The Most Obvious Thing About Super Successful People Is Also The One Nobody Tends To Notice

This Is What Book You Need To Read Right Now, Based On Your Moon Sign

We’re rocking from the last Lunar eclipse of the year, in Leo no less, and change is on the horizon. What better time to vary up our reading lists, and find some words of wisdom? Astrologically, the next few weeks are a key point to make a change in our lives – so who can we find to help us through that?

Aries Moon

You’re often feeling impulsive and restless, eager for your next adventure… even if you swear up and down that this is not the kind of person you are. Maybe you’re having lots of brilliant plans but they keep falling apart and it’s eating at your self-esteem. If this is the case, may I suggest Still Writing by Dani Shapiro?

It’s a great book, regardless of whether you are writing a novel or building a new source of renewable energy because so much of it is geared towards appreciating daily practice. Glorious dreams are what gets us started, perhaps, but the hard graft can wear you down, and you have to find ways of navigating the setbacks and the heartbreaks, the boredom and the minutiae that plagues every project. If your moon is in Aries, you have passion and drive – it’s preparing for a long haul that you need to do.

Taurus Moon

Steadfast and loyal, almost to a fault – those qualities are quite typical for those who have their moon in Taurus. You may have thought about an adventure, but didn’t see the point in going on one, since your life is pretty much fine the way it is. Whatever small concerns you may have, they’ll get sorted, right? If you’re feeling that way, I think you will like reading The Sun and her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. Yes, even if you don’t like poetry.

First of all – it’s a great read. Second – you don’t need to jump out of your comfort zone to try something new, you can take however big steps you want, one book at a time. Most importantly, though, it’s a story of someone trying to find their way after life throws them a curveball. Someone who realized love alone was not enough – and that nothing is certain. Impermanence may not be a lovely thought to contemplate, but it is necessary for life – let yourself meditate on that for a bit.

Gemini Moon

Spiritual rebirth? Great ideas? If you’re leaning into the qualities of the Gemini Moon – curiosity, love of debate, a drive to come up with new ideas – current astral alignments may not have even registered with you at all. But nonetheless, it’s important to take steps toward turning ‘idea’ into ‘action’ – where your counterparts in Aries may have laid down the foundations for the execution of their glorious plan, you, Gemini, may still be at the drawing board.

Olympic strategies will seem a little out of left field, but then again, you are all about the unexpected: Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? by Ben Hunt-Davis and Harriet Beveridge is a great resource for harnessing that stream of ideas and debates into a productive course. Your greatest challenge is not about creativity – it’s about using that in a productive way, and getting rid of anything that slows you down.

Cancer Moon

You value your home and your creature comforts, and you will do anything to support someone you care for. Those are admirable qualities for everybody, not just those whose moon is in Cancer. But there is a danger in becoming stuck, neglecting your own well-being, or becoming so obsessed with other people that you begin to perceive their successes and failures as being your own.

Now’s a good time to focus your efforts on yourself. I’m not suggesting you sign up for a marathon, but Running Like A Girl by Alexandra Heminsley is a pretty joyous celebration of the body, what it can do, and how focusing your efforts on something for the sake of the thing itself (in this case: running) can be self-affirming and grounding. There are a couple of passages I personally don’t like, but 99% of the book is about finding your own power, and that of the women in whose footsteps we run – and it’s all wonderfully funny.

Leo Moon

Vain and arrogant is a horrible stereotype and one you want to disprove. If your moon in Leo, you’re probably keen on keeping people around you, embracing every opportunity to give love and joy to those around you. Unfortunately, it can mean you are a little too generous to people who don’t deserve it or hang onto dead relationships for a tad longer than necessary.

How to be Alone by Sara Maitland is a gentle reminder that being by yourself is okay, and also that solitude does not have to equal loneliness. Indeed, in this day and age, being able to cope with solitude is a skill that everyone should learn, but especially you. There is power in standing by your values, even if you are alone.

Virgo Moon

You already own a lot of books and you love nothing better than to think long and hard about things. A moon in Virgo means that you possess a uniquely analytical mind and you probably don’t give much stock to self-help books because you understand that change must be self-driven. (Which it is. There is no disputing that.)

What I think will appeal to you is Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit. It’s a great read to sink your teeth into anyway – a history of walking! That’s brilliant! – but it’s also an invitation to meditate on the little things in life. Something as simple as walking has deep significance, and it may well hold the key to the creative brain. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by information, this book may be the wake-up call to start moving on some of it.

