It’s that time of the year again: Mercury is in retrograde.

One of the most notorious astrological transits is back for another few weeks, except this one is so potent it inspired the creation of this guide to help you navigate this Mercury Retrograde and every other one to come. 

For every Monday of this Mercury Retrograde in Virgo (August 5th - August 27th), I’ll share a chapter of my guide to understanding, navigating, and thriving in Mercury Retrograde. Instead of fearing miscommunication, potential texts from exes, or any other retrograde shenanigans you’ve heard on the Internet, this is the year that you adopt empowering and insightful tools to help you thrive through the chaos. 

Ready to level up through this Mercury Retrograde (and many more to come)? Let’s dive in with part 1.

What’s Mercury Retrograde

Mercury is the planet of communication, ideas, analysis, and intelligence. Mercury moves quickly through the sky and when it goes retrograde, it appears (but doesn’t actually) to move backward from our perspective on Earth. 

Mercury goes retrograde approximately 4 times a year (or every quarter) for about 3 to 4 weeks. While Mercury is retrograde, you can expect communication, technology, and information to feel like it’s moving backward. Tech outages, receiving text messages from old friends or lovers, typos or missed emails, and revisiting old projects with fresh eyes are common themes.

In a world filled with hustle culture, it can feel daunting to think about a season where things might not “go right.” *the Earth signs collectively shudder*

But Mercury in retrograde reminds us that progress is not about moving forward. Progress is not linear. 

The biggest strokes of genius happen when we are connecting ideas, stepping back from our projects, and taking a pause. But unfortunately, we humans are stubborn…so God designed it into the universe. 

Mercury goes retrograde and we are, ready or not, forced to slow down. Listen to the feelings we have ignored, give life to the ideas we have neglected, and take more meaningful action.

Challenge of the Week

It wouldn’t be a guide without a challenge to apply what you’ve learned. This week, take a look at the last quarter (3 months, regardless of where today falls on the fiscal quarter) and make a list of your personal and professional accomplishments. Whether this looks like a journal entry or updating your resume, spend a few minutes tracking your wins in the last few months. 

You might find that you’ve achieved much more than you thought at the beginning of the exercise. Now imagine if you did this every Mercury Retrograde and slowed down 4 times a year to write down your wins. How would this change your dating life or marriage? How would this change your meetings with your supervisor? How much more would you be able to measure your business rates or ask for a raise? 

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