This email has been sitting in my drafts folder for some time. When I wrote it, it didn’t quite feel like the right time to send it, but preparing for this double-strength retrograde period makes this feel not only valuable but important to share now.
Building something from scratch for the first time has been challenging. Not even necessarily because of the plethora of new tools and skills I need to learn, but because it forces me to move as a beginner again. I mentioned in one of my last emails that I was looking forward to being a beginner again, but it’s possible that I underestimated how difficult it would be for me, specifically because beginners are not perfect.
And it just so happens that overcoming perfectionism is one of my biggest growth levers. So it took me a few weeks of frustration, but I pretty quickly recognized where perfectionism was blocking my progress in this new venture.
I was attempting to get the perfect product photos. Write the perfect product descriptions that weren’t just editorial and interesting to read, but optimized for SEO and GEO (that’s SEO for LLMs if you haven’t heard the term before). And then I noticed the familiar feeling creeping in that has happened in every iteration of my business — I started to dread the launch. The more I worried about every little detail — how the automations would work, how the copy would convert, how to develop the perfect visual brand that captured both my energy and this business’s — the more I spiraled. I even considered cutting my losses and burning the whole thing down.
That’s when the little bells went off. And that’s when I remind myself of the gift of my Pisces Midheaven.
If you are not familiar with the Midheaven in your natal chart, it is the cusp of your 10th house, the highest point the sun reached in the sky on the day you were born. And energetically, it’s one side of an axis that represents where you came from (your comfort zone and survival mechanisms you developed early in your life) compared to the skills or characteristics you must consciously and willingly develop if you are to reach the peak of your success. Not just financial success, but the wholistic kind of felt success that arrives as the result of wisdom, maturity, and mastery cultivated over time.
I’ve talked about the midheaven a lot in previous emails, so I won’t go into another deep dive about the placement itself, but in this season, it’s helped me to take another look at it and interpret it through the framework of 1) the belief I’m outgrowing, 2) where I’m being forced to go, and 3) my companion for that journey.
There’s something about Saturn being in Aries that has made this growth feel a little more vital and a little less optional. As if Saturn is tired of waiting for us to recognize what we need to do and has become very strict with the requirements that we must meet if he’s going to allow us to move onto the next level.
So as a gift to you, I interpreted each midheaven through that framework in hopes that it will give you a little hope, a little boost, a little guidance to keep going. Because just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it’s not for you. You might just be using an old tool that isn’t working anymore.
Look for your Midheaven (MC) sign. (IC represents the opposite side of the axis)
Aries MC / Libra IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
“If everyone is okay with my decision, then I know I’m making the right one.”
You instinctively consider every perspective and anticipate other people’s reactions and hesitate to make a move if you think it’s going to disrupt the equilibrium.
Where you’re being forced to go:
You’re learning that it’s okay to want something because you want it and become willing to disappoint people rather than continually abandoning your own instincts.
The best companion for your journey:
Courage. Not the absence of fear—but the willingness to feel it and move anyway. Your next level requires taking risks. You can go your own way.
Taurus MC / Scorpio IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
If it isn’t intense/dramatic/exciting, something must be wrong.
You may be accustomed to watching for what could change, disappear, betray you, or require a complete and total transformation. You may actually be suspicious of anything that feels to calm, easy, or “too good to be true”.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward discovering that your life doesn’t have to be built in response to crisis. You’re learning to create slowly, choose what is sustainable, allowing value to compound by sticking with something for long enough.
The best companion for your journey:
Slowness. Choose consistency over the adrenaline rush. Even if it feels boring, slow and steady wins the race.
Gemini MC / Sagittarius IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
I need to know what is right before I open my mouth.
Being concerned with always being right or having the right answer before you speak.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward allowing yourself to be curious about other people’s experiences. You’re learning to ask questions, entertain contradictory ideas, and letting conversation with other people change your mind or help you form a new perspective.
The best companion for your journey:
Curiosity. Replace “I should know” with “I wonder.” Not all who wander are lost.
Cancer MC / Capricorn IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
My value comes from how much I can achieve.
You may have learned to be capable, responsible, composed, and useful and trained to put your own needs aside and just keep going.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward allowing what you care about to matter as much as what you can accomplish. You’re learning that sensitivity doesn't undermine your authority and that your feelings can inform what you do, how you lead, and what deserves your energy.
