Horoscopes

Aries (March 21-April 19): There’s a happiness that visits your mind in the embrace of warm notions. Then there’s happiness of a different kind. It’s visceral, physical and your whole body is involved. Could this become a lifestyle? Taurus (April 20-May 20): When you respond to one person in an eerily similar way as you did to another long ago, you begin to recognize life’s echoes. Discern reactions of the moment from motions that have more to do with the sheer power of habit. Gemini (May 21-June 21): There are gestures, and then there are grandstand plays. Know the difference. You’ll witness some big personalities, so just remember that you always have a choice about what and whom you buy into. Cancer (June 22-July 22): Recognize what you’ve got, and be keen to the timing of the thing. The more exciting something is, the shorter the shelf life. Like a fizzy soda or a lit sparkler, enjoy it while it lasts. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): Your secret wishes will gain magnetism. Your wants will get stronger. If necessity is the mother of invention, desire is the father. This is the day to direct your hunger more specifically and intentionally. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): To be giving and warm is your nature, and many will be drawn to the comfort of your presence. You benefit from their nearness, too. It’s all well and good until they start to compete for your attention, at which time it’s best to withdraw. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): When you really adore a person, even the most mundane outing with this person seems like a magnificent event. Today you’ll get a taste of this sort of giddy excitement. Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): It’s not that they don’t count; it’s just that when it comes to you, you’re the expert. So assuming that you’re the only one you need to impress, what would you do next? Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There’s a fine line in teaching. Mistakes must be addressed, but not in a heavy-handed manner. Criticism has a way of making people feel diminished and sometimes humiliated. The best teachers are sensitive to this. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Everyone has days in which their personal stock seems to fall, at least in relation to their own ideas of value. What will it take for you to recognize yourself as important? Don’t wait for someone else to point it out. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Your mind is like the muscles of your body: able to get stronger and also vulnerable to becoming overworked and injured. Work past your comfort zone but then back off to allow for recovery. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): You need inspiration. That may require getting out to see something new and different. Or it may require doing less, or nothing at all. Too much activity and too many choices serve to reduce the impact of everything.

To write to Holiday Mathis, visit www.creators.com/ author/holiday-mathis and click “Contact.” DEAR ABBY » I have a longtime friend I see almost every day. She’s an awesome friend. Her children are adults. One of them is gay; the other is a transgender male. I respect her for supporting her children, learning everything there is to know about the LGBT community and seeking social change on their behalf.

The conflict lies in the fact that my religious beliefs and personal feelings are at odds with the notion of gender fluidity. I think the concept is nuts. I have compassion, however, for people who suffer with their identity in any form. I also believe in equal rights.

I do support my friend, who supports her kids, but I feel like a fraud when she and her friends talk about gender neutrality and vent their indignation that someone called someone else by the wrong pronoun. I act equally offended, but the truth is, I don’t believe in these ideas or this cause.

I don’t want to lose an important friend. I want her to feel supported — but I’m lying. Please help. My conscience is bothering me.

— Feeling like a phony

DEAR “PHONY” » Would you feel the same way about a friend who is divorced, if your religion didn’t sanction it? I’ll bet you wouldn’t. The same is true for this longtime friend.

Gender fluidity may be a new concept for you, but it is very real. If you feel like a hypocrite faking indignation during some of these conversations, why not use them as an opportunity to be educated? Listen. Ask questions. Say, “I don’t know enough about this, but because I love you, I need to learn more about it.”

You can be a trans ally without becoming an activist. PFLAG has a userfriendly resource, “Guide to Being a Trans Ally,” that you may find interesting and helpful. Find it at pflag.org/ guidetobeingatransally.

DEAR ABBY » An 8-year-old boy in my daughter’s class recently passed away. She’s only in second grade, so I wouldn’t expect her to fully grasp the meaning of death, but she understands it perfectly and is not upset one bit. Multiple times she has acknowledged the fact that her classmate is no longer present, and is actually somewhat cheerful about it. My husband and I are very worried. Is this normal behavior? — Concerned mother

DEAR CONCERNED » Children are often more resilient than they are given credit for. If your daughter wasn’t particularly close to the child who died, his death may not have affected her deeply. Some children do not mourn the way adults do, and you should not expect her to.

Grief counselors may have spoken to the students about it, or they may have been given other opportunities to air their feelings. Because you are concerned, discuss this with her teacher, but I don’t think you have anything to be worried about.

DEAR ABBY » What do you make of a host who issues a BYOB invitation to his party and then proceeds to drink the guests’ liquor?

— Appalled in Florida

DEAR APPALLED » was thirsty.

I’d say he

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www. DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.