Again, I swear this was on my list before the random happened. Really. Maybe I should just start scanning and posting series notes at the beginning, not that anyone has directly questioned my veracity.

Someone mentioned that she read this blog in its entirety yesterday. I’m flattered, if a little nonplussed.  Belle du Jour, now that’s a start-to-finish. Me? Use the search engine. (Unfortunately, Brooke’s original blog seems to have disappeared, denying me the opportunity to finish reading it. Guess I’ll have to buy the book)

Today’s one you might want to save for lazy weekend stuff, but just in case you have a little free time:

Check out that friend’s blog, or book, video channel or other creative endeavor that you’ve been meaning to. You know the project. It may be one you’ve shoved from your mind, because you don’t take your friend’s project seriously or you don’t want to take that work seriously.

Have a look anyway. You might find yourself surprised, delighted, or even better – not mentioned at all.  I have a somewhat amusing ongoing conversation with multiple people at the moment about the double-edged sword of “getting mentioned.”

You’re also doing two good things: you’re being a supportive friend, and you’re giving an artist a legitimate chance. After all, would you hesitate to look and consider if you did not personally know the creator?

I would caution you to keep your comments about said work to yourself until after Mercury Retrograde. We’re all a bit delicate about what we create, after all.

Practical reason:
Social convenience. You will NOT need to hem and haw when asked in a future social situation.

Metaphysical reason:
Exposing yourself to the possibility of delight, and looking into what might also wind up being a karmic lesson/path for you.

Tags: mercury retrograde

US Postal worker

Every so often, I develop a mental block about sending out items in the mail. It’s less so as I’ve aged, and probably as I’ve become more familiar and comfortable with the US shipping system. Even so, once in awhile, the idea of boxing something up and sending it just seems too daunting. I’m worried about how much it will cost, if I have the right customs forms, or that it might break in transit. I have found that simple knowledge – and the satisfaction of a space freed up – motivates me enough to move forward these days. Clearly, if you’re tight on cash, this is a time to box up the “to mail” stuff, put the post-its of who gets what on it, and then, week by week stick a dollar or two in the box until you have the cash you need to ship those puppies out.

If you’re in a more solvent state, help the economy and make your friend happy by getting those goodies in the mail. A few tips (US centric) to the mail system:

1. Media mail includes books, CDs, DVDs, VHS  – just about anything that qualifies as intellectual material. It’s always the cheapest mail option, and it’s meant for media only. It’s also the slowest option. This is not a coincidence.

2. If you feel that the free boxes offset the cost of the service premium, priority mail does provide a free box and easy use via PayPal if you want to stay home rather than visit the post office.  Priority mail does not automatically come with delivery tracking. I’ve found that delivery tracking – the small additional fee of .75 – .80 goes a long way in making sure what I send goes from point A to point B within the United States.

3. Post office employees would have you believe that “regulations” are inflexible, standardized things. The truth is, most depend upon the mood and personality of your given mail carrier – which means two things,  the first being most important: BE POLITE/DECENT TO YOUR MAIL CARRIER and DO NOT CONTRADICT A POSTAL EMPLOYEE even if you KNOW you’re right.  Second, the only inflexible regulations are about stuff that’s illegal to ship anyway. Often, the argument about shipping perfume is based on its “flash point.” I was told that “if it has a flash point, we can’t ship it.” Obviously, paper has a flash point, making it clear that chemistry questions do not appear on the postal service exam. In fact there’s not a ban on perfume shipping – just a widely held opinion by mail carriers that perfume should not be shipped, especially not internationally.

If taking your legal but disagreed-with material does not fly with a postal carrier, just expect to have to either take it to a different post office or just ship it through UPS. The premium for UPS is for the employees that are motivated to help you get your stuff in the system, rather than prevent it from going in.

4. Shipping internationally is an area that is just as fuzzy to postal employees as it is to you. While all employees know to require the customs form – that you can get free at the post office or download here – neither employees nor customers seem to know about the astonishingly helpful PS Form 2976-E. This form is actually an envelope (thus the E) that all international packages and documents are supposed to use to encase customs forms. It has an adhesive backing you can stick on the box/envelope, and a clear plastic window that your forms slip into easily. It’s weatherproofed, convenient – and virtually unknown to the public.

You can order them from the USPS for free, and they can be delivered to your home without a shipping charge, as can the customs forms themselves AND delivery confirmation tickets.

