First Quarter Moon

At 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. Journal queries

2. Make a full effort plan

3. Creative awareness practice

1. Journal queries:

Today I prepare to give full effort to my priorities. 

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?

How will I find the inspiration that will spark full effort for my priorities, every day, over and over?

I will certainly face obstacles but I will remain flexible and use my obstacles as fuel for growth. This month I'm so busy with service projects that I'm not taking the time I need for creativity and creative awareness. The challenge to awareness is ignorance, so I will practice seeing clearly.

2. 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.

Full effort requires attention (remembering what it is you want to do and your deepest reasons why), a spark of energy and determination (connecting to your excitement for life each day and each moment, and sustaining it long enough to accomplish your priorities), and balance (holding your intentions lightly in the complexity of life).

3. Creative awareness practice:

My theme this month is joy and creativity. I want to re-awaken my creative awareness, insight, inspiration, and joyful spontaneity. Creative awareness means that I can stop at any moment and see a sincerely original answer to whatever question I ask, because I don’t live for other people’s opinions- I know instinctively that the answer lies within myself.

Creative awareness starts with a daily practice of observation and play: 

1. Make a plan each morning of when I want to practice. Ask “What do I want to observe today? What do I want to play with today?” - could be my morning playtime with my grand baby, my painting time, or gardening - and set a reminder "Be Aware".
2. Pause when my alarm goes off, slow my breathing and linger in a soft-focus fugue, waking up my awareness, using all my senses, and rousing my curiosity - looking, listening, digging, walking, dreaming. To be truly aware, I have to step out of seriousness and see the humor and paradox in every situation.
3. Capture one idea, maybe just a thought or a feeling, but a place to start, and write it in my journal
4. Play with my idea: I choose to pay attention to what I have observed, test it, research it, ponder it, follow it - like a scientist doing an experiment. Keep a light hold, so that my ego doesn’t stifle my creativity. The pleasure I take in this kind of everyday creation connects me with the joy of ALL creation.