Message for January 2016

As we cross another threshold with the start of a new year, it’s only natural to pause briefly in order to look back at the path we’ve walked as well as looking ahead to the path we’d like to walk. At the same time though, the more firmly we stand in the present moment, the more connected to life we become.

Life has been a rollercoaster this past year and it’s been hard to find the time to standstill, breathe deeply or take stock of the ever-shifting landscape we call life. As the waves of change continue to crash in onto the rocky shores of our souls, we find new ways to thrive, expand and evolve. Although we all hope for calmer seas, the storms, whilst challenging, are also invigorating and life-affirming as they carve out new formations within our hearts and souls.

The inspirational Brené Brown once said: ‘In order for connection to happen we need to allow ourselves to be truly seen. Courage is telling the story of who you are with your whole heart. This is how the wholehearted live. It’s important to have the courage to be imperfect. Connection is a result of authenticity, a willingness to let go of who we think we should be in order to be who we are’.

Life is rarely a smooth sail through calm windless seas, and in truth, many of us would grow lifeless without new terrain to explore as this is the pathway to self-discovery, creativity and joy. Such a path means trusting the currents, riding through the storms and having the courage to know ourselves by allowing this inner-connection to be our true guide in life. Of course, this means a willingness to be vulnerable, to be authentic and to be our true selves. I, for one, am finally appreciating the courage this takes.

The twists and turns, steep slopes, sharp bends and dead-ends are all a part of life and although we can never truly know what lies around the next corner, the more present we become in the here and now, the more consciously we can turn to face our reality with courage and authenticity. It’s time now to embrace the true essence of courage: to love our imperfections, to let go of facades and to be authentic, genuine and whole.

With love,

Sarah-Jane

Aries
♈

January looks set to be a month of expansive ideas and broadened thinking as you start the new year with a determined resolve to create change from the inside, out. This resolve could be attributed to ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ but yours go deeper than this as you sense this current period of change is long-term rather than the first few days of January that’s often the case with even the most thought through resolutions. There is a passion and strength rising up from within you, leading the way and inspiring you to feel change on every level of your being as it resonates in every single one of the trillions of cells in your body. Focus and clarity are important now as your ‘to do’ list has always been long; you have never wanted to miss out on an opportunity or goal, so the list has continually grown and expanded over time.

However, the time has now come for you to hone your focus and re-shape your narrative, allowing your true goals to sparkle and rise up to the surface. Much of the rest is just filler, and, whilst interesting, seems unlikely to bring you the level of fulfilment you seek. So, sharpen your focus and tap into your inner pool of courage to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to your priorities as you begin to channel your energy and enthusiasm in a more direct way. There may well be an element of not wanting to upset the apple cart in terms of keeping others happy, but honouring your own needs is also important, so you may well need to navigate a new path ahead in order to allow some wiggle room to ensure you have the space to be you…

Taurus
♉

As you continue to make peace with your wilder and less predictable side, there is a sense you are beginning to reconnect to your energetic and spiritual roots as you feel a growing awareness of your true essence stirring. Although you do present a veneer of calmness, you are no longer fighting quite so hard to keep your wilder side hidden and out of sight; you no longer feel ashamed or awkward about your tenacious, unpredictable and unruly edge as you have finally realised the gift it brings you in life. Although this gift may not, on the surface, be overly obvious, intuitively you have sensed the strength, courage and determination your wilder side brings you as it inspires you to step into unknown terrain and to push your boundaries. As a result, you are finding yourself standing your ground a little more, saying ‘No!’ more and even saying ‘Yes!’ more as you’ve come to the conclusion that asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness.

You are finally thinking about your own needs and listening to your mind, body and soul when it comes to establishing a stronger sense of balance and well-being in your life. This is harder than it sounds as listening to yourself is a big deal as it’s so easy to ignore your own needs and distract yourself trying to keep everyone else happy in the process. Of course, it’s admirable being a champion of others, but you also need to be a champion to yourself as well, as you matter! January looks set to be a month of self-discovery and innovation as you begin to allow your wilder essence the freedom to roam…

Gemini
♊

January looks set to be a month of new beginnings as you shake loose from some chains that have kept you bound and restrained for quite some time. It seems most likely that these chains are metaphorical rather than literal although you feel their weight and the cold metal as intensely as if they were real. It also seems likely that these chains represent an inner struggle rather than an external one as there is a strong sense of inner wrangling and conflict as your head and your heart try to outwit one another. You are a wise, intelligent and creative soul, so outwitting yourself is actually much easier than you’d care to admit as you are a master at knot-making as you create inner tangle after inner tangle in an attempt to dig, understand and make sense of why things are the way the are.

