February First Quarter Moon

Photo by Alan Gillespie

At the First Quarter Moon we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - growing in light and energy, creating a time for decisive action. Kiki Ely, in her book Living Lunerly, says, "A good way to remember this is by looking at the perfect line of shadow down the moon's center: this is the moment to draw a firm line, boundary, or decision in your life and stick to it."

I use this February quarter moon's energy to actively gather in and nurture all the seeds of projects, relationships, and organizations that are under my care; I use obstacles as fuel for growth and show full effort for my priorities. 

Agenda:
1. Journal queries

2. Make a Full Effort Plan

3. Write a mission haiku

1. Journal queries:

Today, at the first quarter moon, I prepare to give full effort to my priorities. 

Which of my priorities am I having the most trouble acting on this month?

What potential challenges and obstacles do I face this week and month (things I don’t enjoy, don’t know how to do, or feel blocked on)? How can I best meet these challenges?

How will I find the inspiration that will spark full effort for my priorities, every day, over and over?

2. Make a full effort plan: 

Full effort (sometimes called exertion) is one of the steps of mental discipline on Buddha’s eightfold path. Buddha was urging full effort for awakening the mind; a first step is to practice full effort for whatever is most important in your life right now - for your priorities.

Full effort requires:

-Attention: You remember your intentions - what it is you want to do and your deepest reasons why - and also notice your emotions, energy, challenges, etc. (I build energy for my priorities by reviewing them throughout the day.) 

-A spark of energy and determination: You connect to your excitement for life, and sustain it long enough to accomplish your priorities. (When the time comes to act on one of my priorities I lean in to it with excitement and curiosity.) 

-Balance: You hold your intentions lightly in the complexity of life. If you are driven to complete everything on your list at all costs, you may miss an opportunity to grow, to open your heart, to find peace within.

From my journal: I have so many irons in the fire right now that I feel a little anxious. Today I will focus on two priorities: The panel discussion I'm preparing for, and our garden (currently a mire of mud). My full effort plan is:

1. Schedule time each day to prepare for the talk I will present on Saturday (and let go of my other reading this week).
2. Make a detailed backwards calendar for our garden project and work in the garden every day, doing one step at a time with attention and love.

3: Write a Mission Haiku:

My missions are my various big projects or directions in life. Today I'm going to look at our huge garden project and write it as a haiku, because a poem has a unique ability of getting to the core of a Truth. Here's the steps I use:

1. Write a brief, evocative sentence or two describing this top mission in life, and the significant issues that surround it:

Remove a tree, negotiate and settle on the design, invest time and money, uproot and re-arrange everything, and create a space that suits us forever more.

2. List the most exciting or pleasing verbs that describe what you want to do with this mission:

Dream, map out, negotiate, invest, build, plant, create.

3. Next, list some core values that go with this mission:

Earthcare, creativity, Love / sanctuary, peace, simplicity

4. Turn these sentences, verbs, and values into a haiku, an unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (or you could try a Cinquain, which is five lines, with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables), that gets to the core of your mission, and gives you a framework for your actions.

Winter

garden dreaming.

map, negotiate, invest;

build a sanctuary for our

Love

 

4. Practice visualization:

I call on the practice of visualization to help bring my goals to fruition. Today I choose my top two action goals to shine a light on. Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. It has three steps:

• First, center and relax each part of my body; count from 10 to 1, then open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.
• Second, create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of exactly how my sanctuary garden will look, and imagine how it will feel to sit in it, and put as much positive energy into the image as possible. 
• Lastly, affirm that this is what I want with a short positive phrase in the present tense; for example, "Our garden is a sanctuary for our family, friends, ducks, plants and animals for the rest of our lives."

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (or it's just a good way to keep my intentions in my mind). I will carry the vision of the completed goal with me, and focus on it often during the day, in a gentle manner.