Having problems with Communication or Money right now? Mercury Retrograde might be to blame.
In astrology, Mercury Retrograde is when Mercury appears to travel backwards through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Mercury is travelling so slow, it looks like it is travelling backwards, but this is merely an optical illusion. This is called a retrograde motion.
As the planet Mercury is associated with communication, money, travel, technology, logic, writing and memory, all these things are adversely affected during a Mercury Retrograde.
When is Mercury Retrograde? Here are the dates for the next few years:
What should you do during Mercury Retrograde? Here’s some great advice for during Mercury Retrograde:
So, when Mercury is retrograde, remain flexible, allow time for extra travel, and avoid signing contracts. Review projects and plans at these times, but wait until Mercury is direct again to make any final decisions.
About a week or two before Mercury retrogrades, finish any tasks or projects at hand. You can’t stop your life, but plan ahead, have back-up plans, and be prepared for angrier people and miscommunication.
Some people blame Mercury retrograde for “bad” things that happen in their lives. Instead, take this time to sit back and review where you put your energy in your life.
I’ve had a lot going on in my head recently, so much so that I decided to write my thoughts out as a mind map. The idea was to offload my thoughts on to the paper. I’ve written this blog post for the same reason. So this blog post is about me and mainly written for me.
Here is the mind map:
A mind map of thoughts to show what’s going on in my head.
As you can see I quickly ran out of room on the paper. So here’s the list of just some of the thoughts going on in my head:
My Brother after his recent spinal surgery – He is now in recovery. I am relieved that his surgery went well. But I worry that he’ll push himself too hard, as sometimes he thinks he’s indestructible.
My friend whose mum recently passed away – It was an expected death. His mum was 87 years old and had been in ill health for the last few months. She’d had a long and happy life and been in good health for most of her life. But it was still his mum. I have thought about my friend and his family often since I heard the news earlier this week.
How good my new Dorothy Morrison candles & oils smell – For several months I’ve been putting in small orders with The Angry Cauldron, ordering a few Dorothy Morrison candles and oils each month. A few weeks ago, I paid combined shipping and my orders arrived earlier on in the week:
Photo above is of my candle collection.Photo above is of my oils chest. Included are Dorothy Morrison limited edition oils and other essential oils.
Need eyes testing – I’ve not had an eye test by an Optician for a while. The Optician has sent two letters. Need to sort this out.
Vodafone letters wrongly stating I owe money – Vodafone have apparently sold a £100 debt of mine to another company. The problem is that I don’t owe Vodafone any money. I left Vodafone two years ago (in May) and everything was paid in full by Direct Debit. I have the bank statements to prove it.
The good time had at Grandma’s 57th Birthday meal – The family met up for my Grandma’s 75th birthday. We went for a meal in one of my favourite restaurants. I had a great time and have found myself frequently thinking of the family and the meal.
Week Off Work – I’ve got a week of annual leave coming up. I can’t wait. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to spend my time during that week off.
My friend’s Wedding in May – I’ve been thinking about what to wear, what to buy as gifts and what to take with me to the hotel (I’ve booked a 2 night stay in the hotel where the wedding is taking place).
What I’d do if I won the euromillions jackpot – The euromillions jackpot has been won quite a few times by UK winners this year. At the moment it keeps rolling over, making the jackpot prize bigger and bigger. So for the last few weeks I’ve been buying tickets and fantasising about what I’d do if I won the euromillions jackpot.
Electricity Final Bill – I misread my final electricity bill from SSE. I saw a credit on my account and not the debt balance that was in green. Easily done. But has meant that I have to find over £200 to pay the final bill.
I’ve left SSE via uSwitch for two reasons. Firstly because they didn’t take enough money by Direct Debt, so I was always in debt with them. I had repeatedly asked them to increase the Direct Debit, but they never did. The second reason was to save £50 per year.
Need to get rid of old sofa – My mum is kindly giving me her old sofa when she gets a new one. This is great because my sofa is on its last legs.
Man with a Van for new sofa – See above.
My Depressive Episode (December 2016 to now) – In December I started having some difficulties with my mood. I put it down to Christmas and being busy. My mood problems continued in January, with me noticing more symptoms. Again I put it down to busyness. In February I started talking to my GP about it. Fast forward to this week and my GP has referred me to my local Community Mental Health Team to review my medication.
