Happy holiday week and almost June! Who else is completely in shock that its already the 6th month of the year?? *raises both hands* The speed at which the year moves never ceases to amaze me.
As we move into June, have you taken a second to check in with yourself? Check in with your goals and how you’re doing? Check in with your mental state? Check in with your intentions and how your life is structured around them? I highly suggest you take 5-10 minutes to do so.
Me and my dear friend John drove down to Santa Monica on Monday to watch the sun set over the beach and dedicate some time to getting intentional. John is visiting LA from New York City and wanted to make sure he saw the sunset on the beach before heading back to the east coast on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the clouds didn’t really allow for much sunset gazing, but we did succeed in getting in some deep friend bonding (my favorite!) along with May reflections and June intentions.
Getting Intentional
As we sat on a ledge where the sand meets the sidewalk, we drank up our view of the light-up rides on Santa Monica Pier, the moves of pseudo-acrobats swinging from the Muscle Beach equipment, and the laughter of children playing in the sand. The cool wind mixed with ocean air, infused our lungs as we took to our journals and put pen to paper.
We wrote down our May reflections: what we did well and what we would have wanted to improve upon. Then, we repeated a ritual that I did at the start of April when the full moon was in Libra and I felt especially connected to the celestial energy of my own astrological sign’s moon. We wrote down what we wanted to release and what we wanted to manifest for the upcoming month.
I admit being a novice at all of this astrology, moon, and crystal business but I do find it to be fun! Whether or not I understand all of reasoning and explanations behind it, I don’t see any harm in making my intentions clear. If someone tells me a full moon is a good time to release things and thoughts that don’t serve you, then I’m down to do some releasing (or at least set the intention to).
I read somewhere that the full moon that happened yesterday (the 29th) was in Sagittarius and the lesson to glean from it is “to seek spiritual understanding that heals our perspective.” Apparently, according to Bustle, Sagittarius is the sign of adventure “who leaves convention to take up the quest for greater meaning.”
I often feel like a lot of astrology stuff I read could be applicable to anyone who’s experiencing this transitioning period of life, from college to the working world, as we search for meaning and what we truly want to create in our lives. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty much constantly searching for greater meaning and shunning convention and the “shoulds.” My interest in psychology, spiritual teachings, and this new national focus on wellness and self-care are all based in my deep desire to heal the limiting perspectives that keep our lives small and unsatisfying.
Open Hands: A Life-Long Intention
A major intention that I keep returning to is to live with an open heart, open mind, and open hands.
Rewind to just under 3 years ago to my state of mind as I moved home from a failed attempt at finding satisfaction at a job I had started only 4 months beforehand in NYC, found myself with nearly no friends in my home-town, and was freshly disentangled from a romantic relationship that had been in my life for about 3 years.
It felt like the walls of my life were collapsing around me and I was being charged to rebuild from scratch.
It was hard. I had to rebuild piece by piece. But here I am standing mostly happy and healthy in a city I’ve always dreamed of living in so – yay! Happy (almost) ending to that story.
During that time, making meaningful friendships was one of my major intentions and I turned to the many helpful blog posts featured on Girlfriendcircles.com for tips. This one article that highlights the open-handed approach to life and the freedom and peace of mind that it brings has stuck with me ever since.
“Open hands remind me that if I give freedom to goodness to land in my life then I also give freedom to see those same gifts fly away. In their own time. I can’t not control one and then try to control the other. An airport cannot choose to only accept arrivals and not departures, there are valid times for travel in both directions. I cannot force people to stay here any longer than I can force time to stand still. I cannot manipulate, coerce, charm or trap gifts to last forever.”
– Shasta Nelson, The Blessing of Open Hands
So. Freaking. Powerful. This was exactly the philosophy that my life was pushing me to adopt as everything seemed to be crumbling around me. My control-freak tendencies would need to bend to the circumstances in front of me. I had to embrace the sacred act of surrender. I didn’t have a choice but to accept what was happening and move forward from there.
Looking back at that time of my life from where I’m standing now gives me a powerful sense of resilience. I now have the most beautiful, kind, and inspiring friends I could have ever hoped for. The people I wished to have in my life have somehow found their way to me and I know that the other areas in my life that I hope to improve will also find their way to a place that I’m happy with.
“Open hands remind me to engage, to not give up, to expect, to hope and to cherish. They teach me to let go, to unclench, to find peace. They offer me moments of joy and loss, inviting me to find contentment in both.”
This philosophy extends beyond the relationships in our life. It applies to all things. When you notice yourself clenching to an idea of how things should be or a routine that you’ve stubbornly grown attached to, take a step back and loosen your grip. Our lives are meant to be ever-changing, ever-transforming. Embrace both the departures and the arrivals while gently tending to your inner-peace all the while.
Hold tight to hopeful good feelings. They are your life-raft along the seas of change.
Brightly Illuminated 