Looking back at 2020: A review post

I really enjoy review posts by others but feel a bit navel-gazing when I write one myself.

You know what, never try, never know.

For this review post, I’m also trying to connect the dots using astrological transits to see how it might have affected my life. Also adding a sprinkling of astrology explanations for those interested in learning.

I’ll be writing as YQ/Tarot Singapore Online & YQ/Improv Person, since I am actually all of the identities. I’ve always found it hard to blend my different interests but I hope this paints a fuller picture of myself.

A quick summary of the year: A lot more YQmagic, a lot less YQimprov.

For most people reading this, you likely know more about the tarot/astro side of me. Honestly, this wasn’t a big part of my life until everyone was made to stay at home.

Looking at transits, 2020 doesn’t get too much action. There’s a lot more stuff happening in 2021 with a few more challenging periods.

December 2019

Strange to start a review post in the previous year’s December but some of the later activities were inspired by a Christmas eve party.

I went to a Christmas house party and ended up doing impromptu astrological consultations.

[#astrotalk] Exactly on December 25, 2020, there was a solar eclipse on my Midheaven (Career line) and Neptune (planet of mysticism).

Solar Eclipse brings external revelations and the impact lasts for 6 months. Looking back, I felt that I finally “saw” myself as an astrologer, or revealed myself as one, after the semi-public reading.

January 2020

The new year started rough.

Early in the month, I was fired/let go from an improv team.

I don’t really see myself as a ‘good guy’ in this story. My ‘bad guy’ story is that I didn’t confront the people directly about something I didn’t agree on (that’s outside the team) and I was very annoyingly mean about it.

But being let go made me realize that no matter how much work you put into something, when you don’t own it, there’s a risk of it being taken away of. (Probably not the best headspace but I do like having control over things.)

[Astro talk] The layoff announcement was supposed to be in December but I was busy so I asked for it to be scheduled at a later day.

Afterwards, I noticed that it was the day Saturn (standard, conforming) met with Pluto (destruction, power, transformation) in my 10th house of career and reputation. I saw it fitting–the death of a structure that was a big part of my public life.

Despite the layoff, there was still a flurry of improv shows and activities in the month since I had kept myself super busy with improv BC (before COVID).

Nothing much happened in the YQmagic world, though I did run one in-person tarot training in January.

One of the most nerve wrecking thing that happened at the end of the month was that I almost couldn’t fly back home for Chinese New Year.

My Re-Entry Permit had expired and the immigration people said they’ll cancel my PR and I have to come back on a social visit pass when I do.

I pulled two tarot cards: The Sun for going home, Six of Cups (?) for staying. Of course I followed The Sun.

The Sun – Optimism, joy
Six of Cups – Nostalgia, thinking about the past.

I lean towards Major Arcana cards in readings so I chose The Sun’s path

And thankfully I did fly home since no travel was allowed for the rest of the year.

February 2020

Involved in three improv shows this month. Looking back, I miss the live audience most for the shows that I produce.

Also ran my last in-person tarot workshop of the year with three students.

March 2020

The good:

For the month, I decided to bring my tarot workshop online by breaking down a 2.5 hour in-person course into three nights.

The first class was on March 27. It was perfect timing since lockdown (ahem, “circuit breaker”) was announced the second week of the course. Also got a sweet mention on the Peatix blog.

Honest talk: I had wanted to bring the tarot workshop online since 2017. But it just never worked out until this year. So if you see someone’s progress, there’s actually A LOT of failure behind it.

[#astrotalk] March 10: Saturn (planet of structure) hit my nodes (comfort zone vs hard place that I need to reach) harshly while giving support to Venus (planet of relationships, value and love).

With Saturn squaring the Nodes, it means that I’m using ‘structuring’ as an excuse to not really fulfill my life mission. But harsh aspects also makes people put in the work to make things happen so I’m quite glad for that.

March 23: Saturn trine Venus, it did help me put in a structure in how I show and give value. (Before this, I was hoping this would help my love life since Venus is in charge of partners for me but it didn’t work out that way.)

