After Mercury Retrograde, I Became Someone New 🗞️

In its most literal emotional, psychological, and physical sense, the Second Mercury Retrograde (29 June – 23 July 2026) came like a bus speeding right in front of me. Or, more accurately, like that iconic scene from the popular chick flick Mean Girls when Cady Heron narrowly dodges the bus that was about to hit her.

Well... besides the dramatics, I will never be the same after this cosmic timeline.

Yes, I needed a break—to rest, recharge, reset—but it came with something else.

The aftermath.

Shedding all the baggage I didn't even know existed within my shadows was quite eye-opening. Firstly, I tackled my traumas like a quarterback preparing for the Super Bowl. It was intense, painful, but incredibly impactful.

I opened Pandora's Box.

Facing your deepest wounds is no child's play.

I had to return to the very beginning—where these traumas first took root—before tracing them through every stage of my life to understand how they continued holding me back from becoming the version of myself I longed to be.

The emotional complexities of my upbringing shaped the woman I am today, and throughout this healing journey, three themes continued to reveal themselves:

1. Abandonment
2. Detachment
3. Loneliness

Isn't it funny how a planetary season can have such an impact on one's life?

I mean... let me do a Mercury Retrograde deep dive.

Somewhere between miscommunication, unanswered emotions, delayed healing, uncomfortable truths rising forcefully to the surface, and unexpected endings...

I ticked every single box.

And I became someone new.

Now, back to those three themes.

Abandonment

In my experience, abandonment stems from every loss I've encountered since childhood. The passing of my beloved pets. My parents' divorce. The betrayal of my best friend.

These heavy experiences quietly piled on top of one another, and I wasn't even consciously aware of how deeply they had shaped me.

In many ways, I carried the belief that I was always going to be abandoned.

So whenever someone entered my life—whether as a friend or a boyfriend—I held on a little too tightly because I was terrified of losing them too.

Detachment

Detachment entered my life because when the people you love hurt or leave you, your heart quickly learns to protect itself by disconnecting.

The problem is... that protection eventually becomes a prison.

You begin believing everyone will hurt you, when in reality there are people who genuinely want to love you without causing pain.

People who simply want to bring joy into your life.

Loneliness

Loneliness arrives like an unseen thief in the night.

It often begins with something as simple as saying,

"I just want to be alone."

Over time, that's exactly what you get.

Now, don't get me wrong—I absolutely value alone time.

But when solitude quietly becomes your comfort zone, it can also become your limitation.

Especially in today's digital age, where isolation has become strangely normalised.

Online connections are wonderful, but real-life ones matter just as much.

I've realised how important it is to create balance—going to the beach, wandering around the mall, sitting in a restaurant, meeting strangers, exchanging stories, discovering unexpected common ground.

There's so much more to life than a screen.

I know I'm still on this healing journey, and honestly, I'm incredibly proud of how far I've come.

That, in itself, has been part of my spiritual maturity.

Because this wasn't simply a season of communication mishaps.

It became a season of self-confrontation.

A season of meeting every version of myself with honesty, vulnerability, and compassion.

Now, as I step into Leo Season, I don't necessarily feel fearless.

I feel lighter.

Wiser.

More authentic.

The unfamiliar place I found myself in wasn't uncertainty after all.

It was the threshold I had to cross.

And somewhere along the way...

I carried someone entirely different into Leo Season.

...Or is it? Haha.

Well, in all honesty, without a villain we would never know the hero.

Perhaps Mercury Retrograde simply asks each of us to become the hero of our own story—to save ourselves from the things that no longer belong in our lives, and to courageously pursue the things that do.

The challenge, of course, is the doing.

It's never easy.

But facing these underlying issues, one layer at a time, somehow makes the weight a little lighter.

Before we blame Mercury for every inconvenience, let's get to know this fascinating little planet.

Mercury is a terrestrial planet, meaning it's a rocky world with a solid surface, much like Earth, Venus, and Mars. It's also the smallest planet in our solar system and the closest to the Sun.

In astrology and mythology, however, Mercury is known as the Messenger—governing communication, intellect, curiosity, learning, and adaptability.

It races around the Sun in just 88 Earth days, so honestly... now we know where it gets its fast-moving personality from.

No wonder it influences the way we think, speak, process information, and connect with both people and ideas.

What a radically villainous little planet this is...

Hmm.

Now let's talk about the Retrograde illusion.

Illusion?

Haha... yes.

