Mercury goes retrograde about four times a year — which, if you ask me, is four times too many! When it does, I usually repost my old guide on How To Survive Mercury Retrograde: it’s one of my most popular articles for a reason!

Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Mercury went retrograde again today… & I decided to write about it from a new perspective.

There is a silver lining to every cloud, of course, & Mercury retrograde gets a bad rap. It’s not all terrible! I read somewhere recently that Mercury retrograde is a great time to take part in anything that starts with the prefix re-… Well, except “react”! This is the perfect time to refresh, revive, review, reboot, rebound, recall, reconcile, recover, reflect, recycle, reelect (oh yeah!), research, refinish, refocus, reformulate… You get the idea!

Here are some ideas to keep you out of trouble, & on Mercury’s good side!

1. Renew your vows.
You lovebirds! If you’re already in a committed relationship, marriage or partnership, this is the perfect time to renew your promises to one another. You could have an elaborate ceremony or you could keep it simple: go to the restaurant where you had your first date, look at old photos, talk about how far you’ve come since you met. Bless!

2. Clean out your closet.
I did this last Tuesday & it was a bit of a life-changer! The energy of Mercury retrograde is fantastic for trimming the fat, so to speak, so you’ll have lots of astrological help as you go through your wardrobe & cull it mercilessly! If you need a bit of help doing it, check out my Wardrobe Taming series! (Blast from the past, baby!)

3. Look up an old love or your ex-best friend.
This is an excellent time to revisit those old relationships & see where the land lies. You don’t need to resuscitate them, of course, & often things we try to start during Mercury retrograde end up being short-lived anyway, but there can be a lot to learn from reuniting. You could find that the closure is exactly what you needed.

4. Forgive & forget.
Mercury retrograde encourages us to tie up loose ends, & the ultimate loose end is sourness or bitterness towards someone else. Holding a grudge is like drinking poison & waiting for the other person to die! It’s time to move on, & if you can’t forget, do your best to forgive.

5. Take a fabulous holiday.
Even though we’re usually not encouraged to travel during Mercury retrograde — simply because it’s something that is easily affected by the natural miscommunications of this period — if you can get away, you should! Honour any hankerings you might have for a bit of downtime. Go to a tropical island & lie on the beach for a week, or simply have a staycation at home. You’ll feel so much better for it!

6. Relax & take care of yourself.
The classic old checklist of getting enough sleep, staying hydrated & doing a lot of stretching absolutely applies during Mercury retrograde. If you’ve fallen off the H2O wagon, buy yourself a cute drink bottle & keep it on your desk! (I have a vampire drink bottle. I love it.) Make an extra effort to relax before bed, maybe by turning off the television & having a bath, & get your solid 8 hours. Stretch & move your body as much as you can.

7. Rejuvenate your living space!
If your house isn’t looking its best, now is the time to start dreaming about it! Your home should be a reflection of your most fabulous self: a place that you’re excited to return to. While it’s not the best idea to make big purchases during Mercury retrograde, it is a truly excellent time to do any research. Start investigating: look at Pinterest for interior decorating ideas, scope out websites for the best prices, & make a list of the things you’ll need. Once Mercury goes direct on the 26th of November, you can start to put your plans into action! (Funnily enough, I started doing this yesterday, without even thinking about it!)

8. Work on your CV or personal mission statement.
Mercury retrograde favours rewriting, revising or editing any documents. Why not put that energy to good use & rework your CV or personal mission statement? You could spice up your blog’s bio page or make some long overdue changes to your business plans. Mercury’s magic will help you out as you do it, & you might be astounded by what comes out when you sit down to start writing!

9. Read old journals.
If you go back to your old journals or notebooks during this time, you’ll be amazed by the things you read & the revelations that occur. It will be incredible to you to see how far you’ve come & how much growth has happened! (Plus, it’s usually pretty good for a laugh!)

10. Get a bit nostalgic!
Mercury retrograde is the best time ever to listen to old albums that you loved when you were a teenager, to watch movies that used to mean so much to you, & to revisit activities you have given up. Last night I went on a trip down memory lane listening to Tool, & as I write this, I’m playing Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness: still a fantastic album! Why not jump back into that sport or activity you loved when you were 19 years old?

See?! It’s not all bad. Mercury retrograde lasts almost the entire month of November, so you have heaps of time to get all of this done! Okay… Ready, set, go!

(Still counting down the days until the 26th…)