Tag: New Moon

At 2:17am on December 23rd the moon was new. Earlier this evening, at 6:08pm, She became full. I’m not sure there’s ever been a half-cycle gap between a New Moon and my professed intention before, but here we are.

I find that I’m still digging into the feelings around Wanting from September’s focus. In that post, I wrote “Receiving is contingent on generosity, reciprocity, consent, and a whole variety of other conditions – but the Wanting is solely on us. We’re allowed, and even encouraged, to Want – regardless of the outcome.”

But what happens when we’re not truly certain what “we” actually want?

Following this thread of thinking, I happened upon something called mimetic theory, proposed by 20th century French philosophical anthropologist René Girard.… More...

At 5:57pm on Wednesday, November 23rd the Moon was New again. I have known about this theme since then and had wanted to post this – but holidays, band gigs, birthdays, and the like happened first. If we are going to reflect on life, it’s important to remember to live it as well!

Last cycle’s theme of Reciprocity was in reaction to the prior cycle’s focus on Wanting. In thinking about Reciprocity, I thought about the acts of Wanting and Receiving, and how being open to Getting what we Give, and Giving what we might wish to Receive, are all gathered in a similar construct. This reminded me of Betty Martin’s “Wheel of Consent” – where the acts of Giving/Taking/Allowing/Receiving are all quadrants in a wheel.… More...

Wishing a Blessed Samhain to all who celebrate!! At 6:49am last Tuesday the moon was new again, so before morning She will be one quarter full.

The theme last month was Wanting, and in the closing for the post I’d said that “Receiving is contingent on generosity, reciprocity, consent, and a whole variety of other conditions – but the Wanting is solely on us.”

Years ago, after attending a conference, I had thought that I wanted to ‘Make Compassion Contagious’ – so I started an online presence called “Catch Compassion”. It still exists on Facebook and Twitter (for the time being). The philosophy behind it was simple – “Be grateful. Want without expectation. Accept with humility. Love without agenda. Make Compassion Contagious”.… More...

At 5:55pm on Sunday evening the moon was New again.

The theme for this past cycle was Integration. After years in programming, I can tell you that one of the trickiest phases in the software development lifecycle was Integration – blending myriad patches with existing code in preparation for release. I don’t think I realized how many different changes were going to be manifest in this integration.

This past cycle saw my first participation in Improv Camp. I’d been using voices and characters to either entertain others or mask myself for years – but this was one of the first times using them intentionally and while being directed. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to do it again – but one class in particular moved me.… More...

The moon was New again at 4:17am this morning. It’s unusual for me to post one of these on the actual day, but it’s nice once in a while to announce a new intention with a whole month ahead of me.

The most recent theme of Silence took on a number of different flavors throughout the month. Having an intention does not always mean choosing that path – it just brings mindfulness to it. A few times during the month I had opportunities for self-advocacy which showed me that speaking my own truth can reap wonderful rewards. Meanwhile, when my Silence is induced by my social anxiety, it can hinder my progress. A case of balance in all things, I suppose.… More...

On Thursday afternoon at 1:55pm the Moon was New. Later in that afternoon, Jupiter went Retrograde. It is said that Jupiter retrograde calls us to review or Release something and can be a time of personal growth.

Timely for Jupiter’s turn, last month’s focus was on Release. In my Initiation ritual I was called to let go of my over-thinking and put more trust in my intuition. I have begun to trust that intuition more in the past three years than I used to – I always believed in it, but I would always second-guess myself. Now I find I’m saying “yes” more when I am moved to. If there needs to be damage control on the other side, so be it – but I would much rather work to make amends to someone else as a result of being true to myself, than live with the regret of not having lived this life to the fullest.… More...

At 10:52pm on June 28th the Moon was new again, and today at 2:38pm the Blessing Moon (or Meadow Moon, or Buck Moon) was full.

I am not “late” for this intention, but there were some things to move through before I could be sure what the focus was actually going to be.

The last cycle saw me looking into empowerment and something I chose to call “compassionate assertiveness”. This is something I feel I’ll be working through for a while – as with so many lessons – I had some of the “assertiveness” down, but can find places I fell short on compassion. Still, using a recently found voice is going to come with some rough patches, so in many ways some of the compassion I need to exercise is also with myself.… More...

On Monday morning at 7:30am the Moon was new again. The theme of Kindness last cycle took an unanticipated turn; the beneficiary of the Kindness ended up needing to be myself. The week following a wonderful Beltane celebration saw the final dental implant posts, and while the surgery itself was fine, I think we discovered a sensitivity to amoxicillin which leaves me feverish and fatigued.

The rest of the cycle was spent being very mindful of how I was moving through the world. A birthday and a quick trip for work helped to remind me how different my life feels these past few years.

It’s been said that my trip to Australia in 2019 was ‘outside the box’ for me – very much unlike the Sean people had come to expect.… More...

On Saturday, April 30 at 4:28pm the moon was new again.

Last month I spoke of the sweetness and simple joy found in Harmony. The idea that “the best of times can be found in the simplest things” carried on through the month. The day after I had posted that focus I left for a five day trip to Pittsburgh to honor the life and path of Fred Rogers. The path that he had manifested so clearly and consistently was one of Kindness, and this informed my focus choice for this cycle. This ethos is also reflected in one of my favorite quotes from Doctor Who – “always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind”.

It is not easy to consistently exhibit Kindness though.… More...

At 2:24am last Friday, April 1, the moon was new again.

The focus during the last cycle was Comfort – something that was much needed in light of my contracting Covid and the trials that the prior cycle’s focus on Resilience had brought. Finding Comfort has often been challenging for me, as the most Comfort I usually feel is when I retreat into my own worlds. While that can feel comfortable – I would hesitate to say it brings actual Comfort.

Places that have historically brought me Comfort have been times I’d been playing with a band, and the moments that really bring me the most joy have been singing in Harmony. Thirty years ago when my musical journey began, I could never find harmonies in songs on my own – I felt it was some odd alchemy that vocalists could just find a 3rd or a 5th in a scale and weave counter-melodies and harmonies.… More...