I started working from home in January 2019. After several years burning through tech startups and hedge funds in New York City, where the grueling demands of an 8a-8p office schedule had run my creative energy into the ground, I finally said fuck it and, after a lay-off that seemed ordained by the universe, decided that I was going to freelance and WFH rather than get back on the hamster wheel.
I’d been studying astrology for several years at that point, which is to say, the choice to shift my professional circumstances and not go directly back into the rat race was also informed by my chart and what it suggested I needed to really thrive in my daily routines. Unsurprisingly, working from home immediately impacted my emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual wellness for the better.
Which is another way of saying: The more I learned about my birth chart, the more I was able to make informed, empowered decisions that helped me make space for success on my terms.
The pandemic, of course, has shifted what it means to “work from home,” as it has shifted so many things. For many of us, I’d wager, home has often felt more like confinement than freedom.
I don’t know about you, but the biggest challenge this year has been the fight to not hold myself to pre-pandemic expectations of production. In managing my feelings about this, I have continued to find astrology — both the ongoing tracking of the sky as well as continually returning to my own birth chart — to be an invaluable source of groundedness, reminding me of nature’s cycles of rest and activity, of the parts in my life that are easily energized, that I naturally spark to, and the parts of my life that take a little more intentional and guided effort.
Astrology is a mindfulness practice and a wisdom tradition, both.
*
In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert wrote that “The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.” I personally believe that one way to access those strange jewels is through our respective birth charts.
If you have subscribed to this newsletter for any amount of time, you know that we are not just our sun signs; your first breath created a unique map of the cosmos all your own, a Jungian pattern of synchronicity reflecting you back to yourself.
Astrology for Writers: How to Make Your Writing Work for You is a class designed to help you discover the strange jewels of your creativity, the keys to unlocking the routines and income streams that work best.
Technically, the spring session of the course will spend 8 weeks diving deeply into different parts of your chart, relating them to your identity as a writer, goals as a writer, routines as a writer, and more:
Your Sun (purpose, identity)
Your Moon (emotions, body)
Your Mercury (communication style)
Your Chart Ruler (motivation and direction)
Your 2nd House & its Ruler (how you make money)
Your 3rd House (your writing routines)
Your 10th House (your career and legacy)
Your Midheaven (what you’re known for)
But more than that — the class is a permission slip to totally transform your relationship to your own work. It’s a container for you to sit with your own unique cosmic map and completely rework your understanding of what it means for you in this moment.
An important note: If you have subscribed to this newsletter for any amount of time, you also know that my approach to astrology values freewill above all else. I’m not fatalistic or dogmatic. I’m not going to be giving out convenient, pre-packaged “you have a Taurus 3rd house, and so here are the 3 writing routines that will work for you.” Astrology offers a journey of self-discovery, and your chart offers a multitude of options. I consider it my job as the instructor to be the guide — the doula, if you will — for your respective journey.
The class runs for 8 weeks (live at 1p ET on Zoom) and begins next Sunday, April 4th (!!). As such, course registration closes this Friday, April 2nd. I hope to see you there!