However, at the same time, you often dig but your desire to take on board the truth of what you discover doesn’t correlate with your enthusiasm. In essence, you try to convince yourself that you are trying to find inner peace whilst creating more inner conflict as you resist the truth, not because it’s ‘bad’, but because it doesn’t quite fit in with the image you’ve created of what’s what in your life. Yes, this is incredibly confusing, but that’s only because you’ve made it so. If you stop trying to force reality into the shape you think is right and instead allow it to take its natural form, you will realise you have been resisting a true opportunity for inner peace which is actually rather pleasant. Allow your head and heart to be friends, love them equally and stop fighting yourself…

Cancer
♋

As you continue to listen to the rhythm of life and allow your true essence the room to shake and shimmer across the universal dance floor, there is a growing sense that you are beginning to enjoy tapping your toes and subtly nodding your head in time with the music. Whilst tapping your toes is a sign of you feeling the music, the restraint in your body language is audible as your body tries to embrace the rhythm as discretely as possible. Your heart wants to let go and be John Travolta in Staying Alive, strutting your stuff and not caring a jot who may be watching, but your head is having none of it. So, here you find yourself: on one hand feeling the song of your life growing louder and louder, calling you to live the best life possible, but, on the other hand, fighting the urge for the sake of ‘correctness’.

Now this ‘correctness’ may surface in many ways, but the most likely force to materialise comes from a self-created sense of what’s right in life. You have spent a long time trying to fit in and trying to be an integral part of the bigger picture without actually realising that you already do fit. Your perception perceives your uniqueness as ‘not normal’, which, in truth, it isn’t, but ‘not normal’ isn’t a bad thing, it’s a wonderful thing! Trying to fit a round peg in a square shaped hole because you think it’s the ‘done thing’ may make you feel better for a while but intuitively you don’t want to make it fit as you want to be you exactly as you are. So, stop trying to be the person you’re not and start being you…

Leo
♌

There are times in your life when you can feel your lion-like roar rising up from within your core, inspiring and empowering you to boldly go forwards in life. There are other times when the lion feels more like a new-born kitten, squeaking and inducing ‘ah’s’ of cuteness wherever it goes. There are yet more times when you feel somewhere in between the two, never really being quite sure if, when you open your mouth, a roar or a squeak will come out. Naturally, over time, this has made you a little more cautious in life which is understandable as self-preservation and dignity maintenance are important, but, at the same time, such a strategy has inevitably resulted in you ignoring your inner roar even when you intuitively know it’s absolutely the right time to let it out. You have evolved and grown a great deal recently, and you have worked hard to see the truth of your life, as a result, you are sensing the rumblings of discord within as holding back and remaining silent are not really your strongest traits!

However, you are also fiercely loyal and your determined streak can see you pushing on even though you intuitively know you should be roaring or squeaking (as there are always moments for both). It’s time to ask yourself whom are you being loyal to? Yourself? Others? If it’s the latter, are others really trying to stop you from being you or is this your perception of what you think they think? You are very good at trying to work out what everyone wants without actually asking anyone what they want; this isn’t selfishness as it comes with good intentions, but it’s time for clarity now as you’re ready to focus your energy on being you…

Virgo
♍

January looks set to be a month of discovering hidden depths and meaning as you continue to seek meaning and understanding by unpicking and unravelling your multi-layered, limitless self. Although there are moments when the frustration of your own intricacy and complexity reaches a crescendo, this soon passes as you begin to accept there will always be questions without answers when it comes to being you. Yet, even though you intuitively know there will always be questions no matter how many answers you find, and even though you logically understand this, there is still an inkling of irritability when it comes to accepting this fact. The reason for this is your somewhat unbending desire to make sense of yourself and your life; you want to know what makes you tick and what drives you. You want to see the bigger picture as you want to feel the interconnectivity that weaves its threads throughout the universe. You’re certainly not driven by the mundane! For you, digging deeply is about gaining a stronger sense of self, as well as finding your own personal spot in the universal whole.

