life – My Sterling Summer

Dark Moon. New Moon. Solar eclipse. The Year of the Fire Horse. Ramadan. Mardi Gras/Lent. Imbolc. Did I miss anything? Spiritually, there is SOOOO much going on right now. It’s no wonder I am feeling the way I am. Restless. I can’t think of any other way to describe it.

Work was a shit show today. So f-ing busy that I feel like I did not accomplish anything! It’s evening now and for the last couple of hours I’ve just been wandering around not really knowing what to do with myself. Deciding on a music channel to listen to is one of the few decisions made tonight. So I came here. Figured that as soon as I started tapping the keys, words would just start to flow. So my apologies if I end up just rambling on. LOL

I just saw this quote on the GMA website – “This year is known as the fire horse because it coincides with the fire element, which is expected to bring “a cycle of heightened passion, boldness, energy, and courage,” according to the Asia Society.” And I believe it! It does feel like things are changing this year. We shall see! And I’ll do my best to journal as much of it as I can.

Planning my garden for the year has also been something I’ve been working on. I know where I want the planters. And the purchases needed for the garden are planned out as well over the next several weeks. Right now, tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, sugar snap peas, carrots, cucumber, beets, zucchini, summer squash, and butternut squash are at the top of the list. Kale, cauliflower, and corn are options as well. Eggplant did not make the list this year. As fun as it was to grow, I still have a bunch in my freezer that has gone uneaten. I should have given more away.

So I’m going back and forth between this and the interwebs. 😀 But I really want to pull a card from my Elemental Empath oracle deck.

Isn’t it beautiful? (That is a picture from the creator’s Instagram, no mine.

Okay, so I pulled the “Intimacy” card and well, I’m not gonna talk about that here today. That may be a message Spirit has for me.

So I pulled another and got “Expression.” Across the bottom of the card are the words, ‘Find Voice,’ ‘Bottled up Emotion,’ and ‘Communicate.’ This certainly resonates with me and I am certain others who may be reading this can relate as well.

As women, and of course not just women, but usually women, we are told to stay quiet, small, don’t make a fuss. We are conditioned. And we do keep it all in. But we don’t have to! It is not healthy to keep emotions all bottled up. Trust me, I know. It’s been a life long learning experience. Almost 56 and still working on it.

I’m thinking that this new year – The year of the Fire Horse is going to be incredible all around. Already we have been seeing people using their voices for good! We need to keep doing that. Find that voice. Use it to express yourself – often. We have a lot of anger right now and we are allowed to feel it. The main thing is expressing it in ways where we are not attacking others. Use that energy for good!

Using our voice to communicate and get those emotions out is so important. Whatever the situation may be. Setting boundaries. Expressing your needs and desires. Or even verbalizing the anger and frustration you are feeling about the world we are living in right now – Release it! (But in a productive way)

This one was short and sweet. If you read it, let me know. Leave a comment. Tomorrow is the New Moon. I’ll try to be back.

Man. January was the longest year I have had in a very long time. WTF. I have been exhausted. Thankfully I have a dear friend to connect with and I even have a mutual on TikTok whose videos I watch and connect with. She seems super nice. I’d like to chat with her, but it seems strange to just message a total stranger. LOL

Lately, my focus has been off terribly. We just entered Imbolc season and I feel like I was just sort of going through the motions. I did a couple of things that I had planned out with my friend, but I’m a solo practitioner and my husband isn’t really aware or concerned with it. Not that I hide it, but it’s just me. It is hard to know exactly what I should be doing. On the other hand, there isn’t anything that “should” be done or “has to” be done. I need to follow my intuition more. That’s where the focus has been off.

With the crazy things that have been happening in our world, the TikTok sale, life…I was running low on motivation. News made me sad, angry, anxious. The new social platform now makes me kinda nervous. Do I want to post videos there anymore? Not that I did much to begin with, but I was considering it. And work just never stops! Shit…I am totally whining. Venting? I have to get stuff off my chest somehow, right? Anyway…

Back to Imbolc. This is the time between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox aka Spring. It is a time we really start to see our days getting longer. I know I have and I love it! The birds are singing up a storm these days. The land is waking up. Those birds will be making nests before we know it. It is time to start planning the garden. The new year is approaching fast and I am hoping this year will provide a more abundant garden, more joy, and more motivation on my part. Connecting to nature is one thing I would like to do. Even if it is just being outside in my yard and enjoying the fresh air. When I was a kid, I was outside ALL.THE.TIME.

Another thing that I’ve been thinking about a lot is my oracle cards. I have four beautiful decks and I enjoy using them as tool to help understand where some work could be done in my life. But I want to share this with others as well. At heart, I am a counselor. Always have been. I am empath, understanding, encouraging and tend to see the good in everything. I even have the “Elemental Empath” oracle deck by Miyuki Rose. Well, I used to be all of those things. It’s been rough over the past few years, you know? This part of my life has been missing it seems. I want it back. These cards can also be used for shadow work. And if it helps me, it can help someone else too.

My dilemma is finding a good time to make videos and/or audio recordings and what platform to post them on. As usual, I start comparing myself to others and the ways that they’re doing it. I need to sit and think about it and decide what feels best for me.

One of the cards I pulled a couple of days ago was the “Beginnings” card from the Queen of the Moon Oracle deck (by Stacey Demarco). It says, “You are offered a fresh start; your journey is beginning. Take the first steps toward something new. It is time to place emphasis on your health and well-being.” This resonates. We are walking toward a new year…a new journey. Being outside with my garden will certainly do good things for my health and well-being. Encouraging others will also help in those areas as well.

Time to put the focus on myself. This is not to say that I would ignore others. But as I have always been told, you can’t take care of others if you’re not taking care of yourself.

It’s time.

It’s a lot

The light is coming back