Hi Reader!

How is your December going?

Mine has been full of electric blankets, hot cups of tea, snow…and sun. After winter finally arrived last week, we are back to 60 degree weather this week. My 7 year old daughter actually wore shorts today. That's Denver for you.

And that's kind of how life goes, too.

You think something has finally started. Your new business, your dating life, your new way of looking at the world. And then…you realize that you're scared shitless of your newfound freedom. You run into your anxious attachment patterns. You have a conversation that only the old you would have had.

But you've done so much inner work! You know your chart by heart! How can you still be stuck in the same old whirlpool of stale stories and overwhelming emotions???

Because having information doesn’t actually make change happen.

If it did, everyone who has ever read a self-help book would have reached self-actualization.

After doing over a thousand readings over the past five years - many of which ended with my clients asking "Great insights…but how do I actually do something about it???" - I realized that readings, while incredibly insightful, weren't enough.

Knowing you have a Scorpio Moon doesn't automatically help you befriend the part of you that runs from intimacy. Understanding your Venus placement doesn't teach you how to work with the part that questions your worth in relationships.

So, at the end of August, I went back to school. Three schools, actually. (Gemini Sun and Mercury here.) Grad school for counseling, coaching certification, and mentoring in archetypal astrology.

Over the past months, I’ve learned a lot of tools to help clients befriend themselves and grow. But the deeper learning has come from confronting my own fears, methods of self-protection, and messy growth-edges.

In the tarot, the 10 of Swords represents the process of fully leaving toxic stories behind. It's an image of a figure on the ground, bleeding and punctured by 10 swords.

That's how some of this inner work can feel. Not the sexy, magical, love-and-light experience many people want you to think it is.

It's painful because change involves challenging the parts we developed to protect us when we were kids. These protector parts are often sneaky and serve up mean messages as “the truth.” But they’re also just trying to keep us safe. Going beyond the line of safety they’ve carved out for us can feel like jumping off a cliff without a rope or harness. It takes deep trust in yourself.

Tarot and astrology are deep supports in recognizing that you’re not crazy, your guides are on your side, and that taking the leap may seem reckless, but it’s really just the next right step. Coaching is what gets you to actually move forward. It’s like the proverbial rope and harness. You’re not leaping off a cliff by yourself. Someone is with you, anchoring you so that if your feet do slip, you’ll be hanging in midair instead of plummeting to the ground.

On that note, I'm not doing readings the same way anymore. The work I'm most excited about now involves anchoring people to their self-trust as they learn to befriend all parts of themselves - even the tender, terrified ones - while I'm doing the same messy work in my own life. (Want to know more about this? Hit Reply and ask!)

Knowing your chart is just the beginning. Learning to trust yourself enough to do the hard things is how you can truly transform your life.

Talk soon,

Daniela

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