Your Daily Horoscope by Madame Clairevoyant: October 17, 2024

It’s a busy day astrologically, with a full moon in Aries, then Venus moving from passionate (and sometimes jealous) Scorpio into adventurous, open-hearted Sagittarius. With so much fire-sign energy in the mix today, the best thing you can do is take action. Thought and analysis are valuable, of course, but your plans don’t count for much until you put them into practice. You’ve been dreaming and ruminating long enough; it’s time to make a move.

You love experimenting and trying new things but only when it’s on your own terms. When others pressure you, you’re likely to dig in your heels and refuse. It isn’t that you’re rigid or set in your ways, only that you know your own preferences. Today, though, don’t be so quick to assume you know what you will and won’t enjoy. Tastes can change, and you may surprise yourself — but you’ll never know unless you try.

When the people you love make bad choices, it’s sometimes tempting to imagine that you can “fix” them. Though you know that approach never works, there’s probably still a part of you that imagines that if you could just explain to your friends what they’re doing wrong and what they should do instead, their lives would become so much better. Today, though, your job is to accept that people are who they are. It’s impossible to force anyone to change — but over time, it’s possible that your steady presence will help people grow into themselves, just as their presence will help you do the same.

You’re not exactly shy — with your charm and sense of humor, you can light up the entire room — but even you can be hesitant to express affection for the people in your life, from crushes to new friends. You worry that you’re reading the cues all wrong or that you’ll come across as overeager; it seems safer to play it cool. But it takes so much energy to try to perfectly calibrate the impression you make on others — and there’s still the possibility for misunderstandings anyway. So today, you might as well open up.

It’s easy to put off tough conversations — as much as you know that a serious talk needs to happen, it never seems to be the right time. You’re afraid of ruining an otherwise lovely day or making an already stressful one worse. But today, it might be time to admit to yourself that there’s never going to be a perfect moment. Once you finally broach the subject, you might be surprised at how relieved you feel, so just dive in.

Sometimes it’s necessary to push yourself to work hard, even when you don’t feel like it. Other times, though, you’re simply at your limit, and no amount of pressure or self-reproach can make you do any more. Today, you’re probably not going to feel particularly motivated, and the more you try to force yourself to work, the more frustrated you’ll be. If all you can manage is the bare minimum, then do that much, and spend the rest of your energy resting or socializing or doing something you love.

It’s hard not to feel like you have to prove yourself lately. You get the impression that others have been underestimating you or taking you for granted and that it’s up to you to set the record straight. But while you could devote your energy to making everyone else recognize how cool or interesting you are, what would be the point? Chasing other people’s approval is exhausting, and in the long run, their opinion doesn’t matter anyway. There are plenty of people who already recognize your best qualities. Give your attention to them.

Ordinary interactions — not just with those close to you but also neighbors, casual acquaintances, even strangers — are likely to be lively and fun today. If you’ve gotten bored with your daily routines, other people can snap you out of it. They can make life more exciting, help you see the world in new ways, or simply make you laugh. The key is to open yourself up to them. If you assume that people have interesting lives, and that they can teach you something worth knowing, you’ll almost definitely be proven right.

You can almost always tell when somebody isn’t being genuine with you. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re up to no good — there are plenty of reasons a person might not be ready to share something — but whatever the reason, you can tell. Today, you’d do well to assume that other people can also tell when you’re wearing a mask. You’re under no obligation to share your true self with everyone you meet, of course, but if you want others to open up to you, it might help for you to open up first.

You’re endlessly curious about other people, their quirks and routines, how they live. You’re not usually fussy about doing things your way because you understand that everyone does things differently, and you’re always willing to learn. This makes you easy to get along with — but today, be careful not to bend over backward for people who aren’t equally curious about you. Connection has to be a two-way street: If you’re the one asking all the questions or doing all the adapting, it probably isn’t worth your time.

There’s so much pressure on you to figure out your future, and it’s getting exhausting. You’re doing your best to strategize and make good choices, but there’s only so much one person can do. Today, cut yourself a break. Try to stop thinking about your own ambitions altogether. For now, at least, the less you worry about yourself and the more you put your energy toward supporting other people, the happier and more fulfilled you’ll be.

Some people are constantly making excuses for themselves and their friends, but you probably do the opposite, holding yourself and the people in your life to impossibly high standards. Your integrity is one of the best things about you, but remember that there’s value in generosity, too. When you expect perfection from anyone, you’re only setting them up to fail. Today, practice cutting yourself and others a little slack. Human beings inevitably make mistakes sometimes, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worthy of love.

When you’re having a hard time, you sometimes tell yourself that you’re just being silly or overdramatic. What gives you the right to complain and feel sad when so many people have it worse than you? Today, remind yourself that it’s not a competition and that shaming yourself doesn’t help anyone. Keep a sense of perspective — you’re not the only person in the world who’s ever suffered, and your friends are dealing with their own issues — but let yourself feel whatever you feel.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.