August 2026: Walking Beside the Darkness

As I spent time reflecting on this month's astrology and tarot, I couldn't help but notice how many of the themes were already unfolding in my own life.

The past couple of months have been difficult.

I've been moving through a season of depression that has felt both deeply personal and surprisingly confusing. Part of that may simply be the reality of tapering off a substance my brain has relied on for many years. Part of it is also that some of the circumstances in my life really are difficult—relationships, financial uncertainty, questions about the future, and the slow work of rebuilding trust, both in myself and in the path I'm trying to follow.

One of the hardest parts hasn't actually been feeling sad.

It's been noticing how quickly sadness begins to convince me that it is the whole truth.

When I'm inside those dark moments, they don't simply feel painful. They feel permanent. They feel logical. As though hopelessness isn't a passing experience, but an objective description of reality.

Then something shifts.

Perhaps it's after my evening medication. Perhaps it's after spending time outside in the morning sun. Perhaps it's after a meaningful conversation that reminds me I'm not completely alone.

Suddenly, those same thoughts no longer seem quite so convincing.

Not because my circumstances have magically changed, but because my perspective has.

That realization has been both humbling and strangely comforting. It reminds me that while my thoughts deserve compassion, they don't always deserve complete authority. Sometimes they're simply telling the story of how my nervous system is feeling in this moment—not necessarily the story of my entire life.

As I reflected on this month's cards, especially the Nine of Swords Reversed and The Moon, I found myself wondering if perhaps this is part of what healing sometimes looks like.

Not the absence of darkness.

But learning to recognize that darkness doesn't always tell the whole story.

Another realization has stayed with me.

Some days, the deepest longing isn't to feel happy.

It's simply to feel accompanied.

To have someone ask how you're doing—and genuinely want to hear the answer. To finish a thought without feeling rushed. To experience the quiet reassurance that you're not carrying everything alone.

I've realized that while I can't always control whether other people show up for me in the ways I hope they will, I can continue showing up for myself.

Some mornings, that has looked like walking on the treadmill even when my thoughts insisted it wouldn't matter. Some days, it's meant sitting quietly in the morning sun. Other days, it's simply meant continuing to create something beautiful, even when I couldn't fully feel the joy of creating it.

Recently, I wrote something in my journal that has continued echoing in my mind:

Maybe I can walk through the darkness without making it the main event.

The darkness may still be walking beside me.

But it no longer has to decide whether I keep moving.

That thought has quietly changed the way I've been thinking about healing.

Perhaps healing isn't measured by how often the darkness visits us.

Perhaps it's measured by whether the darkness still gets to decide the direction we're walking.

That idea feels surprisingly aligned with this month's astrology.

August doesn't seem to be asking us to become someone new. It invites us to embody the person we're already becoming.

To practice trust before certainty.

To keep taking the next gentle step, even when we can't yet see where the path is leading.

That brings me to one final reflection.

Lately, I've realized that gratitude is becoming one of those practices for me.

Not because gratitude feels easy right now.

Honestly, it doesn't.

There are mornings when I can list everything I'm thankful for intellectually, yet struggle to feel any of it emotionally. Instead of seeing that as failure, I'm beginning to wonder whether this season is simply inviting me to practice gratitude gently—trusting that sometimes our feelings follow our practice rather than precede it.

A while back, I created a free Daily Gratitude & Affirmation Journal for the Libra Rising website.

As I prepared this month's forecast, I realized something that made me smile.

I think it's finally time I print one for myself.

If gratitude has felt difficult for you lately, perhaps you'd like to join me. Sometimes we don't need to wait until life feels lighter before beginning a practice that gently reminds us what still remains.

Maybe we simply begin where we are.

One page.

One breath.

One small step at a time.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Until next month, may you meet yourself with curiosity instead of judgment, compassion instead of perfection, and the quiet courage to keep becoming more fully yourself.

This Month's Mantra

I don't need to become someone new.

I simply need to keep becoming more fully myself.

This Month's Gentle Practice

This month, I'm beginning a simple gratitude practice.

Not because gratitude comes easily right now, but because I'm learning that some feelings arrive after we begin the practice rather than before.

If you'd like to join me, spend a few quiet minutes each morning writing down three things you're grateful for. Don't worry about whether you feel deeply grateful in the moment. Simply notice what is still supporting you, nourishing you, or bringing even the smallest spark of beauty into your day.

If you'd like a place to begin, I've created a free Daily Gratitude & Affirmation Journal that you can download from the Libra Rising website.

Let's practice together this month.