There are moments life asks us to stay close to the people we love… while also staying close to ourselves. Moments where connection requires effort, emotional stamina, patience, and sometimes a quiet willingness to hold boundaries we didn’t know we had until we felt them strain.
This past week, the astrology reflected that tension beautifully.
With the Sun squaring Saturn, so many of us felt the weight of responsibilities, expectations, family dynamics, emotional reality, and the honest truth of where things are harder than we admit. Saturn reminds us where things are real, not romanticized — where we must face who we are, how we’ve grown, and where we still struggle.
Then the Sun moved on to square Neptune, softening the edges while also blurring them a little. Neptune brings dreams, imagination, longing… but also confusion, fog, old illusions, and that feeling of “Am I losing myself here or finding a deeper kind of love?” It’s the transit that asks:
Where have I disappeared in the name of connection?
Where do I want to stay, but need clearer boundaries in order to do so honestly?
And now, we arrive at the Winter Solstice — the longest night of the year, the symbolic return of light, and a moment of deep recalibration. The Solstice resets the Sun. It sets the tone for the season. It asks us to come back to internal truth:
Who am I now… and who am I becoming?
A Personal Share
I’ve been sitting inside my own process with this. Recently, I had a dream that mirrored what I think many of us are navigating right now: trying to stay close to loved ones, to connection, to history, to love — while also not abandoning the parts of myself that feel deeply authentic and true.
In the dream, I was working hard to stay connected. Swimming, traveling, efforting, holding onto the people I love. And I made it. I didn’t drown. I didn’t disappear. I didn’t lose myself. But there was also a moment where I felt mildly irritated at what I had to take off — what I had to soften, mute, or temporarily set aside in order to belong in that space.
That small irritation felt important.
Not dramatic.
Not catastrophic.
Just honest.
It was my psyche showing me something deeply human:
Sometimes connection does require effort.
Sometimes love does ask something of us.
Sometimes we do stretch to meet others where they are.
But that doesn’t mean self-abandonment has to be part of the deal anymore.
This is the delicate dance many of us are learning:
How do I stay connected… without disappearing?
How do I participate… without contorting?
How do I care… without betraying myself?
That is Sun–Saturn.
That is Sun–Neptune.
That is the Solstice threshold — the moment where we choose which truth we carry into the light.
Where This Astrology is Guiding Us
This season is not about perfection.
It is not about choosing between independence and connection.
It is about growing the capacity to hold both.
Saturn asks us to be honest about the labor of love.
Neptune asks us to gently dissolve old illusions.
The Solstice asks us to recommit to living in alignment with who we truly are.
So this may be a time to ask yourself…
Where am I working too hard to maintain closeness that doesn’t honor me?
Where am I actually stronger, clearer, and more capable than I used to be?
Where is irritation not a flaw — but a healthy boundary whispering truth?
Where have I grown into a version of myself I genuinely love… and want to keep?
Winter Solstice initiates a season of sincerity.
It asks us to choose truthful connection over performative belonging.
It asks us to carry ourselves — as we really are — into the coming light.
An Invitation
As the light begins its slow return, maybe we don’t need to “fix” everything.
Maybe it’s enough to simply tell the truth more gently.
Maybe it’s enough to stay present without disappearing.
Maybe it’s enough to continue learning how to belong without shrinking.
Because the person you are now?
The one with wisdom, honesty, tenderness, boundaries, longing, and heart?
They deserve relationships that don’t require self-erasure.
Here’s to a Solstice season of grounded love, honest presence, and deeper authenticity — with ourselves first, so we can offer it more fully to others.
curious to learn more about how this impacts you and your relationships?
Book a reading with me and we will dive into your life’s purpose, how you shine, what motivates you and the physical & emotional needs necessary for you to live this out.
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