It’s happening FOR me, not TO me…
–my Mercury Retrograde Mantra
Schwoo, y’all. Hope you came through the retrograde reasonably unscathed!
Usually, I embrace Mercury Retrograde1 because it’s a good reminder to pause, to respond rather than react, so I didn’t come into this one with any sense of dread.
Mercury. Don’t. Care.
The first clue I had that this was going to be a bumpy ride was right about the time it went retrograde. The sinus problem that I was sure was Allergies Gone Wild turned into a nasty cold (thank goodness it wasn’t COVID). It came as quite a shock to me because I hadn’t been sick—outside of allergies and migraines—for YEARS.
The thing is, my body and spirit had been demanding that I take a step back and rest since, oh, about May/June. I had been shedding roles and responsibilities that no longer aligned with my energy and available time, but then I’d end up replacing them with other projects (ex: writing a chapter for a book and all of the book launch activities).
Well, once the book was out, the Universe decided it was yanking my ass OUT of the game before I could ignore my body’s cues to rest again.
The cough was (is) the worst part. I have pretty much hobbled my way through November getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night, thanks to the cough keeping me awake for hours on end. Worst of all, the virus kept me off of the greenway for most of the month. I missed my walks and being out among the trees and scamperbutts (a.k.a. squirrels) and I found myself feeling increasingly depressed and grouchy.
I ventured out a couple of weeks ago for the first time in about 10 days. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and I just couldn’t resist a “short” walk. I paid for it the rest of the week.
So, I grudgingly have kept quiet and rested as much as I could. Instead of working my way through the list of places I’ve wanted to visit on my PTO days and errands I needed to run, I stayed home and binged Dark Shadows2. I did start some new art projects, but made sure I didn’t overextend myself.
Thanksgiving (U.S.) week I finally got to the point where if I looked at another bowl of soup I would cry and scream (and throw up), so I decided to make a trip to the grocery store to restock some provisions. I started the Subaru only to see the Check Engine light shining so bright, like an early Christmas light.
So that’s Christmas sorted, then LOL! Look, in the grand scheme, I was lucky because this could have been A LOT worse. I was also blessed to have the guy at the counter find ways to save money and prioritize what needed immediate care and what can wait. So, yeah, all in all, I’m glad to have the angels looking after me.
Retrograde glitching wasn’t quite finished, though. Just as Mercury was fixin’ to station direct, my desktop computer started flashing in Chrome. I closed Chrome and restarted it, emptied the trash, did the Hokey-Pokey and turned myself around, and it seems to be okay for now.
And now that we’re out of Mercury Retrograde, life seems to be settling back down 🤞🏼. I’ve even managed to start up my daily walks again—weather permitting—and my legs no longer feel like cooked noodles when I get home. I’m grateful to get to be back outside moving my body around, so I’m in a much better mood. I’m going to take the time between now and the next retrograde (late February) to catch up on life, rebuild what needs rebuilding, and shore up what needs reinforcement.
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1Oh, you don’t “believe” in Mercury Retrograde? Awesome! I don’t care! Read on or click away. You have choices!
2The ORIGINAL series, which, IMO, is the only one worth watching.