Moon Mondays: Emotions aren’t the bad guys

“You’re too sensitive!” I’ve heard that refrain over and over my entire life, skipping like a scratched record.

Next comes, “You’re so emotional,” packed with accusation. That’s followed closely by the shaming, “Why do you even care? This only matters to you. Why are you letting this get to you?”

For a long time, I internalized the message that feeling deeply was something to fix, overcome, or thicken my skin against. Pull myself up by my bootstraps. Get over it. Don’t take everything so personally.

Here’s the thing — that never works. Feelings don’t just magically disappear. Denied emotions don’t evaporate; they squirt out sideways. Buried hurts show up as rage, implosions, holiday sugar binges, adrenaline-spiked scrolling, snippiness with loved ones or exhaustion that knocks us flat.

I admit it. I’m sensitive. I’m emotional. At this point in my life, I’m actually proud of it. I’ve worked hard to feel all my feels — because emotions aren’t the problem, not feeling them is.

Why this full moon hits close to home

Astrologically speaking, it makes sense. I have a Cancer stellium — my sun, Venus, and Mars all sit tightly together in Cancer. The themes of emotion, sensitivity, protection and care are baked into my operating system. Just as Venus and Mars are presently aligned behind the sun (think about that when you next look up at our star) I carry that same configuration in my birth chart — only in Cancer.

Right now, those three are all united in Capricorn, Cancer’s opposite sign. Friday night brings the Cancer full moon, glowing directly across the sky from the Capricorn Sun.

Oppositions often get a bad rap in astrology — framed as tension, conflict, or friction. I see them differently. Signs that sit on opposite ends of the same axis often share more in common than we realize.

If you need proof, just step outside at sunset and watch the full moon rise. Nothing about that moment feels stressful. It’s grounding. Awe-inspiring. It orients us — like we’re exactly where we’re meant to be. Full moons make us want to party, celebrate and get a little wild under the illuminated night sky.

Cancer and Capricorn: two ways of caring

Cancer and Capricorn are both “serving others” signs. They’re wired to support the collective — just in different ways.

Cancer serves through emotional attunement. She mothers, nurtures, feeds, and protects. She helps us feel safe enough to grow into who we’re meant to be.

Capricorn serves as the wise elder — the grandmother energy. She builds foundations, offers guidance through experience, and reminds us there’s a steadier, more sustainable way forward. She teaches resilience, boundaries and long-term perspective.

These signs share the solstice axis, too — Cancer ushering in summer, Capricorn heralding in winter (any day now, fingers crossed). Cancer feeds us from the emotional groundwork Capricorn lays beneath us, helping us stand strong and soar from a place of safety.

Both signs share a similar shadow: overgiving.

They’re so naturally focused on meeting others’ needs that they often forget themselves — until they’re depleted, sick, resentful, or burned out. Even then, they’ll often keep going.

How to work with this Cancer full moon

As the Cancer full moon rises on Friday, opposite the setting Capricorn sun, we’re offered a moment in the middle of holiday madness and peak winter busyness.

This moon asks us to check in honestly: Where am I overgiving? Overdoing? Ignoring my own needs?

If you’re like me and find yourself awake under the floodlight full moon, try turning that wakefulness inward rather than fighting it. Slow your breath. Ask gently: Where am I right now? In my body? My energy? My emotions?

Cancer is a water sign, meant to feel. Beneath her hard crab shell lives exquisite sensitivity (and tastiness). Let her luminous moonlight guide you into your emotional landscape — beyond the cultural conditioning that rewards stoicism and dismisses feeling.

Because not feeling doesn’t make us strong. It makes us sick, reactive, and unkind.

This full moon invites us to mother ourselves, supported by Capricorn’s steady grandmother wisdom — allowing us to be exactly who we are.

For me, that means remembering: I’m meant to be emotional and sensitive. I’m here to help make feelings great again. To bring emotion back online, so we stop stuffing our pain and spewing it out sideways into the world as cruelty, disconnection, or harm.

Feeling isn’t weakness to be pushed aside.

It’s how we heal and make the world a better place.

Sheridan

Astrology Life Coach and Moon Sisters Circle Guide