The squirrels are creating great entertainment these days |
Today is the start of Chung Ch’iu, the 3-day Mid-Autumn Moon Festival - a happy and beautiful Asian family celebration that comes each year at the time of the full moon in September or October.
And tonight is the full moon called the Squirrel Moon, because now the squirrels are busily gathering nuts for the winter. We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, and will soon begin the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon.
Agenda for today:
1. Take a vision walk
2. Celebrate balance
2. Celebrate balance
3. Read "The Sweet Spot"
4. Fall cleaning and Home projects
5. Make moon cakes
6. Make a floating lantern
7. Have a moon-viewing party
1. Take a vision walk:
The squirrel moon is a good time to gather my forces inward, and contemplate how I will grow this fall. The full moon shines a bright light on everything, and I might experience intuitive and creative breakthroughs. I might be surprised by the clarity of my insights. Today I'm going to settle into silence and access my intuitive mind - my connection to the Creator and the Inner Guide - and seek a leading of the spirit with an open mind and heart, using these queries:
How do I reset and renew my body, mind, and spirit? Do I have a daily or weekly practice to bring these parts of myself into balance? What nourishes me?
How can I balance my personal needs with my commitments to the outside world? How do I balance my various priorities so they get the appropriate attention?
What are places in my life where opinions and needs often put me out of balance with the universe? Think about situations in which I feel pushed, or hurried, or desperate - How might I apply some 'temperance of passions' to help with spiritual balance?
2. Celebrate balance:
My theme this month has been Balance at the Center: The center is the place where my soul lives; it touches all other areas of my life. My life flows around the solid base of my center, the place of connection to Spirit, and of enlightenment.
Fall cleaning has an entirely different feel and focus than spring cleaning. In the fall we finish up, pack away, and "batten the hatches"-- we put away all the outdoor stuff, air out the sweaters, and prepare for winter.
This week I will continue fall cleaning in the living room. I plan to:
And we are trucking right along on our big renovation project. We have a half-built shed, and a new window coming Friday. My next steps:
For a similar but more complex and traditional recipe see Food52.
3. Knead the dough a few times then divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then pat to flatten into thick 5-inch circles.
5. Place moon cakes on an un-greased pan. Whisk an egg yolk with a little water until smooth and spoon a little over each moon cake. Dot the center with a chopstick dipped in red food coloring (for good luck). Bake for 15 minutes at 350ºF.
1- Draw and cut 2 small paper plates into flowers, leaving a circle in the center just big enough for a votive candle.
2- Color or paint the edges of the flowers, on the front and back side of the plate. We used aqua crayons to reduce the mess, and blended them with a damp brush.
3- Curl the petals.
4- Cut a leaf out of foam, and draw lines with a permanent marker.
5-Hot glue the layers together, with a tea light in the center.
I think about balance as "being in unity with the universe", the feeling that I can let go of my opinions and wants, and let God work through me, and feel calm and centered in that.
Today I remind myself of my intentions, and then celebrate my accomplishments and reaffirm this theme for the next two weeks. Today I am ready to celebrate spiritual balance in three ways:
1. Set my tiny daily intention for spiritual growth.
2. Take time in the studio to paint again!
3. I intend to be vulnerable with the Ongo group, and share my anxiety about growth, evolution, and progress.
3. Read "The Sweet Spot":
I'm reading this book by Christine Carter (2015), about "How to Find Your Groove". The thesis is that when we hit from our sweet spot we have optimum power and the greatest ease.
Chapter 4 is Cracking the Habit Code, a "habit-crafting intensive." I've decided to work on the basic exercise plan I want to set in motion - some simple stretches and abs, a better than nothing daily routine that might build into something better.
I've drafted a detailed routine I want to build, with triggers and a built-in inherent reward. I'm starting really, really small - I just move my chair and do a rag doll stretch every day, and more if I can. The goal is to create a habit that doesn't depend on willpower, doing something so small that the habit begins to initiated and the groove is formed.
Tip #9 is fight self-sabotage. Never allow myself to say, "I'm being so good, I can take a day off." This is called the licensing effect, a common entitlement behavior. To avoid this, think about my goals rather than my accomplishments, and stay analytical rather than moral: My goal is to get strong and flexible by exercising everyday.
Tip #10 is Build your willpower muscle. I know that willpower is finite, and can be depleted during a day - it takes a great deal of willpower to be the calm, persistent, wise woman I want to be. The good news is that when I exercise my willpower muscle for a new skill, I'll benefit all the other efforts I'm trying to maintain.
4. Fall Cleaning and Home projects:
Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and prepare for Grandson fun.
This week I will continue fall cleaning in the living room. I plan to:
- Pare down some of our toys.
- Clean the front porch and door, and decorate for fall with dried corn.
- Finish the shed, and move some things inside.
- Decide on which shelves to buy and order them.
- Choose a handrail for the back and order that.
- Continue to remove thimbleberry and dirt from the hot tub site.
Now that kindergarten has started, and we are on our fall schedule, I need a plan for filling two long days with our younger grandson - a two day pre-school, with coloring pages on a different theme each week, related outdoor projects, field trips, and art. I want to focus on nature awareness, process art and basic art skills (drawing, painting, cutting, glueing, etc.).
This week the theme is the moon and the moon festival.
- Moon coloring pages - learning the phases.
- Look for the moon with binoculars.
- Make moon cakes.
- Draw moons.
- Make floating lanterns
5. Make moon cakes:
Normally on this blog I would give you an authentic Chinese recipe, but this simplified recipe has sentimental tradition in our family.
When my children were young, the city library hosted a Moon Festival event every fall, with telescopes, Asian writing and crafts, hot tea, and all the moon cakes you could eat. We went every year. The bakery that made the moon cakes gave us this recipe, an Americanized version, and that's the recipe my family has made and loved for 30 years.
When my children were young, the city library hosted a Moon Festival event every fall, with telescopes, Asian writing and crafts, hot tea, and all the moon cakes you could eat. We went every year. The bakery that made the moon cakes gave us this recipe, an Americanized version, and that's the recipe my family has made and loved for 30 years.
For a similar but more complex and traditional recipe see Food52.
3. Knead the dough a few times then divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then pat to flatten into thick 5-inch circles.4. Put a marble of sweet red bean paste in the center of each circle, fold the edges up over the filling, and seal. Shape each into a fat round moon. If you have a mold, you can press it in now, but it's not necessary.
6. Remove the moon cakes from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.
6. Make floating lanterns
Lanterns are a key part of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some families make handmade lanterns, including small lanterns to float, like these waterlily lanterns.
Supplies:
- small white paper plates
- green foam sheet
- pencil
- scissors
- aqua crayons or paint
- black permanent pen
- hot glue gun
- tea light
2- Color or paint the edges of the flowers, on the front and back side of the plate. We used aqua crayons to reduce the mess, and blended them with a damp brush.
3- Curl the petals.
4- Cut a leaf out of foam, and draw lines with a permanent marker.
7. Have a Moon Viewing Party:
In China, the big event is a picnic outside to admire the moon, with tea, moon cakes and round fruits (a symbol of family unity).The festival continues for three days with games and fun. During this time it is believed that flowers fall from the moon and anyone sharp-eyed enough to see them will have very good fortune.
After moon viewing, we sometimes write poetry to show our appreciation of the moon.
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