5. The trick to packing stuff so nothing breaks? Make sure nothing moves. Bubble wrap, newspaper, plastic bags, stuffed animals you no longer need/want, old toilet paper and paper towel tubes, all make good packing material.  I have received hearsay from the nephew of a postal worker that marking packages as fragile seems to invite assault upon them. USPS workers pride themselves on their caution with all packages (despite the near universal experience otherwise) and take phrases like “be careful” as a personal insult. At least, that’s how this guy explained it to me. Despite my best efforts, sometimes stuff breaks, but I do the best I can.

6. Check your USPS website for your area – if you have enough stuff to send out, you can arrange for carrier pickup, saving you the trouble of a trip if you don’t want to take one out.

7. You can also use the USPS website to prepare postage. While I personally use Stamps.com service, which comes with a monthly fee (I find the convenience valuable enough to keep paying it) USPS and UPS both allow free at-home use. Just make sure you’ve got a decent digital scale around.

The Practical Reason:

Gets stuff out to who you meant to get it to. It may go slow, but if it’s stuff you were procrastinating on anyway, slow is probably better than inert.

The Metaphysical Reason:

In Fluxus art, an artist/prankster might send you a postcard that says something like “I have manifested my will by getting your thumb on this postcard.” It’s much the same thing: you are sending your will out into the universe, though the act and effort of mailing a package. It’s not magic, per se, but it sets a great example for your subconscious to follow.

Tags: mercury retrograde

upcycled CDs by Barsotti Designs on flickr

This is another declutter/refresh style exercise; again, I know some folks cling to their goodies, especially those who focus (or arguably over-focus) on esoteric treats. I have no problem whatsoever with seeking and valuing the rare. I simply caution that to over-focus on the unusual and rare can in turn breed its own kind of unpleasant ignorance. I’ve found that snobbishness is mostly just a more expensive type of illiteracy.

While I don’t think the CD is going the way of the 8-track – not anytime soon, anyway – it might be a good time to take a good look at your home entertainment collection.

• Is there something you’re embarrassed you own?
• Is there something you borrowed that needs to be returned? Return it – now is the time.
• Is there something you know you won’t listen to again?
• Is something broken, scratched, stretched or unplayable?

Also, you may want to give yourself some extra storage space.  You can store both cover art and the CD or DVD in binders now , for example:

What to do with them – these are just a few possibilities:

• If you live near a Half Price Books, Cheapo, or place that sells secondhand music/entertainment, bring it in.
• Garage sale.
• You can sell books via Amazon, or Half.com. This process can be very, very slow, however. If you’re likely to forget and then have a crisis when somebody up and buys your stuff, skip this one.
• For scratched and damaged CDs/DVDs: you can send them to electronics recycling, donate them to a school for art projects, or offer them as a supply to crafters that specialize in upcycling. Also, I know from an ex who “punished” his “bad” music this way, that  CDs make excellent coasters.

The Practical Reason:

Having less stuff means getting more out of the stuff you have.

The Metaphysical Reason:

Beyond the usual energetic benefits of unburdening material that no longer gives you a mood boost or spiritual satisfaction? None, really. I just like being organized.

Tags: mercury retrograde

photo by Diana Rajchel

For today, I’m encouraging you to trot out that list of New Year’s Resolutions you made in January… or October, depending on your approach to new years. Give it a good look. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are these goals intended to make my inner life better?

External changes really only take effect when your headspace is clear.

• Are these goals really about me and what I need to be a decent person, or are they about pleasing someone else?

Let me put it to you this way: if you’re over 25 and your mother is still critical and condescending, improving yourself is still not going to change her.

• Are these goals about being healthy and happy, or are they about winning?

If it’s about winning, unless you’re a professional athlete or a military general, you’re on the wrong track.  How much do you fail to learn, and how many opportunities have you lost, just because you were determined to win? These days conversations quickly descend into debate, which has degraded from an intelligent art from to blind insistence on competitive rightness. Few people even have the emotional/social skills to explore a topic instead of debating it, and those that do are often mistaken for being passive and end up being treated poorly just because they have the inner grace required to consider all ideas free of acceptance or rejection.

• Are these goals still relevant to my life?

Maybe you accomplished a resolution without even realizing you did. Maybe your life has changed so that the given resolution no longer has relevance. Take a close look , and update that puppy to fit your life now.

And the big question that you must always ask when looking over old resolutions:

• Was I sober when I made these resolutions?

It really should go without saying… but… if you have uppers or downers in your system that are there for recreation only, it’s not the time to make life projections or decisions.