Libra Moon

You want to be fair to everybody, even if it kills you. When your moon is in Libra, you have a strong sense of, about honesty, about justice. Because you love deeply, you want everyone to be happy – but sometimes injustice happens anyway, and when that happens, it can make you feel terribly powerless.

The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher may seem like an unusual one to help you cope with your existential dread, but it is, in essence, going back to the basics. It’s food writing that is, in her own words, also about love and war. It’s about honoring your own hunger first and acknowledging that, actually, the world is full of contradictions and sometimes the best thing you can do is to make sure you keep going.

Scorpio Moon

Before you decide to take up residence in a new city or otherwise radically reinvent yourself, take stock of where you are at. Sometimes you really do need to start fresh, but it may pay off to first examine your current situation, especially if your moon in Scorpio. Did you hold on too tightly? Are you scared of being excluded, so you want to sting and run?

The Lonely City by Olivia Laing is an interesting book – a mixture of 20th-century art analysis and a history of loneliness – but it is a vital read for this day and age. It’s especially pertinent if you feel like solitude is difficult to bear, and you don’t know what to do with all your intense feelings. Understanding how loneliness is used to punish and isolate, to hurt those deemed “undesirable” by society, may be frustrating – but you have a fire that can change things. Use it.

Sagittarius Moon

Being in good company is important to you, and you believe in the power of community. People whose moon is in Sagittarius might find it difficult to understand why others are not more open to adventure and new experiences. You might find yourself wishing your friends were a little bit more… exciting. Wild by Cheryl Strayed may already be on your bedside table, and you may have read some of it – but I invite you to start over and to read slowly, taking the time to absorb all the information inside.

What a lot of people seem to miss about this book is that it is about someone who is afraid of being alone, who did a lot of awful stuff, who is wrestling with the shame and is looking for a way forward. Sometimes, the biggest complaints we have about our friends are the things we are afraid of most about ourselves – that we are into interesting enough, that we are not exciting enough. Wild reminds us that putting our value on other people’s approval of us is a perilous endeavor – and that, to find a more stable source of self-worth, we need to look inward instead.

Capricorn Moon

To you, it’s important for things to run smoothly. Some people call you Type A, others just go for “control freak”, but you don’t like to leave anything to chance. If you’re a Capricorn Moon, you may remember keenly times when people let you down, and though you don’t show it, you were very disappointed then.

What if you did show them, though? Is that a scary idea? Rising Strong by Brené Brown is a book about vulnerability – finding the strength not only to live your truth but to tell it as well. It’s hard – especially because the world seems hell bent on stomping out any kind of sensitivity or kindness out of you – but the fact of the matter is, trying to control everything isn’t going to help either. Sometimes the best thing we can do is be honest and open, and connecting with others who share our values. In the long run, it’s a lot easier than trying to please the majority.

Aquarius Moon

New-age crap is not for you. Does that sound strange? Or, as other Aquarians, you are sick of being typecast as the “weirdo” or the “alien” in your group. A moon in Aquarius can mean free spirit and lack of reverence for tradition, but that doesn’t mean you automatically embrace everything that has to do with crystals, chakras, or incense-scented meditation rooms.

What might be for you is a little bit of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie KondoYes, I know – the way it’s written, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. But I’m guessing if you’re feeling a bit burned out by excitement and new ventures, a de-clutter may just be what you need – physically and spiritually. Got one too many pairs of old socks, or too many friends who you don’t like to hang out with? The principle of sparking joy is the same across the board. Get rid of what you don’t like and focus on only what makes you happy – a minimalist approach may be exactly what you need to get yourself back on track.

Pisces Moon

Romance is the name of the game if your moon is in Pisces. Not just in terms of love but all connections. You like to believe in the best of people and you put a lot of stock in deep emotion. And that is fantastic – until someone takes advantage of your big heart, your generous soul. What do you do then? How do you recalibrate your internal compass?

The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron is another one of those books on writing that is about so much more than writing. It’s about spiritual healing and weathering the bad times in life with faith and perseverance. It’s a creative exercise for a soul that has been zapped of its energy and drive. It’s about remembering who you are and what you stand for, first and foremost, and about working toward your values. If you’re not spiritual, that’s okay, you don’t have to think of it as “asking God/the universe” for things – you can, instead, think of it as practice in believing in other people. In trusting that things will be okay and that you will find others who feel as you do, who appreciate you for who you are, instead of for what you can do for them.

It’s not about where you put your trust – it’s about trusting in the first place. Misanthropy is the true great isolator – misanthropy and fear. At the end of the day, we all need a little bit of help with getting through them. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

“Oh no, what have I done” is the story of my life.