As someone who’s been on a spiritual and holistic quest since age thirteen—I grew up in Big Sur, so naturally my teenage years were spent reading Ram Dass and trying to astral project off my bedroom floor—I’ve always been picking up and collecting random bits of knowledge in the wellness space. Instead of hoarding it all to myself, I find myself wanting to share my findings with friends, with family, and with you.
So we’ve landed here. With a newsletter. Hello.
I’m excited to share with you my findings, obsessions, and recommendations every two weeks. You can expect product recommendations, book suggestions, travel guides, healing sessions, astrologer insights, wellness institutions, classes worth trying, and maybe stories from a psychedelic trip or two.
Anywho, here’s my recap of April.
I spoke to an intuitive astrologer and cried on my 31st birthday
Let me start by saying I was very skeptical going into this reading. Jennifer Vesta was recommended to me by a friend of a friend, and when I read on her site that she practiced “intuitive” and “unorthodox” tarot I wasn’t fully convinced. Sounds like a lot of words to say I’m a bullshitter to me. Luckily I was proven wrong.
I spoke with her on my 31st birthday which was an emotionally exhausting day. If you’re ever considering spending your birthday with a man you’re about to end things with, I don’t suggest it. I think there’s still some of my snot on his floor from one of my many sobbing sessions.
My reading with Jennifer was arguably the highlight of my birthday (yikes). She started by reading my natal chart, which I’ve had read via friends and astrology websites before. But not only did Jennifer give practical and very accurate insights into my tendencies in career, love, and life, but she paired it with Human Design which gave tangible action items. If you’re not familiar with Human Design, it combines astrology, I Ching, Kabbalah, and Vedic philosophy to offer a manual on how to live a life that’s in sync with who you are. It can tell you which personality type you are (I’m a Projector), what type of career is best for you, how you should go about making decisions, what environments best suit you, what your greatest gifts are, even down to how you should structure your mealtime for optimal digestion. Jennifer’s interdisciplinary approach to “astrology” was wildly fascinating, but what was even more fascinating was my Solar Return Chart.
Your Solar Return, which I had never heard of before, is a separate astrology chart based on where you are on your birthday. Your physical location when the sun makes its revolution on your 365th day will directly impact your upcoming year (apparently). Jennifer told me she had begun traveling to specific locations on her birthday to yield specific outcomes for the year. Whether it’s real or a self fulfilling prophecy, she told me it works for her. Luckily for me, spending my birthday in Los Angeles with my crumbling situationship actually had a silver lining. Because my year is about to be transformative as fuck.
According to my solar return, the next 365 days will be all about me. Elevating my personal brand, expanding my network, leveling up in work, prioritizing myself. A full identity glow up. “If you focus on your career this year, everything else will fall into place,” she told me. She also saw in my chart that there will be a big emphasis on spirituality this year. “There will be lots of activity in hidden spiritual realms, the collective unconscious.” In many ways my slightly tragic birthday was a cathartic release. A ceremonial shedding of the past to create space for the abundance of the future. So here’s to 31! I guess!