Lifestyle

I lived my live by my horoscope app for a week and this is what happened

I lived my live by my horoscope app for a week and this is what happened
Why Astrology Is So Popular Among So Many Americans
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If there's one thing Gen-Z knows, it's their zodiac sign.

Long gone are the days when asking "what's your sign" was weird. Now, it's all about how the stars and planets aligned the day you were brought into the world.

Tons of people buy into the idea that our personalities are pre-determined by fate and many of those people fall into my generation- Gen Z. We're more likely to ditch the traditional religious route and find new and exciting ways to explain the inexplicable things in life.

Even for people who do not necessarily believe astrology is real, there's no denying it's fun to learn about qualities you may possess and seek advice according to the stars.

And there is no better place to get the vague advice you need than individualized astrology apps like Co-Star.

Co-Star is an app created by Banu Guler that combines NASA JPL data with artificial intelligence to deliver personalized advice every day.

Users who download the app, create a unique username and then input specific information about the day they were born (time of birth, location of birth, what day, year, etc.) in order to get the most accurate alignment of the planets. You can also add friends to see how compatible you are and what the best way to interact with them is.

According to Axios, more than 20 million people have downloaded Co-Star to get the life advice they need. And I'm one of them. Mostly because Co-Star is so much more than a daily horoscope.

It lays out the planetary alignments the day you were born and deciphers what each one means according to you, it gives you a list of things to "do" and "don't" every single day, and even offers public forums for like-minded people to write their thoughts.

This is not your mother's astrological chart.

As a Gemini, I constantly go back and forth with myself on whether to believe astrology is as powerful as everyone says it is. So this week I decided to challenge myself by following what my Co-Star says.

But I thought it would be even more interesting to follow my Co-Star's "do" and "don't" list which is notorious for suggesting random items and vague ideas for each person.

Monday

Monday's list of "Do" and "Don't" Co-Star

Monday started off strong. I eagerly grabbed my phone in the morning to see what the planets had in store for me and was delighted to find that I had to listen to a podcast. But less delighted to know I had to "do" off the record.

I cannot even begin to express my disappointment knowing I wasn't allowed to do power tools. I've never owned a power tool in my life and made big plans to pick one up today but Co-Star deterred me from this! Oh well, another year will pass without a power tool in my possession. C'est la vie.

While getting ready for work I listened to The Daily from the New York Times and rather than taking the initiative of reaching out to sources, I decided to follow Co-Star's advice and not be proactive on a story (apologies to my editor).

When my roommate asked me 'how was your day' rather than go on a monologue of all the details, I kept it short and sweet with "good."

Overall 7/10 day.

Tuesday

Tuesday's list included avoiding all hot takes Co-Star

In my dash to get ready for work I completely forgot to check my Co-Star first thing Tuesday morning.

Luckily, I remembered halfway through my morning and was excited to see that I had already done two things it told me. I listened to a playlist while making my way to work - I'm going to consider 'mixtape' and 'playlist' the same thing - and I had made a to-do list for the day.

Having no idea what a tincture was, Google told me it was extract of a plant or animal mixed with ethanol. I did not have that and honestly had no idea where to get it so I decided to interpret this as an elderflower cocktail.

Avoiding heated debates, hot takes, and big decisions was a dream come true for my non-confrontational self.

8.5/10 day.

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Wednesday

Wednesday I forgot to follow my "Do" and "Don't" list, this is probably why I had a bad day Co-Star

Wednesday - oof.

The middle of the week is always rough for me and that was only made worse by my failure to check Co-Star all day. Had I known I should not have been in a daze with my head underwater I probably would've called into work sick.

4/10 day.

Thursday

Best day of the week was Thursday when my list to follow was fun Co-Star

I wasn't going to make the same mistake I did on Wednesday. So Thursday morning I checked my Co-Star while walking to the subway and found the list pretty manageable.

Although it's difficult to completely avoid social media while working as a Gen-Z news writer, I decided to not refresh my Instagram for the day as per Co-Star's rules. Not sure how impactful it was but I did reduce my screen time.

Luckily 'doing' seltzer and snack bowl was quite easy for me to complete and it brightened my day to treat myself to a hard seltzer and some pretzels. I also used the thesaurus feature while writing a story so I gave myself a point for kinda checking 'encyclopedia' off the list.

9/10 day.

Friday

I was so excited to end my week just as strong as I started it. As soon as I turned over in bed, I looked at my Co-Star, eager to see what I would be doing today.

Only instead of my typical "do" and "don't" list, I found an entirely new design that got rid of the lists and instead offered timely suggestions.

Friday I was devastated to find Co-Star had updated it's app and gotten rid of my beloved "Do" and "Don't" list Co-Star

What is this? I guess they decided to update the app. My timing is impeccable.

So I took their light suggestions by drinking some ginger lemon tea and crying about the loss of my beloved "do" and "don't" list with a very absorbent towel.

5/10.

Although I'm still unsure about this whole astrology thing, it did make my week more fun to know I had a small list of tasks to do and don't do based on planetary alignments.

The days I didn't complete my list or forgot to check ended up being bad days but the days I did follow were exciting and energetic. Who's to say if Co-Star has anything to do with that.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure most of these things are meant to be taken metaphorically.

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