So the moon has entered the Aquarius constellation over the weekend (Saturday night for those within the Central time zone in the US), and I’m several days late with the post. This is the first new moon of the year, and I can hope that things will start to mellow over the next few months…I’m not going to hold my breath though (I gave that up as a child—it never got me what I wanted)…
Is 2023 going to be better than the past few years? One can hope, there are so many problems going on in the world—that the only thing we can control is our responses…and I am working on better control of my emotions (especially when in stressful situations).
Looking at “Moonology: Working with the Magic of Lunar Cycles” by Yasmin Boland, there are again several things that one can do during this period:
Detach ourselves from things that are no longer serving us
Be true to ourselves
Be inventive
Be charitable
Be social
So, I’m still somewhat semi self-isolating. I leave the house only a few times a week—and that is to go visit my mother (who is still in a hospital). I do try to meet up with a friend once a month for lunch (but haven’t gotten around to that so far in January). Other than those few times—I’ll walk at Boomer Lake (but I try to avoid sharing the sidewalks if possible).
I’m still working on trying to detach myself from negative self-talk and stories, diet culture and mentality, and various other aspects of society that just really do a number on my mental health.
Being true to myself, also requires quite a bit of work—mainly on figuring out who I am…I’ve realized that I spent a large number of years, burying parts of myself to blend into the surroundings/background and not call attention to myself…so at times it is hard to be true to myself, when I’m not sure who I am.
Aspects I’m working at being ‘true’ to—my spiritual health (I’m more Wicca/pagan than following a monotheistic religion), my career direction (freelance writing), mental health (dealing daily with burnout, anxiety, depression, stress, and a dollop of PTSD), and personal/professional development path(s).
I’m trying to be ‘inventive’ in those areas—foraging my own paths (while asking for advice when needed from people I trust and respect).
How do you go about trying not detach yourself from things that no longer serve you? How do you ensure that you’re being true to yourself?
Then I turn to see what zone (or house) the moon is moving into in regards to everything. Remember there are basically three ways to determine which house/zone the moon is in for any new/full moon: your star sign, your rising sign, and your moon sign. I usually go with my rising sign, which is Scorpio; while my star sign is Virgo, and my moon sign is Pieces.
So this means that the moon is entering into my fourth house, or the home and family zone. So this can also be a time when one can spend cleaning (getting rid of things), possibly moving, and spending more time with family. So there are several suggestions from “Moonology” on what one can do during this time:
Have a garage sale
Hug your parents
Sort out your photo albums/digital photo files
Invite friends over
Renovate or redecorate so you’re more comfortable at home
Sell your home and/or change locations, or even countries
Ask your grandparents about your family’s history
So, there are several things from the above list for my fourth house that I probably won’t be doing this year:
Well, if I feel like hugging my parents—it is fairly easy to hug my father, but hugging my mom is another issue (she’s in the hospital in an ICU unit).
Inviting friends over—hello, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, and if I’m going to be meeting up with friends, I’d prefer a ‘neutral’ location that neither of us has to clean.
Both sets of grandparents are deceased, but we do have some family history from my father’s side (my grandfather started putting together a family tree), and I have a letter he wrote me back in the late 1990s that talked about life during the Depression, ‘Dirty Thirties’, and fighting in World War II.
I don’t think we’re going to be selling the house, and I currently don’t have plans for relocating anywhere (yet).
Things that might happen this year (not necessarily during the new moon):
Garage sale—there is a talk of doing a garage sale at some point this spring, to hopefully earn a little money back in terms of what we’re going to be having to put into the house to semi-remodel a bathroom (or two).
I’m in the process of rearranging my bedroom, and semi redecorating it—just need to finish organizing the desk area and closet.
I do need to sort through my digital pictures. I have way too many Gbs of pictures on my one external hard drive (and I haven’t downloaded the handful of pictures I’ve taken up at Boomer Lake this month).
I noticed that sorting digital pictures has been mentioned for a couple of years in a row—and I do sort through some and slowly get rid of them. My problem is that I take so many walks at Boomer Lake, I literally have probably four or five dozen folder of pictures from my walks up there and I have trouble deciding which pictures to keep and which ones to delete.
Since I’m a few days late in posting my goals for the Aquarius new moon, I’m going to keep the goal list fairly short:
Continue working on my three-to-five/ten year vision/plan
Continue going through my clothes and decide what I’m keeping and what can be either sold in a farage sale or donated
Finish organizing the desk area of my room so that I can hopefully start working from said desk (at least two or three days a week).
