The last few weeks have felt a little out of control. It feels like everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong. I’ve been feeling rather exhausted and unable to get out of an irritable funk.
I’ve seen various references to the fact that Mercury is in retrograde and that it causes all manner of issues. I very occasionally read my horoscope, but I’m not really that into astrology. That said I figured it was worth understanding a little bit more about what everyone is talking about as it happen multiple times a year.
“When someone says Mercury is in retrograde, they are referring to the period of time where Mercury moves slower than the Earth around the sun.
Glamour Magazine
“The planet closest to the sun normally moves faster than ours — it takes Mercury 88 days to make its way around the sun compared to the Earth’s 365 days — so when it goes slower, it creates a sort of optical illusion that it’s moving backwards.
“In astrology, Mercury is said to rule communication, news, travel, technology, gossip and information which means that when it is in retrograde, we can usually expect an array of mishaps to occur, such as miscommunications or misunderstandings.”
The idea that time is going slower doesn’t really resonate as it feels like time is going faster than ever. How is it nearly May?!
However the link to technology and communications certainly applies to what’s been happening in my life in recent weeks. Internet connection issues and dealing with my provider have very much been a thread in my life of late. Whether it’s trying to get it resolved or trying to struggle on with a faulty connection, my communications with other people have been negatively impacted. This morning, just when I thought it was all fixed, it hit again. It’s making me wish we could go back to face to face meetings and pen and paper, but I’m not sure how that would work in a remote organisation.
While I was away in Bristol last week, my phone decided to start playing up. It turns out it had ghost touch, something I’d not heard of before, and was acting like it had a mind of its own. Perhaps the cracks in the screen were finally causing problems and it brought forward my intention to buy a new phone, which I’m now writing this on without any ghost like activity.
It made me realise how addicted to technology I am, spending around 10 hours each week day in front of a device. When technology works, it can be a lifesaver and have so much positive impact, but when it plays up it feels like the world is about to come to an end. Perhaps it’s time to walk away from it a bit.
In terms of communications I’ve certainly found it harder to articulate things, communicate what’s going on in my head and find suitable ways of dealing with conflict. Whilst there’s been no major repercussions, I’ve been aware of how I don’t feel like myself. This morning I decided I needed to get back into a good and balanced routine as I’ve felt myself falling into bad habits again recently, including ones I’d finally cracked after years and don’t want to slip back into.
Apparently this phase comes to an end on Wednesday, so there’s only a couple more days to navigate these turbulent times. It’ll certainly be interesting to see if things do calm down then as I for one don’t know how long I can cope with this ongoing disruption.