If it’s your birthday

You can find a clear purpose to live by, even in the midst of society’s swirling chaos, yet you must be bold and challenge your past notions of who you are. There’s no use clinging to old ideas, which is great, because there are so many bold, new ideas to experiment with. You are a free person, if you give yourself permission to be so. You share a birthday with Ella Fitzgerald, Al Pacino and Hank Azaria. APRIL 20-MAY 20 Your mind is not playing tricks on you; it’s just the astrology acting up. So if you’re feeling edgy, iffy or a shade panicky, take a moment and meditate. Turn your attention inward, toward the center of yourself. Practice this, and you’ll discover that calm comes from the inside out. MAY 21-JUNE 20 If you decide in advance that you have no special need to impress anyone, or to be popular, you’ll have much more room to be your real self. And you’ll want that space today, especially in social activities. Don’t let anyone tell you who you are or who you’re supposed to be. JUNE 21-JULY 22 You need to be the peacemaker today, whether in a professional situation or an important family matter. You may be involved, and you may even be emotionally involved; yet this is the time to call upon your ability to make contact with all sides and help everyone reach common ground. JULY 23-AUG. 22 Even if a plan seems to have fallen apart, look for patterns in the chaos. The whole point of Plan A may have been to invoke Plan B. The new situation provides more than just something to fix: It’s revealing a deeper layer of the problem, one that’s more useful to solve. AUG. 23-SEPT. 22 You must be the one to keep a calm head if you find that partners or business associates are making an issue out of money. There’s plenty to go around. Shift the discussion in the direction of how much everyone has when they pool resources rather than competing for them. SEPT. 23-OCT. 22 Today you may decide that you want to be less susceptible to the moods and influences of others, so that you can have some peace of mind. You may need to be patient with certain people who think they have authority over you — but take the long view and address this problem. OCT. 23-NOV. 21 Sometimes you have to go to an extreme and then back down to a more comfortable perspective. So, evaluate the remote points of your current project, including best- and worst-case scenarios. Once you have those covered, you’ll find many viable options within the middle ground. NOV. 22-DEC. 21 You can work the seemingly random chaos of the moment to your advantage. You provide the container and the wisdom to be able to use the strange events of our world, whether local or global, to your benefit. You see the possibilities where others do not. Go forth and experiment boldly. DEC. 22-JAN. 19 You don’t need to invest energy in dysfunctional people, even if they’re your family members or those of a close partner. You might step back and marvel at the ability of people to make waves that reach your shore. Seek higher ground if you need it, and get back to business. JAN. 20-FEB. 18 Just when you decided things were not going to go flying off the tracks, they seem like they’re aching to once again. Be cool. Don’t just play it cool. Refer back to your plans and your research notes. You’ve solved this a few times. Gently engage your intelligence. FEB. 19-MARCH 20 You may have a brilliant idea for a moneymaking project, or to reorganize your finances, though you’d be wise to give it a few days to percolate. Tomorrow’s new moon in Taurus will bring more information, though wait until Mercury moves in your favor next week before taking action.