Finding a new normal is one of the big goals for this year…but also remembering that it may be slow, winding, and at times possibly even backtracking slightly—but if I keep striving to making forward progress and focus on my strengths it will lead to this being a year of happiness and prosperity.
When doing long term planning–vision board, goal lists/to-do lists, or something else?
So the moon will be entering its last full moon stage for 2022 tonight—but we’re getting rain, so I won’t be able to view it. That means there are only 24 days left in 2022…That also means I need to look back over the goals I set for the Taurus full moon before looking ahead to the Gemini full moon.
The goals that I had set for the Taurus full moon included:
Change up my breakfast routine–aiming to try to get more protein and fruits
Work on the second blog–getting the about me and home pages written, in addition to hopefully at least one or two blog posts written and posted as well. I’d also like to start brainstorming ideas of communications pieces that can be added to the portfolio section of the website.
Semi-continuation of the above goal–brainstorm ideas for communication pieces that could go in the ‘featured’ section of my LinkedIn profile
Have a functional format of my resume ready to be optimized for job applications
Work on fleshing out my definition of ‘success’ and creating a digital vision board to go with it
So how did I do with each of those goals?
Well—I managed to make progress on two of them:
I’m slowly switching up my breakfast routine to also include oatmeal with fruits and nuts, and waffles (not the healthiest choice—but a little better than just the blueberry muffin).
I have a functional format of my resume finally created—and have already used it for a potential job. I really detest trying to summarize twenty years of work into like two pages (currently its basically three pages). I have summarized (more or less) the past twenty years of my life (grad school to current) into three pages.
The other three goals I’m still working on—the second blog/website while it is technically ‘live’—I need to get the correct copy up on a couple of the pages (about me and the home pages), plus a blog post or two; I’m still working on fleshing out what my definition of ‘success’ is…mainly in terms of breaking it down to ‘success in x area of life’; and I’m still working on brainstorming ideas for different types of communication pieces that could go on both the blog and the featured section of my blog.
So—forty percent of hitting goals is better than zero. True, I could have done more work on trying to get the second blog up and running, and brainstorming ideas—but I’m also granting myself grace considering how totally hellish the past few months have been.
One of the tasks for the next few weeks—start fleshing out the goals for 2023 and beyond. Mainly start figuring out the long-term goals in regards to several of the level-10 life areas (personal development, spirituality, finances, career/professional development, hobbies/crafts, and health/fitness).
Though I’m also going to be trying to give myself the gift of self-acceptance especially when it comes to not getting everything done due to anxiety going sky-high or stress or any number of reasons why I decide to turn off the computer at night and work on the needlepoint projects.
Anxiety, stress, and depression aren’t going to be fading quickly—but I can really start trying to manage, control, and possibly even avoid prolong episodes of each—by protecting my time, and improving my self-care routine/schedule.
What are some of your favorite stress and/or anxiety relief methods/practices?
So, we’re in December…that means there are only 31 days, roughly four and half weeks, or 744 hours left in 2022. That means, I now really need to get serious about planning out things for 2023…because it will be here before we know it (or are possibly willing to accept it).
I’m still feeling massively tired and burnt out on life, and while I would love for the year (and decade) to be over—I’m also not ready for the good-byes that will go along with them.
I’d hoped that November would be a little mellower than the past three months—and it was, and at the same time it wasn’t; if possible it was an even tie for September in terms of being a mess.
Still dealing with the ongoing family medical issue—and the outcome is still up in the air. Then there is the fun of elderly animals…probably having to put one cat and dog down within the next few months (cat due to health issues, that I currently can’t afford to treat; and the dog due to old age and pain).
The only cool thing I can say about the news is Mauna Loa erupting this week. It’s been well over a decade since I’ve been to the big island of Hawai’i—and when I went, I only visited Kilauea (since it was within the main part of the Volcano National Park).
While I wouldn’t want to be living on a island with an active volcano—I think it’d be cool to see it erupt (from a safe distance)—cause while I did see Kilauea erupt—it wasn’t as cool looking as pictures have been lately for Mauna Loa or even when Kilauea erupted a few years ago.
Still staying off the news for the most part—mainly because of my current mental health state. Though if everyone would just grab a snickers bar and take like a three-month timeout, I think that would help things settle down.
