St.Nicholas Day and Third Quarter Moon of December

My grandson's first St. Nicholas Day, 2020!

Today is St. Nicholas Day. My theme for this week of Advent is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world". One way I do that is to try to be in harmony with the people I interact with (especially those who irritate me), and one way I do that is to work at being a kinder person.

Kindness is our outward expression of day-to-day love. You practice kindness with polite language, and other small acts and habits like gracefully waiting your turn, using a friendly tone of voice, offering help, giving a compliment, or a simple smile. I'm not going to bore you with a list of random acts of kindness - you know the drill.

Today is also 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 and self-care.

Agenda Today:
1. Advent Prayer

2. Renewal plan

3. Evaluation House

4. Monthly journal brainstorm

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate

St. Nickolas Eve

Tonight is the eve of St. Nicholas Day. Nicholas was born in Lycia, which is now part of Turkey. Legend says he was a kind and generous man, who protected the poor and did many great deeds.

In Holland St. Nicholas is called Sinter Klaas (he is the original Santa Claus). Children in Holland leave their shoes by the fireplace on this night, and in the morning they are filled with marzipan and small toys. The Dutch give simple gifts tonight, but they are often accompanied with riddles, or wrapped in deceiving ways, such as a small box nested inside larger boxes, or something hollowed out with a gift inside.

Agenda today:

1. Joy of Giving meditation

2. Journal queries

3. Donate to Toys for Tots

4. Make small gifts

5. Make pfeffernüsse

6. Deliver gifts

Advent Earth Care

My theme for this first week of Advent is "Cherish and care for the earth". I express my unity with nature at Advent in two main ways:

• by offering small gifts of love and attention in recognition of all I receive from the earth
• and by finding joy and fulfillment in simply being alive, instead of in an excess of buying, eating, using, and wasting.

Agenda Today:

1. Journal queries
2. Define my work for earth care
3. Make bird feeder pine cones

First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent!

ad•vent (ad’ vent) n. The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important.

The advent season is a time of expectant waiting. We look forward with excitement to the celebration of Christmas; we wait for the return of longer days after the solstice; and we anticipate the arrival of grace in our hearts.

Grace is a state of being - at peace, free, filled with love & light.

I'll fill the next weeks with decorating, baking, buying gifts, and singing songs... but enfolding the busyness is the simple, deep peace and love of advent. I wait, anticipate, and learn again that transformation is a slow process.

Agenda today:
1. Advent prayer

2. Grace notes
3. Plan activities to express my unity with nature
4. Advent wreath ceremony

Day Before Advent

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent. It's a short advent this year because Christmas is on Monday. 

Advent is a time of expectant waiting, and today I will actively prepare to wait. I will get my house and my heart ready for this complicated winter season of holidays.

This dark season puts limits on our lives. Chinese philosophy says winter is a time of conservation and storage; the night, the feminine, water, and cold is dominant. We slow down, go inward, and spend more time on quiet, yin activities.

Luckily, advent is four weeks long, allowing us to grow slowly and steadily towards the light: Let yourself go inward now - be like the bear in her cave, saving your strength and relishing the darkness. Don't celebrate Christmas too soon; allow yourself to experience the darkness of winter, against which it shines.

Agenda:

1. Open-Heart Meditation

2. Read "The Simpler Life"

3. Journal queries

4. Space clearing

5. Make an Advent Wreath

Infinite Possibilities

I open to the infinite possibility of grace; as we balance on the cusp of winter, and our days grow darker, I rest in the knowledge that my life will unfold as it will. I am guided by my inner light, but also by my inner darkness - they are both integral parts of me. But ultimately, I am not in control of events, only how I respond. 

Agenda:
1. Read "How to Manifest"

2. Make a bucket list

3. Gratitude

4. Unity Art vision