With Venus in Leo the last few weeks, and Jupiter entering Leo yesterday for the next twelve months, I've been thinking about the courage to be ourselves.

As the foundational sign at the root of my chart, Leo is a sign I have struggled to reconcile within myself in many ways, yet forms the heart of everything I express.

My capacity to be more of myself nourishes how I show up in the world and in my relationships.

What does it mean to be yourself?

And to take the elevator down into your heart, what feels like a true expression of who you are?

When layers and layers of conditioning train you to be anyone other than yourself, it is no wonder that Being Ourselves is paradoxically the hardest and easiest thing to do.

When people talk about masking, what popped to mind is the Bridgerton masquerade ball in Season 4 where the Lady In Silver is seen and admired but not quite seen for who she truly is.

But how do you drop the mask when it feels glued to your facade?

How do you begin to drop the performance when performing one version of you is the main performance you've mastered over years?

No wonder people are shocked when you show up as a different character in the drama of your life.

No wonder people feel uncomfortable when you begin to reveal more of who you are.

Many people are walking around with their light turned dim and distorted it's a wonder how much dust snuck in.

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I have begun to notice when I become uncomfortable expressing things that fit outside the box of what I deem pure and good, like when I am feeling BIG emotions and talking it through with a friend, and later wondered if I've said too much that may have me being perceived as bitchy or mean or petty or insecure or someone who hasn't quite got it figured out.

Then I think about how the truth of someone’s expression is a delicious zing, like when a therapist friend responded on why Cancer season is their least favourite season: everyone is having an emotional breakdown. It's the kind of thing you're NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY as a responsible professional but I burst out laughing because it struck my funny bone, having just experienced one last week.

Everyone loves the honesty of a child, even if it's unhinged and so not something a respectable adult would say. Because children often perceive a truth of something and can name it without it being dressed up as wrong or incorrect or you're not supposed to say that / do that / be that I mean goddess forbid a person just be who they are!

The shame of being exactly who we are - imperfectly perfect, flawed as a human.

And the paradoxical truth of accepting who we are right now is what loosens the grip of shame around our heart.

As a fixed fire sign, Leo is interested in maintaining the solar identity of selfhood. But what does this look like when parts of us are perpetually in flux, adapting and evolving?

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Where Leo sits in your chart, as ruled by the Sun - the brightest light in our solar system, the central 𖤓 STAR 𖤓 of our universe - is the part of you that is core to who you are: your continuous radiance, even if your radiance doesn't look shiny like Dua Lipa.

Your light does not need to be a performance to radiate pure and true.

~

This week, as Jupiter re-visits Leo since 2015:

☼ Express the first thing that comes to your mind

☼ Don’t change the subject when you’re the subject of praise

☼ Try messily creating something you’re not an expert in

☼ Act like the central character of your favourite movie

☼ Take up more space in public spaces and notice how that feels

☼ Own what you’re naturally talented at

☼ Wear something eye-catching and let yourself relish the attention

☼ Celebrate one thing you know to be true about you: your resourcefulness, your tenacity, your dogged devotion, your sweet sensitivity, your kind heart, your ability to see the best in people, how you chuckle at the silliest jokes, your sincerity

☼ WALK INTO EACH ROOM LIKE GOD SENT YOU ☼