Forever is NOT the Only Marker of Success
(Originally posted March 2nd 2025)
We put so much pressure on longevity as the ultimate measure of love’s success and validity. If something ends, we act like it was never real to begin with. "You never loved me!" If we fall out of love, we convince ourselves that maybe we were just wrong all along.
And so, we stay. And we do our best to force things to work long after they’ve soured, letting love decay into resentment, burned bridges, and missed chances for change.
Here’s the hard but loving truth: it's possible to love someone with your entire soul and only be able to hold that relationship for a year or two. You can make a life-changing connection with someone you met on a two week vacation and never speak again once you’re home. That doesn’t make the bond you shared with them any less real. It doesn’t erase the love you felt for those magical two weeks.
Some people aren’t meant to stay in our lives forever, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t meant to be part of your story and teach you that love is possible, what love is, what love isn't, where your standards are, and what you are longing for.
Venus stationed retrograde on March 1st, in Aries, a sign of independence, self-preservation, and unfiltered desire. The same day, Mercury entered its own preshadow in Pisces, pulling us into deep reflection about what we truly want versus what we’ve been holding onto out of habit, fear, or attachment to an ideal. This entire cycle is about recalibrating our relationship to love, self-worth, and commitment.
On March 27th, Venus moves back into Pisces, followed by Mercury two days later. This is where the emotions will start pour in. Our rose colored glasses of nostalgia, longing, and old attachments flood back. If something is unfinished, it will flood to the surface.
Then, on April 2nd, Mercury and Venus come into conjunction with the North Node, our collective direction and focus. Are you holding on out of love or out of fear? Is this relationship aligned with your future, or are you clinging to an expired version of yourself?
By April 8th, the day after Mercury ends its retrograde, Venus and Mercury meet with Saturn. Reality starts to set in. Saturn doesn’t entertain illusions or leaps of faith, but rather shows us the hard truths and forces us to face our fears. The partnerships that have the structure to last will be solidified, but we'll see a serious shift in others.
(Expect some serious shakeups in the news the week of April 1-9 because of these transits)
Venus finally stations direct on April 12th, but we'll continue to see the cycle play out through postshadow, ending on May 15th. That’s when we see, with clarity, what this retrograde was trying to teach us.
The goal is longevity. The hope is forever. But lasting love doesn’t come from forcing what isn’t working! It comes from knowing when to hold on and when to let go. You don’t have to deny the love to walk away. You don’t have to rewrite the past to justify an ending. Sometimes, the most profound thing you can do is honor the love for what it was, let it shape you, and move forward with grace.
Aries fights for what it wants while Pisces lets go and trusts the flow. This retrograde cycle asks us to navigate both. These retrogrades will ask: What are you holding onto? And more importantly.... why?
