activities that offer a direct sense of accomplishment. Adequate rest will help, but you also need reassurance that all this difficulty will be worth it in the end, that your efforts will not be wasted. This week, give yourself permission to be easy on yourself or cut corners in areas that don’t really matter to you. Save your best energy for what is most meaningful so that your work can really pay off.
This week you may be consumed by the need to write your own story, to define your own future. If you’re not careful, you’ll spend all your time feeling suffocated and irritated, or grasping for a sense of control that’s just out of reach. No matter how hard you work, uncertainty remains; no matter how much power you gain, there will be other people more powerful than you. So instead, focus your energy on building relationships. The rewards of human connection can surprise you and change everything, and no one can take that away from you.
Fighting your insecurities is no easy feat. They are slippery and cunning, stubborn as weeds. This week, though, through some kind of magic, you’ll get a glimpse of how powerful, how wonderful you are, and how tenuous the basis of your insecurities is in reality. You can love yourself boldly and generously, unapologetically. This feeling may not last forever. Learning to treat ourselves right is an ongoing process that needs to be learned over and over again, but try to remember what it is. Remember that such love exists.
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