Holiday Mindset

The holiday season is upon us. I'm planning for Thanksgiving, making Christmas gifts, and preparing for advent.

My top four tips for keeping these next months special are:

• Keep the main thing the main thing: Be clear on my holiday intentions and set priorities each week.
• Focus on savoring experiences like good meals, nature walks, and decorating together.
• Communicate early with everyone involved to confirm  schedules and priorities. 
• Don’t overspend on gifts; instead, make as many as possible and buy used books and toys.

Tuesday is my receptivity day of the week, when I look at my social and emotional self and make an effort to shift my perspectives around how I view and treat the people in my life.

The new moon is the start of the lunar cycle, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new. (After a socially overwhelming weekend I need to retreat!)

Agenda: 

1. Holiday mindset

2. Read "How to Deal with Anger"

3. My anger journal

4. Family Teamwork

5. Abundance journal

6. Squirrel plans

Retreat for Home and Body

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and how I will step up for the Natural Living Challenge.

The new moon is the start of the lunar cycle, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new. (After a socially overwhelming weekend I need to retreat!)

Agenda:

1. Read "Simplify Your Space"

2. Giving each thing a home

3. Health habits

4. Set intentions

5. Abundance journal

New Kindly Moon and Diwali

Tonight is the night of the new moon. The Chinese call this tenth new moon the Kindly Moon. In China, this is the season for winter crop planting, and this month brings the first “little snow” which gently (and kindly) moistens the winter wheat seedlings. We don't have snow, but we've had a kindly bit of rain.

The new moon is the start of the lunar cycle, a time of high energy and clear thinking. Historically, the new moon is when women took time to be alone; it's a time to retreat, set intentions, and initiate something new.

In late November everything begins to slow down, and I try to remember to be more aware of time flowing; to find the right tempo for each activity; and to transition calmly. Advent will bring a wealth of activity, so take time this week to savor the changing season. Remember, as Waverly Fitzgerald says in Slow Time, that time is "much more fluid and mysterious than I had imagined."

This is also the start of the five day Hindu Festival of Diwali, which falls on the new moon of late October or early November. Diwali is the festival of good luck and prosperity- one of the most important festivals of the year for Hindus. On Diwali, people wear new clothes, clean and decorate their homes, go to fairs with music, dancing, fireworks, jugglers and snake charmers, and give gifts to each other.

1. Retreat Day

2. Choose a month theme

3. Puja for prosperity

4. Read "Focus on the Good Stuff"

5. Start an Abundance Journal

6. Make almond katli

7. Write a gratitude

Saturday for Brainstorming

Saturday is my day for proaction: Proaction is taking initiative to anticipate and shape future events rather than simply reacting to circumstances as they happen. Some people think Covey should've just used the word ACT, but proaction requires a thought: "I could do this or I could do that; I choose to do this."

This is the time of the waning crescent "balsamic moon" - the final yin phase, a pause that marks the end point in this cycle. Now we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work, renewal, and self-care. This is when I dream and brainstorm about the next moon theme, renewal, and goals.

Agenda Today:

1. Brainstorm for next moon

2. Weekly "First Things First"

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans

Friday

Friday is my day for creative thinking and doing; as Grandma Earth Teacher I am led to make things that are a gift to the Earth in some way, sustainable, and with a message. Also, I need to prepare for the next week of after-school time: A calm flow with some repeatable fun learning and ongoing fall projects.

This is the time of the waning crescent "balsamic moon" - the final yin phase, a pause that marks the end point in this cycle. Now we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work, renewal, and self-care. This is when I dream and brainstorm about the next moon theme, renewal, and goals.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Gratitude Formula"

2. Renewal brainstorm

3. Priority projects plan

4. Grandson plans

Leaning Into fall

Thursday is garden day, for re-envisioning and planning next steps to create a sanctuary here for nature and my family; and how to get my grandsons into the garden.

This is the time of the waning crescent "balsamic moon" - the final yin phase, a pause that marks the end point in this cycle. Now we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work, renewal, and self-care. This is when I dream and brainstorm about the next moon theme, renewal, and goals.