By this time next year, I won’t be surprised if I’m diagnosed with moderate cases of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Elections were earlier this month, and hopefully Democrats can hold their slim majority in the senate, and knock heads together in the house to get things done. Sorry if that seems ‘violent’—I’m tired of seeing mass shootings in the news, and basic human rights being attacked basically every damn day.
In terms of the total number of cases of the virus within the US, when I published ‘October in Review’ on November 1st, I noted that we had reached a little over 99.3 million cases and now as of December 1st —we have reached just a little over 100.6 million cases (an increase of a little over 1.3 million cases). So, numbers are staying ‘steady’—though I’d like to see the number actually start going down again. But there are the various omicron subs-strains running amok.
So—please, wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and get boosted when needed.
I finally got around to getting my booster shot this past month—and other than a sore arm (for about four days), I didn’t have any other side effect of getting the booster. Flu shot is on semi-hold, only because it looks like I potentially have to schedule a doctor’s appointment to get it—and I don’t want to do that right now.
Still trying to keep the mental health on an even keel—therefore, I’m still trying to lean more into my strengths and values: knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/transformation (values), learner, intellection, input, achiever, and deliberative (strengths).
So before setting goals for December, its time to look back at the goals I set for November and see how I did with each of them. The goals for November included:
120-150K steps
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five-to-ten minutes of intentional movement each day
Finishing at least one of the many non-fiction books that I’ve started
Read at least two-to-four fiction books
Commit to the no spend days/no spend week/limited spending challenge (aiming for at least 22 days)
Work through at least part of one personal/professional development e-course
Getting the second blog up and running
Writing, writing, and writing
So how did I do with each of them?
120-150K steps:
I fell short of my minimum step goal of 120,000 steps. I managed to get 116,503 steps this past month. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts throughout the years—I’m an extremely fair weather person, so in order to be outside doing some type of workout I need it to be ‘just right’. We’re heading into winter, though with climate change, the temperatures have been doing a yoyo the past few weeks.
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five-to-ten minutes of intentional movement each day:
There was no walk at Boomer Lake during November. The reason—having to play ‘phone tag’ with medical staff in regards to the on-going family medical issue. I probably could have done a brief walk up there—but I did other chores instead.
I know I’ve probably moved around at least five minutes a day—but I have yet to write down what the intentional movements have been. (Need to get better at this)
Finish at least one non-fiction book:
I finally managed to finish reading INNERCISE: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain’s Hidden Power by John Assaraf. I just need to go back and do some of the exercises within the book (especially those that revolve around setting goals, and putting together routines).
Read at least two-to-four fiction books:
There were six new fiction books read during November, and six re-reads:
The new books:
Someone to Hold (Wild Widows #2) by Marie Force
Always Mine (Honey Mountain #1) by Laura Pavlov
Ever Mine (Honey Mountain #2) by Laura Pavlov
Make You Mine (Honey Mountain #3) by Laura Pavlov
Simply Mine (Honey Mountain #4) by Laura Pavlov
The Path to You (Wilder Brothers #3) by Carrie Ann Ryan
The re-reads included:
Alpha Turned by K.B. Alan
Protect & Defend by Francesca Hawley
Hot & Badgered (Honey Badger Chronicles #1) by Shelly Laurenston
In a Badgered Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) by Shelly Laurenston
Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) by Shelly Laurenston
Breaking Badger (Honey Badger Chronicles #4) by Shelly Laurenston
No spend challenges:
Well, I did okay with the no spend challenge—managed 17 days (so a little over half the month)…spending money unfortunately is my coping mechanism for stressful situations (and the past several months has been a roller coaster of stress)…but I’m going to work on improving this both in December and then in 2023.
Time outdoors is again becoming limited to basically evenings (and when I need to fill bird feeders) due to it being winter.
Meditation and sitting quietly at night (or actually anytime during the day) is something I’ve been fairly good at doing.
I’ve also been on top of doing daily oracle card drawings (I think there may have been one day I didn’t—but I’d done a double the day before), and doing daily gratitude journal entries.
Craft time:
I finished the one abstract science cross-stitch project, and had decided to use buttons to tie off the fabric in the back.
Latest abstract cross-stitch project
I’m currently working on a second abstract cross-stitch project and should be done with that one hopefully before the end of the year.
