Waxing Crescent Moon

Now the moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. During the waxing moon, energy remains high. In these first days of the waxing crescent moon, I will give attention to my growing energy, take first steps towards my intentions, and find my motivation to follow through with persistent action.

Agenda:

1. Plan first steps

2. Write some more intentions

3. Mindfulness

1. Plan first steps:

Today, at the waxing crescent, I give attention to my level of energy, and prepare to act on my priorities.

What are my top priorities for action this week? Are these priorities truly leading me on the right path?

Is my energy really growing? Where do I feel resistance to action? What information or help might I need to ease the way?

What are my first steps? Do I have supplies to gather or calls to make?

How can I give full effort for what matters to me most?

2. Write some more intentions:

Intentions are a pledge for action in the present; they remind us of who we are now, and our deepest, most essential, most passionate reasons for living. I write my intentions in present tense, and I use this model: action + deepest reason.

I intend to be present at our Annual Session of Quakers, in heart, mind, and soul, to connect, listen, learn, and serve my community, because it is a force for fruitful change in the world.

 

I intend to clear out papers and objects I don't need, a little every day, because accumulated possessions are a burden to me and to my family after I leave.

3. Mindfulness:
The first step towards giving full effort to my priorities is attention; I want to remember my deepest, most essential, most passionate reasons for acting on my priorities, and hold my intentions with gentle awareness all day long. I use several strategies:

Loving Earth panel - needs a fire next.

• I review my intentions first thing in the morning, turning my essential reasons into shorthand mantras. For example, my three intentions today are: 
• Be present at AS, heart, mind, and soul.
• Sew a fire; express my fire.
• Plant beans; bless the earth.
• Later I will take my intentions for a walk and speak them out loud to the trees.
• I have a grid of my priorities on my phone that charts out the one's I intend to act on each day, and I check it often to motivate myself to complete one more important action.

Remembering my intentions throughout the day is a mindfulness practice; it creates energy and excitement for my priorities, but I have to take care to hold my intentions gently, not obsessively. If I begin to worry about completing my intentions, or think about them in an aggressive way, I try to back off a little. Even though I fully intend to take these actions, life sometimes shifts under my feet; and it is not my intention to feel self-loathing or anxiety.