Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Getty Images
On Thursday morning, the sun enters Aries, marking the start of a new astrological year. The cosmic conditions have been wild lately, and we’re now right in the middle of eclipse season, with both Mercury and Venus retrograde ongoing. While the sun’s entrance into Aries won’t immediately solve all your problems, it’ll make it easier to deal with them by offering you a burst of fresh energy and confidence. If the conventional solutions haven’t worked, you can test out new ones. If you’ve failed before, you can dust yourself off and try again.
You’ve been in a reflective mood lately, questioning your choices, analyzing your past, maybe even indulging in some nostalgia. Now, though, it’s time to return to the here and now. Instead of weighing all of your options, it’s better to try one of them; instead of overthinking the possible consequences, simply wait and see what happens. Your instincts are solid, so trust them. All the deep thinking you’ve been doing lately hasn’t been for nothing: It’ll ground you as you move forward.
Sometimes in high-stress moments, you freeze — then once it’s much too late to matter, you come up with the brilliant arguments and sharp retorts you wish you had made at the time. This week, if you’re frustrated over all the things you didn’t say, remember that it might not be too late. If something has been weighing on you, let it out. Saying it now won’t change the past, but it might still change what happens next — or, at the very least, release you from your regret.
It might seem smart, lately, to tone down your hopes for the future. By shrinking your dreams, you imagine, you’ll lessen the risk of failure; settling for less starts to look like the most strategic move. But while this week probably isn’t the time to act recklessly, a calculated risk or two could serve you well. You can’t protect yourself from all disappointment, so you might as well go for what you truly want.
You don’t necessarily think of yourself as a leader; you’re not interested in telling anybody else what to do. But this week, you’ll have the opportunity to influence the people around you — not by being bossy but simply by setting an example. When you live with bravery and integrity, you inspire others to do the same. When you refuse to be pushed around, you make it easier for your friends to stand up for themselves, too. People are looking up to you, so act like it.
Lately, the future has felt especially uncertain, and you tend to see that as, if not exactly a bad thing, at least something to minimize. You know how quickly it all can go wrong, and you worry about losing all that you’ve worked so hard for. This week, though, try to embrace unpredictability, because within it is the possibility for life to suddenly change for the better. Don’t be so focused on eliminating the potential for trouble that you miss out on something wonderful.
You’re inclined to blame yourself for everything that goes wrong in your life, but sometimes the world is unjust; plenty of the problems you’re facing aren’t your fault at all. Reflecting on that fact can help you to cut yourself some slack: You’ve been dealt a difficult hand, and you’re doing the best you can. Just don’t take this as a sign to give up. The odds might not seem favorable, but the future’s not set in stone.
Sometimes, you manage to convince yourself that you’re destined for failure — before you’ve even put in a good-faith attempt. You tell yourself that it would be foolish to try, because you already know — maybe based on other people’s experiences, maybe it’s just a feeling — that your efforts won’t pan out. But while it’s smart to temper your expectations, at a certain point you have to take a leap of faith. Maybe you won’t succeed, but maybe you will, and you’ll regret not trying.
Instead of rushing around, addressing every minor problem in real time, you try to lay out your days with intention. You do your best to plan ahead and prioritize, focusing on the things that matter most. Every so often, though, you devote so much of your energy to strategizing that you never get around to actually doing much. So this week, stop worrying about optimizing, and just do what needs to be done. You might not be working in the most optimal manner, but at least you’ll be moving forward.
There are plenty of times when playing it cool is the best course of action. It’s not always wise to seem too eager for an opportunity; sometimes, keeping your interest level vague can put you in a more powerful position to negotiate. This week, however, is a time for doing the opposite. Your enthusiasm is infectious right now, so if you want something, you might as well say so. The more open you are, the more willing others will be to help out.
Your friends encourage you to express your emotions right in the moment — but that probably seems unrealistic. You often don’t fully understand your feelings, much less feel ready to talk about them, until you’ve had some time to process. There’s nothing wrong with that approach if it’s what works for you; the key is to make sure you don’t end up sitting on your feelings forever. This week might be a good time to finally discuss anything you’ve been privately processing. You’ll feel lighter once you’ve opened up.
You do your best to communicate honestly and directly, but you still tend to choose your words with care. You’re smart enough to understand that words have power, and so it’s rare for you to spout off without thinking. This week, though, the best thing you can do is speak from the heart. Now isn’t the time to second-guess yourself or worry you’re speaking out of turn — you can deal with any fallout later; for now, just tell the truth.
You probably aren’t the sort of person to rush through life; you’d rather get your work done gradually than push to the end in one big sprint. This week, though, you might have the energy and drive to move faster and take on more. As long as it feels good, go with it; attempting to pump the brakes will only frustrate you. You won’t have this much energy forever — don’t make overly ambitious long-term commitments — but while it’s here, make the most of it.
Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of March 9th. The weekly horoscopes for the week of March 23rd will be online next Sunday.
Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.
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