The Practical Reason:

If life seems boring, you probably did accomplish those goals, and it’s just a good psychological boost to know. If you did NOT accomplish those goals, the personal failure may not be the result of personal failings. It might be that you chose resolutions that weren’t really a fit for your life, based on making goals about people who don’t have to live with you 24/7 (you are your only 24/7 commitment.)  You might need help achieving the inner state you need to pursue the outer state – this is a good, low-pressure time of year to consider that possibility and take steps in the right direction, when you don’t feel the hostile force of in-laws eyes on you, or the maddening pressure of jingling bells everywhere.

The Metaphysical Reason:

Know thyself. You are not static. Even though most people have the same base character throughout their lives, things change in others, and things in you change internally, sometimes without you knowing.  Resolutions that you make show your inner barometer, and they’re made at the most high-pressure time of the year, revealing simultaneous truths and lies about yourself: do you crave approval, peace, sex?  What do you say you want? Does it match what you really want, right now? Are you who you want to be – and do those resolutions make a difference in that process?

Tags: mercury retrograde

Believe it or not, this was on my list BEFORE this morning’s incident.

This morning, my partner and I were greeted with the telltale crash that indicates a burglar… or a closet failure. Closet failure it was. For those of you unaware, I run a plus size fashion blog, and it has enabled my clothing habit – in this case, to the extreme misfortune of my closet.

So my Mercury Retrograde treat this weekend, after the requisite runaround as it’s my Doctor Who meetup weekend, will be to clean up my closet, possibly reduce what I own – despite my considerable annual Goodwill contribution last week – and to establish yet another closet system. The irony of all this is that 8 months ago, I spent nearly a month sorting through my belongings and updating our closet with the following concepts in mind:
1)I wanted to reduce “clothing waste.” I am North American, and like most of us, I only wear about 20% of my wardrobe. I wanted to make sure I used more of what I had.
2)I wanted my partner to be able to find his stuff, too.
3)I live in a 4 season environment where it can get past 100 F and below -70F in the same year. Even as a minimalist, this necessitates owning a lot of clothing and having a system where I can regularly switch items out as seasons go through transitions and extremes.

I resolved this by lining up those hanging closet shelves, but apparently the strain was too much. So in my case, I must rethink my closet and off-season clothing storage approach, big time.

Most Pagans are not clothes-horses in my manner, but I have noticed that we fall in extremes: either we’re packrats, or we pride ourselves on owning virtually nothing. I’m always on a mission to control my pack-ratting, and I try to reserve my extreme collecting for secondhand clothing, because there’s something of a political mission behind my fashion work. In my case, I start spring cleaning in January, starting with a closet-by-closet cleanup, but sometimes… closets collapse in August.

So, if you’re up for a Mercury Rx project that allows you to not need to talk to too many people today (and my AstrologyZone Droid app tells me today is NOT the day to insist I’m right about something) – closet cleaning is as good a project as any. Garage cleaning, if you have one and you’re really ambitious. I recommend you just pick ONE closet. When you go through your stuff, you have to make a decision about every single item that passes through your hands. There’s a point where you can hit decision fatigue, and that can prompt you to just not finish the project.

My suggestions to make it easier? The larger the closet, the shorter the work “bursts.” Set a timer – work for 30 minutes at a time, and take a 10 minute break, tooling on the Internet, having coffee, watching a short youtube clip, doing yoga stretches, whatever. Then go back to it. You’ll get more done, and faster, because you don’t slow down as your neurons start to bitch at you.

Also, before you take on the closet, this inventory may help
1)What does the closet store? What is the closet’s secondary function? (for example, I have a linen closet, but it also functions as the house drug repository.)
2)What can I do to make the closet “easy access?”

You can also go with the garbage can/donation box/resort it box approach. Unclutterer and Apartment Therapy can lead you to paths you might not have considered on your own. I’ve also found watching episodes of Clean House really inspiring, not for the clean up, but for the approach to it: “How do you want to use this room? How do you WANT to live here?”

The metaphysical reason for a closet clean out is this: stuff you leave sitting forever breeds stagnant energy. It also ignores that, even for those of us struggling financially, we live in a culture that allows us the privilege of having too much stuff.

The practical reason: finding your stuff faster makes life SO much easier. Did you know that not just Americans, but most westerners, waste – and by waste, I mean use without conscious purpose – time just looking for stuff?

