Hiya,
You’ve made it! It’s the end of the first month of 2022, Mercury is retrograding, the Winter Olympics are happening, and you’ve followed us through our wellness journey. Of course, just because Wellness January is over doesn’t mean we want you forgetting to take care of yourself! So please, maybe drink a glass of water or two? Get up and stretch your legs. Archive the emails that stress you out (which is the equivalent of sending them down a black hole). Or stay in bed a few extra minutes. 2022 is your year, and don’t let February make you think otherwise.
Okay, now let’s get onto why you’re here and reading this morning. This week’s newsletter showcases our NEWEST brand (your sex-life will thank us), our top 12 most addictive reads, and what exactly Mercury Retrograde MEANS (besides something you see in horoscope readings).
Hopefully, this will be a better companion than all the Valentine’s goodies already up in your local drugstore ✨ See you in your inbox every Wednesday.
The Newness: The Latest Brand to Join Our Crew
Personal Fav: Stay whet, with less. This brand uses natural arousal-enhancing ingredients like Horny Goat Weed (yeah, you read that right).
Busy Doing What?: Our Founders Keeping it Real
Jaclyn’s Busy…
- Reading up on how M&M downgraded the sexiness of the green M&M (you know the one) because she was too hot and too powerful… ????
- Learning about the world’s obsession with the word game Wordle ????
Trying not to toot my own horn, but I’m kind of in love with our influencer ad on TikTok ????
Michelle’s Busy…
- Being extremely shocked that a country’s entire capital is being relocated because of climate change ????
- Finding out that the Sex and The City reboot thrifted a lot of their looks (at least they got one thing right) ????
- Being excited about what this new UK bill could mean for retouch-obsessed influencers ????
ICYMI While You Were Watching Euphoria…
- We spoke with influencer and composting expert Michelle Dufflocq
- We unveiled our top 12 most anticipated books of the year
- We interview mental health advocate Steven Sharpe Jr on men’s mental health (oh, and there’s a corresponding video)
- We showed off our favorite female-founded wellness brands (they just hit different)
Diving Deep: So what exactly does it MEAN when Mercury goes into Retrograde?
You’re probably familiar with the term Mercury Retrograde by now. It appears a few times a year and will overpower the accounts and conversations of your astrological friend– you know, the one who blames being loud and indecisive on being a Libra. But besides (supposedly) causing emotional havoc, mental fog, and just ruining peoples’ days, you probably are asking yourself what even IS Mercury Retrograde?
“Retrograde” itself is defined by something directed or moving backward, and that’s what’s happening with Mercury. From our place on Earth, there are a few times a year when it seems like Mercury stops in its orbit and then moves backward before continuing on.
So what is happening, is Mercury actually moving backward? Long story, short: no.
The real explanation of what is happening is a lot more interesting. The basic thing to know about our solar system, which you probably already do, is that all the planets in our orbit move in the same direction but at a different pace– Earth’s pace is 365 days. In comparison, Mercury’s orbit is about 88 days. So, because Mercury’s orbit is so much shorter than ours, the planet “laps” Earth a few times throughout the year and as it does, it gives the appearance (or optical illusion) of going backward. Basically, imagine this, as Mercury completes its orbit on the far side of the sun, while we are on the near side, it looks like it is going forward, but as soon as it comes back to our side of the sun, it’s essentially repeating the path it’s already taken: one time on the far side of the sun, one time on the near side. This is again due to that “lapping” effect that Mercury has.
If you’re still confused, this video explains it best.