The best companion for your journey:
Self-compassion. Ask what needs care before asking what needs to get done. You can’t pour from an empty glass.
Leo MC / Aquarius IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
It’s safer to belong to a idea than to make it about me.
It’s better to stand behind a community, concept, or mission without requiring much personal visibility.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Onto the stage. Your evolution asks you to attach your name, face, taste, heart, and creative identity to what you're making. Not because everything needs to revolve around you, but because your personal expression is part of the contribution.
The best companion for your journey:
Visibility. Show people what you’re good at or deeply passionate about without worrying about whether everyone else will approve. Joy is your guidepost.
Virgo MC / Pisces IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
If it feels right, everything else will magically fall into place.
You trust inspiration, possibility, intuition, and the larger vision but resist the mundane details required to make that vision real.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward giving your dream what it needs to grow. You’re learning that structure doesn't destroy inspiration, it’s actually the key to manifesting it into physical form. The details, routines, and small daily actions are how something intangible becomes something other people can actually experience.
The best companion for your journey:
Practice. You don't need another revelation, you just need to be willing to show devotion to one you’ve already had. Creativity flourishes in a container.
Libra MC / Aries IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
It's easier if I just do it myself.
Moving quickly, trusting your instincts, and protecting your independence may feel far more natural than slowing down to accommodate someone else.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward discovering what becomes possible when another person is allowed to influence you. You're learning that collaboration doesn't have to mean compromising yourself. Partnership can refine your ideas, reveal your blind spots, and create something neither person could have made alone.
The best companion for your journey:
Relationship. Before automatically going alone, look for a partner that can help you. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Scorpio MC / Taurus IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
If it's working, don't disturb it.
Familiarity, predictability, and knowing what you can count on feels comfortable and safe—even when part of you knows you've outgrown it.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward becoming willing to let an old version of your life, or yourself, die. You're learning that security isn't always found by preserving what exists. Sometimes it comes from knowing you can survive the transformation.
The best companion for your journey:
Surrender. Instead of asking, “How do I keep this?” practice letting go of what is ready to end. Behind every ending is a chance to begin again.
Sagittarius MC / Gemini IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
I just need a little more information.
Another book. Another perspective. Another conversation. Another possibility. Staying curious can keep every door open but keeps you from actually walking through one.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward developing your own conviction by taking everything you've learned and deciding: What do I believe? What does this mean to me? And am I willing to build a life around it?
The best companion for your journey:
Faith. Choose a horizon and head towards it, even before you know where the journey will take you. If you can’t see the path clearly, maybe it’s because you are meant to forge your own.
Capricorn MC / Cancer IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
If it doesn't feel safe, I shouldn't do it.
Familiar people, familiar roles, and familiar emotional patterns can exert a powerful pull, especially when stepping outside of them risks being misunderstood.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward becoming your own authority. You're learning to make decisions based on the future you're building, not only the emotional safety of the world you already know. Sometimes maturity means doing what your future requires even while part of you desperately wants to retreat toward what feels familiar.
The best companion for your journey:
Structure. When your emotions fluctuate, let the commitments you've consciously chosen remind you where you're going.
Aquarius MC / Leo IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
If I'm going to do something, it needs to feel like me.
You’re familiar with being recognized for your personal creativity, passion, and self-expression.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Toward asking: What does this make possible for everyone else? You're learning to detach from needing your contribution to reflect your identity perfectly and become more interested in ideas, systems, communities, and experiments that can exist beyond you.
The best companion for your journey:
Community. Find people who expose you to futures that you can become a part of that you wouldn't have imagined alone.
Pisces MC / Virgo IC
The belief you’re outgrowing:
If I can anticipate every problem, perfect every detail, and make it make sense on paper, then it's safe for me to be seen.
You can always find another thing to fix. Another detail to refine. Another piece of branding to perfect. Another reason that it’s almost ready, but not quite.
Where you’re being forced to go:
Into trusting the universe enough to move before you have proof that everything will work. You're learning that something can contain mistakes and still be meaningful. It can evolve after people see it. It can be imperfect and still be exactly what you're meant to make.
The best companion for your journey:
Meditation. Practice releasing your grip on the outcome and accepting that you cannot out-control the Universe’s plan. No matter what you do or don’t do, you cannot mess it up. So you might as well have fun with it.
