July Third Quarter Moon

The July Third-Quarter Moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. At this phase we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work and self-care.

I'm just back from a 5-day trip, so I need this!

Agenda today:
1. Renewal plan for next month

2. Evaluation House

3. Read "Testament of Devotion"

4. Monthly journal brainstorm

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate

1. Renewal plan for next month:

I try to renew all four dimensions of my life (body, mind, heart, and spirit), as Stephen Covey taught: I spend about an hour each day on a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration activities, plus work to improve my social skills and relationships. Today's waning half moon is my opportunity to review how I'm doing, and make note of new ideas for the month ahead.

From my journal: This month it's my knees that are rebelling (last month it was my neck)... I need to start some daily PT for them; I'm still reading Testament of Devotion, plus The Earth Path, by Starhawk; also, I have an idea for a daily (or every-other) Earth-Quaker-Creation meditation that will fill my spirit.

2. Evaluation House:

Today I get to reflect back on the whole lunar cycle that I've just passed through. I review the intentions I set at the new moon and draw a house with 2 rooms: 

• A room for celebration of all I have accomplished already this month.
• A room for discerning what to do with the unfinished parts (Some of these I will finish in the next couple days, some I will save for next month, and some I will release because they have become irrelevant or didn't go as planned.)

3. Read Testimony of Devotion:

I've been reading Thomas R. Kelly's book "Testament of Devotion" (1941). I'm still in the second chapter - Holy Obedience. Today I'm reading about the fruits of obedience - humility, holiness, suffering, and simplicity. Yum.

I can identify with his description of self-pride: "Our desire to be known and approved by others ... Our status as weighty Friends gives us secret pleasures which we scarcely own to ourselves... But humility rests upon a holy blindness, like the blindness of (one) who looks steadily into the sun. The God-blinded soul sees naught of self..."

Humility is a gift because when you no longer care about being  important, then you become bold and "only the utterly humble ones can bow and break the raging pride of a power-mad world."

4. Monthly journal brainstorm:

At the new moon (next week) I will transition from one focus to another, and a whole new field of opportunity. This week I'll take time to write down my goals, dreams, and exciting ideas for the next 30-days. This exercise has three parts:

Part One - collect information. Brainstorm goals, dreams, and exciting ideas for the next month without judgement - include at least a few crazy, improbable notions.

Part 2 - reflect. Have a little chat with myself on paper about the next month of my life, and what my best month would look like, moving me in the direction of my most important reasons for living.

Part 3 - weigh the possibilities. Take a break for a few minutes. Get a fresh cup of coffee or go outside to look at the sky, then come back and read what I wrote. Write a very brief synopsis of the next month of my life.

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate: 
This next few days is a time to be empty; the time for striving is past. As the moon’s light fades into darkness I get to relax and surrender to the universe. 

Some things will always be out of my control. As the moon's appearance dwindles, I let go of useless beliefs, unreasonable expectations, grudges, defensiveness, projects that don't fit into my life, and anything else that isn't working for me. I turn these all over to the Divine and give thanks, my way of opening to receive new intentions in the new month.

Then I give myself permission to rest!