 

Today:

1. Brainstorm for gratitude

2. November garden tasks

3. This week's garden plan

4. Nature-culture flow and kid projects

Wednesday for Action

Wednesday is my day to re-group and re-define my week. First I make a plan for getting over the bump of the mid-week, then I re-envision my emotional tone and perspective.

And this is the time of the waning Third Quarter. Today's moon energy is yang, a time for reciprocity, generosity, collaboration and connection; a final time of action before the next moon cycle.

Agenda today:

1. Finishing up plan of action

2. Re-group plan

3. Read "Your Heart Was Made for This"

3. New narrative for kindness

4. Problem-solving

5. Writing themes

Tuesday Brainstorm for Love

Tuesday is my receptivity day of the week, when I look at my social and emotional self and make an effort to shift my perspectives around how I view and treat the people in my life.

And this is the time of the waning Third Quarter. Today's moon energy is yang, a time for reciprocity, generosity, collaboration and connection; a final time of action before the next moon cycle.

Agenda: 

1.  Evaluation Journal

2. Brainstorm for love

3. Read "How to Deal with Anger"

4. My anger journal

5. Problem solving

6. Expressing Needs in the World

7. Teamwork plans and visuals

Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead - is a holiday observed in Mexico on November 2. It’s a family time for remembering and honoring dead friends and relatives - a period when the souls of the dead can return for a visit. It’s celebrated with humor, not sadness. 

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and how I will step up for the Natural Living Challenge.

And this is the time of the waning Third Quarter. Today's moon energy is yang, a time for reciprocity, generosity, collaboration and connection; a final time of action before the next moon cycle.

Agenda:

1. Read "Simplify Your Space"

2. Giving each thing a home

3. Health habits

4. Natural Living Challenge

5. Make Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)
6. Make skeletons
7. Make sugar skulls

Sabbath for Souls and Third Quarter Moon

Today is my Sabbath, and it's also the doorway to the dark half of the Celtic year, the opening of a new cycle. Blótmónað is the word for November in Old English; it means Sacrifice Month, but the sacrifice is joyful, as Persephone goes peacefully down to the underworld every year. Peace is the fruit of total acceptance. 

In November I finally see the circle of life in all its full roundness - as it blossomed in spring and as it dies in fall. November is colder and wetter, drawing me deeper towards winter. This is a month when I celebrate the final fruits of summer’s work, and remember to express my gratitude.

The early Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin at this time of year, and so spirits of the dead could visit the living.

This is the time of year to welcome home the souls of your ancestors. But I definitely feel some angst regarding my relatives who moved here to the "New World" to take it away from the Native Peoples, and who bought into the false American Dream, built on the subjugation and decimation of so many other living beings. 

It has become my custom at this time of year to open my heart to healing the soul connection between me and my ancestors.

Tonight is also the waning Third Quarter. Today's moon energy is yang, a time for reciprocity, generosity, collaboration and connection; a final time of action before the next moon cycle.

Agenda: 

1. Generosity practice

2. Rattle my bones

3. Make Soul Cakes

Halloween

Halloween is the modern name of the ancient Irish and Scottish holiday of Samhain (pronounced SOW-win), a Celtic-Gaelic word meaning “summers-end”. It begins at dusk on October 31, and marks the doorway to the dark half of the Celtic year, the opening of a new cycle.

In the 7th-century CE the Pope established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Samhain became Halloween.

The Reformation put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. The celebration of Halloween was mostly forbidden among the early American colonists, until the 1800s.

Saturday is my day for proaction: Proaction is taking initiative to anticipate and shape future events rather than simply reacting to circumstances as they happen. Some people think Covey should've just used the word ACT, but proaction requires a thought: "I could do this or I could do that; I choose to do this."

We are in the yin time of the waning gibbous moon - a time to receive the fruits of our labors, a time of quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness.

