April 8

Who you are

You do not soften much. When something is wrong you name it plainly, and the silence afterwards does not bother you the way it bothers other people. This has cost you jobs and friendships, and you would still do it again, because a group that agrees to pretend eventually makes a far larger mistake and everybody pays for it later.

What people miss is that you are not enjoying it. There is usually a long pause before you speak, weighing whether saying it will help or only relieve you. You get that right often enough that people come to you when they want a real answer, and wrong often enough that you have had to learn how to apologise properly and mean it.

Your gifts

• Plain speech. You describe a situation as it is, which saves everyone weeks of guessing.
• Courage in the room. You will say it while it still matters instead of afterwards in the corridor.
• Trustworthy praise. Because you do not flatter, your compliments carry actual weight.

Your shadow

Honesty can become a licence to be careless with people. You confuse the relief of speaking with the good of it, hand someone a hard truth at the worst possible moment, and call their reaction oversensitive. There are also truths about yourself you keep well away from, and the sharper you are with others the closer you are standing to one.

Your soul work

Your soul work is timing and tenderness. Ask whether the person can actually use what you are about to say, wait a day when the answer is no, and turn that clear eye on the parts of your own life you have been describing kindly.

Days you get along with

Your sign

The zodiac begins with fire. Aries carries the gift of the start, the courage to go first, and the lifelong lesson of learning to finish.

Someone else

Look up another birthday

Check a friend's day, or your partner's, and send it to them.