So the moon entered the Capricorn constellation over the weekend (either Saturday or Sunday night). In addition to being the first new moon of the year, it is also the first super new moon of the year.

I managed to set and post my goals for both the new and full moon each month last year (a couple were a day or so late—but they were posted), and I usually managed to accomplish at least two-fifths of each series of goals.

So, back to the first new moon of the year, which happened last night (and I’m a few hours late in posting—but still within the new moon phase). The moon is moving through the Capricorn constellation, and according to “Moonlogy: Working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, there are several things that one can do during this time:

  1. Plan for the next year
  2. Be ambitious with your plans for the next year (or few years)
  3. Be kind (to both yourself and others)
  4. Cede control (don’t micromanage or manipulate others)
  5. Establish traditions (also work on your reputation (both personal and professional)

What is nice about life under the Capricorn constellation—all items listed above can be accomplished without having to be in ‘crowds’ (since we’re probably going to be entering year three of the pandemic in a few months).

There is another aspect of the moon cycles—and that is the zone (which is associated with your signs [there are your star, rising, and moon signs]). I usually do all my predictions using my rising sign: Scorpio, though I could do it with my star sign (which is Virgo), or even my moon sign (which is Pisces). Just like the constellations, we pass through each zone twice each year (once for the new moon and once for the full moon).

So this new moon in Capricorn is entering my third house, or my communication zone. This is the time to concentrate on communication, and spending time with friends and siblings. So there are several things that one can do during this time (again I’m taking this from “Moonology”):

  1. Take a public speaking course
  2. Read the books you’ve got stacked up
  3. Take a short trip
  4. Hang out with your siblings
  5. Study a foreign language
  6. Really listen to others
  7. Write those letters you’ve been putting off

So looking at the above lists—since we’re still currently in the middle of a pandemic, there are a few things that won’t be happening:

  1. Hanging out with my siblings (though my younger brother does stop in quite often since he moved back to town)
  2. Taking a short trip. While I’m vaccinated (and will be getting my booster shot within the next few weeks), I’m not traveling becasue it isn’t essential for me to travel (and I currently don’t want to, since I don’t trust a good portion of the population)

So if I were to try to combine the two lists into a short goal list for the Capricorn New Moon, I would say that my goals will include:

  1. Working on developing my vision of where I would like to be in three-to-five years in regards to remote/contract/online freelance writing/blogging. In the same note, I also know that I will need to write out very specific goals/milestones that will help me achieve said vision.
  2. Read at least one non-fiction book from my 2022 non-fiction BINGO card
  3. Finish at least one module of a personal/professional development course from my 2022 e-course BINGO card
  4. Start refreshing my Spanish again using the app Mondly
  5. Continue developing my mindfulness/self-care routines to help me deal with my anxiety and other issues

While I have an idea of my future (remote/contract/online medical/science writing that will become a freelance medical/science writing business along with blogging), I will need to figure out the best schedule for showcasing my medical/science writing talents on the blog (in addition to finish reworking/rebranding the blog and various other social media sites).

The biggest hurdle is actually going to be the writing—researching various science topics is fairly easy (as long as I don’t fall down the rabbit hole of investigation), but its making sure that I’m writing for a general population and not the scientific community. Therefore, I’m hoping to have at least one ‘science’ blog post per month. I thought of going back to the science news cap pieces and I may do that as well (just picking two or three pieces to recap instead of five to ten).

We’re on a new year—which means new goals, new directions, and almost new everything—but it also means getting rid of what no longer works. For me that means letting go of the negative talk, the self-doubt, and starting to ‘tame’ the inner critic/imposter syndrome (‘Pam’).

I’m also going to be keeping the same words for guidance into and through 2022 as well: growth, creativity, curiosity, happiness, and prosperity.

What word (or words) have you chosen for 2022?