Working through part of a personal/professional e-course:
I’ve started watching the e-course: Master Business Writing & Editing on Udemy. I’ve watched the first three videos (so about 15 minutes of the three hour course). It looks to be a good course—so, aiming to finish this plus the 15 errors in scientific writing & how to fix them (an two hour course) during December.
Getting the second blog/website up and running:
One of the bigger goals for December
Writing, writing, and writing:
While I’ve gotten quite a bit of writing done during November (kept up with the three ‘series’ that I do on LinkedIn each week; plus the various posts on the creative blog), there is room for improvement.
I know that I need to get the second blog up and running—plus I need to decide on the various social media platforms for each blog, and get a tentative content calendar planned and actually stick with it…goal for December and 2023.
So, other than not getting any work done on the new blog/website—I managed a little on all other goals (while totally meeting at least the reading goals). As I’d mentioned in my #thoughtfulthursday post on LinkedIn today—I’ve been allowing myself to fall into the pits of ‘fear of failure’ and ‘fear of opinions of others’ this year—which has sidetracked, and sidelined my progress on numerous fronts.
Taking today out of the equation—there are thirty days left in the month. I know that I probably won’t be super productive this month (holidays and the on-going family medical drama), but I need to start setting things up so that I can hit the ground running in the New Year.
That means measuring things in the bedroom and rearranging furniture—to hopefully create an ‘office’ space that I actually feel comfortable working in, in addition to creating a portable working space in the living/dining room area (elderly dog likes to be in the same room—and has trouble navigating areas that lack area rugs).
It means getting in the different bullet journals and getting the tracking sheets set up for at least the first several months (besides the ones I did for 2022, introduce some new ones for 2023).
It will mean actually taking the time each day (morning and night) to plan and then reflect on how I did each day. It will also mean creating content calendars and trying to stick with them.
I’ll be spending some time during the next month or so deciding on what other social media channels I want to be active on for each blog…some might overlap (Instagram, Medium, and possibly having a Facebook page for each of them), but others will be specific for one or the other.
Therefore, I’ll still be working on improving my time and project management skills as well throughout the month of December.
The goals then for December will include:
120-155K steps
Partial walk at Boomer Lake, and intentional movements daily
Work through at least one module of a personal/professional development course
Writing, writing, and writing
Set up the ‘master’ goal list for 2023; and start the ‘master’ blueprint plan for 2023-2028
The December goals are basically the same as what I’ve set for September, October, and November—with the addition of setting up the ‘master’ goals or plan for 2023 to 2028. What I need to do in terms of that ‘goal’ is start with the five year goals, and work my way backwards. That way hopefully each year I’ll be working towards those ‘larger’ and loftier goals.
As I mentioned the only goal that I didn’t really touch was getting the second blog/website up and running. I have an idea of what I want to write for my about me page (helps that I got my functional resume finished), and hopefully will have at least one blog post in addition to various pages ‘live’ by New Years Eve.
All I can try to do is devise a schedule/plan that will hopefully be able to bear the brunt of whatever happens during 2023…that will be a large focus this coming month.
Becoming more consistent will really let me lean into my strengths and values: learning/knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/growth, and intellection.
In addition—they all give me great practice at time and project management as I’m aiming for at least 85% overall completion (I’m fully acknowledging that I may not hit the step goal, and that I may also not have that much time outside—but I can work towards all the other ones).
Time/project management goes hand in hand with consistency and productivity. I’m going to be making more use of airtable (for content/project management—it’s a calendar and spreadsheet in one space), an old fashion timer, and pen/paper to manage my time and projects.
Curious to know what is your favorite time, project, or productivity tracker/manager?
So the moon entered the Sagittarius constellation yesterday, marking the eleventh new moon for 2022. That means there is a week left in November (today is Thanksgiving), and then it’s December…and then 2023.
The SARS-CoV2 virus isn’t going to be going away…it is here to stay (unfortunately)—but there are vaccines, and booster shots—so folks, go get your vaccine (or booster), try to continue practicing social distancing where you can—and wear a damn mask in the store, it’s also flu season.
So what are some of the things that one can do during the time of Sagittarius new moon?
Looking at the book “Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, you can:
Get away–travel
Study
Search for meaning
Laugh
Be grateful
Well, I’m slowly starting to research/plan a trip for sometime in either mid-to-late 2023 or 2024. Since the SARS-CoV2 virus isn’t going away—I’ll just wear my mask when traveling…
In terms of ‘searching for meaning’—I’m viewing that as figuring out what I want to be doing with my life and where I would like to be in say fifteen to twenty years. This is a slow work in progress…hopefully making a little headway this coming week.
