We’re nearly in the third month of a new year. That January fatigue is wearing off (or maybe just settling in?) and all of those ambitious resolutions we made are already beginning to fall out of our grasp.
I didn’t want to set any hard goals this year. I spent my summer break reflecting on all the achievements I’ve made and thought about how we’re always looking forward, never taking the time to acknowledge our accomplishments.
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What I did do was write a little list at the end of December about things I wanted to bring with me into 2025, as well as some small and fun goals I wanted to strive for: ‘Read more Patti Smith’ (I just finished M Train and loved it), ‘Ride a horse’ (currently scouring ClassPass for trials), and ‘Stop doing my Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems impression on first dates’ are among the few things on that list.
In the spirit of goal-setting, I thought it could be a fun exercise to let the AI stars guide me for a week and finally sign up to Co-Star. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely had an astrology phase and maybe believe in the stars more than I believe in anything else, but when the app started to gain popularity a few years ago, I didn’t jump on the bandwagon.
Essentially, how Co-Star works is you enter in your birthday and time of birth, and it tells you the moons you were born under using data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It then combines this information with ‘insightful humans’ and ‘cutting-edge natural language-AI‘ to give you personalised daily prompts, as well as dos and don’ts – that you can take with as much salt as you like.
My mum loves to retell the story of when I was born and she always reminds me of the exact minute I entered this realm: 7.22pm on a Thursday on November 26, 1998. For most of my life, this random and seemingly inconsequential detail remained irrelevant, until the rise of astrology and the introduction of Co-Star. So, I plugged in my details and waited for the universe’s advice.
Day one: “Say what you mean”
Astrology is known for its vagueness. ‘Say what you mean’ in no context left this first-day prompt open for interpretation. I actually woke up feeling unwell on Monday. Typically, I’d just get on with it and go to work, but after reading this prompt, I thought this would be the perfect time to say what I mean! I let my manager know I wouldn’t be in, as I needed to take the day off to recover.
My ‘dos’ for the day included: Full Tank. Second Helping. Chase Waterfalls.
I liked the sound of this. I interpreted ‘full tank’ as taking time to fill up my cup. As I was already on a sick day, I decided to listen to my body and fill the tank. I slept in until the afternoon, which helped my headache. Then I ordered myself a good beef pho. My tank was full with a second helping of delicious pho broth.
I wasn’t quite sure if I was physically or metaphorically able to chase waterfalls so I figured listening to TLC’s ‘Waterfalls’ would suffice to officially tick off my three dos. The week is off to a promising start.
Day two: “To love is to share with each other what is most alive inside of you”
My don’ts for the day: Ruminating. Repetition. Oversleeping.
Today I decided to focus on the dos and don’ts, mostly because I really had no idea what the prompt was asking me. I spent some time reflecting on this sentiment, and concluded that I’m a lover girl who loves sharing my passions with others, and loves when others share their passions with me. The thing about us lover girls is we’re fiends for nostalgia. I love ruminating, I love repetition! But today, Co-Star reminded me these are not always healthy habits.
My recently single friend and I had a discussion about what we are looking for in a partner, and one of my biggest things was being with someone who is super passionate about a niche hobby or interest. No more ruminating on the past, or repeating something that didn’t work. I took today as a chance to reflect on what I need from myself and others moving forward.
Day three: (Self-led)
Admittedly, I completely forgot to check Co-Star on Wednesday. I’m simultaneously trying to be on my phone less and do this challenge, so I sort of forgot about my new life coach. I also convinced myself (after three Aperol spritzes in the 34-degree heat) that I had read it and it was something to do with pickling onions? I’m not sure why I was so hellbent on this and didn’t decide to fact check. So let’s just say day three was ‘pickle onions’. I went home after a few work drinks and made pickled red onions. It felt cosmic.
Day four: “Ask someone for a recipe”
Okay… Am I the only one convinced that this has something to do with pickled onions and that day three was almost like a premonition? Upon reading this, I decided the universe had handed me a recipe (pickled onions), and that was Thursday checked off.
Day five: You’re looking for the moral of the story when the moral is that life is a mess
Dos: Slow Jams. Scented Candle. Dancing Alone.
This was the first one of the week that felt a little obscure and unnecessarily aggressive? Also, it was Valentine’s Day, like leave me alone. The only thing I could chalk it down to was receiving a Valentine’s message from someone I really did not expect to receive a Valentine’s Day message from.
After spending the better part of my day in a mental spiral, trying to decipher what this meant, I decided to listen to my Co-Star. Moral of the story? Life is a mess, and people are messy, and we are all humans trying to figure it out. Also at the request of Co-Star, I had a self-love date night with solo dancing to slow jams: the entire Absolutely album by Dijon twice through, while burning a Diptyque Feu de Bois. If there’s one thing I learnt this week it’s that Co-Star really knows how to curate a vibe.
Day six: Take the leap
Saturday night. I love the weekends and yes, maybe I even live for the weekends but I’m a single, hot, hard-working girl in my twenties. The weekend was invented for people like me! I always try to make the most, and every Saturday night I go out, I tell my housemates: “I’m going to meet my husband tonight.” I say it mostly because it’s funny and also so when it finally happens I can say “See! I told you so.”
So, Co-Star wanted me to take *the* leap. I thought, why not take a few? I went to dinner with a group of new friends, head-banged at a punk gig with strangers, spontaneously signed up to a late-night David Lynch karaoke event hosted by a super sweaty leather-clad man, screamed ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ by The Beatles with more strangers, and walked home in the rain. I think the leaps were taken.
Day 7: Be kind to yourself
Sunday rolled around and hungover me was very happy to see this as my final prompt to end the week. It felt like a cosmic gift to do absolutely whatever the heck I wanted and not feel bad about it. I ate hot chips for breakfast and stayed in bed until the afternoon finishing The Real Lives of Mormon Wives. For balance, I attended my favourite hot yoga class in the evening and did a face mask. I think I might be really good at this.
In conclusion
By the end of the week, I looked forward to checking in on my daily mantra and found myself getting excited to be pushed a little out of my comfort zone. It was a good way to challenge myself and also validate myself. Sometimes you need to be reminded to take leaps and be kind to yourself. I might not take Co-Star’s advice every day, but I will be checking it from time to time when I need guidance, a fresh perspective, or a good pickled onion recipe.
For more on modern astrology, try this.
This article I did everything my Co-Star told me to for a week appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-03-03 08:54:00
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