Dear Mercury retrograde. You suck. (un)Kind regards, me.

Girl waiting for the bus
Mercury, you are killing me right now. Yes, I know you love to screw with transport systems when you go into retrograde (Jan 21 through to Feb 11, and again later this year – boo!), and I know to expect that, but… seriously?! Yesterday I had FOUR buses not show up. They weren’t late, they just didn’t show up. They vanished into thin air, like they were cast in a Harry Potter storyline, despite my online app telling me they would be here in two minutes. And that made my day a giant poopy mess. Also, my vacuum cleaner died a quiet death (RIP), which I’m really pissed about because I’ll have to replace it, and who wants to spend large sums of money on a vacuum cleaner? Sooo boring and adult.

You guys are feeling this too, right? The Mercury retrograde is incredibly frustrating. And besides allowing extra time for travel hiccups – which I clearly failed to do, d’oh! – there is only one thing you can do. Surrender. Stop checking your unhelpful bus timetable obsessively and pull out a magazine to read while you wait. Breathe deeply. Smile at strangers. Listen to Uptown Funk on repeat. (OK, that’s more than one thing... pretty sure my shoddy arithmetic skills are not Mercury’s fault.)

This is an important lesson for me in just about every area of my life, so instead of getting angry at planetary forces beyond my control, I’m choosing to see Mercury as my teacher. It’s not easy. And sure, letting go of my frustration at having to wait half an hour for a bus is not quite the same as letting go of my attachments to the bigger-scale things I could really benefit from letting go of (habitual self-criticism, regrets over failed relationships, ideas about how my future *should* look, just to name a few) but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. It reminds me that while I don’t have the power to change what life throws at me, I always have the power to choose how I respond to it, which is an extremely powerful concept. If nothing else, it reminds me how good it feels to be at peace with the world (even for short bursts of time) – that’s the place where wisdom starts to flow.

Planet Mercury and the sun
There are just over 10 days left of this hot mess, and I’m declaring right now that I’m not going to let it turn ME into a mess. Obviously I’ll be avoiding potential problem areas (hint: do not go signing any contracts or making large financial outlays at this time) but beyond that, just surrendering to whatever happens. And allowing extra time for travel.

Good luck out there everyone!

BTW, for an excellent reference on how the mercury retrograde nightmare affects us (causing communication breakdowns and technology fails), check out this helpful post by sparkly blogger Gala Darling. 

The fight that never happened

Woman with steam coming out her ears

Today I’m going to see someone who pushes my buttons in the worst way. Mostly we get along great, but this person has a habit of sometimes saying things that make me ANGRY. I am looking forward to seeing him, but obviously the wariness was simmering away in my subconscious because almost as soon I woke up this morning I started imagining what he might say to me and how I might respond (calmly, succinctly and persuasively, of course). When I sat down to do my meditation this imagined conflict started to permeate my practice (somewhat counterproductive, no?). I realised it was time to remind my brain who’s in charge of this body (i.e. my heart).
According to the law of attraction, even arguments we have in our heads are going to have an impact on what we manifest into our lives. So basically, it’s not just spoken words that matter. Not only am I creating negativity for myself by ruminating on how this person might piss me off, I am damaging my relationship with him as well by bringing discomfort and an unhappy energy into our real-life interactions. Not ideal.

To counter this, I said a few affirmations around accepting people as they are, and asked the angels to help heal our relationship. After that, I resolved to simply let it go. Whatever happens, happens. But at least I’ll go into our catch-up with an open heart and a tranquil mind. And that’s worth A LOT.