Late January 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 late January 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. Resolutions review

3. Make a Full Effort Plan

4. Write a mission haiku

1. Journal queries:

Today, at the first quarter moon, I prepare to give full effort to my priorities; I remember that for each opportunity in life there is a challenge. 

My theme this next month is love and receptivity, and the challenges to receiving love are restriction and anger. If I put up barriers, and hold on to resentments and grudges, I block the flow of love. The practice for meeting these challenges is to open the door to forgiveness and joy.

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?

What do I need (tools, information, allies) in order to best practice the habits of love, and open the door to forgiveness and joy?

From my journal: I hold on to a lot of petty resentments; some are very old, and still affect me nearly daily. I need a practice for freeing my heart of these, and for starting the process of forgiveness.

2. Resolutions review:

This week I've been reviewing my New Year's resolutions, and setting some small practices. The third and final is: 

Practice patience: I intend to study equanimity and loving kindness skills, and practice them diligently, because learning how to tolerate my uncomfortable feelings will allow me to transcend the anxiety, impatience, and indignation that sabotages my witness to the world.

 

3. 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.

Today I made a full effort plan for patience, equanimity, love, and receptivity. 

My plan:

• Keep a love journal to record my interactions every day, so I notice and remember when I've been patient, and when I've missed it. 
• Read some books on loving kindness and compassion to renew my understanding.
• Try some new practices each day to ground me in love.
• Create some visual reminders for the various seeds I am nurturing.

4: Write a Mission Haiku:

My missions are my various big projects or directions in life; one is to love and serve my family and community.

 

Today I'll write this mission as a haiku, because a poem has a unique ability of getting to the core of a Truth, and I'm always surprised by what surfaces. Here's the steps I use:

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

Loving requires that I transcend my primal need for self-protection. I have to open my heart and become vulnerable. 

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

Love, receive, welcome, listen, care, treasure, open

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

Love, purpose, peace and equanimity, unity, community 

4. Turn these sentences, verbs, and values into a haiku (5, 7, and 5 syllables) or a Cinquain (2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables), or a short mantra, that gets to the core of my mission, and gives me a framework for my actions.

Welcome seeds of love.

Speak little, listen much;

Nurture and treasure.