HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (March 25): You’ll be more yourself than ever this year. A friendship with someone younger will be profitable for both of you, as you have much to teach each other and you’ll later bank on the knowledge. Starting in June, it will almost be as if you have a magic pen. You’ll write wish lists, plans and projections, and they will come true. Cancer and Virgo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 6, 4, 44, 19 and 36.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): It may be overwhelming to think about creating the life you want, but you can make it all seem much more doable by focusing on the more manageable task of eliminating what you don’t want from the life you currently have.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’re so smart and funny that you sometimes have to hold back to make sure you’re not taking too much of the social spotlight. Today will be such a day. Be sensitive to others who need their moment in the sun.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21): Your life will feel a bit like a game of charades, as you’re tasked with the challenge of imagining and embodying what others need to see to understand the point of a larger communication.
CANCER (June 22-July 22): Boredom is a kind of stress — a stress that can be alleviated in a number of ways. Novelty is one way. Challenge is a better way. Opt for that. Push yourself so you can have something to show for your day.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The hardest thing about a conversation is often starting it. Do this and you’ll earn the respect and compassion of people who are so worth the effort. As for the others, you probably won’t encounter them today — so let that embolden you!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You behave in a nonprejudiced way toward people from other social groups, not because it’s politically correct or because it’s what educated people do but because it’s personally important to you. This is how peace spreads.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): New circles entice! Having an excuse to be there isn’t half as important as having an excuse to leave. The moment when you step back from the action and identify the fundamental issues and questions at hand will be invaluable.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): It’s been this way since the cave people had to hear their way through the wild to eat and avoid being eaten: Listening well is among the top skills for getting along in life. And it will be your strength today.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Underreacting has its place and may be key to your style today. You know on a deeper level that you’re bigger than the situation being thrown at you, and you’re in total control of your responses.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When you show up and do the work — regardless of whatever temptations and distractions are around, regardless of discomfort or drama, regardless of inconvenience or interference from loved ones — you will be rewarded.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Though you pride yourself on being a magnetic person whom others are comfortable around, you also know that being social isn’t the end goal in and of itself. A higher purpose is calling you today. Being social will help with that.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Luckily for everyone around you, you’re really good at maximizing the positive and defusing the negative. Other talents include keeping the action and conversation productively focused.
FORECAST FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: The first Mercury retrograde of the year is an excellent time to take a look at the essential role of communication in daily living. The human tendency is to be much more casual with our innermost circle. Every relationship has its own language, and the more intimate people are the more specific that language becomes. Nearness allows for the learning of the other person’s style and patterns to such an extent that a shorthand naturally develops between close comrades. A few words can tell the whole story. An entire diatribe can be extracted from a single look. This condensed style of communication makes for efficient work and play. More can be accomplished with less energy.
The danger happens when the communication assumes something other than what was intended. When we think we know one another better than we do, mistakes occur. We build on untruths. We dig ourselves into deeper misunderstandings.
A better quality of awareness will prevent miscommunication. If there’s a shadow of doubt, ask. If there’s not, ask anyway, as the trouble often starts with overconfidence and arrogant certainty. If love is a quality of attention, the quality that most speaks during this Mercury retrograde is careful, thorough and tender.