Creative shifts

Thursday is my day to open the door to creative thinking and doing; I've reverted to an earlier phase of my life, before painting and art school, when I was internally driven to Make Things, and they were varied and creative. But I'm also a different person now - 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 Grandma Camps, with themes, projects, and field trips.

And thirdly, I've got lots of projects that help us function better: Fixing broken things and maintaining the house.

Agenda: 

1. Read "Perspective"

2. Creative visualization

3. House projects

4. Camp preparedness

5. Projects for the week

Farvardegan

Today is the start of Farvardegan, which means “days of remembering the Fravashis" (guardian angels). It's a ten day Zoroastrian festival that includes the five days of Hamaspathmaidyem, which begin on March 16, and concludes with Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 21.

Hamaspathmaidyem is the sixth and last gahambar. This gahamber is the most significant to Zoroastrians, because it's devoted to remembering the fravashis or guardian angels. According to Zoroastrian religion, each of the 6 creations was created during one of the gahambars. Mankind was created on this last one.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Book of Doing and Being" 

2. Creative imagining for art and teaching

3. Teaching brainstorm

4. Projects for the week

5. Welcome the angels
6. Offer thanks

7. Recite prayers

Overwhelm

I feel overwhelmed, with ideas, projects, emails, and family demands. Today I want to take some time to get clear about immediate priorities, and what I can put on the back burner.

Agenda:

1. Devotions

2. Beingness 

3. Earth Action

4. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

5. Beginner's mind meditation for worry

6. Teaching brainstorm

7. Projects for the week

Brainstorm for teaching

1. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

2. Beginner's mind meditation for craftivism

3. Brainstorm teaching and Pre-K school

4. Projects for the week

First Quarter Moon at the End of October

Tonight is 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 and full effort. I use this late October quarter moon's energy to help me get organized for decisive action. 

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Read "The Earth Keeper's Handbook"

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans:

4. Make a full effort plan

Transformation

I'm working a transformation: Turning myself into a patient and wise person, who exercises persistently; and also a magical transformation of our home into a tidy and ship-shape space (with a hot tub)!

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.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Sweet Spot"

2. Ongo journal
2. Fall Cleaning and Home projects

3. Halloween School plans

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 prepare for Grandson fun.

 

Agenda:

1. Read "The Sweet Spot"
2. Fall Cleaning and Home projects

3. Skeleton School plans

Indigenous People's Day and Third Quarter Moon

Happy Indigenous People's Day! Some people celebrate the second Monday in October as Columbus Day, but many of us prefer to honor instead the people who were here in the Americas for centuries before Columbus "discovered" it. 

Many cities are finally making the name change official, adopting Indigenous People's Day to celebrate the people and their culture, and also to reflect on their ongoing struggles in this land. The celebration today includes powwows, drumming, dancing, Native American foods and crafts.

And today is the third Quarter moon. This waning moon energy is yin - quiet, internal, heart-driven, intentional Being-ness. At this phase we can ease off a bit on actively pursuing goals, slow down, go within, and attend to inner work, renewal, and self-care. This isn’t a moment for starting new projects but for finishing up old ones, making peace with the past, and preparing for a fresh start at the next new moon.

Agenda:

1. Read "The Sweet Spot"
2. Fall Cleaning and Home projects

3. Pumpkin School plans

4.

 Ritual for Release and Realignment

5. Meditation and Evaluation Journal

6. Monthly journal brainstorm

7. A note about appropriation

Grandma Camp

My week has a flow that includes two energetic grandsons. I need a plan for my grandson days that helps me to flow from one activity to another with little effort, slow down and just BE, in the moment- aware and awake, listening to my intuition, calm and flexible and loving.

This plan needs to touch on all of their priorities: Biking/walking, playing, artwork, eating lunch together, adventures, and clean-up time.

These are the next steps I need to take for my big Flow Project:

Agenda:

1. Summer day flow routine

2. Grandma Camp plans

An energetic shift

I'm making an energetic shift towards being an elder; I mean, someone who is a strong, calm presence, a wise-woman teacher and mentor, for my grandson, family, and community.

I've identified the two things that hold me back (the same old two things that always hold me back):

-I don't believe I'm wise or expert enough yet.

-I'm afraid people might belittle me.

I can take care of the first by studying my heart out - I'm good at that, and quite enjoy it! I can become expert in pretty much anything I set my mind to, and wisdom arrives when I take time to contemplate and analyze everything I've learned.

The second requires an energetic shift towards self-confidence. I know I'm a fierce, strong person and can handle people being petty, but the fear of embarrassment is strong in me also. I need to somehow disrupt the link between my self-esteem and the need to appear wise: It is good also to appear human!

1. Read "How to Manifest"

2. Contemplate my humanity

3. Teaching in my community

4. Teaching my grandsons