Vulnerable Steadiness

As I hurriedly moved my last bag out of my room at the beach, I drew up short to watch the very slow and steady progress of this slug. The grey walkway was smooth going, but there was the obvious gap and switch of terrain. The slug's feelers stretched out to assess its continued course. I put my bag down, groped for my phone, and noticed the steadiness of its progress. Slow, yet not hesitant.

My car packed, I continued to ponder the slug's movement. Was there meaning in my encounter with this creature? The obvious meaning was slow down. In today's culture of busyness, we move frenetically.  We live under the overarching theme of more ~ more work, more money, more play, more vehicles, more experiences, more house/s, more food, and the ultimate: more time. We act as though the faster we move, the more we can do and acquire. We forget that faster does not equate with better and quantity does not equate with quality. It reminds me of Harry Chapin's song Cat's in the Cradle:

My son turned 10 just the other day
Said, "Thanks for the ball, now c'mon let's play.
Will you teach me to throw?"
I said, "Not today.
I've got a lot to do." He said, "That's okay."
And he walked away and he smiled and he said,
"You know I'm going to be like you, Dad.
You know I'm going to be like you."

What we really need to do is slow down. More than that. We need to pay attention. Follow the trails written in the earth beneath us. Move at a steady, considered pace. Breathe deeply of the dew-soaked, loamy morning air. Touch all we love with tenderness. Allow every sense space to express and explore. Be awake and aware. Let your vulnerability be the voice of your strength.

What is your usual pace? Is it the same every day? What do you attend to as you move through your day? When do you slow down? What do you notice when you do? How can you move more slowly and observantly? Do you recognize when you are vulnerable? How do you express your vulnerability? Which of your senses is the strongest? Do you notice how every one of your senses processes the world around you? What one thing can you do to increase your awareness? How many times in the past week have you said something akin to 'not now' to someone or something you love?

Teabag Tarot: Light and Dark

I take my tea seriously. Well, maybe not my tea as much as the Teabag Tarot which accompanies it. This one was especially poignant since I've recently gone through a rather dark moment.

Dark moments happen. Our reflection seems a bit dingy. Our minds quietly turn toward melancholy. Our hearts feel too heavy for breath. These moments last however long they last ~ days or weeks or years. We may tumble in for an extended period or cycle in and out as the moments capture us.

When we're in the midst of them, we struggle to believe in, much less see and feel, the light. No matter. The light is there. Feeding us. Supporting us. Reaching toward us. As we emerge from our dark moment, we recognize that. We may rage against the light, howling about its desertion of us. Again, no matter. The light moves toward us, surrounds us, nurtures us. We breathe it in and move on.

Details of my dark moment stacked one upon another, consisting mostly of watching friends going through painful transitions that ranged from an unwanted move to significant health issues to the beginnings of dementia. As I slid from one to another of my friends' issues, rest eluded me. I slipped into an anxiety of my own, compounded by juggling connections and too much busyness. Little things that normally would glissade past, now crowded onto the stack. I watched sleep pass further out of reach. Sound familiar?

The four charges in this Teabag Tarot resonate like proverbs in my ear. We hear them, maybe even say them, with increasing frequency. Live light. Keep your life as simple as possible. Open yourself to the beauty around you. Travel light. Don't take or take on more than you can carry. Be ready to give up whatever doesn't serve you. Lighten your own load. Spread the light. Share the beauty within you. Listen to others. Give of yourself. Be the light. Live with self-understanding. Be an example of vulnerability and courage for others. When I remember these charges, when I actively practice them, they don't make the dark moments go away. They simply remind me of the balance of light and darkness in my life, our lives and our world.

What dark moments have you gone through? How did you get through them? Where are you now in the movement from light to dark? What practices help you find balance? What practices do you want to increase? diminish? maintain?

