If it’s your birthday

You must be who you are, no matter how strange you think you may be. Aspiring to public acceptability has never been a path to happiness or success. This is because putting up a front creates tension that repels real people and real ideas. Use your own words, dress how you like, and if you think an idea is a little odd, that’s the time to try it out. You share a birthday with Sergei Rachmaninoff, Anne McCaffrey and David Oyelowo. MARCH 21-APRIL 19 Mercury is the sign of the trickster, and it’s conjunct the Sun in your birth sign today. Sometimes the straightforward approach is not the best one to take; there are those moments when you need to try the side door, or get to someone important through their assistant’s assistant. APRIL 20-MAY 20 You’re aware there’s a level to your mind that you don’t usually trot out in public. It’s the place where your imagination runs wild, and where you might conjure thoughts that are not necessarily appropriate for the Disney Channel. However, that’s where your true genius resides. MAY 21-JUNE 20 Yours is the sign of the twins, though in reality it’s more like quintuplets. You have at least three extra personalities, and there’s a special assignment for one of them today. You might need to go out in drag, or work under cover as a brilliant professor specializing in medieval castles. JUNE 21-JULY 22 Your chart is pointing you toward some unusual success, though you’ll take an odd path getting there. Reach out to people you think are inaccessible, or take action aspiring to some goal you believe is outrageous. It’s possible to connect a manual typewriter to the internet, no matter what anyone says. JULY 23-AUG. 22 You can get with respect, affection and admiration what you cannot get with force. Plus, these days, aggression has become hideously unstylish, while peace and love are suddenly all the rage. For most of society this will take some getting used to. For you it will be like new sneakers. AUG. 23-SEPT. 22 If you need a plan to negotiate your $5.5 million income tax bill to Monaco down to a few hundred thousand, today is definitely the day. In fact you could persuade anyone to do nearly anything. What will you choose? Check the wish list you wrote in your diary back in 2010. SEPT. 23-OCT. 22 You could let your insecurities run away with you today, or you could find so much confidence that you attempt to scale the World Trade Center with suction cups wearing a GoPro. However, you might start with something less ambitious, like brunch at that new place in your neighborhood. OCT. 23-NOV. 21 Let’s face it, if people know just one thing about astrology, it’s that Scorpios make them nervous. Could it be your profound insight into the human condition, or that your sign is named after a dangerous desert creature? More likely, people want you but have no clue what to do about it. NOV. 22-DEC. 21 Since I moonlight as a guru, I thought would share a special mantra, made just for you, that will help you through the holiday weekend. It goes like this: “I am not my parents. I am me. I am not my family. I have my own values.” Don’t be angry – be thrilled, and do a little dance. FEB. 19-MARCH 20 Someone is willing to invest heavily in your project, because they know you’re the only one who can do what you do. However, the key is connecting with them. What’s the best way? Rants and Raves on Craig’s List? A billboard in Times Square? Keep meditating: it will come to you. I DEC. 22-JAN. 19 Today’s rare alignment of Mars and Saturn in your birth sign indicates that today is a terrible day to read a horoscope column, since most astrologers will misinterpret this aspect. However, while I have your attention, I would remind you: you really are the best. JAN. 20-FEB. 18 Paranoia is natural for our place and time in history. What’s not to get freaked out about? We’re being spied on by our corporate overlords, world leaders are losing their minds, and your bus line could be canceled any day. But if that’s all you’re worried about, you’re doing fabulous.