In the words of the great Missy Elliot: “Is it worth it? Let me work it. I put my thang down, flip it, and reverse it.” This week finds you with ample opportunity to figure out, Aries, what all is worth your energy and extended interest. The question isn’t what you can bring to the table, because you already know that you can — given the right ingredients — set the scene for a veritable feast. This is about waiting to see what’s on offer and how it benefits you before you lay down your offering. And, it’s about being aware of your penchant for writing more checks than you can cash, both figuratively and literally, and deciding that it’s someone else’s turn to treat.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Some beliefs we have about ourselves are made up of our experiences. Other beliefs were something we inherited or were taught to believe about ourselves and other people like us. These beliefs were rarely tested because we assumed them to be true (certain bodies don’t belong in certain spaces, certain genders are better with emotions, etc.). As we get older, it gets harder to parse which of these beliefs are rooted in truth and which just have deep roots. The truth is, either way, these are stories we nurture about ourselves. Stories, dear friend, can change. This week, when you find yourself having a conclusive, limiting thought about how you are, try your best to work your way down to the root. Is it always true? Can you imagine an exception?Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Just because things don’t seem to be getting easier doesn’t mean you’re not getting better at working with them. Sometimes flow is less about ease and more about recognizing and accepting the rhythm when the song is playing — even if it’s a tempo quicker than you’re used to. Whether or not you expected it, you’re learning to adapt, and your lessons have been serving you. This week, when familiar troubles crop up, try to notice if you’re responding to them differently or if another approach occurs to you. The kind of self-observing will help you mark your interior progress and celebrate your growth. Positive reinforcement works!Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
I know it can be tempting to stay in your shell and convince yourself that relying on others is not worth the impossible expectations they might have of you. It’s true that crabs can be either solitary or collective creatures but, dear Cancer, you’re much more likely to thrive in collaboration. Developing new relationships and deepening current ones gives you the opportunity to share your growth and in sharing it, find support for it. This week, try your best to notice when fear of being misjudged or mistreated gets in the way of your deep desire to connect with people and share your work. To operate out of fear is to limit what you’re capable of doing for yourself and others.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Sometimes what feels safe isn’t what you ultimately need to feel good. Lots of animals retreat when they get overwhelmed or when they need to rest. When recharging is the goal, it’s wise to do whatever you need to do to fill the well and attend to the absolutes only. Energy is a life force, after all, and one can’t tap the reserves forever. This kind of retreat, especially in difficult times, makes sense as an act of self-support. But, Leo, you thrive when you take chances on yourself and go beyond your comfort zone. Pushing yourself past the familiar allows you to access your confidence and self-regard. This week, challenge yourself to incorporate something that makes you a little nervous/excited into your schedule. Big or small, it’ll make a difference. Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Sometimes getting to know who we are is not something we can fully accomplish on our own. While hermitage and self-inquiry and therapy can teach us to recognize our own patterns of thinking and being, only relationships can teach us about the ways we connect with other people. The key is keeping your focus on how you communicate, react, and respond; noting when you feel comfortable expressing yourself freely and when you feel the need to be on guard. This week, try your best to notice these things in the interactions you have with others, whether they be lovers, close friends, or acquaintances. Observe from a place of curiosity, not self-judgement — as if you’re studying the behaviors of a gentle creature you have yet to fully understand.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
In times like these, dear Libra, we’ve really got to take our joys where we can get them. Of course, there’s work to be done and commitments to attend to, but if you don’t know how to reward yourself, then what will compel you to the finish line? And, it’s not your fault if what once brought you joy elicits an emotion that feels muted now. It’s no moral failing if your preoccupations appear out of sync with the world around you. I know you like to practice what you preach but some parts of ourselves are just for us to understand — and no one else. There’s no one right way to access pleasure, no one right way to reward. There’s only what feels right for you in the moment — and the fact that you deserve a moment for yourself. Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
What we owe to our collective changes because the collective changes — and so do the needs therein. You show up one day with first-aid kits and what’s necessary is raincoats; you come back with raincoats and there’s an excess, so you leave your offering and look for a different hole to plug. All this seems logical and acceptable — one can hardly expect something alive to be stagnant and predictable. Do you think it’s possible, Scorpio, to approach other living structures with this same level of grace? Can you work your way down from “my community needs something else” to “my role in my friend’s life is changing” to “I can’t have the same expectations of myself now that I had last March”? You like challenges, don’t you? Give it a try. Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
It might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes when we feel farthest from the self we recognize, we’re closest to understanding the self we are becoming. A part of that experience is the ability to recognize that while we may be uncomfortable, we are not exactly a fish out of water. In fact, while the water might be choppy, there’s something satisfying in the swim, some pride we didn’t expect to feel. These kinds of explorations often occur in difficult times, when we must use up our resources and our limits are tested, we find that we are more powerful than we let ourselves believe. As the water calms and the destination comes into view, the work of integrating who you are now into your idea of yourself arises. How will you begin the task?Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
There’s only so much a person can do to satisfy everyone else. And it takes a toll, doesn’t it? The measuring up and squaring away, the feeling that no matter how clearly you can see the goalpost, it’s bound to move the moment you get near it. What if this week, you put your satisfaction before any other obligation? Don’t stop at the agreements you made with others — other people have nothing on all the ways you get in your own way. If there’s an ancestor you’re about to supposedly disappoint, a promise you made when you didn’t have all the information, a gospel you’re more than ready to reinterpret in your own favor, go ahead and get a little wild.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Whether you’re aware of it or not, the ways that you’ve managed to take up space in the world have started to transform your relationship to it. There’s a quiet feedback loop that provides you with rich data about who you are and how you are received, data that up until now was too narrow to provide you with any useful conclusions; data that up until now might have been susceptible to the biases of your upbringing. The set is getting larger and your interpretations can rely less on what you were taught and more on what you know to be true for you. If you had doubts about your qualifications, your doubts are ready to be dispelled. If you’re ready to change your relationship with wealth, then wealth is ready to change its relationship with you.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
Being good at relationships isn’t about what you can do for others, especially if what others need is counter to what you need. On some core level, you know this, and have always known it. But, it can be hard to hold on to what you know when you find yourself up against someone else’s beliefs about love and taking care. It’s not that you get swept up in other people’s expectations, it’s just that the practice of being open to other points of view can lead to being unsure about how much you still trust your own. While this week might give you plenty of reasons to doubt your right to say no, you’ll find that, rather than negotiating a way to avoid setting limits, establishing a temporary boundary will do a lot more to address your concerns than ignoring them would.Illustration by Stefhany Lozano
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