Aquarius Full Moon 2017

This Aquarius Full Moon turns up the heat on the intensity of activity in astrological terms. This is the sign of our social conscience, our community self. This Full Moon is accompanied by a lunar eclipse only two weeks before the solar eclipse occurring at the coming New Moon. We are riding the lunar waves of change and challenge for our future.

Eclipses often bring change and shift in our lives. This can show up like the symbolic turning of a page, or beginning of a new chapter. We have all been experiencing this influence to greater or lesser degrees for days or even weeks prior to the eclipse. What we experience sets the tone for the next several months of our lives. Paying attention to how our entire system feels makes the most sense right now.

We also have the opportunity to open our hearts and trust the seismic movement that shakes us is uprooting the stuckness we have gotten ourselves into. This is a time to be gentle with ourselves and with others, to cultivate with care our close relationships.

There are deeper questions surfacing ~ about relationships to others and to our work. We are being called to be proactive rather than reactionary, to step into and use our power rather than to sit back and watch what others do before acting. With each of these callings, we are asked to respond with care, thoughtfulness and compassion.

Although eclipses are seen as times of darkness, they bring everything into sharpness and clarity no matter the emotions that clarity elicits. We experience the shadows differently. What we see in the dark presents us with a new sense of who we are, where we are and what we are here to do. The dark moment passes quickly enough, yet it leaves a lasting impression on our minds and psyches.

We are in a unique time to attend to our inner world and pull the outer world into alignment with the greater story we desire to bring into the Light. It's not often the heavenly bodies align to provide such strong motivation to unfold our own myths and to watch them form the connections we need.

One more awareness is that Mercury is on its way to retrograde (start: August 12th at 11° Virgo; end: September 5th at 28° Leo). My sense of Mercury retrograde is that it is the perfect time for information gathering, reflection, research and deep breaths. Many really deep breaths. Don't make major decisions. Or quick changes. Or spendy purchases. Breathe. Continue to do your behind-the-scenes work. Mercury retrograde is often blamed when we move too quickly to a new position on something. It's only the conduit of the energetic to pause, rest, reflect. Another moment or two ~ or week or two ~ of decision-making generally won't hurt the outcome. And if quick decisions are necessary, be sure to do whatever research possible and move forward.

Mercury retrograde will continue through the solar eclipse. More on that later. Just sayin'.

What relationship changes are necessary in your life? friends? colleagues? networks? other groups? What are these relationships teaching you? Have you learned your lessons? Are you caught in a collective space? Are you speaking your unique truth? What is ready to expand and move in your life? and in your relationships? What patterns of interaction no longer serve you? How can you change them?

Cancer New Moon 2017

Another New Moon ~ Wow. It seems like only a couple of days ago I was writing about the Full Moon. The pages of time keep turning.

Like all new moons, this one is about releasing, letting go, setting the intention for gathering back in. A Cancer New Moon feels like coming home because Cancer is nurturing and protective. Being ruled by the Moon, and currently influencing the New Moon, showers us with a fluctuating emotional current.

Mercury entered Cancer a few days ago. Since Mercury rules the mind and communication, this New Moon is poised to allow us access to more sensitive communications with those around us. We have an awareness not only of our own feelings, but also those of others. Stay mindful during this time of any tendency to overthink an action or situation. With the intense focus on watery Cancer emotions, this could lead to higher anxiety. If that happens, be gentle with yourself. Breathe and relax. Let go. Remember, that's the gift of the New Moon.

Neptune, the planet of compassion, is currently in its shift to retrograde. Neptune inspires dreams, imagination, creativity, psychic openness, and divinity. It connects us to both subtle shifting energy and high spiritual realms through its magic and etheric juiciness. Its creative domain is primarily visual arts, like photography and painting, yet it can also influence movement arts, music and literature. If we allow ourselves openness to to any of these arenas, Neptune and the strong empathy of the Cancer New Moon will work together to bring our gifts forward. This is not a time for us to hide within the hard Crab shell of Cancer.

