A Happier Saturn Return... with an app?
If you're approaching your 30th birthday, you may be fretting about your Saturn return. (Don't fret!) The Saturn return has a scary reputation in astrology land. It's the time, some people say, when Daddy Saturn is grading your adulting homework.
"You'd better show Saturn your best side, or else!"
Saturn is the planet of adulting. Your Saturn sign describes what adulting means for you. And your Saturn return marks a major turning point in your story. If you’ve been wondering when you will really, truly become an adult, your Saturn return is the answer. And as we all know from coming of age stories, growing up is never easy.
Saturn returns aren’t difficult because Daddy Saturn likes to eat his babies. (Well, he does, but that's another story.) It's because Saturn is the part of us that really enjoys doing hard things.
Saturn is the part of you that does a silly dance when you finally beat a video game boss.
Saturn is the part of you that collapses on the couch exhausted after a day of cleaning and feels proud (and SO GLAD it's finally done.)
Saturn is the part of you that pats you on the back when you finally break up with the partner who doesn't respect your boundaries.
Your Saturn return is a really big transit, and you will be happiest if you accomplish something really big.
The kinds of accomplishments that are going to be satisfying during your Saturn return are the kinds of things that you can't tackle in an afternoon. They're goals that you can only reach by taking small, difficult actions consistently over time. Like going back to school and finishing your degree. Or committing to a long-term relationship with your partner.
(What exactly that "something big" should be depends a lot on your personal goals and how Saturn shows up in your natal chart. Looking at your Saturn house and sign can help you figure it out.)
People tend to focus on the big, flashy milestones with Saturn returns, but Saturn is the planet of lead. He’s the opposite of flashy.
Saturn knows that commitment in a relationship isn't just putting a ring on it. It's choosing to have that hard conversation when you'd rather just sweep an issue under the rug.
Graduating from college isn't just about showing up on graduation day for the ceremony. It's writing tedious paper after tedious paper (and Saturn will frown if you use ChatGPT... even if you get away with it.)
Reaching that Saturn return milestone can sometimes feel like putting in lots of effort and not getting anything back until you get that one big prize at the end of it. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
One of the things I’ve learned from the Saturn in Aries generation is the value of figuring out what motivates you and giving yourself your own rewards along the way.
I'm writing this article ten years after my Saturn return finished, but Saturn work is important for me in this lifetime. Being a Saturn person has its rewards, but it's kind of like living through a never-ending Saturn return, so I'm always looking out for tricks to help me do hard things.
A few months ago, a client of mine introduced me to the self-care app Finch.
(I am not affiliated with Finch, and this is not an ad. Sorry, there is no discount code at the end of this post.)
Finch is a bit like the app form of the digital pets that were popular in the 90s. By checking items off your todo list in Finch, you help a little birb grow and make friends and go on cute little adventures.
As an astrologer, I was struck by Finch's potential to help take those tiny steps that lead toward the big accomplishment at the end of a great Saturn return. The secret is dopamine, the pleasure chemical that pats you on the back when you’ve accomplished something. Sweeping the floor by itself often isn’t enough to give you that hit. You need to pause and celebrate, and it can be hard to remember or find the time.
People talk a lot about the dopamine hits you get when you check items off your list in Finch. Daddy Saturn might not pat you on the back for spending an hour studying the migratory patterns of gray whales for class, but a little birb might clap and dance around when you check that item off your list.
You don't have to use Finch to have a good Saturn return, and using an app like Finch won’t guarantee success. Every brain is different. What works for me, might not work for you.
You'll know that you're on the right track when you feel that small hit of satisfaction when you've done the hard thing that you know is right. And you slowly, ever so slowly watch yourself making progress toward something you truly want.
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