Three to four times each year, Mercury passes Earth in its orbit. From our perspective, it appears as though the planet is moving backwards across the sky.

That apparent backward motion is what we call Mercury Retrograde.

Aha.

Astrologically, it's believed to coincide with communication breakdowns, travel delays, technological hiccups, misunderstandings, and moments that force us to slow down and reconsider.

Mercury's relationship with our Moon is fascinating too.

They're almost like celestial twins—leaning more toward the fraternal side.

Both are small, rocky, grey, and heavily marked by impact craters because neither has a thick atmosphere to burn up incoming space debris.

The biggest difference?

Mercury is only slightly larger than our Moon.

I find that strangely comforting.

To me, Mercury represents the conscious mind—logic, reason, communication.

The Moon represents the subconscious—emotion, intuition, memory.

Both are equally important.

Both deserve to be heard.

So...

Can we really blame Mercury for creating chaos?

Or...

What if it was simply revealing everything that was already unstable?

Perhaps communication wasn't breaking.

The illusions were.

...So why do we hold on to our old versions so tightly?

I'll blame comfort.

That's why they call it a comfort zone.

As humans, routine is primitively innate because change can often feel dangerous. Well... back in the cave days—add The Flintstones into the mix. Haha.

In modern times, however, we often cling to identities we've already outgrown, hoping they'll somehow work again the way they once did.

The usual suspects are:

• Old habits.
• Old fears.
• Old stories.
• Old versions of ourselves.

Familiarity traps us in the illusion of safety.

So today I'll say it loudly:

The snake is known for its instinctive, intelligent, and cunning nature—qualities that make it one of the animal kingdom's most fascinating survivors.

Yet even the snake cannot continue growing if it refuses to shed its skin.

Nature doesn't negotiate.

When it's time, it's time.

If the snake resisted the shedding process, it would only suffer by remaining trapped in what no longer fits.

Metaphorically, aren't we much the same?

Sometimes the Universe gently... and other times not so gently... nudges us beyond our comfort zones so we can discover possibilities we never imagined for ourselves.

Because the snake never mourns the skin it leaves behind.

It doesn't carry it.

It doesn't wonder whether it made the right decision.

It simply keeps growing until the old version can no longer contain who it is becoming, trusting the promise of everything still waiting ahead.

And speaking of snakes...

World Snake Day falls on the 16th of July—right in the middle of this Mercury Retrograde.

Touché, Universe.

That cosmic timing truly matters.

I'm still in awe of the precision of it all.

Mercury asks us to reflect.

Leo asks us to shine.

Mercury whispers.

Leo answers with a roar.

That's the beauty of this transition.

Mercury Retrograde validates the shedding process—the emotional baggage, the difficult conversations, the uncomfortable truths.

Then Leo Season arrives, revealing the courage it took to let those things go.

Perhaps confidence isn't something Leo suddenly gives us.

Perhaps confidence is what naturally remains after we've shed everything that no longer belongs to us.

These affirmations can help you embrace Leo's radiant energy while supporting your own healing and transformation.

🌞 I honour the person I am becoming.
🌞 I no longer shrink to fit places I have outgrown.
🌞 My confidence is rooted in authenticity.
🌞 I celebrate my light without apology.
🌞 I trust every transformation my soul leads me through.
🌞 I release old identities with gratitude.
🌞 I allow myself to be fully seen.

Take a quiet moment to reflect on these questions and allow yourself to answer with complete honesty.

✨ What part of myself quietly ended during this retrograde?
✨ Where have I been hiding my light?
✨ Which old identity feels too small for who I am now?
✨ What fear am I finally ready to release?
✨ If I met the future version of myself today, what would they thank me for?

I am genuinely excited for everything Leo Season has in store after everything I've experienced throughout this retrograde.

I hope my personal reflections have encouraged you to embrace your own journey of healing, growth, and transformation.

Before we part ways, I want to leave you with this...

Perhaps that's why snakes never mourn the skin they leave behind.

They don't question whether they've changed too much.

They simply continue growing because that's what nature has always asked of them.

Whether you're ready or not.

Maybe that's the quiet magic behind astrological cycles and spiritual growth.

We aren't simply invited to evolve.

Sometimes...

We're lovingly pushed.

After all...

Who I was couldn't come with me.

Because the woman I am today no longer recognises that version of herself.

A new chapter has begun.

I couldn't be happier.

Until our paths cross again...

Sending you healing moondust & love.

🌝