New Moon Manifesto

It's new moon today.

I found myself going through my morning journal this morning, looking at what I've written on the first day of the last few months. That's my conscious reckoning with what needs to open up for me, what I want to work on, what I'm manifesting. New moon is the unconscious flow of energy that carries it forward through the rising energy of the waxing moon to the full moon, with its culminating energy. I seem to have a pattern of noticing when it's the first day of a new month and checking in with myself around things.

In June, for example, it suddenly occurred to me that nearly half a year had passed, and I did a survey of my accomplishments and what I'd still like to do this year. I talk about that in the first piece of writing in this series. That self-reflection led to this Summer of Self-Love journey I began that day.

In May, the first day of the month was the last day of an incredible trip abroad. That day in my morning journal, I made a simple list of what I called, "Take-aways from the Trip." It was a distillation of what I learned while engaged in an extraordinary adventure.

I also popped back to the entry from April 1st. There wasn't one, actually, because it was Easter morning and I was phenomenally busy. But I did write on April 2nd, and that is noteworthy because the Monday after Easter is a day I rarely do anything but rest. Holy Week is a wholly busy time for me and by the time Monday rolls around I'm down for the count. On that day, I did a deep dive into soul landscape and noted several questions for further reflection. I'm going to study that writing in the coming days, but what is alive for me today is the list I created May 1.

It's a manifesto of sorts.

Merriam-Webster notes that a manifesto is related to the word manifest. A feature of it is "to be easily seen or recognized." "Readily perceived by the senses." And there is a public facet to it as well. It is a declaration.

Here's mine.

Time to thrive.
Check your expectations. Cultivate flexibility.
Be open to receiving.
You can do what you think you cannot do.
Remember the lessons of the Medicine Walk.
You are a sprinter - not a long-distance runner.
Life is beautiful.
Visit wild and beautiful places.
Spend time with friends.
Do not be afraid.
Break the blister.
Drink the wine. Eat the scones. Buy daffodils.
Schedule my retreat time - to read, to write, to dream.
Ask - what feels nourishing today?

This is not only what I discovered while adventuring late in the spring. It's what I believe in.

The days following new moon are such a great time to set intentions. And the time just before is a great time to go back through journals and to remember what has been alive for you, to check in with that and to see if it's still alive. To figure out some ways to manifest those things. If it's not still alive, then what is?

I'm excited to work with these things over the next lunar cycle. 

How to make them my life.

The Summer of Self-Love is a daily writing practice birthed June 1, 2018 as a container for harnessing three months of thriving. The goal at the end is to host a dinner party. Sounds like it's an odd Hero's Journey, doesn't it? Most of them usually are.