Tag: dec..

Gayle King, a Capricorn.
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images

As expansive Jupiter squares off with disciplined Saturn, your enthusiasm and optimism may clash with the realities of your life. It’ll become apparent that you can’t take on every project or pursue every potential relationship — at least, not if you want to do any of it wholeheartedly. You’re likely to feel torn or uncertain about which path is the right one, but by taking your time and refusing to rush to any decisions, you’ll discover what matters most to you.

Life is full of coincidences and chance encounters lately; there’s a good chance that you’ll get a lucky break or two simply because you were in the right place at the right time. Just be careful not to let the excitement serve as a distraction from any older, deeper issues you’ve been dealing with. The more you’re willing to keep confronting your old fears and insecurities, the better equipped you’ll be to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Embrace the new energy without turning your back on the long-term inner work you’ve been doing.

The more stressed or uncertain you feel today, the more tempting it’ll be to buy stuff in an attempt to regain a sense of security. Even if a part of you knows that it isn’t true, another part of you will still hope that getting the perfect new kitchen gadget or the exact right notebook will solve all your problems. Try to put that energy toward reflecting deeply on what you really need. Giving serious thought to your future and committing to the work ahead of you might be less enjoyable, but it’s more likely to make you happy in the end.

Some people seem content to stay on the same path forever, moving forward in a steady and linear fashion, but you’re too restless for that. You’re hungry for new experiences and want to make the most of your time. Even still, there will always be lives you didn’t live, possibilities you didn’t realize, opportunities you didn’t have a chance to explore. Your challenge today is to make peace with that, so that you can devote yourself wholly to the life you’re living now.

You have friends who seem to move through the world with an unshakable faith that things will work out. But as much as you wish you could share their optimism, you’ve seen too much heartbreak and suffering. If you’re struggling to believe that everything will be okay today, try instead to believe that whatever happens, you’ll be strong enough to face it. You’re wise and capable and your life is filled with people who care about you; even if things get tough, you have what you need to make it through.

You’re probably not someone who values conformity too highly: You think for yourself, and if your conclusions differ from your friends’, you aren’t afraid to say so. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to tell whether you’re genuinely at odds with the people around you or you’re just being contrarian in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. Today is a good day to think about where you fit in with the group. You don’t have to parrot the consensus views, but you don’t have to argue for the sake of it, either. Being your authentic self is enough.

Every day brings more choices you have to make — some of them insignificant, others terrifyingly consequential. It’s exhausting to feel so much responsibility, and sometimes you wish somebody else would step in and give you a bit of direction. In reality, though, no one can make your decisions for you. Even your wisest friend can’t point you toward the “correct” path forward, because there is no objective right answer: You have to figure out what’s best for you.

Your dreams are bigger than ever this week. You’re not satisfied to live an ordinary life; you want to travel, to learn, to find a higher purpose. At the same time, your inner critic keeps jumping in to explain why these ambitions are silly and unrealistic, why you’d be better off tempering your desires and settling for less. This voice of practicality can be a useful counterbalance to your idealistic side, so don’t block it out entirely, but don’t fully give in to it, either. Your dreams don’t need to be blandly pragmatic to be worth pursuing.

It could be easy to worry that you’ve wasted your life. Maybe you regret passing up important opportunities, maybe you wish you’d been bolder, or tried harder, or expressed your feelings instead of hiding them. In hindsight, you can see your mistakes with excruciating clarity. But what’s done is done, and instead of wallowing in shame or beating yourself up over it today, look to the future. You can’t change the past, but it isn’t too late to change what happens next.

There are more important things in life than being popular — but it’s also normal to want a robust social circle full of people who think well of you. Even for someone as independent as you, it can sometimes be tempting to take the path of least resistance and do what everyone else wants. Today, you might feel particularly sensitive to criticism, but try not to let your fear of other people’s judgment hinder you. The only way to live the life that’s right for you is to be willing to go against the grain once in a while.

There are times when it’s enough to observe the world around you, to analyze, to brainstorm possibilities. Lately, though, you’re feeling immense pressure to get practical results. Before you can call attention to a problem, you imagine you need to have real solutions already in mind; before you can express a desire, you imagine you should already have a road map to get there. This is expecting too much of yourself. Tangible action plans are important, but give yourself permission to reflect and dream and ask questions before you commit to one.

You feel pulled in two different directions lately, split between your responsibilities and your desires. On one side, you feel an obligation to do everything you possibly can to make the world a better place; on the other, you have an inextinguishable creative spark inside you, a drive to create beauty and to enjoy life. You might imagine that the right thing to do is disavow all the “unproductive” things so that you can devote yourself wholly to your responsibilities to others. The answer isn’t to choose one option over the other, but to find a balance between the two.

When you look around you, you see other people achieving great things, making huge strides in their careers, contributing to their communities in impressive and tangible ways. It can make your own life seem dull and insignificant in comparison — so do your best to stop comparing. If you’re not satisfied, that’s one thing (and this can be a good time to think about what might make you more fulfilled). But if you’re only imagining that others might not be impressed with you, put them out of your head. The person whose opinion matters is you.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.