I’m starting to ‘study’ again—I have numerous different e-courses that I need to be working through. I just need to buy a couple of notebooks—I’m ‘old-fashion’ and I learn better when I actually writing things down.
With the moon entering into Sagittarius, this is also my second house or the “cash, property, and values” zone. I’m totally not in the holiday mood this year—I mean today is ‘turkey’ day, and then we’re just over a month from Christmas…and I’m in a totally bah-humbug type of mood currently.
This year has currently been a year of ‘whiplash’ with various things going on—and I’m heading back towards burnout. I’m realizing this and will be putting together a plan to hopefully stop the backwards slide in its ‘tracks’.
One thing I’m aiming for in 2023—starting to live a much more minimalistic life. I have three boxes of shirts (so far) that I need to donate, numerous DVDs to sell back, and crafts to create/gift/sell. Anyway, back to the second house—the cash, property, and value zone.
So some of the things that you can do during this time include (again, according to “Moonology: working with the magic of the lunar cycles”):
Start a savings account
Pay your bills, taxes, debt, etc
Hire an accountant if it’s all too much
Showcase your talents
Get a neck and shoulder massage
Invest in an expensive neck cream
My savings account is there—just not as ‘large’ as I would like (but hey—I’ve been on a reboot break for the past few years and surviving off of it), and I’m working on getting the bills/debt paid off. There is still no reason to hire an accountant—since I’m still currently unemployed.
In terms of ‘showcasing’ my talents—I’m in the process of starting the second blog/website (dedicated to science/medical/health education/communications), in addition to brainstorming ideas on how to showcase the various crafts that I’ve been working on as well.
Develop a ‘fluid’ daily/weekly/monthly schedule for getting various things done
Reflect on 2022 (to-date), and determine what went well, what didn’t go so well, and start planning for 2023 (and beyond)
Put in the order for the numerous journals and notebooks needed for 2023
Finish setting up the dedicated work station, craft station, and semi-dedicated meditation area in the bedroom
While I managed to accomplish numerous goals over the past few months—I also realize that my inner critic/imposter syndrome has also derailed me several times as well (not to mention life in general)…but I need to just keep reminding myself: ‘progress over perfection’. In addition to not taking to heart the negative opinions of others.
While 2022 hasn’t been going the way I wanted, hopefully the last week of November will be mellower than the previous months have been.
What are you doing to ensure that 2023 starts on the right foot?
So, we’re in November…that means there are only two months, 61 days, roughly nine weeks, or 1,464 hours left in 2022. It’s the final sixth of 2022, and I’m trying to figure out what and how much stuff I can get accomplished before both the end of November and the end of 2022.
As I mentioned last month—I’m tired, burnt out (more on life overall than career), and really ready for this year, and the decade to basically be over.
October was even a bigger mess than September—which is saying something. So how was it a bigger mess than September?
Well—the ongoing family medical issue that I mentioned having started in my August in Review (and touched upon in my September in Review)—it’s still ongoing, and there was a point where it wasn’t looking very good. Currently we’re back to the fifty-fifty chance of it going either way.
I’m also trying to stay off the news (I know that this is showing my privilege—but with my current mental health state—I need to stay off of it). But I will just say—Russia should be kicked off the UN Security Council and kicked out of the UN in general.
By the time the family medical issue is resolved, I won’t be surprised if in addition to the moderate cases of depression and anxiety, I don’t also have a moderate case of PTSD as well.
Elections are coming up next week for the US—and this is where I’m going to share my two-cents.
Basic human rights are on the ballot this year. Women’s rights (voting and health care), sensible gun laws, the environment, education—all of it are on the line. For whatever reason there is a major dichotomy between the two major political parties within the US—and I don’t mind debating how each view finances, the budget, and those topics—but I won’t debate my stance on women’s rights, education, gun control, the environment, or issues I consider to be general ‘moral’/’common sense’ issues.
Therefore, if we elect more common sense and/or liberal individuals to Congress—we can end the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court, enact term limits for both the Supreme Court and Congress, and finally codify women’s health care and gun control into law.
And I’ll end my political/social/economical ‘rant’ here, before it takes over the post.