Tags: mercury retrograde

(feature photo: Apollo by John Singer Sargent)

all images on this post from Art Renewal International

I realize some people following this series are not down with astrology at all, but have enjoyed the practical focus of the series. Thank you! Today I am verging straight into what you might consider the woo-woo: i.e. who to appeal to when Mercury and its associated deities take their vacations.

Mercury is most commonly associated these days with technology: computers, cars, phones – you could say Mercury rules our world these days. It seems that nearly any technological advance involves communication, followed at a slight distance by medicine. Mercury also rules commerce, which relies on communication and marketing, theft of a particular brand that while still criminal is more about the joke at the end of it, and transportation, which saw leaps and bounds of development in the 20th century. Mercury really does move concepts forward, which makes me wonder if there’s some mother/father of invention that is also paired to him.

Inspiring and stimulating takes a lot of work, and as those of us prone to overwork know, there’s a point where if you don’t take a break, you really do end up moving backwards. We may curse and complain about our astrological El Niño but it’s necessary. No matter how good you are, you need to check your work. In fact, your ability to check your work defines how good you are at whatever you do. That’s the real, core point of Mercury Retrograde (rx.) It’s a time meant to slow down and check your work.

Apollo

Even during Mercury Retrograde, however, sometimes stuff has to go through. So if you’re of the spiritual type where you feel comfortable appealing to a being or planet, I recommend these two beings for your exploration. I advocate a getting-to-know-you process; the “gimme” approach to Greek gods tends to lead to being ignored. Offerings, appropriate to the deity, help. Taking the time to read myths about them also helps.

Apollo is one Greek personification of the Sun. The sun’s energy also engages with Mercury’s – after all, the planet Mercury does revolve around the sun. Apollo is often depicted playing music with the Muses, or riding his chariot on a daily run across the sky. When Mercury is out, it’s wise to appeal to Apollo/the energy of the sun for the workarounds you have to have: all fire energy in some way comes from the sun, whether that’s a combustible engine or a lit match. That fire energy is what gets us from point a to point b, is why our computers work and need fans built into them, and since Apollo is among the overseers of  healing AND creative arts, appealing to him when someone must have surgery during Mercury Retrograde might just help ease the consequences.

“BLEST Pæan, come, propitious to my pray’r,
Illustrious pow’r, whom Memphian tribes revere,
Slayer of Tityus, and the God of health,
Lycorian Phœbus, fruitful source of wealth .
Spermatic, golden-lyr’d, the field from thee 5
Receives it’s constant, rich fertility.
Titanic, Grunian, Smynthian, thee I sing, 7
Python-destroying, hallow’d, Delphian king:
Rural, light-bearer, and the Muse’s head,
Noble and lovely, arm’d with arrows dread: 10
Far-darting, Bacchian, two-fold, and divine, 11
Pow’r far diffused, and course oblique is thine.
O, Delian king, whose light-producing eye
Views all within, and all beneath the sky…”

-The Initiations of Orpheus, Hymn to Apollo

Iris

Iris by Alphone Maria Mucha

On the other side of the Mercury Retrograde gap lies the basics of person-to-person communication. Since Mercury is the messenger of the gods, this can at times leave a gap. Yet Mercury does have a counterpart in terms of the courier gig: Iris. (Full disclosure: she is one of my patrons.) Iris, the goddess of rainbows within the Greek pantheon, is married to Zephyrus – the west wind, and is employed as a messenger by Morpheus, the god of dreams. She is also reported by Lucian to be a messenger of Zeus alongside Hermes. “Then we have Iris and Hermes, the servants and messengers of Zeus…”

If you’re facing a difficult communication or you really need to make sure you’re understood when Mercury is off sipping some well-earned margaritas, you can ask for assistance from Iris. She tends to work more on the subconscious end of the spectrum, so she may use her prismatic ability to alter mood or cause the person receiving the message to reimagine a perception. She is often listed as a “lesser” god, but in truth she is simply lesser known.

  “”Iris, the grace of heav’n, what pow’r divine
Has sent thee down, thro’ dusky clouds to shine?
See, they divide; immortal day appears,
And glitt’ring planets dancing in their spheres!
With joy, these happy omens I obey,
And follow to the war the god that leads the way.” 

-the Aeneid of Virgil

General question, since I can’t get polls to work right now:

Would you like an off-blog reference of some type for Mercury Retrograde from me?

If yes, what format would you want that in? (pdf, print book, ebook, etc.)

If you’d like to be a patron of my own writing, also, buy my current book:

The code WTEGTAZ9 gets you 30% off the print edition at CreateSpace.

You can also purchase electronic versions for 99 cents at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Etsy.

