Mercury is in retrograde from August 23rd thru September 14th this year. For more information on this phenomena, check here.
How is perfectionism affecting my life?
Rebirth – You are in the process of reevaluating the value of perfectionism, and how placing so much value upon it is affecting you emotionally. This is a time of rebirth for you, allowing you to see what needs changing in your behavior and begin the process of acceptance that change needs to happen and begin thinking about how to go about making those changes. Awareness truly is 9/10ths of the battle.
How can I rectify being overly critical, especially when communicating with others?
Endings – Remember that others have the option of walking away if they don’t like how the conversation is going. Therefore, if you want them to value what you have to say, it needs to be presented in a more palatable manner. Otherwise, you have lost before you even truly have had a chance to begin.
What is the perceived gain of being hyper critical? What is the reality?
Growth – The perceived gain in being hyper critical of yourself is that that demand for perfection creates opportunities and room for growth. That by being a perfectionist it helps advance your goals.
Preservation – The reality is, though, that it instead creates stagnation. Instead of moving forward, perfectionism slows things down to the point that you remain within the range of the status quo instead of advancing.
A message from Mercury.
Fate – Your struggle with perfectionism is a lesson you need to experience and learn from in this life cycle. Don’t ignore it, or you will have to repeat it the next time around.
A message from Amalthea.
Detachment – You are on the right track in your method of detaching yourself from the perfectionist inclinations when you identify them rising up in unhealthy ways.
Twisting the Leaf 