Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Getty Images
On Monday night Mercury enters innovative Aquarius, where it’ll stay until mid-February. Now, it’s time to let go of rules and traditions that have outlived their utility. Experimenting with fresh ideas is how you’ll make the most progress now. On Wednesday, the new moon in Aquarius gives you an extra push to start something new — the more unconventional, the better. Finally on Thursday morning, Uranus retrograde ends. The planet of progress and rebellion has been moving backward since September; as it starts traveling forward again, expect the unexpected. Nothing is written in stone.
Sometimes it’s healthy to see yourself as the main character; it helps you to feel confident, to move through the world like you matter. But at a certain point, it becomes stressful: You feel so much pressure to live a big, exciting life, and you worry you’re failing to live up to your own lofty expectations. This week, try to think of yourself as a part of a larger community, no more and no less important than anyone else. It isn’t your responsibility to live a more thrilling life than anyone else.
Right now, issues that aren’t important in the grand scheme of things nonetheless demand your attention. You understand that you can’t neglect your present happiness in order to focus on grand far-off dreams. But as you deal with the problems of everyday life, keep one eye on the future. All the small decisions you make right now will add up. You’re choosing which relationships and communities to center, which opportunities to say yes (and no) to. Be rigorous about what you’re setting yourself up for, and it’ll pay off down the line.
Your mind is quick and active; if you don’t have problems to mull over, you’ll quickly get bored. This week, you might be especially susceptible to restlessness: It feels like you’ve already asked all the important questions, and now you’re just going through the motions. What you need now are bigger challenges and issues you haven’t tackled before. So, when they finally present themselves, don’t back down, no matter how intimidated you are. You’ll be glad for the chance to stretch your wings.
Sometimes it feels like even your innermost desires aren’t fully your own — other people are always pressuring you to want the same things they do, to chase the same goals, to hold the same values. Even if you manage to identify what you actually want, it can be difficult to do anything about it. But this week, forget about what anyone else thinks. The people in your life might seem skeptical about some of your positions at first, but don’t let that stop you.
In certain situations and relationships, it’s necessary to play hardball: If you don’t want to be taken advantage of, you have to fight hard for what you need, refusing to give an inch. But while this approach might be the only way to deal with people who don’t have your best interests at heart, it makes things worse with those who do care about you. This week, don’t be too rigid with the wrong people: In healthy, reciprocal relationships, you should be giving and receiving in roughly equal measure, so make sure you’re not doing too much of either.
You like to stick to what works; playing around with new and untested methods seems like a waste of time. But this week, consider that the bigger waste of time might be to stay on the same path forever. Give yourself a chance to experiment with different routines. Even if you don’t like the results, that doesn’t mean it was a waste to try.
You’re good at making the most of what you’ve got. If circumstances aren’t ideal, you’ll find a way to make them work for you; if you don’t have the tools to get a job done, you’ll find a way to manage with what’s on hand. Your resourcefulness is one of the best things about you — just remember, this week, that you shouldn’t always have to settle for what you’ve been given. Instead of making do with workarounds and temporary fixers, consider demanding or fighting for the resources you actually need.
Lately, you’ve been frustrated by the people around you. Nobody seems to be as thoughtful or brave as you want them to be; nobody seems to treat life with rigor and dutifulness. Even if they’re not doing anything wrong, you feel they’re also not doing enough. This week, try to rein in your hypercritical side. Nobody will ever be perfect, and judging them for it will only strain your relationships. Focus instead on yourself: You can’t force anyone else to behave the way you think they should, but you can make sure to live in a way you’re proud of.
You’re under no obligation to take everyone’s opinions seriously — if someone is operating in bad faith or spewing vitriol, it’s generally best not to listen. Just be careful, this week, not to close yourself off to ideas only because they contradict your own, or to reject new information because it challenges your worldview. Your friends might surprise you and invite you to look at the world from different angles: Let them. Whether or not you ultimately end up agreeing, being willing to have your mind changed will broaden your understanding of the world.
Other people have all sorts of opinions about what milestones signal prosperity and fulfillment. They’ll insist that everybody needs to accumulate a certain amount of money, or to rise up in their career at a certain pace. When you listen to them, it’s easy to get stressed out and imagine that you’re falling behind. This week, stop chasing anyone else’s approval — put all their chatter out of your head entirely, if you can. Think about what you truly want and need, and get serious about living life on your terms.
You don’t live in a vacuum — you have to share this world with other people, and that means making the occasional compromise. But it can be easy to give up too much, sacrificing your goals or your principles in order to make others happy and avoid rocking the boat. This week, if you’ve strayed too far from your authentic self, it’s possible to course correct. A bit of give-and-take is healthy, but not when it comes at the expense of your happiness. You’re allowed to be stubborn about the things that matter most.
Sometimes, others will act like you’re unreasonable for feeling overloaded and needing a rest. If they aren’t feeling tired yet, you shouldn’t either; if they still have energy in the tank, then why don’t you? But while there might be times when it really is possible to keep pushing and do more than you thought possible, that’s not for others to decide. The only person who knows your capabilities and limits is you. Stretch your limits if you can, but give yourself a break if you need.
Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of January 19th. The weekly horoscopes for the week of February 8th will be online next Sunday.
Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.