Hello {{first name | Subscriber}},
Happy Tax Day! Yay!
J/K... but also, not really. Cheers to those of us who are notorious for waiting until the last possible moment, you know who you are, and honestly, same.
But today, I want to talk about a different kind of tax. One that the IRS can't touch, but that quietly collects from you every single day.
Everything in life has a tax.
Not a dollar-for-dollar exchange, an energetic one. Every decision you make, every commitment you say yes to, every relationship you maintain, every scroll session, every conversation you dread, every obligation you carry out of guilt rather than joy, all of it costs you something. Time. Attention. Emotional bandwidth. Creative fuel.
I've understood this since I was 20 years old. But the older I get, the more intentional I become about noticing when, where, and how that energetic tax is being collected from my life. Because here's the thing, you can't opt out of paying it. But you absolutely can decide what's worth the cost.
So how do you actually audit your energetic taxes?
Think of it like filing your taxes, but instead of receipts, you're tracking how things leave you feeling.
1. Do a quick inventory. Pay attention after interactions, tasks, or commitments. Ask yourself: Do I feel lighter or heavier after this? That's your data. No spreadsheet required.
2. Categorize your "expenses." Some things are necessary taxes, the stuff that costs energy but produces real returns. Hard conversations that lead to growth. Workouts that leave you exhausted but proud. Deep work that drains you creatively but moves something forward.
Then there are the junk fees, the energy drains that produce nothing. The obligatory plans you resent before you even show up. The doomscrolling. The relationships that only seem to flow one direction.
3. Stop under-reporting. Most of us minimize how much certain things cost us. We tell ourselves it's not a big deal, but if something consistently leaves you depleted, that's a real expense. Name it honestly.
4. Adjust your "withholdings." You don't have to make a dramatic overhaul. Just start redirecting small amounts of energy toward what actually fills you back up. Protect that. Treat it like a non-negotiable line item.
The goal isn't to stop spending your energy, it's to spend it on purpose. Because the most broke you can ever be has nothing to do with your bank account.
Happy Tax Day. May your refund--energetic or otherwise--be generous this year. 💛
With grace and gratitude,
Raven
P.S. Want to work with Friday morning’s New Moon in Aries energy? Find out more below, it is chef's kiss for this kind of energy work.
NEW MOON IN ARIES
Aries doesn't knock. It kicks the door open and figures out the rest on the way. Bold, primal, unapologetically itself, this is the energy of the trailblazer. Ruled by Mars, Aries is all fire and forward motion: instinct over hesitation, courage over comfort, action over endless deliberation.
The First New Moon of the Astrological Year
The Moon slips beside the Sun in the final degrees of Aries, and just like that--fresh slate. This is the most potent phase of the lunar cycle for setting intentions, and in Aries, that energy is anything but passive. This is active initiation.
What makes this lunation unusually charged: Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune have all gathered in Aries alongside the Sun and Moon. Disciplined dreaming. Ambitious vision with actual structure behind it. Let Neptune expand what's possible. Let Saturn give it bones. Let Mars get you moving.
How to Work With This New Moon
Set intentions that actually scare you a little. Aries doesn't do timid, and neither should your vision for what's next.
Write your intentions by hand. Speak them out loud. Drop the self-editing, the second-guessing, the is this too much, and just state what you want. Plainly. Boldly. Like someone who believes it's already in motion. Plant those intnetions in your garden where they can fully bloom.
For even more specific manifesting, look at where 27° Aries activates your houses for personaized themes.
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