In terms of the total number of cases of the virus within the US, when I published ‘September in Review’ on October 1st, I noted that we had reached a little over 98.2 million cases and now as of November 1st —we have reached just a little over 99.3 million cases (an increase of a little over 1.1 million cases). So, numbers are staying ‘steady’—though I’d like to see the number actually start going down again. But there are the various omicron subs-strains running amok.
So—please, wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and get boosted when needed.
I thought I’d manage to get my booster shot in October—but with the way the beginning of the month went…this task fell by the wayside. Hopefully I can get around to scheduling it for sometime in November (and possibly the flu shot—if its free as well).
While trying to keep the mental health on an even keel—I’m still trying to lean more into my strengths and values: knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/transformation (values), learner, intellection, input, achiever, and deliberative (strengths). Though sometimes it doesn’t help having the background/understanding of medical issues…ignorance is bliss at times.
So before setting goals for November, its time to look back at the goals I set for October and see how I did with each of them. The goals for October included:
125-155K steps
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement a day
Finish at least one non-fiction book
Read at least two-to-four fiction books
Commit to the no spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending challenge
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle drawings
Craft time
Getting the second blog/website up and running
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course
Writing, writing, and writing
So how did I do with each goal?
125-155K steps:
I managed to get 134,240 steps in during the month of October—basically right in the middle between hitting a little over 4K steps a day and the ‘goal’ of 5K steps a day. I managed two walks at Boomer—a partial and a full, plus took Chaos through the neighborhood once. Hopefully I will be able to get Chaos out on more walks in November, plus have an late morning/early afternoon walk at Boomer Lake at least once or twice in November.
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement a day:
I managed to get in one partial walk and one full walk at Boomer Lake, plus a walk through the neighborhood with Chaos. I probably managed about five minutes or so each day of ‘intentional’ movement (which for me means helping our elderly, arthritic dog in and out of the house).
Finish at least one non-fiction book:
I’m still reading Trilobite: Eyewitness to evolution; and I’m about thirty percent of the way through the book. I’m almost finished with INNERCISE; and I’m about eighty percent of the way done with that book–so I should possibly finish it sometime in November.
I’ve realized that I have cycles when it comes to reading non-fiction books—I can read several in a month (or over a period of say two months), then I go for a month (or longer) where I only end up reading a little bit of different non-fiction books (as none really grab my full attention).
Read at least two-to-four fiction books:
I’m pretty certain that I read more than four books during October (but didn’t track how many were re-reads). But teh four fiction books that I know I read during October were:
Give Me Love (Rose Canyon #2) by Corinne Michaels
Bittersweet Promises (Montgomery Legacy #1) by Carrie Ann Ryan (book review was posted last week)
Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5) by Catherine Cowles
My Favorite Mistake (Paradise Bay Billionaire Brothers #4) by Claudia Buroga
In addition, I also finally got around to writing and posting the book review for Always the One for Me (Wilder Brothers #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan.
Commit to the no spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending challenge
My goal for October was a minimum of 22 days but aiming for 29.
Well, I managed seventeen days (just a little over half the month) without buying any extra e-books, or other stuff. But since how bad the beginning of the month was (in terms of the family medical issue)–managing seventeen days isn’t too shabby.
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle card drawings:
There was time outdoors—possibly not as much as I would have liked—but we’re heading into the cooler months, and unless the sun is directly overhead, it can get chilly sitting outside (even in a sweatshirt).
I’ve been making use of the soothing pod mediation app at night—and managing to sit and focus on the mediation for at least five minutes (some of the meditations are upwards of ten to fifteen minutes).
I’ve been on track doing my daily gratitude journal entries, and doing daily oracle card drawings. For October I was using the Oracle of the Shapeshifters deck:
Thursdays–I share the oracle spread on LinkedIn as part of my Thoughtful Thursday series
Craft time:
In addition to creating graphics and other multimedia items on Canva—I’ve also been spending quite a bit of time working on a new cross-stitch project (that I’ll hopefully have completed sometime during the month of November).
My current cross-stitch project: An abstract ‘microbiology’ petri dish showing different bacterial, fungal, and viral growth.
Getting the second blog up and running:
Still working on this….
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course:
I watched three short courses on Skillshare during October, and they were:
3x your productivity with this weekly planning guide
I liked the course–though I didn’t print off the planning guide. Basically you’re given ten tips on how to improve your week (and those tips could also be applied to one’s monthly or even yearly calendars).