The online classes were really fun. The classes were longer than what they would be if they were in person.

I also turned the online class into recordings and how it’s my Beginner’s Tarot course.

I also made the decision to not run any in-person classes until we have the vaccine.

April 2020

Circuit Breaker came and we were all stuck at home.

I was still in full YQimprov mode so I ran several online improv shows just to prove that improv can be done online. (I’m a weirdo that way.)

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I laugh now because no one actually cared about this crazy competitiveness.

Another good thing that came out of this was my Facebook Live chats on spiritual topics. (I think I did 20 of these in 2020.)

My first Facebook Live was Venus Retrograde in Gemini. My natal Venus in Gemini’s love for sharing information is fulfilled with the chat show.

The funny thing is, even though I know tarot and astrology. I don’t really use them for “spiritual” reasons.

The temporary name I have for this FB Live series is “Practically Spiritual”, a mix of practically’s 2 meanings: 1. almost & 2. being practical

[#astrotalk] Right on top of my midheaven (career line) is Neptune (planet of mysticism, spirituality, idealism). So what people see me doing is very spiritual in nature.

But with the planet in in Capricorn (stiff, formal, practical, high status), I always feel that the ‘spirituality’ that I do has to be something practical and not so woo-woo that society frowns upon me.

One good thing that came out of the FB Live chats was that I got to connect with different people.

Despite my online persona, I always have a fear that I’m bothering other people so I used my show as an excuse to connect with others.

At the end of April, I ran a birthday flash sale of my tarot class and welcomed more students!

May 2020

Started my first career profiling sessions thanks to referrals from my astrology teacher. I enjoy these short sessions, though sometimes it’s information overload.

Also ran two other online trainings. Both available for sale as online recordings.

June 2020

Finally launched my membership site (actually Magic School is a better description.) I host all my classes here. You can check out my free tarot or astrology trainings here.

Here are my Facebook Lives

I got root canal treatment to get rid of a constant toothache. And the clinic seemed nice so I decided to get braces too.

During the first consultation on Jun 29, my orthodontist discovered that I had a weird growth in my jaw. She recommended Winston Tan, an oral maxillofacial surgeon, to check out the cyst. And to prepare for the possibility of surgery.

I was very scared then but I kept seeing repeated numbers that reassured me that things will be ok.

Little did we know, that tiny cyst in my jaw turned out to be much more tricker than just a cyst. But we won’t find out until August.

[Astro Talk] If I am honest, I was throwing a lot of money at online courses during circuit breaker. I bought courses on public speaking, marketing, YouTube, and many more.

From June 11, Uranus (chaos) entered my 2nd house of money and value. It could translate to volatility with money. But it could also translate to surprise income.

July 2020

More Facebook chats.

I started winding down my tarot stuff to prepare for the jaw operation on July 28. Things came to a halt after that.

Thankfully, healing went well. Dr Winston Tan was so good that my mouth didn’t really bleed after the surgery. He even took out four teeth to prepare for my braces.

I was very tired in the two weeks following the surgery as my body had to heal. I got 1 month hospitalization leave but I was a dumb dumb that volunteered to help out with small tasks for work pretty soon.

[Astro Talk] Mars Retrograde was coming up and the shadow period started on July 25.

Being an Aries rising, Mars rules my chart and my ‘person’. I experienced this period as an actual slowing down of my body and being.

Enthusiasm (which I have buckets) just didn’t come as easily.

August 2020

So, remember my surgery and the cyst? Turns out, it’s “odontogenic myxoma“. It’s so rare that the doctor got it tested TWICE.

It’s rare but benign tumour that can be quite aggressive. There’s a 25% chance of reoccurance which means there is a possibility of my face being eaten up by itself.

I had the option of letting it be (and having check ups frequently) or taking a chunk of my jaw out so it doesn’t spread.

It was a very difficult period. The surgery to remove my jaw felt so BIG and scary.

Even scarier was the private hospital quotation of six figures: three surgeons each at 5 figures before the hospital stay.

