The Three-Month Rule
Naturally, the stripper from New York that you met in a sex shop on a school night changes your life forever. Your roots are fresh, so your hair is bronzy and golden, a strawberry blonde with a ginger kind of vengeance. You ditched the typical all-black leather look associated with the kink scene for earthy, neutral vibes. You felt like the sun. In return, the universe gifted you fire. A girl only five years older but so familiar and needed.
Fifty days ago, your heart was broken. Three days later, you left your relationship of five years as quietly as you had entered it with a computer click and a silent heart. You cried your heart out on the plane back home to Houston but lied to your mom that everything was okay. Shockingly, the three-month relationship broke you more than the five-year one. You pushed on.
The 6’2” Taurus who broke your heart left all evidence of your relationship on your back porch and acted like nothing was wrong. You slowly healed from the cracks in your spirit he left you. You unpacked the lessons and laid them out on your kitchen table.
An anti-social slut. Friendly and, bubbly and well-liked but rarely known. Running from life to life before anyone can place her. He told her to slow down. To say hello and make eye contact. To ask for names and want to let the connection grow past a stellar first impression.
You’re good enough to be here. Your Taurus said it in an unearthed text discovered on the second night of drunken, gin-soaked fun with the stripper. You saw his reassurance. You are fabulous regardless. You are seen. You are heard.
A week after that text, you’d think he was lying; he saw nothing in you and cast you aside haphazardly. In the arms of the Aries, she reassured you that he saw it all and didn’t discard you but dropped you out of pressure. A pan fresh out of the oven. He ran to tend to the burn marks left on his hands. But you, my love, my light, the wind that was told to slow from a tornado to a breeze, are still intact. You lost nothing from someone not knowing your purpose.
With no siblings and a rocky mother wound, the Libra finally got to gab about all the boys who’d broken her heart over the past five years. 18 to 23 blew right past you. None of them lasted, but on the other side, you became the girl no one wanted to cultivate. Unwatered but still growing. Sounds meant to be, huh?
On the last day of Taurus and Libra bliss, Venus asked the Taurus to teach its flighty counterpart its best lesson. You don’t have to stay here to be polite. Surrounded by Christmas lights and dressed in ethereal lavender, the Libra finally mentioned her fears. Finally stood firm against the trees and pushed back. You won’t crush the ants underneath your long-held tradition of stillness.
The wind blew down the leaves. The wind kept on. The tree stood firm. They will not meet again. The wind has met with the wildfires, lava, and lighters reserved for joints on the eastern coast. The wind does not have to circle the same playground, searching for lives that graduated years ago.
The sun shines brighter in Monaco. The wind unthaws on Southern coasts every few months when it needs a reminder. The Aries reassured her that she could stay that way. Put your coat on and warm the drafty hallways within your heart. If the earth won’t move for you, move onto another planet.
The last gift the stripper gave you was a bottle of red wine. One was stolen from you in the shuffle of adjusting from one version of yourself to the next. This one reminds you of a trip you took to Napa last fall. Back then, your biggest fear was the unknown. And yet, despite your fears, you sat in wine country begging for a reason to change. You put Aphrodite on your altar and prayed to her for guidance.
In the mirror, you saw your shadow. Tall and moody and rigid. He scared you closer and whispered new worlds to you in the depths of his dark seduction. He built you a gorgeous oak door with a stunning lock. On his way out, he handed you the key and reminded you to stay safe and lock up. He said what he said. You deserve protection, sugar.