So the moon will be transitioning into Aquarius this week, and marking the second new moon of 2021. While the year may not be totally mellow (the second impeachment trial of the orange waffle started this week), I’m hoping that it may start mellowing out more and be more tranquil than 2020 was.

So before I look ahead to the Aquarius new moon, it is time to look back at the goals that I set for the Capricorn new moon and determine how well I did with each of them.

So what were my goals for the Capricorn new moon?

Work on developing my vision of where I would like to be in say 3-5 years and what I would be doing. In the same note, write out very specific goals/milestones that will help me achieve said vision.

Read (or finish) at least two non-fiction books that I have on my curated 2021 to-read list.

Finish at least one e-course from my curated 2021 e-courses to-complete/watch list

Work on getting better at self-compassion.

So how did I do with each of them?

In terms of my vision–I decided that to have an evolving vision for two reasons: 1) I’m still working my way out of my ‘burnout’ hole, and 2) I’m still not ‘locked in/on’ an path for my industry transition. Currently my long-term vision moving forward is:

I’m moving forward in life with vitality, inner harmony, and openness. I am achieving those goals through curiosity in spirituality, creativity in learning, and knowledge that I’m embracing growth and transformation in both personal and professional aspects of my life. While I know that I still have more ‘stairs’ to climb to totally get out of my ‘burnout’ hole, I’m making progress and steadily climbing upwards (sitting to catch my ‘breath’ as needed so I don’t go tumbling back down).

To project a vision further than the next staircase is to almost undo the work I’ve put into the journey from the bottom of the ‘burnout’ hole to my current position–resting after making up the first staircase.

When I shared this vision in an group, I was asked what I would write/construct for a vision for the present, and after thinking on it I came up with the following:

If I had to think of a vision for the present, it would be knowing that I’m making my way up the staircase, but taking a ‘rest’.

The ‘rest’ is sitting at a table, surrounded with books, paper, pens, and a laptop. I know that to continue going up the staircase, I need a direction as I see several different staircases around me. I’m researching my options, and leaning towards one of the two that look to both converge at the next ‘rest’ area.

As I’m thinking of what I would like to do with my life–I’m leaning more towards the remote/freelance aspect, but as more of a generalist with a slightly touch of specialist sprinkled in. Therefore I’m pondering the different things I like and attempting to see what type of puzzle or picture I can make out of them that will keep me learning, engaged, but at the same time bring in money to pay the bills.

In terms of the reading, I managed to finish 3 non-fiction books from my curated 2021 to-read list and they were:

Burnout: The secret to unlocking the stress cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising strategies to up your earnings and change your life by Barbara Stanny

Badass Habits: cultivate the awareness, boundaries, and daily upgrades you need to make them stick by Jen Sincero

I should hopefully be getting small book reviews of all three up on the blog within the next two weeks.

I also managed to watch 3 short e-courses off of Skillshare and they were:

Powerful Storytelling today: strategies for crafting great content

3 ways often overlooked to get traffic to your blog

Finding your inner creative

Reviews for these three can be found here: on December 2020’s review of Cancer Full Moon goals.

Improving/increasing my self-compassion is something that is always ongoing and evolving. There is never a one-and-done with any aspect of self-care. I’ve been trying to catch and reword/rephrase any negative self-talk. This has been difficult (as I’ve realized that most of my negative self-talk is on such a quiet loop), that unless I actively pay attention–I miss most of it. I have been trying to be more understanding with myself, and once I realize that I am doing something that is not helpful (such as looking for split-ends constantly), I start figuring out a way to reduce doing that habit/mannerism (such as braiding my hair).

So in terms of the goals–the quantitative ones were the easiest to keep track of, since I have a list of both books and e-courses that I would like to finish this year. The other two were a little harder to measure and keep track of.

I decided that it was easier to create an evolving vision currently, since I don’t have a job position (or even title) that I’m currently leaning towards. I wanted something that showed I was moving forward, but at the same time acknowledging that I am still a little uncertain of the path forward.

I have also realized over the past year that self-compassion and self-care are two things/areas that I’ve always slightly ignored growing up, going to school, and trying to set out on my career path. I also realized that once I decided on graduate school–I started ignoring different aspects of my life (the parts where I enjoyed doing various things and learning about various topics), to focus on an single aspect–getting my advance degree and trying to set out on the academic path.

Everyone’s idea of self-care/love is different. I’m trying to incorporate typical ideas (such as reading a good book, taking a bubble bath, and working out) with some of my own ideas (such as meditating by candle light, reflecting on oracle cards, deep breathing/stretches before bed). While some of these I do daily–they’re not done with the idea of taking care of mental/emotional or spiritual health–they’re just something I did. Now I’m trying to be purposeful in doing them–honoring my health (in all aspects).

Now I’ve realized that I can’t ignore those parts of my personality–that I actually do focus better when I can make the choice to put one project down and pick up another-or just pause one while working on the other. This is what I’m going to be focusing on moving forward in 2021–growth, creativity, curiosity, which will lead to happiness and hopefully prosperity.