If it’s your birthday

If you’re sorting out the impact of a relationship that changed your life, consider the ways you’ve made choices based on what others expected you to do. The time has come to honor your actual goals and desires now, not what’s based on some vague obligation. Your happiest relationships will be with sober, clear-headed people who know the power of words. You share a birthday with Max Roach, Pat Benatar and Jemaine Clement. MARCH 21-APRIL 19 Be careful what you say, what you write and, especially, what you publish. Limit yourself to saying only what is necessary. Cut your presentation short, don’t volunteer information and avoid sensitive conversations if you’ve had even a single glass of wine. Keep spin control at all times. APRIL 20-MAY 20 You’re bolder, more adventurous and more imaginative than you let on, though you have no reason to hide your hunger for life. You’ll feel more liberated if you put your quest to live fully right where it belongs -- front and center, all the time. Look for friends who take a similar approach. MAY 21-JUNE 20 This is a rare moment of potential harmony for various partners and collaborators around you, though your involvement is essential. You bring the catalytic agent: the thing that makes everything else possible. Your contribution may seem minor, though experience will demonstrate otherwise. JUNE 21-JULY 22 The beautiful thing about intimacy is that you never know where it’ll lead. That’s also the frustrating and frightening thing about it; you must risk getting hurt or being abandoned if you want to let in the love and passion that you seek. So take that chance if you want, and then take it as it comes. JULY 23-AUG. 22 Do your best to bring your plans to fulfillment, and don’t worry if developments later in the week seem to shake them up. The work you did will still count, if only for the knowledge gained. If you have a creative idea, hold onto it for a day or two and propose it when a new approach is needed. AUG. 23-SEPT. 22 You seem to have something urgent on your mind, though a calm and relaxed communication style will work best. You could whisper the list of ingredients on a mayonnaise jar and have a deep emotional impact. You don’t need to add any emotional emphasis. Just state the basic facts. SEPT. 23-OCT. 22 Opportunities to improve your income may present themselves today, if only as ideas. What you need is flexibility, not being bound to a rigid schedule or responsibilities. How you earn your money is part of the picture; where you spend it matters more. For best results, invest in your home. OCT. 23-NOV. 21 Tune in and feel your potential. Remember that you must take the first step to make your talent into something tangible. It doesn’t happen by itself. You must get up every morning and commit to your own success, build the support of others, and bring your ideas into the world -- today especially. NOV. 22-DEC. 21 You must not let your fears run your life, though it would help if you understood what you’re worrying about. It may turn out to be that you’re bottling up your energy and need to pull the cork. Creativity, happiness and success all depend on being able to feel and breathe. JAN. 20-FEB. 18 You need new ideas about relationships, and they’re arriving just in time. It helps if you let go of fear of abandonment, which is not easy in a society where people delete one another for sport. You know what commitment means to you. You can be sure that others share a similar approach. FEB. 19-MARCH 20 Are you noticing the calmer, more stable feeling that’s in the air, and also in your body? Planets shifting into Capricorn have taken some pressure off you, and Pisces thrives on the earthy energy of that sign. Reach for challenging goals; then calmly make them real, one step at a time.