Although success matters to you on some level, feeling balanced, happy and a part of life matter more as these inspire you to live well; no amount of money in the bank can make you happy. Of course, there will always be bills to pay and things to do, but your overwhelming drive seems focused more on your inner well-being and spiritual growth. This is not to say your physical world no longer matters as it does but your perspective has shifted now and the more of your hidden depths you discover, the more you will realise just how profoundly deep and amazing you really are…

Libra
♎

You have long been on a quest to establish some breathing space in your life as the up’s and down’s have been rather intense recently. You have felt as though you have been stuck on the upside down loop of a rollercoaster on a constant cycle, leaving you nauseous and all of a quiver. You have been seeking out stillness in order to try to make sense of your life as well as trying to instil a sense of balance as you ride the ups and downs. You have long equated stillness with breathing space, as you sense that it is within the stillness where you can contemplate and draw logical conclusions to why things are the way they are. However, intuitively you know that your inner world is never still, it’s always moving and evolving; thoughts, feelings and ideas constantly circulate through your consciousness.

Therefore, trying to enforce a state of stillness does seem counter intuitive as you are trying to change your essence in order to be more at peace with your essence. Of course, whilst you are in the midst of such an intense rollercoaster ride, it’s only natural to want to find stillness in order for the nausea to settle so you can see the world around you without everything spinning. Perhaps there is another way? Perhaps by going with the spin you will begin to become one with the flow enabling you to find your long anticipated state of stillness where you are now? It’s hard to know for sure, but intuitively you know life will always be full of ups and downs, so by learning how to live with them, rather than waiting until they stop (which may never happen), you are finding a new way to live the best life possible…

Scorpio
♏

As you continue to allow your wild and free inner spirit to roam a little more freely in your life there is a sense that you are beginning to realise the value of creativity, spontaneity and freedom in your life. For a long time now, you have worked hard at trying to keep a great many batons up in the air as you have mastered the art of juggling between keeping everyone else happy and honouring your own needs. Over time, the latter has been squashed out of sight as most, if not all, of your energy has been channelled into doing the ‘right’ thing, living the ‘right’ way and trying to be the person you thought you ought to be. Admirable. Well, maybe not for a wily and astute Scorpion soul like you as being your true self is perhaps the single most important goal you have.

It’s understandable that life sometimes gets in the way but there is a sense that you have placed life in the way by filling your time up with distractions, things to do, people to see, places to go and someone to aspire to be, rather than being yourself. What’s wrong with being you? You know the answer to this question; you know there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being you but still you fight it and push it away. It’s true that being true to yourself is likely to toss some of those batons in new directions but maybe it’s time? Maybe spending your time and energy trying to be someone you’re not has reached a natural conclusion as you seem ready now to place some of those batons down on the ground, to be you and to let your wild side have some fun…

Sagittarius
♐

As you continue to master the balance between achieving and well-being, you have started to make some powerful realisations about your true motivations in life. Success is important to you, but it’s not money and power that make your heart sing, it’s a sense of fulfilment as you do something that makes you feel good. Life is not a long ‘to do’ list to achieve, it’s a journey from there to there, with a plethora of opportunities in-between. Yes, this is a vague statement, as life is inherently unknowable and vague; no one knows what lies around the next corner making it more important than ever to make the most of the here and now. Whilst life is unknowable, this doesn’t mean you need to spend your time frantically ticking off items on your ‘to do’ list as you now know that this list isn’t what makes you happy.

