Sagittarius, the wandering archer
Always waiting on the next departure
A restless soul with a curious mind
Happiness is to live unconfined
Ever on the hunt, you like to explore
Expansive Jupiter leaves you yearning for more
King of the Gods, lightning and thunder
Beware of excess that may tear you asunder
Don’t worry Sagittarius; you have little to fear
You make friends quickly, and you hold them dear
Your inner fire radiates optimism
You don’t have much time for cynicism
Written by Miss Wren
I have a confession to make. I don’t want a job anymore.
Let me explain.
I’ve had jobs before. I worked my ass off in these jobs. I get satisfaction from doing a hard day’s work, even if it’s not the job I want.
I’ve been unemployed for over six months now. It feels a lot longer than six months. While I’ve been grateful for having this time to work on myself and improve my mental and physical health — I feel ultimately lost.
I’m not annoyed at the lack of response from employers anymore. I used to be, but now I’m just apathetic. I’ve got to this point where I can only spend half an hour each day searching and applying for work. Whenever I apply for jobs, existential stress floods my nervous system to the point that even the smallest error in an application makes me want to throw my laptop across the room. I’m no longer surprised when I see another rejection email in my inbox. At least they took a whole 2 minutes to write an email to let me down easy.
When I talk about existential stress, it’s more like my soul is crying out ‘Stop it! Why are you doing this to yourself?!’ whenever I apply for a job. I listen to that voice but apply for jobs anyway. Why? It’s what my family want, its what society wants and if I don’t do it, then I don’t get that welfare payment every month that allows me to buy the things I need to stay sane in my current position.
I’ve spent a large chunk of my life so far living for others and doing things that I think people want from me. I’ve spent the last year and a half cultivating a disciplined life and a better mental state after my breakdown. It’s not enough, though. I’ve helped myself to a point where I can help others and do some good in society. I don’t think my role in society is a typical 9–5 one.
Everyone has a part to play in our society, and it’s more than our job title.I used to think that I was worthless without a job, but I know that’s wrong. When I say I don’t want a job, I don’t want a job to take away the time that I’ve spent working on my writing and my art. I want these things as a job. I want to go freelance. It’s something I’ve thought about for a while now, and I’ve been afraid of being successful in my passions. Now that I’ve written it down I’m not so afraid anymore. I think I can do this!
Written by Miss Wren
You’re deep and magnetic
Seductive, yet enigmatic
You are a mystery to most
Except to those you keep close
Pluto is the planet that reigns over you
He may be small, but he’s powerful too
He is the destroyer and the creator
You’re a taboo breaker and vindicator
Scorpio, your passion is undeniable
And your will is unstoppable
If you don’t let them consume you
You can make your dreams come true!
Written by Miss Wren
I have all this life I can’t contain
Every thought and feeling fall like rain
It overflows, slipping through my fingers
As they land, the sensation lingers
I can’t hold them; even though they’re my own
I’m surrounded, but I feel so alone
The sands of time erase all in the end
But my will to live will never bend!
There’s only so much I will see and do
But I won’t stick to the tried and true
I’ve never been one to follow the herd
So, I’ll grow some wings and fly like a bird!
When I learn to fly, I’ll see so much more
I’ll fly over every mountain and every shore
I may not be able to hold onto everything
So I must let go and spread my wings!
Written by Miss Wren
A cautious soul who weighs the pros and cons
Libra, you have a keen sense of right and wrong
Lover of diplomacy, grace and all things harmonic
You have little time for the crass and sardonic
Ruled by Venus, the Goddess of Love
You treat romance as a gift from above
It’s easy to be swept up in love’s embrace
But don’t let your own dreams go to waste
Charming and sociable, you make people smile
You find great friends to be worth your while
As the Scales slide, the leaves start falling
Bursts of colour send your soul soaring!
Written by Miss Wren
A lightning strike tore me asunder
A glimpse of nature’s violence
The calm pierced by a jagged light
It only lasted a moment
But the breath caught in my lungs
As if I thought it struck me
But no, it struck my favourite tree
The ancient oak sparked into flame
In one moment, things could never be the same
I stared in disbelief as the flames bloomed
Like a savage plant that winds its glowing tendrils
Around the host that sustains it, the tree chokes
I see my past go up in flames
The girl that once sat under it, disappearing in the smoke
She was me, and now she is no more.