Agenda Today:

1. Gratitude meditation:

2. Weekly "First Things First"

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans

4. Celebrate the darkness

Friday

Friday is my day for creative thinking and doing; as Grandma Earth Teacher I am led to make things that are a gift to the Earth in some way, sustainable, and with a message. Also, I need to prepare for the next week of after-school time: A calm flow with some repeatable fun learning and ongoing fall projects.

We are in the yin time of the waning gibbous moon - a time to receive the fruits of our labors, a time of quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness.

Agenda:

1. Priority projects plan

2. Grandson plans

3. Project steps and preparedness

4. Family teamwork

5. Love Meditation

Rainy Thursday

Thursday is garden day, for re-envisioning and planning next steps to create a sanctuary here for nature and my family. This is also a day when I have both my grandsons, and I want to be sure to get them into the garden and into nature.

We are in the yin time of the waning gibbous moon - a time to receive the fruits of our labors, a time of quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness.

 

Today:

1. Discern my receptivity

2. October garden tasks

3. This week's garden plan

4. Nature-culture flow and kid projects

5. Make flappy paper bats

Prepare for Halloween

Wednesday is my day to re-group and re-define my week. First I make a plan for getting over the bump of the mid-week, then I re-envision my emotional tone and perspective.

We are at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, the time to harvest what was planted and nurtured. The squirrel moon is a good time to gather my forces inward, for a final burst of energy before winter.

We've been preparing for Halloween, with spooky books, skeletons, ghosts, and jack-o-lanterns. Our grandsons love Halloween! The build up this month allows us to shift to a darker phase of the year; darkness isn't bad, but it can be frightening, and having fun with fear is part of the process.

Agenda today:

1. Re-group plan

2. Read "The Exquisite Risk"

3. New narrative for 

4. Problem-solving

5. Writing themes

6. Carve jack-o-lanterns

Spooky Tuesday

Tuesday is my receptivity day of the week, when I look at my social and emotional self and make an effort to shift my perspectives around how I view and treat the people in my life.

We are at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, the time to harvest what was planted and nurtured. The squirrel moon is a good time to gather my forces inward, for a final burst of energy before winter.

Agenda: 

1. Acknowledge the harvest

2. Read "How to Deal with Anger"

3. My anger journal

4. Problem solving

5. Teamwork plans and visuals

Monday

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and how I will step up for the Natural Living Challenge.

We are at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, the time to harvest what was planted and nurtured. The squirrel moon is a good time to gather my forces inward, for a final burst of energy before winter.

Agenda:

1. Read "Simplify Your Space"

2. Health habits

3. Giving each thing a home

Full Squirrel Moon

The squirrels are creating great entertainment these days

Today is my sabbath - when I step out of the fray and regroup. We are nearing the end of October, winding deeper in to Autumn, and I want to take time to prepare myself - body, mind, and spirit. I want to open to awareness, wisdom, and courage.

And tonight is the full moon called the Squirrel Moon, because now the squirrels are busily gathering nuts for the winter. And this moon is called Atchalankuaik, the "start getting sagittair roots" moon, by the Kalapuya of our area (sagittair is a potato like tuber). 

We are now at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, the time to harvest what was planted and nurtured. The squirrel moon is a good time to gather my forces inward, for a final burst of energy before winter.

Agenda for today:

1. Full moon shift

2. Full moon queries
3. Celebrate synergy

4. Read "Your Heart Was Made for This"

5. 

Spiritual growth plan

Saturday Retreat

Saturday is my day for proaction: Proaction is taking initiative to anticipate and shape future events rather than simply reacting to circumstances as they happen. Some people think Covey should've just used the word ACT, but proaction requires a thought: "I could do this or I could do that; I choose to do this."

We are in the Waxing Gibbous moon phase, when I can settle again into the yin of Beingness. I will contemplate the big picture of my life as I practice mindfulness and self-care. Now is a time to reconsider my intentions and make adjustments. It's a time to review and refine, a time to practice Being, and trust in the ebb and flow of the universe.

Agenda Today:

1. Refine my intentions 

2. Weekly "First Things First"

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans