Is it mischievious or mischievous? English words can be tricky to spell and say. No wonder the planet of communication, Mercury, is always taking us forward and then back.

Today was certainly a forward and backward day. The final blast of Mercury’s retrograde energy as we move into it’s forward influence again. Like the way to spell mischievious  (that’s the way I learned to spell it). Apparently that spelling fell out of use some time around 1700 so the popular way to spell the word is mischievous. I wonder if my teachers knew that? Whatever way you spell this tricky word I suspect you might also have found today a bit weird. Especially when communicating. Because it has been a day of standing my ground and speaking my truth. Some practice that I badly needed. It’s part of the shift into authenticity.

That’s the joke Mercury wants me to see. Despite the messing about with my car (after some super work by a brilliant mechanic it’s managed to get another noise when it’s running) I have been able to get to my weekend destination. Later than I expected. But still  where I wanted to be. Though it involved spending my morning in a garage trying to resolve how the noise had developed whilst it was in there. Fortunately I spent a pleasant time with a friend this afternoon while my car was being checked over by a person I trust. What I also had to do was resolve why the car had a noise. So it meant keeping focused. And aware of the trickery that might be involved.

Not all that’s mischievious is pleasant. Sometimes it can be sharp practice. Working out whether it’s a fun joke or double dealing is important. And I need to be able to ask for the truth.

But that’s difficult in some situations. Today I had to step out of a common experience I’ve had many times. Finding a garage to look after my car has always been a challenge. I know I’m not particularly bothered about what is under the bonet of my car but I expect that someone servicing or repairing it should be honest. Unfortunately what I have noticed is that work costs a lot more than it should. All sorts of new problems turn up. And the attitude of the men in the garage has left a lot to be desired. I’m talking about patronising. They assume that I will take what they say as the whole truth. Although I have learned, to my cost, that it isn’t.

In the past I have left and never used that garage again. Unfortunately I’ve left without saying how poor the customer service has been. And without challenging what I’ve been told. Even when I’ve actually known better. Not today though. Mischievious Mercury had me expressing myself better than ever. Telling it the way I saw it. In the end I’m sure the noise in my car will get resolved. Because I’ve been authentic about my feelings. Actually it felt really good to have a voice in a situation I’ve felt dumb about before. As I drove along this evening I was laughing as I sang along to the loud music. Laughing because I couldn’t hear the mysterious new noise anyway. Laughing because my lovely car was motoring better than every.

So I’ll happily give Mercury the last laugh. I’m ready to move forward again in my communications with others. Now I’ve stood my ground and found my ‘don’t mess about’ voice.

Day 655 of my blogging challenge