Tag: New Moon

This past Tuesday we had our first New Moon of 2018. Throughout last year I set an intention with every new moon to work on some aspect of myself – awareness, forgiveness, self-care, etc. It was a good exercise but I thought I would be done after doing it for a year.

Turns out I’m not done yet.

I spent much of November and December in a whirlwind of life – overseas trips, holidays, time with friends & chosen family, work obligations, musical adventures – all of it wonderful… but it left me a little off-balance. There were times I got cranky, or snippy with people. I always tried to apologize as it happened – but still, I don’t want to shift into that space.… More...

There was a new moon early this morning, so it’s time for the last New Moon intention for 2017.

It’s been quite a year. I started in January with self-awareness because I knew I wanted to be present for this year – I wanted to deliberately and mindfully watch myself as the wheel turned. Having the concussion in late January moved me to learn many new things about how my brain and consciousness work and work together, so February’s work became about self-discovery. March brought a call for self-forgiveness, while April turned to self-determination. I don’t think it’s an accident that my mother passed away during self-determination. May was consequently about self-expression – having started to truly feel the ability to express myself without censorship.… More...

There was a New Moon last Saturday morning – but this is the first opportunity I’ve really had to write about the work for this cycle. December is going to be crazy for me – I think I figured that I’ll be away from home for 13 days in this cycle – including six aircraft take-offs & landings and over 1,000 miles of driving. It’s all good stuff, and they are all blessings… stamina and resiliency are going to be tough.

So this cycle is about self-care. All around me are too many examples of what happens when you don’t pay attention to what your mind, body, and spirit need. So these few weeks will see a lot of my trying to implement the things I’ve learned in the past ten months and find ways to re-charge through all of the good things that lie ahead.

We had a New Moon very early Wednesday morning, but this is my first opportunity to write about this cycle’s intention. Last cycle’s theme of resiliency – bouncing up off the mat – was a good one. I used the prior cycle’s tools of self advocacy and tried to communicate clearly and concisely on a few occasions. It’s still a new skill, and I did fall a number of times – but, resiliency – we get back up.

This past weekend’s trip to LA pointed to this cycle’s work. I have a “human contact paradox” that many of you are familiar with. I want and like human contact, but I also have wicked bad social anxiety – I guess I’m like a cat that way, pet me until I scratch you.… More...

Another new moon and another point of focus. Given the current trials with my thumb and knee, I was tempted to go for self-healing – but that would have been wrong. While I do play a part in my healing, it’s never solely up to me.

But how I choose to bounce back is. How I recover from physical injury, how I recover from emotional hurt, how I strive for new heights as I embrace the prior cycle’s theme of self-advocacy.

So this cycle holds a theme of Self-Resiliency. As I work to let go of some powerful ghosts, as I dedicate myself to new levels of spiritual growth, as I tend to the needs of this physical vessel, I need to build the space for recovery, for rebound, and look to harvest the blessings I’ve worked to sow the seeds for.

I struggled a bit with this cycle’s New Moon intention. I’ve moved through self-awareness, self-discovery, self-forgiveness, self-determination, self-expression, and this past cycle’s focus on self-improvement. Greece helped a lot in showing what I was physically capable of, and what still needs to be changed. The trip also broadened my understanding and appreciation for my spiritual life.

I had thought this cycle might have been spent basking in the work done so far – but I’m finding I’m not quite finished with the themes of self-determination and self-expression – be it personal or professional, I’m still reluctant to truly speak up for myself.

So this cycle will be spent looking at self-advocacy. While we can look to others for help, we are the ones who are truly invested in ourselves.… More...

This has been a year of really being mindful of the steps on my path, and tonight brings me to another New Moon intention to set. This year I’ve moved through self-awareness, self-discovery, self-forgiveness, self-determination, self-expression – and with this cycle I move to self-improvement. I have a better sense of myself, my strengths, and limitations and I feel like I have some degree of self-determination and that I’m developing the skills to express it. So now, how to improve by building on all of that. The enlightenment I hope to get from the Greece trip feels like a great first step!!

This afternoon brings another New Moon, and my evolutionary journey through 2017 continues – each new moon brings a different facet of myself to pay attention to or work on. January was self-awareness, February was self-discovery, March was self-forgiveness, and April was self-determination. Interesting that about half-way through self-determination my mother passed away.

I was involved in a very powerful and personally profound healing ritual at the retreat over the weekend. Building on the themes that it uncovered, this lunar cycle’s work will revolve around self-expression. I’m not sure what form that will take yet – but we learn as we go!

Every new moon I pick a new topic to reflect on. In January it was self-awareness, February was self-discovery, and March was self-forgiveness. I really had planned on this new moon being about something else… but it’s just not time for that yet. Instead, this cycle will be about self-determination.

There are times in our lives where we act against our own best interests – we do things that inadvertently hurt ourselves or others – but good or bad, we always have a choice. Over the next few weeks I want to try to be more mindful of those cusps and try to lean toward nurturing and fulfillment – not just for myself but for those around me as well.

For the past few months I’ve been working on different areas of self-improvement. First was self-awareness, then self-discovery, and right now I’m in the middle of exercises in self-forgiveness. That can take on many forms, but it begins with understanding one’s need for forgiveness in the first place.

With time to reflect today, I returned to the Buddhist concept of Shenpa and decided I wanted to see what more I could read about it – because that Shenpa, or attachment, seems like it sits at the heart of my being too hard on myself. When I did a search today, I found an article published just this past Friday from Pema Chödrön – a Buddhist voice I respect very much. The timing and synergy suggested it was important to share this.… More...