Mercury, in analytical Virgo until tomorrow, faces off with Neptune in mystical Pisces this morning. With the planet of communication directly opposite the planet of confusion, you can expect your thoughts to be a bit scrambled. It’s easy to make a huge fuss today over something that will seem utterly unimportant tomorrow. Make an extra effort to keep your perspective.

When you look at your to-do list today, you might start to get overwhelmed, on the verge of panic. With so much to get done, you can’t see how you’ll possibly succeed. The key is to remember that nobody can possibly succeed at everything all the time. If you need to let your kitchen stay messy, or to ask for an extension on an unimportant deadline, then do so. If you can’t keep all your balls in the air just now, there’s no shame in letting a couple drop.

Mentally, you’re firing on all cylinders today; you’re bursting with jokes and fresh ideas, and you want to share them with the people around you. The problem is that others might not respond the way you hoped for — not because you’ve done anything wrong, but simply because they aren’t necessarily on your wavelength. You might take this as a sign that you should suppress your energy, but, really, that’s the last thing you need to do. Instead, just focus on finding the right people to connect with.

Your thoughts might be pulled to the past today: You’re feeling nostalgic for times when you were younger, when life seemed less complicated, when you had a bit more freedom. But while there’s nothing wrong with a bit of dreamy reminiscence, be careful not to get carried away with it. It’s easy to imagine that the past was better than it really was — and, conversely, to see the present as more disappointing and unalterable than it actually is. Remember that your life belongs to you, and you get to choose how you’ll live it.

You’re curious about the world around you, so you love when other people share their knowledge. Today, though, it could feel like too much. Even when you don’t ask, everyone seems to want to tell you their life stories; even when you’re busy with your own concerns, people keep popping up to tell you their opinions and ideas. You might feel some guilt, but nobody can be everything to everyone. Say “no” or step away if that’s what you need.

The more worried about your future you are now, the more you’ll want to strategize. If you can create a perfectly clear and detailed plan, you tell yourself, then you won’t be so anxious about making a mistake or regretting your choices later on. But there’s no way to insulate yourself against all uncertainty, and if you try, you’ll only end up feeling trapped. So today, instead of trying to plan for every eventuality, focus on what you value most. If you keep your principles in mind as you move through the world, you won’t go wrong.

Some people like to shout their hopes and dreams from the rooftops, but not you — you’d probably rather keep quiet until you’ve made some headway and you have something to show for yourself. There’s a part of you that worries if you told others what you really want out of life, they’d find your ambition laughable. But today it’s better to be honest; your friends genuinely want to support you and could be in a position to offer much-needed help to reach your goals — but only if you’re clear with them about what they are.

In order to learn from your mistakes, you can’t pretend they never happened; it’s necessary to spend some time in reflection. But it’s not always easy to find the line between useful introspection and gratuitous self-reproach, and today you’re likely to be unnecessarily hard on yourself. Feeling bad about yourself can seem productive, but if you’re just stewing without taking action, it’s no use to anyone, least of all you. Treat yourself with a little more compassion and you’ll find it easier to make meaningful change.

You’re good at putting your emotions into words, but it still sometimes seems as though people don’t really get you. If today is one of those days, it might be worth trying to express yourself in another way — but don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work. Communication is a two-way street: In order to be understood, the other person needs to be listening, too. If the connection you’re looking for isn’t happening, don’t force it. You can try again tomorrow.

Although you aren’t overly concerned with what others think of you, you care at least a little bit — everyone does. And today you might find that you’re more conscious than usual of your reputation. Although you might not care about climbing the professional ladder, you still want to be respected and thought of as a good person. But the more you make decisions based on what you imagine others will think, the less happy you’ll be — and the less you’ll get of the respect or admiration you yearn for.

You have a gift for creative problem-solving: You’re practical enough to see your challenges clearly but imaginative enough to come up with surprising and effective ways to overcome them. Today, you may be especially full of inventive new ideas. Just be careful that you’re not getting carried away, dreaming up solutions to things that aren’t actually problems at all. Save your talents for the issues that count.

Most of the time, you’re good at picking up on unspoken cues. You can tell when someone’s keeping a secret or nursing a hidden crush or holding a grudge. But today, while you’re likely to be as sensitive as ever to odd social dynamics, it’ll be easy to misread the reasons behind them. You could imagine that a friend is angry at you (when, in reality, they’re upset about something entirely different) or that someone is ignoring you (when, actually, they’re just distracted). Solid as your instincts usually are, it could pay to treat them with a bit of skepticism for now.

Some decisions genuinely are time sensitive: Ready or not, you need to make a choice and stick to it. Today, though, you might feel pushed to make decisions that aren’t urgent at all. Maybe other people are prodding you, or maybe whatever pressure you feel is coming from yourself. Either way, your challenge is to slow down. Not everything needs to happen at top speed, and if more time will help you make a better decision in the end, then put your foot down and ask for — or demand — as long as you need.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.