It’s been a tough year for optimists: each month has brought its own breed of bad news, and with travel restrictions still in much of the world and many familiar comforts still shut down, it’s hard to recalibrate and move forward with unwavering positivity. Even the most starry-eyed seem to have faltered. But over the last week or so, I’ve noticed something interesting.

People are starting to dream again.

With the return of the Sun to its native sign, excitement has returned to our lives. There’s electricity in the air, a buzz of creativity and enthusiasm. In fact, this last week of July might just be the best of the summer, so dust off your designer shorts, throw on your rosiest glasses, and follow the Sun’s fabulous lead: Leo Season is here to save the day.

I may be biased, but Fire Seasons have a current like nothing else. Every beat brings a flood of new energy, a pulse of creativity that you just can’t help but get excited about. Possibilities seem endless, momentum is palpable. And while we’re still gearing up to the trine between the Sun and Mars in the coming weeks, fire is still the energy du jour. This is due in no small part to the prevalence of squares in this week’s chart. In fact, if you’ve glanced at this week’s chart, you may be a little perplexed by all this talk about optimism and drive. Squares are considered “hard” aspects, points of tension that create challenge. Why would this be a good week for anyone when the whole chart is squares and oppositions?

Squares are my favourite aspect. They illuminate obstacles along our paths, highlight tensions that require resolution to move forward. They’re more straightforward than oppositions, which often express in exhausting flip-flops and confusions, and less abrasive than conjunctions where planets are pitted against each other: squares make no pretense about what they are. Squares provide our most direct routes to growth. But they also provide a sort of flirtatious tension, hooking you to the moment with their promise of integration: they represent a delayed gratification, a thrilling taste of what’s to come if only you keep going.

With the Sun now in Leo, the smouldering sign of all creativity and pleasure, these squares are every bit their playful potential. We flirt with growth and change without worrying about the process--that’s Earth Sign territory, and we’ll have plenty of time for that during meticulous Virgo Season. And with the First Quarter Moon in Scorpio this week, we’re primed to play the game. Without the Sun, Uranus in Taurus could be grating to our emotions, emphasizing the strange and unstable world that just won’t allow us any consistent source of comfort. Just as strategies of war can be turned into tabletop games, the Sun in Leo turns it all into fun. The new and the different provides us with make-believe scenarios to enact, roles to try on without fear of commitment.

If you find you like the flashy new shoes you’ve stepped into, you don’t need to return the rental: Larger-Than-Life Jupiter encourages us to get out of our heads and put our emotions to good use thanks to its annual opposition with Mercury. Retrograde season compounded the raw emotionality that prevented us from measurable progress, but Mercury is officially halfway out of the Cancerian swamp and Jupiter, the King of All Potential, can work with this. The last few months have been a crash course in Shadow and if we’ve been paying attention, we have a much better idea of who we are and what our foundations are built on. Our subconscious depths are less of a mystery. And with Mars pulling the bow of this opposition into a taught T-square, we’re finally ready to take action on what we’ve learned. We know what we need to feel vibrant and alive, and with Lilith still in close quarters we’re not afraid to claim our desire.

Delayed gratification is a larger theme this year. In a world where we’re used to getting what we want when we want it (or at most two business days afterwards), this is a totally foreign concept. We’ve already seen some big shifts here: the world has shrunk significantly, largely consisting of our own four walls; social and business plans need to be made in advance; even Amazon is delivering slower than usual. As Mars continues his march through Aries, we may feel more frustration than motivation; when I calculated the retrograde transits for 2020, I had a strong inclination that Mars’ retrograde message would involve maintaining enthusiasm and developing through play. Aries has a well-earned reputation as a hard-edged military machine, capable of charging forward on whatever goal is in sight, but it’s also the first sign of the zodiac which comes with a certain childlike quality. It’s our ground zero of development, the place of discovery and experience that primes us for evolution. Mars’ transit through Aries in 2020 is a tease: at the final degrees of Aries, Mars turns around and dances back to the halfway point. This gives us almost double the amount of time to capitalize on this discovery and development period, especially in areas of our life that require drive and ambition that may be sorely lacking. Mars enters his retrograde shadow this week so be on the lookout for areas and situations that may play vital roles in these lessons later in the year.

With the dawn of Leo Season, we’re officially in the thick of summer. While we may not be able to sate our wanderlust or venture too far from home, we can still indulge in a little summer romance. Remember, tension doesn’t have to be destructive. Instead of letting the fire fray your nerves, let it smoulder. Flirt with potential, allow yourself to be seduced by possibility, and take the opportunity to rediscover what you actually desire.