What emotions tug at you during this New Moon? How are you experiencing 'home'? What creative gifts are coming to the foreground more strongly for you? How are your dreams or imaginings currently influencing you? What are you considering communicating to one or more people you care about? What is holding you back? What might you be overthinking? Where may you be attempting to hide? What do you need in order to show more compassion to yourself?

Power of Trip to the Sea

© ML Monroe 2016

Three months ago, a couple of friends contacted me. They were coming to the area in November and were wondering if I wanted to get together with them. Easy answer to that ~ Of course! As we talked, we decided to make an overnight trip to the beach ~ which would work out great for both of us since I would be their driver and they would make all the arrangements.

Little did we know as we made our plans the tenor of our travel time. Each of us brought with us some recently troubled or troubling experiences. Besides our own issues, the weather has been stormy and we're all still a bit off balance from both the elections and the holidays. Whew! Lots going on.

When we arrived, we barely settled ourselves in and set off for a walk on the beach. The rain that was misty turned to a downpour. The wind picked up and the temperature seemed to dip. A walk was simply not in the cards. So I snapped the picture and we set off to shop and find somewhere to have dinner.

Yet that simple moment when I was on the beach, looking at the sea and the fog healed my troubled heart. I felt calmer, stronger, safer even with the wind battering us with rain. When we got into the car, my friends mentioned the same thing. Simply being at the sea ~ Mama Ocean, Yemaya ~ we each and all breathed in Her Presence and it was enough.

What creates turmoil in your life? How do you work through it? Is there a place you go to find healing and solace? Where is it? Why do you think it has an effect on you?

Freedom

Wisdom of the House of Night, Colette Baron Reid

Letting go. What a wonderful image of all the flying things ~ butterflies, moths, dragonflies ~ as they rise from what could be captivity. Yet letting go doesn't apply only to things with wings. Ha! Much of the time for me it applies to emotions and concepts even more than to people ~ or butterflies.

There's a saying: If you love something set it free. Letting go applies to those we love as well as to the thoughts and fears we bear within us. This image is a reminder that freedom itself is important.

What happens when I let go of the concepts I have about others? That frees me to be able to see them as they truly are ~ in that moment. What I need to remember is that it frees me. Other people aren't bound by my concepts, I am. They usually don't know, or perhaps even care, what I think.

What happens when I let go of my notions of myself? my own descriptions of who I am? or of who I am not? I free myself to express facets that I may not have expressed before. I can care or love or act in whatever manner is most genuine in that moment.

What happens when I simply let go? when I breathe deeply and release all the fear, anxiety and grief? when I recognize that everyone in my life is his or her own person? I sleep better. My shoulders go down. I laugh more. Energy and love fill me. Letting go improves my life.

What about you? What do you carry around that would be better let go? How does freedom feel to you? Who and/or what benefits the most from your letting go?

It's Complicated

"What are you going to do? Everything, is my guess. It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications."

~ Nora Ephron

How do we begin again? How do we get started on a path to renewal and hope? It's complicated. It's messy. It's one of life's stranger moments..... finding the route to the higher thoughts and the positive directions.

So I begin. I imagine myself as the person in the picture: on a high wire looking at a complete and total crazed mess that I need to navigate. I feel exposed and vulnerable, confused and anxious. Where will this lead? What am I risking? Does it matter? What is the risk of not moving?

I put one foot in front of the other. I let myself feel the exposure and vulnerability. What difference does it make? Actually, it makes a lot of difference. When I allow those feelings, I breathe more deeply and more fully. I can be present to what is happening. My vision is clearer because I'm not in the struggle to change either what I see or what is happening.

Walking that crazy, loopy stretch of cording is scary and crazy-making rolled into one. It's amazing when I can choose to see it differently, to see it with new eyes, to embrace it as an adventure rather than resist the unknown.

What do you think of when you put yourself in the position of the person in the image? How do you feel? What happens to your breathing? Have you ever felt that way? What good came of it?