Lunar Love Letter 🌒 - June 18, 2023
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Important dates this cycle (in EST):
Lunar Cycle Duration: 6/18-7/16
New Moon: 6/18
Summer Solstice! 6/21
First Quarter Moon: 6/26
Full Moon: 7/3 Buck Moon*
Last Quarter Moon: 7/9
Happy beautiful day to your magical self 💜
The official summer season is almost upon us and this last lunar cycle we’ve (hopefully) spent time slowing down and savoring life in some ways. I would love to say this practice came easily to me, but it sure didn’t.
I had to really work toward practicing it at times, and even then I felt like I was getting distracted too easily by tasks that “needed” to be done. There were some powerful observations and lessons in this for me – one of which is that part of my default mode is focusing on managing tasks.
And I’m not the only one 👀
We’re taught to manage our lives and schedules and all of these things in the name of productivity for others. But is that really the point? Is that really what’s most important?
Not to me.
Do we have to do that sometimes?
✅ Sure. Yes.
But is that how we thrive?
🚫 Fuck. No.
A few years ago, I quit a job because I recognized that I was acting more concerned with keeping a certain level of “performance” at that job than I was with how I was interacting with my own daughter. I found myself treating being a mom like a list of tasks I needed to check off.
One day, I was struggling to get us out the door on time so I wasn’t late for work, and I was angry about having to have this same conversation over and over again (hadn’t I checked that box off so many times already?), and I yelled at my beautiful, precious daughter. And that killed me.
I was resentful toward my job and all the circumstances that led up to that moment. I felt low. Awful. Unworthy of so many things. I just wanted to crawl in a hole.
And I knew that wasn’t me.
When I’m not acting from a place of alignment, that manifests outwardly as frustration and anger. This is what was happening then, and this is what has been happening too frequently for me lately.
It’s just in the past few days that I’ve gained some clarity around this. I’ve noticed that I’m quick to snap and snark and snip, but I couldn’t figure out why.
Maybe you notice this happens in your life too. I think it’s absolutely normal and common AF.
So I’m showing up exactly as I am, sitting here in my sweatpants and hoodie. Show up with me. Let’s be in this together as we transition into another magical moon cycle.
The lunar cycle that starts for the Buck Moon* 🌕. In just a few days, we’ll also experience the Summer Solstice 🌅 and I can’t fully express to you the excitement I have for this particular cycle.
Despite the heaviness I’ve been experiencing because of the things I mentioned above, I can feel the lighter steadiness that accompanies this change. This is the season of nature coming into its fullness all around us and showing us what thriving is. We’re talking antlers for the bucks, basking in warmer days, electric thunderstorms, nighttime nature symphonies by bonfires, and general good summer vibes.
LET’S DO THE THANG.
Thrive like you mean it.
But what the fuck does this mean when we aren’t bucks or storms or nighttime insects?
Good question! I have no idea what it is for you.
What I do have are some practices that I've been using that coincidentally (and magically) brought my priorities into sharper focus. These I offer as inspiration to make some magic of your own.
📓 Keeping a daily gratitude and joy journal
This literally takes maybe 3-5 total minutes out of the day, and I’m overestimating.
I’ve been using Brigitte Marie Energy Design’s Notion Gratitude & Joy Journal (check out her video to learn more), and this quick and simple practice has been amazingly eye-opening. I don’t even think I can do it justice to type this out in a small space, but it’s fucking fabulous.
At the beginning of each day, I go in, type out a quick sentence of something I’m grateful for, what my body feels like it needs today, and I’ve added some space to track the tarot and oracle cards I pull for myself. At night, with the help of a reminder I set up on my phone, I come back and enter one thing that I experienced joy with that day. That’s it. Easy peasy.
And when I look back over my entries, I notice that the same things consistently show up in my gratitude and joy areas. Those are what I cherish and hold close to my heart. And I physically see them – I just needed to see that I see them, if that makes sense. MAGIC.
✍️ Freewriting
I’ve held a daily journal practice for years now, but over that time, I’ve had many a struggle with what to write or how much time I’ve investing in it. I have always known it’s helpful for me, but I have totally busted myself just phoning it in and going through the motions, and that’s not helpful for anyone.
I’ve started using a practice I used to teach my students when I taught writing: the timed freewrite. I just set a timer for a minimum amount of time that I’ll write. And then I write whatever the fuck comes in my brain. ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.
This does wonders for the parts of me that wants to censor anything that makes me feel vulnerable (hello, childhood trauma!) and it relieves that pressure to journal about something specific when it just doesn’t jive with where my brain is that morning.
I’ve been able to learn more about myself and how I view my world and what I want to be doing in it, and it feels spontaneous and free because I just let it drip out as it’s ready. ALSO MAGIC.
🧠 Learning new supportive practices
I mentioned some newsletters back that I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and that’s been a fucking trip for me. I’ve experienced a lot of grief and disorientation to myself and my external life because of it, and I still have a lot to work through – one of which is the constant seeing of the things that I do that are very blatantly ADHD-related. It’s very much like only hearing someone say “um” and “like” as they’re talking. Once you notice it, it dominates your attention. And while nothing has actually changed about how my brain works, it feels yuck-city.
So I’m investing energy into learning how to reframe what I now know and to harness this superpower as just that – a righteous superpower – so that I can align with it in love and utilize my neurodivergent brain in magical ways I haven’t even discovered yet. MORE MAGIC.
🎵 Listening to Qveen Herby’s “Vitamins” on repeat
This one has literally just been last night and the past few hours as I write this, but it’s a thrive vibe for sure – one I aim to manifest in this new lunar cycle . Peep it on your fave music listening app/device. Trust me – it’s good for you.
These have all shown me what thriving is NOT to me: thriving is not managing tasks. Nowhere in my gratitude and joy journal does it say I’m grateful or joyful for task completion. NOWHERE. And (spoiler alert) it won’t be showing up. Period.
What I’m learning is that thriving happens when I identify what my REAL priorities are and live in alignment to expand those areas, which means questioning if things are helping me do that or not. And if they’re not, I give myself full permission to minimize or eliminate the energy I put into them so I can reallocate it to what actually does. Actually – let me revise that. I’m going to demand that of myself 😼
I want to bathe myself in things that allow me to breathe freely and wholly from a place of divine soul and unfettered heart. To pursue what truly feeds me and promotes my expansion so I can help others do the same. That’s thriving to me, and I fully intend to continue these practices and see where they take me.
MAGIC 🪄
What about you?
If you’re not sure, maybe try a practice I listed above or something else that calls to you. We can’t thrive without direction first, so gather it up and get scootin’.
And share with me! I would absolutely love to hear from you – whether it’s your struggle, your thrive definition, your thoughts, your feels, all the things. We are community, so let’s commune 💜
And before we part ways from this moment, let’s breathe 🌬️
For a moment, pause, close your eyes and just breathe. Slow and steady as you can. No judgment, just breathing.
And as you head back to your day, trust yourself to create that magic – you have the spark already ✨
From my heart to yours – may your energy and spirit be light and seen 💜
*The moon names and phase details given here are as given on the Farmers' Almanac website. There are many other moon names and stories from other cultures that are not included here, but I encourage you to do your own research. It’s fascinating!
All resources mentioned in this newsletter are included for research purposes only and are not affiliated with Zenful Mindings LLC.
