First Quarter Moon

Photo by Alan Gillespie

At the First Quarter Moon we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - growing in light and energy, creating a time for decisive action. Kiki Ely, in her book Living Lunerly, says, "A good way to remember this is by looking at the perfect line of shadow down the moon's center: this is the moment to draw a firm line, boundary, or decision in your life and stick to it."

Now is the time to use obstacles as fuel for growth and show full effort for priorities. It's time to decide how to add more light and liveliness to a dark month.

Agenda:
1. Journal queries

2. Awareness of the Light
2: Make a self-management plan for patience
3: Make a Full Effort Plan

1. Journal queries:

Today, at the first quarter moon, 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?

 

2. Awareness of the Light:

One of my new Year's resolutions is to "delve deep into Earth-Quaker understanding". The title Earth-Quaker is a marriage of my deeply held Quaker spirituality with my Nature Religion leanings. This year I want to discern and define what that means to me. 

I first heard the term "Earth-Quaker" last winter from Carl Magruder (who calls himself an Earth Quaker), and I enjoyed the play on words! I did a search and found that there is an Earth Quaker Action Team out of Philly that works for climate justice, but I think Carl uses the name more broadly.

It was the Testimony of Simplicity that first attracted me to Quakers - the calling to "cut away everything that is extraneous, so that our outward life fully reflects our inward life."

Keeping to simplicity is to realize that it is the Light within that leads us, restrains us, inspires us. ~Anne-Marie Zilliacus, 2001 

We are called to work for the peaceable Kingdom of God on the whole earth, in right sharing with all peoples. However few our numbers, we are called to be the salt that flavours and preserves, to be a light in the darkness of greed and destruction. ~Sixth World Conference of Friends, 2012

So, my first understanding is that the Light of Truth is leading me to remember the Earth and all of Creation in everything I do. 

3: Make a self-management plan for impatience:

Every human strength has a point at which it becomes excessive, and then it is no longer useful and can even be hurtful. Because this "excess mode" is the exaggeration of a strength you own and need, you will never completely get rid of it, but you can moderate and manage it, and learn to be comfortable with the times you slip into excess.

For example, I am analytical and can see quickly in my mind how any plan will play out. I'm a good judge of the pros and cons, and can often give good advice. But this kind of analysis is simply not appropriate or useful all of the time, and, pared up with my strong need for truth-telling, it can be a problem. When I use my analysis to shoot down ideas or silence dreamers, I've gone into excess. 

Because I'm aware now of this particular strength habit, I've become a pretty good manager of it. The strength I'm having the most trouble with now is what I call "enthusiastic energy for action" - which develops into impatience pretty quickly. I get impatient when people take "too long" (in my opinion) with social niceties, or with negotiations, or with silliness. And I get impatient with my own processes - after a while a project begins to bore me enough that I might move on to something new.

My plan for becoming aware of this habit of excess is:

1. Keep a patience journal, where I think about possible situations where patience will be needed, and record times when I was or was not able to stay out of excess.
2. Make a Patience sign or poster to remind myself.
3. Practice a body de-stressing ritual whenever I feel the wheels of impatience beginning to spin.
4. Celebrate my strength of enthusiastic energy for action whenever I can!

4: Make a Full Effort Plan:

Full effort requires:

-Attention: You remember your intentions - what it is you want to do and your deepest reasons why - and also notice your emotions, energy, challenges, etc. 

I build energy for my priorities by reviewing them every morning and often throughout the day. 

-A spark of energy and determination: You connect to your excitement for life, and sustain it long enough to accomplish your priorities. 

When the time comes to act on one of my priorities - to write my book, or care for my grandson - I hope to be able to focus my full attention on this one undertaking, and lean in to it with excitement and curiosity. 

-Balance: You hold your intentions lightly in the complexity of life. If you are driven to complete everything on your list at all costs, you may miss an opportunity to grow, to open your heart, to find peace within.

Personal motivation is complex; it's shaped by our internal will but also influenced by our history, and by the expectations and prejudices of those around us. In order to successfully break free of a pattern of weak or incomplete effort, I use the notion of "leaning in" as a body-mind-heart training: 

From my journal: Today I'm thinking about a particular sewing project that I've been delaying - possibly because I'm not happy with how it looks, or possibly because I'm bored with the process. My full effort plan is:

1. Consider how to fall back in love with the look and process - what can I change?
2. Make myself a chart with sections of work to complete.
3. Stop to remember the intention of Love and Light, and Lean In.
4. Give the work all my attention and savor the process.