I cried a lot during this time (August/September/October). Everything felt out of my control.

Of course, I hide all this by being productive.

I ran the first live round of Tarot From Zero. As its name suggests, this training helps people get started with tarot. (You can buy it here.)

I also ran my first astrology webinar, this free training leads into to my career profiling consultation.

September 2020

Early in the month, I went to Mt Elizabeth Novena for a CT Scan. It was very sad. The room was cold. I was alone. I had to scan my jaw and my leg since the doctors were planning to extract my bone for my jaw.

Did a re-run of Tarot From Zero as part of the Peatix Online Event Festival.

October 2020

Ran a 7-day Tarot Orientation Camp. 116 people signed up! (Woo hoo!)

I shared tiny tarot lessons every day. I might run another one in 2021 but with less info overload.

Ran a Facebook Live with Sophie on Hypnotherapy. She did a live hypnotherapy session on me during the show. Check it out!

This month, my orthodontist suggested that I go to the National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS) to ask about my jaw condition since the private hospital bill was too scary.

I was VERY lucky as I managed to get an appointment at a nearby polyclinic for a referral to NDCS.

But the NDCS appointment was scheduled for December! Bummer!

My orthodontist told me not to be discouraged and to write in to see if they could bump up my date!

Eventually they did! I saw the NDCS specialist at the end of October. And after many appointments, we scheduled the eventual surgery for January 29.

I felt so much better after the NDCS confirmation. I didn’t have to go bankrupt to save my own life!

[Astro Talk] Looking back at the dates, I noticed that there was a Lunar Eclipse on my natal Mars on July 5. Lunar eclipse are more about internal revelations. And the events take place 2 weeks before or after the actual date but the repercussions can drag on for six months.

I think the eclipse made me realize that I am mortal. That I’m not the superperson I thought I was. That parts of my body would happily (or unconsciously) eat me up without a care.

Mars equates drive and action. And for someone who’s ruled by Mars (Aries rising), I also ‘saw’ how not being to take action was depressing for me.

November 2020

Mars went direct (but still in the retrograde shadow) from November 13. And I started doing A LOT of things because I finally found the energy to do so.

I ran a free training that I later turned into a paid training.

Tarot for Self Coaching helps you connect with your intuition for self discovery and guidance. It’s one of the ways I personally use tarot.

Chatted with Jeremy on Exploring Trauma In Relationships by looking at Venus signs.

December 2020

Finally ran my intermediate tarot class! Linking & connecting tarot cards. (Available for purchase too~)

[Astro Talk] The Jupiter and Saturn conjunction in Aquarius doesn’t seem to be hitting me hard. But since Aquarius is my 11th house of community, I started having the desire to be part of a community.

It’s weird because I really like being on my own. (I have zero planets in the 11th house so naturally, I don’t give a hoot about it.) And I don’t like being in ‘a group’.

Part of it is the fear of being abandoned (see January for a refresher), another part is “fitting in” is something I don’t want to force myself to do.

We’ll see how this plays out.

Summarizing 2020

2020 was good for my tarot/astrology career.

It wasn’t that great for my health, though it’s good that I discovered it now than later on in life.

Someone asked me to write about the “ups and downs” of the year. You’ve read lots of the ups, but there’s one down that I didn’t write about.

I didn’t handle a social situation/relationship well. (If you follow me enough, you might get a hint of it.)

I still don’t really know how to feel about it. I see myself as the bad guy that is convinced that I’m right. I also wonder why I can’t just let people live their lives their way.

[Astro Talk] I have a strong Moon-Jupiter combo in my chart (it appears 3 times!) so I have very strong moral judgements.

It works if I’m fighting injustice but terrible when it’s interpersonal relationships.

[Astro Talk 2] This post was published the day before Mercury (communication) met with Pluto (deep investigation, the taboo). It took me a long time to finish this up but I thought it was appropriate to have finalised on this day,

Let me know if you have Qs about the year. Or share your year with me too!