First Quarter Moon of November

This is the First Quarter Moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. Now is the time to remain flexible, use my obstacles as fuel for growth, and show full effort for priorities.

Agenda:

1. Read "How to Manifest"

2. Journal Queries

3. Make a full effort plan

4. Write a Mission Haiku

1. Read "How to Manifest":

I'm reading a book called "How to Manifest", by Laura Chung; it's a 40 day program to "Make Your Dreams a Reality". I have one big dream that I'm making slow progress on, and this book (no matter that I'm cynical) has successfully kicked me into action!

I'm reading Week 5, called Your New State of Being. 

Day 33 - Healing Your Scarcity Mentality: This is all about seeing the abundance in my life, naming what I am grateful for, and seeing each stage of life as its own kind of abundance. She makes the point that scarcity mentality is what led our ancestors to take land that wasn't theirs, and continues to push us to extract resources from the earth beyond sustainability. "The energy of lack leads to feeling jealous of someone's success ... it means blinding yourself to the suffering of others in order to increase your own feeling of security." 

How do you heal these ingrained generational patterns? You figure out what you feel is lacking in your life - money, friendship, security, time. Look around you and notice the abundance, then ask:

Is it really lacking, or am I in a scarcity mindset? 

How can I fill that void with the resources I have now?

2. 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 month is grace, and the challenge to receiving grace is distraction. If I’m anxious or too busy, I can't give full attention to the moments of grace that appear in my life; I cannot be truly conscious. The practices for meeting this challenge are equanimity and simple living.

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) and how can I best meet them? 

 

What do I need (tools, information, allies) in order to best practice the habits that lead to receiving grace? 

 

3. Make a full effort plan: 

Full effort requires attention: You remember what it is you want to do and your deepest reasons why - and also notice your emotions, energy, challenges, etc.

I'm thinking today about full effort for manifesting grace in my life: I want to more often be the wise woman who is grounded and clear;  the calm mother who radiated joy during the chaos of family gatherings; and the clear-headed person who notices and celebrates the amazing details of life as they unfold.

Today I made a Full Effort plan for leaning in to grace:

1. First, continue to implement my plan for a simple month: Reduce expectations and say no to new commitments.
2. Also, review and write about equanimity, and make a daily plan for calm in the expected chaos.
3. Design creative was to remind myself to practice attention throughout the day.

4. Write a Mission Haiku:

My missions are my various big projects or directions in life. Today I'm looking at my mission to celebrate the seasons and the circle. I'll 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 my life, and the significant issues that surround it:

Celebrating the ancient customs of my ancestors, and the newer family traditions, is one way that I open my heart to the grace and transformation of the season, and my connection to the universal Spirit.  

Celebration is how I honor Creation, with my awareness and attention to the circle and the wonders of the seasons.

Celebration brings me clarity on my own inner cycles and seasons, and reminds me to lighten up, be calm, be spontaneous. 

Celebration puts me in community with my family and my friends, and gives me opportunities to share moments of calm joy.

 

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

Create, share, celebrate, notice, love, sing, dance, cook 

 

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

Love, Unity with Nature, Celebration and Play, Creativity, Community, Peace and Equanimity, 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 a Cinquain, which is five lines, with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables), that gets to the core of my mission, and gives me a framework for my actions.

Celebrate winter. 

Yield to nurturing darkness! 

Open to grace.