First Quarter Moon of February

Tonight 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 Today:

1. Read Writing and Being

2. Collect moments of joy

3. Journal queries

4. Make a full effort plan

1. Read Writing and Being:

I'm reading from a book that has been sitting my shelf for a few years, "Writing and Being: Embracing Your Life Through Creative Journaling," by G. Lynn Nelson (2004).

I'm reading chapter three: Seeking Silence. "Just as music depends or its meaning upon the empty spaces between the notes, our words must have silence around them or they, too, lose their meaning. If I do not seek quietness around me, I cannot hear the words that my heart whispers."

This chapter is about the importance of finding time to be alone, to meditate, to sit and contemplate, and to write in your journal.
This is how we "tap the true power of the writing-and-being process".

2. Collect moments of joy:

The last journal exploration for chapter three is to recall small moments of meaning in the last few days - moments that touched so softly I barely noticed, and then live them more fully in my journal, feeling the preciousness at the heart each. Write it clean and strong, with no wasted words.

I thought right away of the small joy of holding my sleeping grandson. 

I feel again his soft cheek and forehead as I sing and caress him to sleep, eyes closing slowly, opening, then closing slowly again; 

his hand working in mine, pressing against mine, then stilling;

and he surrenders in my arms, heavy in his sleep. 

I just sit there for a bit, breathing in time to his slow breathes, feeling his solid potential - his life to be lived. 

3. 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 receptivity and love, and the challenge is rigidity and anger. If I am stubborn and uncompromising, and I hold on to resentments and grudges, I will block the free flow of love in and out of my life. The practices for meeting these challenges are to give in, open up, offer help, and notice the joy.

Which of my priorities am I having the most trouble acting on this month? How can the practice of opening help me?

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 love? To whom can I offer help, and how do I remember to notice the joy?

4. 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.

One of my goals this month is to "be a ruthless clearer - Get stuff out. Clear the studio, the cupboards, closets, papers, clothes, fabric. Go through every storage bin and pass on or recycle everything I no longer need."

Today I made a full effort plan for clearing the house:  

1. 
   Engage my mind: Go around and take photos of the main spots I want to clear, print them, cut them out, and use my (super fun) magnet tape to put them onto my whiteboard calendar. This is a sure-fire way to engage my mind! (I tried it before with papers.)
2. Engage my heart: I'm clear that the heart component is I don't want this junk to be a burden, to me now, or to my family when I'm gone. Also, each category of junk is a different kind of burden, so I need to touch-in with the particular emotion for each before I tackle it. (For example, I am attached to my canning jars for some reason, even though I almost never can anything - all those little jam jars in different shapes represent my grandmother, my mom, my heredity. How can I use these jars, send them out into the world to have a life, and also honor my mothers?
   
3. Engage my spirit: I chose the mantra "Let Go", and I will light a candle, repeat this mantra, and carry the words with me each day.
4. Engage my body: Get prepared - schedule time to physically do this day's clearing, put it on my schedule, and set out something to remind me. (Today I set a stack of cookbooks on the table in a big, threatening pile.) Set a timer to go off at the start time.
5. Start a fire: My clearing synergy plan is a sequence that begins when my timer goes off:

1. Mentally review my vision of a simple home.
2. Engage my heart by touching the objects that need clearing, and releasing them.
3. Engage my spirit by reciting the mantra "Let Go."
4. Engage my body by picking up the first object and putting it away or in a box to go.