A New Year: 2020

As the New Year began, I read several posts suggesting, or perhaps hoping, that 2020 would be a year of clear vision. Like so much of life, it depends on where we begin, where we hope to go, and how attached we are to how we get there or what it looks like when we arrive.

When we open our senses and sensibilities to the experiences of a new year...a new decade...we may actually find a rawness there. A wildness. A birthing. These are messy things. Not only because they're new to us, but also because they take us to the edge, to a place we may not be totally sure we want to, or even are able to, claim.

Let's be honest about the 'clear vision' thing too. It's not about clearing our vision to being 20/20. It's about clearing out what keeps us near-sighted, only able to see to the end of our noses. It's about clearing out what hounds us to stay far-sighted, only able to see months or years into the future. In each of those modes, we miss the Now, the current moment. Near-sighted, we miss the milieu of life around us. Far-sighted, we miss what lives and breathes right before and beside us.

On to the wildness, the rawness of it. The Now seems tame because it is immediate. Yet to be Present to the Now means to face whatever arises in this ever-present, ever-changing moment. We often say the only constant in life is change. What happens when we go beyond saying it to acting it out? We open ourselves to the sudden wild squalls that arise within us, the deepest feelings that show up, happy or sad or angry or willful. We acknowledge them and experience them, even if we choose to keep them to ourselves. We allow the wild within us to remain untamed and real.

In the Now, we forgive ourselves for the moments when we go beyond feeling to expression. We notice the wild expression and acknowledge it, asking forgiveness for the moments when our expression strikes out at others. That's part of the wildness, the rawness of the Now, of being in the moment, of being awake to and seeing clearly the complexity of who and what we are as we enter this new year of 2020.

How do you define 'clear vision'? Is it important to you? How do you use 'clear vision' to set your goals? What is wild in your personal Now? What do you attempt to tame? How is your life different when you are open to your own wildness? 

Capricorn Full Moon 2017

©2017 ML Monroe

If your favorite thing in to remain secluded at home, the Capricorn Full Moon may not be your best supporter. Even though the sun is in Cancer and home base is easily and completely the focus, Capricorn is going to tug you out for all the world to see.

Cancer is all about beginning; Capricorn is about the making it to the goal. Neglecting either of these will not work. The best path during this Full Moon would be to find a place of balance between the two. There's a strong flow of emotions between these two extremes and we are in the space to express our feelings and see where they lead. Something is about to be birthed.

This Full Moon is also called the Blessing Moon. Even though it may not herald a changing season, it is calling forth change. With July as the start of the second half of the year, that call for transformation is fitting. It's a good time to breathe deeply and look for every possible chance to express gratitude.

Alongside the Full Moon is a Moon-Pluto conjunction. This is the particular point of that deep summoned transformation. It's also where a sense of solitude or even loneliness can show up. We are being called to identify our tribe as well as define our place of safety.

A curiously strong aspect of this Capricorn Full Moon is that balance point between home and work, inner and outer pursuits. We have the opportunity to choose how we are going to present ourselves and our being to the private and public aspects of our lives.

Think about what is happening in our world today. The G20 meeting recently completed, we found ourselves facing decisions and agreements made without the overarching influence of the current President of the United States. There are actions being discussed in every region of the world that will influence every facet of our future environment ~ natural, political, economic, educational, physical, etc.

This Full Moon, with its polarizing focuses of the Cancer home/internal and the Capricorn work/external, also affords us the chance to connect with others in an entirely new manner.  We can choose to yell and scream and call others out on their 'stuff' ~ whatever that may be ~ while ignoring our own or we can choose a quiet one-on-one chat about our differences.

Drawing people in to conversation grows from the Cancer home quality. Consider the shaming and name-calling and how it shatters the tribe. Drawing people in gets past individual, systemic or privileged identities as well as beyond oppressive, limited and limiting definitions of ourselves and others.

For the past several years, Pluto has been residing in Capricorn, the sign of the Middle World, of established institutions. While it's been digging up the foundations for that entire time, the Cancer Moon makes it personal. The Capricorn Full Moon shines its glaringly bright light on both the large and small aspects of our world and asks us to pay attention to where we would like it to go from here.

What cracks are showing up in your world? In which aspect of the world (personal/private or work/public) are they? How are others influencing or affecting your current sense of the world? How are you affecting or influencing those around you? How do you want to see and experience the world in the future?