The result of this depressive episode is that I’ve been working, eating, bathing, sleeping (terribly) and doing nothing else. Very little reading. Practically no creative output including no writing, no blog posts and even no thinking about them. Depression makes you feel empty, no ideas, no inspiration, no motivation, no energy and no drive.
I have been mediating more often, taking more time to relax and tried to do more of the things that I like.
My car needs a clean – The inside of my car looks like a shanty town. This is one my signs and symptoms of depression.
Candle Making: Pumpkin Spice orange candles – I really want to make a batch of Pumpkin Spice scented orange candles for Samhain (Halloween). I have the perfect jars to put the candles in. But I need supplies and that means I need money. Despite not having the money or energy/motivation to make them now, I like to think about them. How good they would look. How good they would smell.
John Smith from The Dead Zone by Stephen King – I’ve been slowly reading The Dead Zone by Stephen King. It’s about a guy called John Smith who recovers from a coma and can see the future by touching people or things. What I can’t get over is the main character’s name. John Smith. The story makes clear from the outset that he is an average guy. So using such a common place name to represent that he’s an average guy is not required. It strikes me as lazy on King’s behalf. It’s a great story, but is let down by John Smith’s name.
My New Hoover bought on Amazon: VYTRONIX VTBC01 1400w Compact Cyclonic Bagless Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner HEPA Hoover
Microwave needs replacing – At home things generally break in threes.
First the hoover started making noises like it was about to explode and take out half of the apartment block with it, so I bought a new one (pictured left) for a bargain price on Amazon. If you’re looking for a new hoover, then this is the one. It’s compact and the suction is powerful. I’ve been really impressed with it and didn’t realise how bad the old hoover actually was.
Since then the mop has snapped and the microwave has stopped heating up food properly and is rusting. So I now need to buy a new mop and microwave.
I was ill for the first few weeks of January. At one point, I took to my bed for three days. As a result, I haven’t finished deciding on or writing up my goals and new experiences for 2017.
But I have started making plans. So far my plans include:
A Big Birthday Bash for Chrys. Still do most of the planning and organising for. Still to source of suitable present.
Finish my tour along Hadrian’s Wall (along with ancient sites of interest) with Simon. Date set. Still to plan in more detail.
My Birthday. Still to sort. My birthday is on a Sunday this year.
Kay & Alex’s Wedding. Hotel booked. Still to buy a new suit and source of suitable present.
An adventure to see Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Amesbury over two days with Simon. Dates set and hotel booked. Further planning needed.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people in employment today have more acceptance and more equality than ever before. But have we reached a point were a persons sexuality isn’t important? Were their ability to do the job is paramount?
LGBT people have more acceptance and equality today, than ever before. Image from & copyright Total Jobs @ GIPHY.
LGBT people in employment today have more acceptance and more equality than ever before. This has been helped by the wider society acceptance. It has also been helped by employers working with organisations such as Stonewall to learn and understand LGBT employees and to have more inclusive working practices.
Employers are working with organisations like Stonewall to understand LGBT people and have better working practices to include LGBT employees. Image from & copyright Total Jobs @ GIPHY.
But for good and smart employers it’s about more than just acceptance and inclusion. It’s about valuing employees as individuals and celebrating the diversity of their workforce. This in turn increases productivity and leads to better outcomes (including bigger profit margins for private sector organisations) according to research studies quoted in this BBC article: Why it’s important to be yourself at work and this Infographic.
So acceptance, inclusion, valuing employees as individuals and celebrating diversity of LGBT employees is a win-win situation. Employees are happier and feel more secure. Employers get increased productivity and better outcomes.
Acceptance, inclusion, valuing employees as individuals and celebrating diversity of LGBT employees is a win-win situation. Image from & copyright Total Jobs @ GIPHY.
But according to Todd it’s not all positive. He cites surveys that report that some LGBT people still experience bullying and/or harassment at work and that some LGBT people feel that some workplaces have been/are unwelcoming.
I can only speak of my own experiences. My experiences of being an LGBT person in employment has been very positive for the fast majority of the time.
But I have experienced bullying and harassment because of my sexuality and/or gender (as a Nurse who happens to be male). Three or four times in my career, which for me is three or four times too many. Each time by an individual employee and each time I felt unable to challenge their attitude or behaviour because of the situation I was in.
Still I have observed a massive change in attitudes and cultures both in the workplace and outside of it during my career. I think that if someone attempted to bully or harass me in the workplace today, that one of my colleagues would challenge it before I had chance to.
What do you think of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people in employment today? Please leave a comment below.
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