Of course, some of the things you do or achieve may make you happy, but charging ahead, trying to get things done means you miss the here and now and lose sight of your connection to the simplicity of feeling good. Feeling good is not what you do, achieve, become or strive to become; feeling good is, quite simply, feeling good: it’s that warm fuzzy feeling inside that rises up when you connect fully to yourself and to life. In such a space, your ‘to do’ list fades away as you focus wholeheartedly on the present moment and give your all to where you are now rather than losing yourself in a plethora of different directions as you scatter your energy all over the place. So, focus on feeling good and let this be your guide…

Capricorn
♑

A Capricorn soul recently asked me how I thought it was possible to write twelve monthly forecasts and expect each one to apply to one twelfth of the world’s population. My reply ‘Of course I don’t write each one for one twelfth of the population, that would be silly. I only write them for those that read them’. The blank look that followed my response summed up the logic versus intuition struggle that frequently niggles Capricorn: a sense that logic must explain why things are the way they are but intuitively knowing this isn’t strictly true. Sometimes life doesn’t present the luxury of answers or solutions; sometimes the equations and questions of life remain unanswered. Sometimes logic can make sense of things, sometimes seeking a logical answer just leads to frustration and more questions. Clarity enables you to make decisions and to keep on keeping on; nebulous and seemingly vague statements often only serve to irritate and frustrate.

However much you want logic, clarity and decisiveness, life rarely accommodates, as life, by it’s very nature, is nebulous, unpredictable and unknowable. Yet, after the blank look that came after my response, a big smile emerged as there was no room for logic in that discussion; or was there?! There is a sense you are trying hard to make sense of something quite ‘big’ in your life at the current time and, despite considerable effort, logic is not giving you the clarity you seek. It therefore seems time to connect to your somewhat formidable intuition in order to allow a more creative solution to surface. Keep your heart, mind and soul open; the answer may seem illogical or irrational, but let it roll around your consciousness like a Malteser on your tongue and clarity will emerge…

Aquarius
♒

Being you is a complicated and complex matter for you are a complicated and complex soul! You have many layers and your depths know no bounds; your consciousness expands into infinity and your sense of self involves both the macrocosm and microcosm at the same time. You see the universal whole at the same time as protons, neutrons and even quarks. No one could possibly ever truly know what it’s like to be you as it would fry the circuits of most brains to even attempt to see the world through your eyes. That said, you are still human and still an integral part of the whole, just as all those other brains and souls are that cannot possibly comprehend your reality. It’s hard being and feeling different; it’s challenging standing out in a world where fitting in is strived for by so many.

It’s frustrating to see such wonderful visions and have such incredible ideas which are years, if not eons, ahead of their time. Yet, this is your reality; to deny it doesn’t make sense but to embrace it means negotiating your way through a world which doesn’t seem overly keen to accommodate your complexity. You have spent a long time trying to ‘fit’; to be a part of the normality of life, but why? Do you not want to be you? It’s your uniqueness that stands you apart from the crowd and it’s your complexity that gives you talents and skills. Fitting in may feel more comfortable as it means you can fit in with the flock but this leaves you feeling unfulfilled and disconnected from your true essence. In addition, normality doesn’t exist! So, instead of trying to be someone you’re not, celebrate your complexity and depths, and let yourself be the best you possible…

Pisces
♓

If someone were to sit down and write a book about you and your life do you think there would be an obvious starting point? Birth? School? First job? First love? First loss? Life is shaped and defined by moments, many of which accumulate beliefs, ideas and thoughts about how to live and not to live life. Over time, you see yourself through the eyes of your experiences and these can weigh you down with a plethora of emotional responses in connection to how you felt, how you reacted, how you wished you’d reacted and how you feel about it now. In truth, to truly capture your essence, a book about your life wouldn’t be a diary of experiences, it would be an intricate maze of emotion, colour, patterns and insights; words cannot articulate your depths, nor can they do justice to the maelstrom within you.

To try to shape your essence into words would entrap you in the ordinary and there is nothing ordinary about you! Nothing about you is ‘black and white’ or clear cut and trying to define you with words is akin to trying to contain the universe in a thimble. Yet, still you try; you long to make sense of your journey through life in order to make sense of where you are heading and why. Your journey has brought you here and here is all you have so why not embrace it, be in it wholeheartedly and savour it? All of the many moments you’ve experienced in your life matter because they’ve brought you to this point in time but you are more than the sum of your past. It’s this point in time that’s your defining moment as it’s your moment…