Tags: mercury retrograde

Get that checked.
While Mercury Retrograde is not so great for surgeries, it is a decent time for diagnostics. Because everything has slowed down, the inclination is to dig deeper, look closer, and poke a little harder. So if you’ve had that weird growth on your knee for awhile, or your teeth ache spontaneously, this is the time to schedule an appointment of the look-see variety.

Practical reason:
Staying healthy doesn’t just happen. It takes effort, especially as you get older. While it’s not nearly as dolorous as the US-Protestant background suggests – if you know food well, healthy is tasty and there’s always some form of exercise that’s fun to you – it still takes the occasional check-in. The earlier you find something, the better you’ll be able to address it and the lest it should cost you.

Metaphysical reason:
The stuff we are exposed to is also exposed to us.

Check on that
If you’re waiting on a passport, an order you placed, for your car tabs to arrive – go find customer service, check your email for tracking numbers, and see what’s up if you haven’t got your goods and services yet. Just yesterday I found out that a store I ordered clothing from had held the shipment for ten days without notifying me. Notably, no one apologized to me for the lapse in service.

Practical reason:
I know from a decade working in customer service that stuff slips through the cracks. 99% of the time this is a)not an accident and b)not the fault of the person stuck answering your irate phone call. Companies make a certain amount of money through lapse, especially when you try to cash in on a rebate. Be nice, polite, patient – even friendly. Kindness on your end of the line prompts effort on the other end of the line. Believe me, these people aren’t putting forth effort for the money they make; even US-based call centers pay well below living wage.

Metaphysical reason:
These checks are a good way of seeing how well you’re physically organized, and how well you manifest. This is not actual magic, the ordering of stuff. But if you do magic to make events proceed in an orderly manner – for example, having your passport show up without a visa quibble – this is the best way to measure your success.

Tags: mercury retrograde

Today: Recycle something.

Remember the 90s environmental tenet of “Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle?”

Ultimately, all three of those lead back to recycle in some way or another. While we have focused most on recycle, as it gets aluminum, plastic and paper back to industry so it can churn more products out, the other approaches have their benefits too.

Look around your home. Along with the usual stuff that you throw in the recycling bin, consider:

• Books. I know some of you just can’t let it go. If you have a dust allergy like I do, you’re going to have to. If you KNOW you’re never going to re-read them, it’s good book-parenting to move them on to where they will be read. If you’re a flaming heretic like I am, you can also use the books that are falling apart in craft projects. That weird social status thing where lots of books = you are Smart and Important died. I meant to send a telegram.
• Single socks. Their mates disappeared through a dimensional wormhole in the dryer, and are somewhere in a disco, where tube socks are hooking up with nylon threads under flashing lights. End their partnerless languishing – if you don’t use them as dust rags, etc. and you’re disinclined towards sock monkey making, bag them up and offer them on freecycle or Craig’s List. What doesn’t end its life as a sock monkey could easily get stuffed into a homemade pillow.
• Those sample size makeup type things – lotions, pads, etc. that for whatever reason you will never use again. While some places won’t be able to take some things for sanitary reasons, battered women’s shelters are ALWAYS in need of diapers, personal products, and larger clothing  that is good for a day job.
• Toilet paper rolls, ancient wrapping paper, reusable packaging you’re not going to reuse – call or email a school near you. Art teachers, but all teachers, really, generally get stuck paying for school supplies out of their own pockets. Offer to donate this stuff to them – they could  really use it, and you’ll be contributing to a child’s education.

Something else worth exploring is auditing your home for stuff you need, and looking for ways to repurpose stuff you already have. For example, I plan on prettying up an old tequila bottle as a wine decanter or juice carafe. If you want some other really awesome ideas, watch Brini Maxwell’s show on youtube – it’s hysterical while very practical.

Tags: mercury retrograde

photo by Diana Rajchel. The books are there, but nobody's dialing out.

I made the list of posts I’m doing for Mercury Retrograde at the beginning of the month, and I’ve been working down those prompts day by day. To me, the timing is hilarious: on the same day I have run into a bookstore owner with the very STRONG opinion I am hurting his business by making my work available in epub, my Mercury Rx post list has: Reconsider an opinion.

Don’t be lame and reconsider Michele Bachmann or something you’ve been chewing at and railing on recently or over years of time. Find something small. Check to see if you still hate beets. That show with the silly name, say.. “Buffy…”  give it a full episode, maybe two to consider. I think that the “don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it” credo is an excellent one for all things that do not involve harm to yourselves and others.