Written by Miss Wren
This was an article I never intended to write. Now every part of me is screaming at me not to hide anymore. I’m not overly political and I don’t talk about a lot of hot-button topics on Medium. Now I’ve decided to show what I stand for. I’m a free speech absolutist. This means that no matter how controversial your opinion is, I stand by your right to say it.
The U.S. has an amendment that defends free speech. It’s part of the constitution. I live in the U.K. and there’s no amendment or law that protects free speech. Instead, we have police officers who spend more time policing social media than protecting the public. We live in a world where words are violence and saying and doing anything remotely controversial can be considered hate speech.
I believe there are only two genders. I believe that abortion is a more nuanced debate than simply ‘my body, my choice’. I believe that people from all ideological walks of life deserve to have their voices heard, no matter how repugnant their views may be. I don’t care if you’re Christian, Jew or Muslim. I don’t care about your sexuality. I don’t care if you’re a communist hippie vegan or an alt-right skinhead. I don’t care about your race, either. If this is too controversial an opinion for you, you may want to stop reading this article.
Free speech is inclusivity. Free speech is being able to say what you want without being charged for a crime. The ever-increasing divide between political groups is dangerous and there is less middle ground than there has been in recent memory. That precious middle ground is what holds the extreme left-right politics at bay. The middle ground is what allows people to talk about their views in a calm and reasonable way. Free speech is being able to say; ‘I don’t like what you have to say, and I think you’re wrong, but I defend your right to say it,’ rather than ‘Shut up you bigot, it’s not okay to be white!’
I’ve seen and experienced a lot in my life so far. Now I’m in the twilight of my twenties, I care less about fitting in. I have, and I always will be an outcast. There are a lot of millennials who don’t believe what I believe, and that’s okay. I’m sure there are plenty of people from other generations who don’t hold the same beliefs as I do. I suppose I feel so strongly about free speech is that I know what it’s like to be censored. My father was abusive, and he used subtle methods of emotional manipulation to control me and my family. Piece by piece, all my emotion and agency was ripped from me. I became an automaton. He did this whilst rarely lifting a finger. Even when I realised what he was doing was wrong, it took at least a year for me to come forward to the authorities. That’s the power of emotional abuse, and I will never let someone else guilt me into retracting my words. Nothing anyone can say can hurt me.
There is a little ball of anxiety that lives in me. It wanders around in my head sometimes and then rests. It has both eyes open and stares into the void. This is a normal day. The anxiety may appear a few times during the day to let me know it’s there and then it retreats into the shadowy recesses of my mind.
Today, the anxiety got bigger and more demanding. It wouldn’t stop running through hypothetical situations in my head, telling me what could happen. This creature is normally tame because I keep it on a tight leash. The leash broke and I ended up chasing it around my head like a frustrated owner trying to catch a mischievous dog. It dragged up past memories like sticks from the mud, demanding I play fetch with it for some reason. I thought I might have an anxiety attack!
I don’t want to play with these memories! What gives?!
Then I realised something. These were just sticks. This is a game. These sticks can’t hurt me. My anxiety pet just wants to play with me. It’s just as much a part of me as any other emotion.
If we don’t interact with the supposedly more negative emotions that we feel, we are ignoring part of what makes us human.
Anxiety taught me some valuable lessons today. It taught me that it can be a force for good. It can encourage me to analyse past memories and draw inspiration from them. Anxiety can encourage us to be present and plan for the future. Like any other emotion, anxiety also needs our care and attention sometimes, like a loving pet.
So I’ve decided to play fetch with my anxiety. It’s important to give it something fun to do once in a while!
Written by Miss Wren
You like the little things that most people ignore
You like organising your life and your mind
You do life with zest even when it’s a chore
Ruled by Mercury, you’re hard-working and kind
You have a lot of great qualities on your side,
Yet you worry about yourself and others
Concern is good, but take it in your stride
Don’t let your anxiety put you in the gutters
Virgo, you are a careful and diligent soul
And you have a tender and loving heart
You’re the one who keep things under control
Even when the world around you is falling apart
Written by Miss Wren
Ruled by the Sun, your light touches all
Your optimism turns doubters to your side
Like the mighty lion of the savannah
You like to keep a close eye on your pride!
Your friends and family are everything to you
Your love and generosity keep them close
Don’t let your ego overshadow them
As they might not be there when you hit your lows
Leo, you are the sign that’s larger than life
And you are as radiant as the summer sun
Your shining charisma brings life to the party
You’re dazzling, confident and full of fun!
Written by Miss Wren
Miss Wren Writes 
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