It’s not your fault, it’s mercury in retrograde.
Is anyone else out there counting down the days left in Mercury’s retrograde? Not sure about you, but I am tired of sleepless nights and constantly miscommunicating with everyone around me. Whether it’s laying in bed, staring at the ceiling for 90 minutes after popping a melatonin or waking up at four in the morning “just because,” my body is sick of retrograde. I am sick of retrograde. Over the past two weeks, I can’t tell you how many workplace conversations have ended in a shrugged, “yeah, Mercury is in retrograde.” I even justified my dog peeing in the house because, you know, retrograde. But guys, listen: stop shrugging it off. We have to do something about this.
It’s not that I don’t believe in astrology. I’m a Millennial, don’t we all follow our signs? But before this retrograde, I had viewed astrology as a similar concept to fate—it’s there but I can’t do anything about it. But now I won’t sit idly by while Mercury takes away my beauty sleep. Take control of retrograde. It might not be our faults that everything is out of whack, and it might not be my dog’s fault that she peed in the house, but we still have an opportunity to bring balance to this three-week state of confusion.
But wait… what exactly does retrograde mean?
In astronomical terms, retrograde is when, due to each planet’s own orbit, Mercury appears to be moving backwards. What that means for astrology is that essentially, Mercury is taking a little OOO time and forgot to get someone to cover all of the day-to-day areas that the planet rules. The big items are sleep (as we all know), communication (both listening and speaking), buying and selling, learning, and legal contracts. So if you feel like you’re extra forgetful lately, it’s not your fault.
Here’s what you really should NOT do during retrograde…
Really you shouldn’t be making any major life moves. Don’t sign a lease or move homes, don’t start a new job don’t make a decision that is reliant on someone else, don’t start any new projects, don’t make any big purchases, and you probably shouldn’t travel much.
… And what you should do
Find balance. Any time the universe doesn’t feel right, the most control you can get is through yourself. We’re affected by our environment; when it’s out of balance, so are we. Do whatever it takes to achieve even a small amount of balance, whether it’s yoga, running, journaling, meditating, or my personal favorite: balancing your chakras.
Have back-ups to everything: make back up plans, but also back-up your phone and devices.
Take some “me” time. You deserve a break from the stress of retrograde. Take a long bath, try a new face mask, indulge in some junk food, get a mani/pedi. Whatever you feel you need, gift yourself.
And most importantly, remember to not take anything too personally. We’re all going through the same thing. After you’ve done the best you can, it’s still okay to shrug it off and say, “yeah, Mercury is in retrograde.”