June Abundance

June is a transition month - the end of spring and the beginning of summer. June’s element is fire, which purifies and gives life. It’s a highly yang time of movement and power, the season of completion, abundance and fulfillment. I have hope in summer that I will reach the full flowering of my self and my dreams. 

June has a different pace, less scheduled though more active. It’s a time for fine-tuning, and for decisive action. June is when I like to energetically climb to the top of a hill, survey the landscape and climb down again, to put myself in context, evaluate my progress, see what I’ve accomplished since January, and make careful adjustments in my goals and priorities. 

My aim this month is to stand still and calm in the center while I am playing, cleaning, writing, socializing, teaching, digging in the garden, swimming, traveling, and painting.

"Only when there is stillness in movement can the spiritual rhythm appear which pervades heaven and earth." -- Taoist text

Agenda:

1. Journal queries

2. Read "Repacking Your Bags"

3. Ray of Sun Meditation

1. Journal query: 

Summer’s question is “What is ideal?” 

Today I made a list of idyllic, peaceful, expansive, and exciting things I long to do this summer, including some I loved to do as a child and young adult, including:

• camp and hike at Three Sisters or Fall Creek
• paint in the garden
• summer adventures and pool time with a toddler
• pick strawberries
• reduce computer time and committee obligations
• walk more

2. Read "Repacking Your Bags":

This month I'm studying the book "Repacking your Bags; Lighten your Load for the Good Life", by Richard Leider and David Shapiro, third edition. Chapter 1 is What is the Good Life? They define the Good Life as "living in the place you belong, with the people you love, doing the right work, on purpose," and they say that repacking is a navigational imperative and a lifelong process, "so as to stay vital, fully alive in the present, and hopeful for the future".

The authors sent me to the appendix next, to take the Good Life Inventory. My results are very positive, which I expected, because I've been getting my ducks in a row for a while now. The areas I'd like to review are:

1. Keeping the small promises I make to myself (my art practice, healthy habits)
2. Feeling at home in my home (simplifying my stuff, making room for art).
3. Knowing where I'm headed on life's journey (am I a painter? am I publishing a book?).
4. How my time is spent (less siting, more adventure?)

3. Ray of Sun Meditation: 

Today I will sit where I can feel the rays of the sun on my body. I will relax, be still, and soak up the light and heat of the sun. As I sit I will:

• Explore the sun’s inner qualities of warmth, light, clarity, and power. 
• Extend this awareness to all parts of my body, through each cell, my heart, mind, and spirit. 
• Radiate the sun's energy outward into the environment, in all directions. 
• Return to an awareness of my body, thank the Sun, and take this energy with me throughout the day.