It’s Time to Drop the Performance
As Above, So Below: A Mid-November Reset
Mid-November always brings a strange kind of electricity, and this year it feels especially intense. We’re entering a new moon, we’re deep in Scorpio season, Mercury slipped into retrograde again, and the world feels like it’s cracking open in a hundred different directions at once. The news is chaotic, the government is unsteady, and everyone I talk to is scrambling to wrap the year before they burn out.
There’s a collective contraction happening… a push to hold everything together… a pressure to perform stability even when the ground feels beyond wobbly.
And in moments like this, founders tend to slip back into their oldest patterns:
~Over-working.
~Over-thinking.
~Over-performing.
~Trying to appear steady, capable, clear, collected.
I’ve felt it in myself this month and have been battling the instinct to always be the expert, to keep things polished, to stay “on” even when what I actually need is rest, honesty, or recalibration.
What I’ve learned is that the truth is simple:
~Performance blocks resonance.
~Pretending blocks momentum.
~Over-functioning blocks intuition.
And this season, more than any other, is asking us to soften and get honest about what’s actually going on:
~Where we feel tired.
~Where things are out of alignment.
~Where we’re pretending it’s fine.
~Where we’re carrying responsibilities that aren’t ours to hold.
~Where we need help, structure, or space.
There’s nothing weak about admitting any of this.
So here’s your permission slip:
~You don’t need to perform your way to December.
~You don’t need to have it all together.
~You don’t need to prove anything.
~You’re allowed to tell the truth about where you are.
Remember that clarity and alignment come from listening inward, not holding yourself together for everyone else. We’ve got this.
This is a season of deep recalibration. Let it do its work.
Standing on business
This contraction has been showing up in my sessions too. Almost every founder I’m working with is wrestling with some variation of the same theme, wanting to be seen clearly but fearing being misunderstood.
I wrote all about how to work with our solar plexus last month, and there’s nothing like subconsciously setting a tone or theme for the work ahead. What I’m learning is that when life feels chaotic, the solar plexus gets loud, telling us to tighten, control, push, keep it together.
The best way to quiet the fear-based demands and lean into its power? Relaxing into our center, trusting our rhythm, and allowing ourselves to be honest about what we need.
This season is asking us all to stand in our truth – and on our business(es).
As above, so below
We’re in a moment when the sky and the world are quite literally telling the same story.
Mercury is retracing its steps (aka retrograde). Jupiter is pulling us inward. Pluto in Aquarius is revealing cracks in every system built on outdated power. At the same time, our political system is unraveling in ways that feel surreal… but not at all surprising.
Astrologically and collectively, the message is the same:
~Slow the F down.
~Review what you’ve built.
~Look closely at what no longer holds.
Let’s think of this liminal time as a chance to see things clearly before we collectively choose how to move forward.
When the external world becomes unstable, the most powerful thing you can do is stay clear on your internal one. If you’re craving a grounded space to make sense of what this season is bringing up for you, Clarity Calls can help. 45 minutes of recalibration and direction… both especially useful when the world feels louder than your own intuition.
Working with this lunar cycle
This week’s new moon opens a shiny + clean energetic window. With the next full moon on December 4, the lunar cycle beginning now is the last full creative arc before the holidays. Think of it as a moment to pause, reset, and choose what you want to bring to completion for early December.
As a Generator in Human Design, I’m wired to respond. So when an idea lands, my body lights up and I want to act on it immediately. The truth I’m forever learning, on repeat, is that not every spark is meant to be sprinted toward. Some ideas need space, gestation, the right season vs the right second.
So I created a tool that would help me pace myself without dimming my momentum, honoring a more natural rhythm while preventing me from scattering my energy across every-exciting-idea-that-arrives.
My Lunar Launch Planner provides a cycle to plan within and a rhythm that keeps ideas grounded and intentional
If there’s something you want to launch, share, or move into motion, the new moon is the perfect time to start shaping it. I’m currently using it to launch something very aligned with this arc on December 4 (wink wink)!
Thanks for staying with me through this whole reflection.
If you’re feeling called to deepen your work, I’m booking new clients for January and have space open for a few Clarity Calls this month if you need guidance sooner. Remember to take a break and pull off that mask. Your resonance is everything.
And if this resonated, please drop some love below or share this essay, it honestly means the world to me <3
~Jess
I'm the cat, the cat is me