On Sunday afternoon, communication planet Mercury enters probing Scorpio, where it’ll stay until early November. Conversations are likely to get deeper and more intense now; keeping things on a surface level won’t satisfy anyone. Then, on Thursday, a full moon in Aries offers you the courage (and maybe impulsiveness) you need to take action toward something you’ve long dreamed about. Also on Thursday, Venus enters adventurous Sagittarius. If your gut is telling you to take a chance on something new, listen.

You’re not scared of conflict — there’s even a part of you that enjoys it — but there are some difficult conversations that even you try to avoid. Maybe you’re dealing with something that feels too personal to discuss out loud, or maybe you’re struggling to talk about your feelings because you aren’t really sure what they are. This week, though, try to be brave. Initiate the talks you’ve been avoiding; dive into the topic you’ve been too nervous to broach. The longer you avoid it, the more stressful it’ll become.

When other people try to tell you what to do, you tend to dig in your heels. Even the most well-intentioned advice gets your guard up. It’s not that you think your own judgment is infallible; you just can’t stand when others act like they know your needs and wants better than you do. This week, though, try at least to listen to other people’s ideas. Seriously considering their advice — even if you decide to reject it in the end — will ultimately help you to make stronger, more informed decisions.

Some people need strict daily routines to really thrive, but you probably prefer a little more freedom. You do and feel your best when you have the space to follow your whims; doing the same thing day after day tires you out. But if too much structure leaves you feeling stifled, too little makes it easy for mundane tasks to fall through the cracks. This week, dedicate yourself to catching up on the little things you’ve been procrastinating on. It might not sound exciting, but you’ll feel so much better to get all the details in order.

You’re good at assessing your limitations realistically and making decisions based on the actual situation in front of you. You’re not trying to be pessimistic or falsely modest; you just don’t want to get caught up in wishful thinking. Usually, this helps you make smart, strategic choices — sometimes, though, it limits your potential. This week, allow yourself to dream big. You may find that you’re capable of more than you realized and that life can hold more than you imagined.

Most of the time, you do your best thinking out in the world, surrounded by other people. You learn so much just from talking with other people about their lives, and when you have someone to bounce your ideas off of, it helps you clarify your own position. This week, though, you’ll benefit from some time alone with your thoughts. Sometimes it’s necessary to stop taking in new information and devote yourself to creating order out of the abundance of material in your mind.

Lately, you probably want to focus on the projects and activities that matter most to you. Small talk, busywork, and household errands all seem like distractions from the serious matters in life. The truth, though, is that right now it’s the seemingly unimportant moments that will lead to new ideas and fresh insights, and if you’re too laser-focused on work, you’re likely to miss out. Give yourself space to wander and time to dream, and it’ll benefit all areas of your life.

You understand that maintaining social harmony can require putting your own needs to the side, and most of the time you’re fine with it. Nobody can get what they want all the time. But you shouldn’t ever have to disregard your deeper principles and values in order to make others happy, and this week you may realize that you’ve compromised too much. Don’t hesitate to put your foot down, make a fuss, and refuse to give another inch. When it comes to the really important things, you’re allowed to be stubborn.

People sometimes find you hard to read — and there’s probably a part of you that likes it that way. New people have to put in a bit of effort to get to know you, but you make sure that effort is worth it. This week, though, you may get impatient. You have pressing needs and opinions you want to express now. You’re tired of waiting for others to peel back all your layers. So stop expecting everyone to read between the lines, and say what you need to say.

This week, you may come to new insights about yourself and your life. Experiences that were confusing at the time might become clear now; if you’ve made decisions you’ve come to regret, now you can at least understand them. Most of all, if you’ve been lying to yourself about something, it’s time to come clean. Just remember to be compassionate with yourself. You don’t need to beat yourself up for having known less in the past than you do now. You’re learning, and that’s enough.

The bolder your ambitions, the more likely you are to want to keep them to yourself right now. It isn’t because you’re ashamed of them but because giving other people a window into your deepest desires seems unbearably vulnerable. If they know what you’re trying to do, they’ll know, too, if you fail. But keeping your dreams to yourself gets lonely, too. If your friends don’t know what you want, they can’t support you along the way. You don’t have to tell the whole world what you’re up to this week, but be brave with those you trust.

You have no shortage of ambition — it’s easy for you to imagine all kinds of futures. The difficulty is in narrowing things down; you know that focusing on just one of your many goals means missing out on all the others, and you don’t want to limit yourself. The alternative, though, is even worse. Living forever in the realm of potential means never bringing any of your ideas to fruition. This week, try to accept that you can’t live every life, but if you try, you can live one truly remarkable one.

You’re perceptive by nature, able to see past people’s exteriors to whatever’s going on underneath. This week, your powers of observation may feel even sharper than usual, and you’ll find yourself picking up on all kinds of hidden meanings. Focus too much on analyzing the deeper messages and hidden clues in people’s words, though, and you may miss out on the obvious answers. At least consider the possibility that people are actually saying exactly what they mean.

Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of October 6th. The weekly horoscopes for the week of October 20th will be online next Sunday.

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