This weekly update covers the coming two weeks as I am going on vacation for my 50^th birthday and I won’t write next week.

I will celebrate my birthday on June 17, with my family in Hawaii, where I am going to meet a wonderful Gemini friend who I’ve never met before. His name is Chuck Miller, and he is a renowned yoga teacher, and the ex-husband of my dear friend and teacher, Maty Ezraty, who left this world unexpectedly almost four years ago.

As Geminis often do, Chuck and I processed our pain for the loss of Maty by writing long emails to one another. Whenever I write to him, the words just burst out of me, like a waterfall. Sometimes I apologize for my long emails, and he always responds, “you can never write too much”.

Chuck has never met me, but he knows me better than most people in this world do. I’ve always felt comfortable to write him everything, even my deepest fears and my darkest secrets. I’ve enjoyed his acceptance of me, and his wise perspective on things. This is a magical connection, of deep understanding and knowing.

Gemini is the sign of siblings. As I see it, siblings can be soul brothers and sisters. They don’t have to be related by blood. Sometimes you meet someone and there is a feeling of being at home with them. Sometimes though, it is also the way in which we engage in a conversation, that allows such connectedness.

Gemini season is here to teach us how to reach soulful connections with others.

This week we are approaching the new moon in Gemini, which will be next Sunday, June 18. The moon will already enter Gemini on Thursday, June 15, so we will have three days of double Gemini in the air. We can use these days to integrate the Gemini’s teachings into our lives.

On Wednesday June 21, the longest day of the year, the sun moved into Cancer. When Gemini energy is combined with Cancer energy, we can get a good vulnerable conversation.

I recently met two different people who claimed that most of us have a hard time establishing real, honest, engaging conversations.

A good conversation can be enlightening. It helps us connect with parts of ourselves that we have forgotten. The other person’s words can be a beam of light that makes our soul shine if we are open enough to receive it.

The most exciting news of my week was the publication of my interview with Søren Bregendal (Erik, “Emily in Paris”) on Elephant Journal. When I met Søren for the interview, even though I was obviously nervous and excited, it felt comfortable right from the start.

At the end of the interview, Søren mentioned that I made him feel safe. When I tried to think of what contributed to the feeling of ease that we both shared, it took me to the beginning of our conversation.

I opened by asking him how his weekend was. He told me about visiting his mother who lives by the coast of Denmark. He then asked about my weekend. I could have just said that I had a nice weekend, or something general that would sound acceptable. But I decided to share how I was sick and had stayed in bed. I even mentioned that I might need to blow my nose during our session.

One part of me was telling me that I was crazy and not professional. Who talks about blowing her nose in an interview with a famous actor? But the truth is, I felt I was talking with a soul brother, so I allowed myself to be vulnerable. This very honest, direct, and open beginning set the tone for the entire interview.

Gemini, and air signs in general, always feel a little weird and isolated. There is a strong need to feel liked and accepted by others, to feel that we belong. Vulnerability is one of the biggest lessons Geminis need to learn. The more we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, the more connected and less lonely we feel.

When we talk with people from the perspective of being soul siblings, we can imagine that we sit together in the comfort of our living room, wearing our pajamas, sharing a huge bawl of popcorn. Such coziness removes our defenses in a healthy way that promotes enlightening conversations.

The reason why Chuck and I developed such a deep friendship was that we started talking about death. Vulnerability was there right from the start.

A tendency many of us have, is to start thinking about how we want to respond while the other person speaks, so that we don’t really listen. We might get carried away with our own thoughts and not pay attention. The other person senses our inattentiveness and withdraws. The conversation remains shallow and boring.

As a Gemini whose head is constantly active, it took me years of practice until I was able to really listen to others when they speak. Now I am a great listener. I trust that I will know exactly how to respond when the other person finishes talking, and I always do.

For this coming new moon in Gemini, and the end of Gemini season, journal around the following questions:

• When was the last time I had an enlightening, engaging conversation with someone?
• Do I tend to think of how to respond when the other person speaks, or do I really listen?
• How open and vulnerable am I in my conversations with others?
• Do I have some people who I consider to be my soul siblings?

This time, I also suggest a practical exercise:

• Think of someone who is relatively new in your life who you want to feel closer to, and meet them in person or virtually for an open, vulnerable, soulful conversation. Let me know how it went.

I invite you to check out my interview with Søren. He is such a fascinating and inspiring man. He is an actor, singer, songwriter, and astrologer! He meditates twice a day, devotes his life to support young people in need, and promotes gardening as a leisure activity. In our conversation we talked about astrology, spirituality, acting, love, romance, diversity, how personal evolution can help resolve global conflicts and more.