Man, oh man, I still remember July 2015 clear as day. I was stuck, you know? Just completely bogged down in this job I had. It wasn’t bad on paper, good pay, decent folks, but inside, I was just… flatlining. Every morning felt like dragging myself through mud. I’d wake up, groan, hit snooze a couple times, then crawl out of bed, force down some coffee, and pretend to be excited for another day of the same old stuff. It was eating me up, really.
I was in this IT gig, not coding, not managing, just kind of a glorified support role, pushing papers and making sure systems didn’t crash. Which, fine, important work, but I craved more. I wanted to build something, create something. Instead, I was just fixing things others broke. Day in, day out, a total grind. I’d stare out the window, watch folks walking by, wishing I was doing anything else. It wasn’t just boredom; it was this deep, gnawing feeling that I was wasting my time, wasting my life even.
Anyway, I used to casually glance at those horoscopes, mostly for a laugh. Like, “Oh, today you’ll find a lost penny!” or “A stranger will bring you joy!” Pure fluff, right? But around June, maybe early July 2015, I remember flipping through some online magazine, probably killing time during a slow moment at work, and I saw the Pisces career horoscope for July. I’m a Pisces, by the way. I figured, why not, give it a read. And it said something like, “A major shift is coming in your career path. Trust your intuition. Don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith, even if it feels risky.”
My first thought was, “Yeah, right. Easy for a bunch of stars to say.” I scoffed. I actually rolled my eyes. A leap of faith? I had bills, a mortgage, the usual adult stuff. I couldn’t just “leap” into the unknown. Who does that? But that phrase, “trust your intuition,” it kinda stuck with me. Because my intuition was screaming, it was practically a siren going off in my head, telling me this wasn’t it. This wasn’t where I was meant to be.
That month, things at work started feeling even heavier. There was this big project, a real bear, and it just seemed to go sideways every other day. Meetings would drag on forever, tempers would fray, and I felt like I was constantly putting out fires that weren’t even mine to begin with. One Tuesday, I had this particularly brutal meeting, got ripped into by a VP for something that wasn’t even my fault. I walked out of that conference room, went straight to the bathroom, and just stared at myself in the mirror. My face was pale, tired. I looked defeated. And it hit me, right there. This wasn’t sustainable. I was going to burn out, or worse, just waste away.
That horoscope reading suddenly didn’t seem so silly. It was like a little voice in the back of my head whispering, “See? Told ya so.” That night, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, my mind buzzing. I thought about all the things I actually wanted to do:
- Get back into photography, really learn the craft.
- Maybe dabble in graphic design, something creative.
- Or even just take some time off, figure things out.
But the “how” was a huge, scary brick wall. Quitting without a plan felt insane. My wife, bless her heart, noticed I was off. We had a long talk that weekend. I laid it all out, how miserable I was, how I felt trapped. I even mentioned that dumb horoscope, kinda laughing it off, but she listened. She told me, “Your happiness matters more than a paycheck you hate.” That was a game changer, man. That was the permission I didn’t know I needed.
So, I started small. I didn’t just quit on the spot. I began quietly updating my resume, but not for another IT job. I looked at freelance photography gigs, online courses for design. I started saving every extra penny. For a couple of weeks, I was juggling my draining full-time job with late nights trying to learn new skills, trying to build a portfolio. It was exhausting. I’d come home, eat dinner, and then fire up the laptop until 2 AM. My eyes were bloodshot, but there was this new spark, this hopeful energy, I hadn’t felt in ages.
Then, another incident at work, another ridiculous demand, and I just snapped. Not loudly, not dramatically, but internally. I went back to my desk, opened my resignation letter template, and just started typing. No new job lined up, no concrete plan. Just a deep, undeniable conviction that I had to get out. I handed in my two weeks’ notice a few days later, a lump in my throat. My boss was surprised, tried to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up.
Those two weeks were weird. A mix of fear and absolute exhilaration. My last day, I walked out of that office building, and it felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my shoulders. I took a deep breath of the fresh summer air, and it smelled like freedom. The first few months were tough, not gonna lie. Scrambling for freelance work, learning as I went, burning through savings. There were moments of sheer panic. But I kept at it. I pursued my photography, took some graphic design courses, learned how to build websites.
And you know what? That stupid July 2015 Pisces career horoscope? It actually turned out to be spot on. It was a major shift. It took a leap of faith. And yeah, it was risky as hell. But trusting my intuition, even when it felt crazy, even when I doubted everything, led me to where I am now. I’m building my own little design and photography business, doing work I actually love. It’s not always easy, but I’m truly happy. And that’s something money just can’t buy.
