TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Years ago I lived in a run-down old house in rural North Carolina. At $50 a month, the rent was steep considering that there was no running water and most of the windows were broken when I moved in. My bathtub was a bucket I dipped into a well and filled with water that I heated up on my puny gas stove. When my food stamps ran out each month, I’d ride my one-speed bike six miles to the cafeteria at a local college, where I scavenged scraps that students left behind on their plates. I hope this vignette inspires you, Taurus, to recall in detail the lowest, most deprived period of your life. It’s time to take inventory of how far you’ve come — and to imagine a future that’s as much an improvement over now as now is over then.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 1997, Jody Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to persuade more than 100 countries to ban deadly land mines. When she held a press conference at the end of a dirt road near her Vermont farmhouse, she was barefoot and wore jeans and a tank top. It reflected the unassuming nature that had served her so well during years of dogged efforts to change the world. I nominate this ordinary hero to be your role model in the coming weeks, Taurus. According to my reading of the astrological omens, your gradual, matter-of-fact persistence will give you the power to make a fundamental improvement in the way your environment reflects your ideals.