For example, If you’re a classical music and book in a comfy chair person, then at least TRY: (viewing, not necessarily partcipating)

• Nascar
• Professional Wrestling
• Jello
• Crocs (they make cuter shoes from the same material, which you can only know by looking for them)

It may lead you to a passion you didn’t expect. For instance, I adore old cars – but I think owning them is a financial death trap that is disrespectful to the car and to your loved ones, unless you drip with excess income.  Museums, however, are great places to appreciate how far we’ve come. Also, I’m from Indiana. The Indie 500 is really just homage to anyone who survives crossing Meridian Avenue in Indianapolis.

If you’re more of a redneck, “I cast my circle by throwing my tire in the yard” person, try:

• Classical music – maybe not Chopin or Debussy, but Saint Saens is pretty darned interesting
• An art museum. The people who run museums may be snooty, but look closely – the people that make the really good art are a lot like you. This doesn’t lessen the value of the art.
• Reading. Pick something trashy, or go for a sword and sorcery book. It’s nothing like the crap you had to read in school, where the joy of reading was robbed by very narrow-minded, one-path analysis.

If for some reason it’s actually dangerous for you to try something outside your comfort zone, look into your opinions. Consider a recent disagreement you had, and look as closely as possible at the other person’s side. You may even want to make a chart or drawing, with the following sections:

Emotions – what the other person was feeling, and why. There’s always more than one emotion involved.

Facts – what the actual facts of the situation were, and WHAT FACTS THE OTHER PERSON KNEW.  I daresay most disagreements between people of the same culture happen because one person has facts that the other person doesn’t.

Stakes – what did this person stand to gain, to lose?

Identities – what were the identities/self-images of those involved? You can break this down into: Authority (Parent, Child, fellow Adult) Responsibility (Assigned roles, usually externally, like a job or organization title) and Assumption (I want to be x type of person – badass being most popular and most poorly applied – so I’m going to emulate that type of person even though it’s not really me.)

Hold on to that sheet – it might help you later when you’re trying to figure out what the heck happened!

Tags: mercury retrograde

mainly there because she looks all protect-and-servey - photo by Diana Rajchel

To my outside-the-US readers: this is a very US-centric post/concern. However, you may also know of and wish to comment here with the regular paperwork type stuff you yourselves have to do as a routine part of living in your own country.

For the last two years, the state of Minnesota sent my car license tabs to the wrong address. Whoever received them instead of me went “Hey! free tabs!” and left me to get pulled over by police officers who wanted to deal with someone over something that did not involve drunken belligerence or human trafficking.

While chatting up the slightly insane cuties the MPD hires is fun in its own right, our police officers are famous for being about three beers short of a six pack, and they carry guns for non-hunting reasons, which are two of my biggest turn-offs. (Married, not dead, and not a hypocrite. F-off with any virtuous quibbling.) Also, men in uniforms don’t really do it for me. Neither do men in kilts, because on some subconscious level I know it’s a military uniform.

While I have my share of parking tickets and once financially crippled myself with my speedy Gonzales routine, I have also gotten citations for things much more easily avoidable:

• Forgetting to update my address on my license
• Forgetting to update the address on my car (I know some don’t do it as a way to cheat on their insurance; it’s a racket, but doing that can cause bigger financial troubles if you end up NEEDING the insurance)
• Forgetting to renew my license – and that last once can be a heap of trouble if you’re caught off guard.

So today, I recommend you go through your routine papers-of-existence and renew everything up for renewal. While you’re at it, you may want to plug in a reminder on your digital calendar that will pop up or send you an email or text when renewal time rolls around again.

This renewal list can include, but is not limited to:

• Your driver’s license
• Any visas that allow you to be wherever you are
• Passports
• Paid accounts that you use
• Magazines or other subscriptions that you want to keep
• Memberships: health clubs, school stuff (kids or you), interest organizations, nonprofits that you donate to
• Your discount club card stuff – Sam’s, Costco, your local coop, what have you
• This is also a good time to schedule health, eye and dental checkups

Practical Reason:

It saves you hassle in your future. If you know these things are coming, you can set aside the cash or paperwork you need, organize your work schedule around it, and have one less thing to panic about if an officer of the law flashes his lights.

Metaphysical Reason:

Magical energies have a liquid-like flow to them. When you handle the stuff that can create a hiccup in your routine, you allow that flow to continue undisrupted. That makes it just that much easier to manifest your long-term goals.

Tags: mercury retrograde