The Designed Life

This Libra season can potentially defined as the deep work of letting go.We begin with the equinox and an invitation to pause, recalibrate, and take stock of what feels balanced – and what doesn’t. But this season is also the beginning of a much deeper process. With Venus preparing to retrograde through Scorpio and Libra, followed by Mercury retrograde in Scorpio, we’re entering a period of heightened vulnerability, relationship reckoning, difficult conversations, and profound internal change.In this episode, we explore what it means to resource yourself before entering a season that may leave you feeling exposed, tender, or raw – and how to find the internal anchors that help you remain connected to your values and sense of self when the external world feels uncertain.At the heart of the episode is an invitation to become more comfortable with conflict and discomfort, to look beneath the surface of our relationships and values, and to recognize that sometimes letting go is what creates the space for something new to emerge.Follow along with the edited transcriptIn this episode, we explore:‍The equinox and finding balanceLibra energy, relationships, social harmony, values, beauty, and justiceThe Aries full moon 3ºMars entering LeoMercury entering ScorpioDifficult conversations, power dynamics, and the tension between the individual and the collectiveThe Libra new moon 10ºVenus retrograde in ScorpioGrief, absence, loss, and learning to find ourselves in the voidHow conflict can become a catalyst for deeper connectionThe relationship between global social change and our individual relationshipsConnect with me:Life Coaching // ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack // ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest //⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads //⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website

Jess and I are back! This time with a slightly different kind of conversation: a reflection on getting married in the same summer and everything that came with our experiences.From navigating family dynamics and other people's expectations to receiving unexpected amounts of love and support, both Jess and I found that getting married became a powerful process of release, integration, creativity, and transformation.We share the behind the scenes stories of our unconventional and very intentional wedding experiences, including week-long celebrations, vision boards, astrology, community, private vows, chosen family, and the small personal details that made each celebration feel uniquely like us.This conversation is ultimately about more than weddings. It's about the value of ritual in modern life, consciously crossing thresholds, creating experiences that reflect who you really are, and allowing yourself to be changed by the moments you choose to celebrate.This episode is an invitation to get curious about the rituals and experiences that help us mark who we've been, and who we're becoming.In this episode, we explore:Why getting married ended up being a much bigger emotional experience than either of us expectedNavigating other people's expectations and projections around weddingsLetting go of responsibility for other people's emotional experiencesThe surprising vulnerability of bringing different communities and family members togetherHow friendship and chosen family can support us through major life transitionsReceiving love, affection, and celebration – and why that can be unexpectedly emotionalHow being celebrated can change the way you see yourselfThe importance of asking what feels good rather than following tradition automaticallyWhy ritual and threshold-crossing still matterWeddings as a creative act and expression of a shared lifeThe astrology behind our celebrationsThe subtle psychological shift from being two individuals to becoming a unitWhy commitment can create an unexpected sense of freedom and spaciousnessIntegrating after a major life event and navigating the post-celebration comedownWhat we would tell anyone planning an unconventional or deeply personal weddingConnect with Jess via her:Website⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠Podcast⁠Connect with me:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Astrology Readings⁠⁠⁠⁠Life CoachingDesign Services⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SubstackInstagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website

I’m approaching 10 years of working for myself, and for the first time I’m looking back at the full arc of my entrepreneurial journey – not just the revenue numbers, but the lessons, relationships, risks, failures, pivots, personal growth, and unexpected opportunities that shaped the business I have today.In this episode, I walk through my business year by year, from starting my own design business in 2016 at age 27, through opening and eventually leaving a yoga studio, navigating the intensity of my Saturn return, becoming a life coach and astrologer, paying off significant debt, buying a house, experiencing some of my highest-earning years, and then navigating the contraction and financial uncertainty that followed.I’m also sharing the parts of entrepreneurship that don’t always make it into the success stories: fluctuating income, debt, changing relationships with clients and collaborators, the ways our lifestyles can take time to catch up with our income, and what it feels like to realize that you business (and your life) can change direction more than once.And, of course, I’m bringing astrology into the conversation. Looking back at the last 10 years through my own chart has given me a fascinating way to understand the rhythms of expansion, contraction, identity shifts, financial lessons, creativity, and career development that have shaped my work.Entrepreneurship isn’t a straight line. This is the first in a few posts where I take the time to look back at the data of my own life and recognize how much I’ve actually learned – in hopes that it offers you insight and support in return.Connect with me:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Astrology Readings // ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Life Coaching // ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack // ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pinterest //⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads //⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website

After the expansion, visibility, and self-expression of Leo season, Virgo asks us to gather everything we’ve experienced and make sense of it - to come back down to earth. It’s a season of refinement, discernment, organization, and practical action, but also a season for noticing the extraordinary richness contained in the smallest, most mundane details of our lives.This Virgo season may not be the loudest or most globally dramatic stretch of the year, but it offers something we haven't had much of lately: the opportunity to come back into the details of our actual lives.To ask what needs to be adjusted. What needs to be tended to. What needs to be released. What needs to be rewritten. What needs to become more authentic.And perhaps most importantly: what can we create when we stop trying to make everything perfect and start paying attention to what is actually alive?Ultimately, this is a season of course correction. A season for refining what isn’t working, breaking free from perfectionism and self-criticism, tending to what needs care, and getting more intentional about the person we are becoming—and the relationships, communities, and systems we want to participate in creating.In this episode, we explore:The Virgo–Pisces axis and the relationship between intuition and understandingMercury entering VirgoThe final North Node Pisces eclipse in this seriesVenus entering her pre-retrograde shadowJupiter trine Saturn and values-based actionMars square Saturn and the frustration of having to slow down or tend to something before moving forwardThe Virgo New Moon and rewriting relationship narrativesUranus retrograde and becoming more authentic in social spacesChiron returning to Aries and revisiting wounds around identity and leadershipEnding Virgo season with clearer communication, creativity, and big ideasMentioned:Uranus in Gemini article

What if developing a relationship with the natural world could be less about learning everything there is to know about plants and more about slowing down enough to notice what is already around you?In this conversation, I’m joined by folk herbalist Amelia, who describes herself as someone who “nourishes the sacred and wild relationship between people and plants.” We talk about her journey from the corporate travel industry into herbalism, the dandelion that became one of her first plant allies, and what it means to relate to plants not simply as resources we consume, but as teachers, guides, companions, and members of our larger ecological community.Our conversation ultimately is about the responsibility that comes with returning to relationship with plants: understanding ecological impact, sustainability, harvesting and sourcing practices, and the ways colonialism has disrupted and erased plant traditions and the cultural knowledge held by the people who have stewarded them. We end by considering a simple but powerful practice: becoming more curious about where the plants we eat and work with actually come from.Find Amelia on her:InstagramWild Wisdom ProgramConnect with me:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Life CoachingThreadsWebsiteMentioned:The Apprenticeship by Giana Cerasia