Late Monday night, action planet Mars enters Taurus and invites us all to settle in for a long time. Over the next six weeks, don’t lose heart. Victories will not come quickly, but with persistence and a willingness to keep going, no matter how long it takes. Amazing change is made possible not by miracles or good luck, but rather by the slow, transformative magic of persistence. Later Monday night, communication planet Mercury enters intuitive Cancer, where it will remain for the next two weeks. As you try to make sense of the world during this time, logic and grand theories may fail, but you can find clarity in your emotions and the warm light of your relationships with others. You have enough of an optimistic streak to hold out hope that people can change – that those who have always ignored your feelings will finally see how wrong they were, that those who have hurt you will make amends. While believing in people’s capacity for growth is beautiful and generous, it can also make you sad. This week, give yourself permission to stop waiting for the people who were never there for you. This is not an act of desperation. In fact, it is faith that by doing so, you make room for people who will welcome you with solidarity and open arms. There is a part of you that feels sorry for the smallest pleasures these days. It’s not that you think self-denial is virtuous or that you don’t deserve it, it’s just that it seems unfair to experience happiness when so much around us is falling apart. Consciously or not, you may be trying to balance the scales and ease your guilt by avoiding comfort, stubbornly turning away from invitations to enjoy yourself. What the world needs now, however, is not less enjoyment but more. It’s okay to have fun when you can, to fill your cup, to create more beauty and kindness in a universe that desperately needs it. When you’re honest with yourself about how much change is needed, how much better life could be—whether in your own life, in your community, or in the wider world—you can feel like you have little to contribute. Your dreams are big, but your resources are limited. You are only one person and your life is full of ordinary needs like sleeping, eating and going to work. The key this week is not to feel ashamed for not doing “more”. Every day, you have the power to do something good, however small. And all those little actions will add up, if you let them. Despite the disappointments you’ve faced over the past few years, despite the numerous injustices you’ve seen, a small part of you held out hope that if things really got dark enough, those in power would finally step in and help. But now that illusion too has been shattered. There is sadness and anger this week in the reminder that there are powerful people who could fight for you but won’t. In place of that old hope, you’ll find a new determination — and the understanding that when no one else will step up, you can still fight for your community, and they will fight for you. Even the deepest grief is easier to bear when you know you are not alone in it. The most chest-tightening anxiety about the future is lessened when you know you’ll have friends by your side to deal with it. You won’t be able to fix the whole world, but you can make things better this week by building community. Make new connections, mend frayed relationships. Commit to making each other’s lives a little sweeter today. Love is not the only thing that matters, but we cannot do without it. You know that—in theory at least—things could be different: There is no inherent reason that society cannot be freer, more generous, less violent, no cosmic master plan that says we can’t choose another way of life. In practice, however, it is easy to convince yourself that these alternatives exist only in the realm of fantasy and not in reality. This week, you’ll find that you don’t have to keep dreaming – you can also act as if a better world is possible. And every time you choose to break unjust or restrictive rules, you lay the foundation for the new existence you long for. This week, you may be concerned that you have suddenly become invisible. No one pays attention to your sharp observations and helpful ideas, or notices the vital contributions you continually make to your community. You could raise your voice, demand to be seen, but you have other options. Consider the benefits of doing your job for its own sake, at least for a while. This is an opportunity to take big steps forward without the pressure of other people’s expectations or the dangers of overexposure. Trust that, eventually, you will be recognized in the way you desire. You’re a natural strategic thinker — able to read a room, plan a few steps ahead, and maneuver your way through the toughest problems. But there are circumstances in life that require simple, dogged determination. This type of action seems less rewarding to you, but that doesn’t make it any less important. This week, the important thing is to keep going. Go ahead and stay committed to your humanity, your people, your principles. You don’t have to be clever or analyze your way through it. For now, just keep showing up. You have the capacity for incredible bravery. You may take beautiful, surprising risks for the sake of others to do the right thing in the face of resistance or even danger. However, to reach your full potential here, you need to practice. Courage is like a muscle: It atrophies if you never use it. This week, then, your task is to take care of your nerves and keep them in shape. Every little chance you take, every time you put yourself out there, ensures that you remain strong, principled and ready to take action when the world calls you to do more. Right now, it’s tempting to bury yourself in work. Whether you’re paid or volunteer, the goal is the same: to fill your days so you don’t have time to stew in panic or uncertainty or hurt feelings. And there’s something to be said for channeling your emotions into useful, concrete action. This week, it’s important not to overcommit. Taking on too many obligations sets you on the path to burnout, which won’t help you or anyone else. Action is essential, but make sure it’s at a sustainable pace. When you think about the ongoing disaster we live in, you see no room, no excuse, to be anything less than heroic. You yearn for a sense of purpose, for grand gestures and deeds. it’s almost unbearable to keep messing with the daily banalities of life. But this week, what the world needs from you is not to chase something “better” than the life of a common man. Rather, everyday life is your big mission right now. There is value in finding how to live alongside others with courage and love in spite of greed and cruelty. You’ve been stressed and unsure of your place in the world lately, and that’s only been made worse by a lot of people—probably in your life, as well as on social media and the news—trying to convince you that you’re helpless. They say that all you can do is wait and beg to be saved, that the wisest course of action available to you is to politely ask for better treatment. But they’re wrong, of course, and it’s your job this week to remember that. You don’t need a license to care about your community and make each other’s lives better. You already have all the power you need.
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