On Monday, feelings come to a head under the full moon in Cancer. Maybe you’ve been too busy dealing with practical matters to spend time unpacking your emotions, or too caught up helping others to spare any compassion for yourself. This week, it’s time to give some thought to what you need to be happy. If you haven’t been getting enough care and support, now isn’t the time to assign blame — instead, focus on implementing a change for the future.

There’s a good chance that your calendar will fill up this week. Everyone seems to want your attention, and it would be easy to spend all your energy trying to make them happy. But while it’s fun to be in demand, you also risk losing sight of your own priorities, forgetting to carve out time for the activities you care about most. Make sure you’re not just catering to the people around you, but also spending your time in ways that are meaningful to you.

This week, it might feel like you can’t leave home without bumping into people you know. Everybody seems to want to chat, to share their troubles, to get your advice. It might feel like all these little interactions are mere distractions, but don’t write them off too quickly. A brief conversation might yield surprising insights into your life; a seemingly meaningless exchange could end up being the foundation for a deeper relationship. Conversations don’t need to be deep and heavy to make your life richer and more interesting, and people might surprise you.

You’ve probably felt stretched too thin lately; between work, your relationships, and all the little logistical work that goes into building a life, you’re exhausted. You need more time just for you, but there are only so many hours in the day. This week, one of the best ways you can care for yourself is to pull back from the unnecessary tasks. Saying no might make you feel guilty — your natural inclination is to take on everything you can — but it may be the only way to ease the pressure on you.

Normally, you keep your feelings to yourself. Maybe you don’t want to burden others with your problems, or maybe it feels too vulnerable when everyone around you knows what you’re going through; either way, you do your best to hold it all in. But this week, you might find that it’s impossible: You lash out or you share more than you intended. Don’t try to hide your emotions; even a quick venting session could make you feel better. Your friends want to be there for you, so let them.

There are times when the more social interaction you get, the lonelier you feel. Even when you’re with the people you love most, you still feel like something is missing or just off. It might seem like the way to solve the problem is to find more or different ways to socialize, but this week, what you need most might simply be some alone time. Your life is full of people who love you; take time now to remember that you also love yourself and that your own company is wonderful, too.

There are some problems that have come to seem unsolvable. No matter how much thought you’ve given them or how much research you’ve done, you can’t find a feasible path forward. This week, try leaning on your friends. You might typically prefer to work independently, but in this case, the more people you turn to, the better. You may think that you’ve already considered every possible solution, but your community could surprise you by bringing new perspectives, resources, and energy to the table.

You’re not afraid of making big moves, but you want time to prepare. You’re happiest when you can create a plan, think through the possible outcomes, rehearse what you’re going to say. This week, though, you might face a situation that requires you act quickly; you won’t have time to methodically come up with a strategy. While this might not be your preferred way of doing things, trust that you’ll be fine. You’ve overcome greater obstacles before, so don’t back away from the challenge now.

Sometimes, the best way to care for yourself is to avoid unnecessary stress and pain. Other times, though, what you need most isn’t protection from difficult situations, but support and encouragement to step up and take them on. This week, especially, it’s important not to retreat from the world but to rise to meet it. Your confidence will fade away if you don’t make the most of it, so set yourself new challenges. By taking action, you’ll remember how strong and capable you really are.

The longer you procrastinate over an important task or avoid a difficult conversation, the scarier it feels. You begin to imagine that you’ll never muster the necessary courage; you wonder whether it’s possible to keep hiding from your obligations forever. But the stress of inaction is much worse than the stress of simply going for it. So, this week, be brave and deal with whatever has been hanging over you. It probably won’t be as hard as you feared — and even if it is, the freedom you feel afterward will be worth it.

All close relationships have their challenges — but sometimes, you imagine you can keep the peace by pretending that any problems simply don’t exist. This week, though, that might become impossible. Conflict could arise as the differences between you and someone you love are thrown into stark relief, and it’s up to you to find a way through. If you express your needs honestly and are willing to make a compromise or two, you’ll feel stronger and more supported in the relationship than before.

You care deeply about doing the right thing, and you put a lot of thought into the most productive, most ethical way to live your life. But in your efforts to be generous to others, you may end up neglecting yourself. Remember that it isn’t selfish to tend to your own physical and emotional needs: You can’t be there for others if you’re constantly drained. This week is a good time to begin new routines that will support you — and, by extension, help you to care for your community.

When it comes to big personal projects or creative ambitions, it’s easy to procrastinate on the first step. No matter how much thought or planning you’ve put into your idea, you still tell yourself that it isn’t time yet, there’s more you need to prepare first. But at a certain point, it’s time to admit that you’ll never feel completely ready. If you don’t want your dreams to wither on the vine, eventually you’ll just have to dive in — and the time may as well be now.

Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of January 5th. The weekly horoscopes for the week of January 19th will be online next Sunday.

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