The tips that the instructor gave were:
Visualize your goals
Schedule self-care
Celebrate and appreciate small and big wins
Just say No (to things you don’t want to be doing)
Major lessons and inspirations (from the previous week/month)
Failure is feedback
Who can I help? Who would I benefit from?
Feed your soul
Focus (top three priorities for the week)
Daily goals and review (break the three top priorities down into actionable steps for each day)
Needless to say—I’m still working on incorporating some of these tips into my schedule/life.
Content Calendar Made Easy: Save Time and Develop a Personal Brand
This was a decent course—it talked about taking your top traits (but traits in terms of what works best for content development) and mixing them with different types of content prompts (such as FAQs, behind the scene, future plans, and so forth).
I know my strengths/values—but am still working on how to meld those into my brand, but also realize I should be thinking of traits as well (would be having to brainstorm with others on this one).
Blogging Rituals and Routines: 10 secrets for increasing blogging productivity
This was a good course, and similar to the other productivity course gave ten different tips on how to improve one’s productivity.
The ten tips this instructor gave were:
Clean up your office/desk space
Organize drawers and files
Clean up your computer files
Remove things that don’t belong in the office (ties in with #1)
Write at the same time everyday
Have a daily, weekly, or monthly word count goal
Have a daily time goal for writing (say fifteen minutes each day)
Go on a ‘blogging retreat’
Go on a weekly solo artist date
Put on your ‘writing’ clothes each day
In addition, there were the suggestions of going for a morning walk, and changing your scenery (going somewhere other than your home ‘office’) to help improve your productivity.
There are several things that I need to do to help improve my productivity—and the big one is to create a couple of functional (but fun) work spaces in the house. One in my bedroom (which will be the biggest challenge), and then another in either the living room or dining room (since I split the time I spend working in different areas of the house).
Writing, writing, and writing:
I managed to get quite a bit of writing done overall during the month of October. I think I managed to do all three of my weekly post series on LinkedIn (Science Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursday, and the Oncology Friday), plus several posts for the creative/reflective blog.
I still need to work on drafting more blog posts (especially for the medical/science/health blog) in addition to starting to build out a portfolio of different communication style projects (mini-reviews; clinical trial summaries, slide decks, posters, and infographics).
What other lessons did I learn in October?
Trust your gut. I almost landed a freelance client for a writing project—but the payment method that they wanted to use was extremely phishy—so I politely declined (after having drafted an contract), and two days later—they’d blocked me on LinkedIn and the conversation thread disappeared as well (I wonder if I try to send another email if it would go through???).
Slowly dip your toe outside your comfort zone—but be completely honest and transparent with the other party.
A recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn about a potential remote writing position focusing on oncology—great, I’m dipping my toes into the field, but was honest that I didn’t have the post-doc or publication experience that their client wanted. The recruiter thanked me, and basically then terminated the conversation (in all it was less than a five minute phone call).
In addition last week, I reached out to someone who was looking for a freelance science/medical writer—and while they aren’t sure if they’re going to be taking on that particular project—they gave me the idea/suggestion of possibly doing consulting work for training/on-boarding science/medical writers.
So, while I may not have made progress with all the goals (still need to carve out time to focus on the other blog/website)—overall progress was made during the month of October. There should always be room for improvement (if nothing else—extending the ‘goal’ line [in terms of steps for fitness, or words/time for writing).
So looking further into November, what are my goals going to be? Well, they’re going to include:
120-150K steps
Hopefully at least one partial walk at Boomer Lake and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement each day
Finish at least one of the many non-fiction books I’ve started
Read at least two-to-four fiction books
Commit to the no-spend days/no spend weeks/limited spending month challenge (aiming for at leat 22 days; goal is 27)
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily oracle card drawings, and daily gratitude journal entries
Craft time (finish the one cross-stitch project, start a new one, and/or possibly create some jewelry)
Working through at least part of one personal/professional development e-course
Getting the second blog/website up and running
Writing, writing, and writing
So the goals for November are basically identical to the goals for October; and technically are identical to the goals for September.
The only goal in October that I really ‘fell’ down on was getting the second blog/website up and running. It is technically ‘live’—I just need to write the copy for the various pages, get the blog up and going, and start developing the portfolio.
In terms of how I’m hoping November will go—I’m going to be pessimistically optimistic, and just try to take things a day/week at a time. This means that I might have to scrap the weekly to-do list if something goes south—or I might get more accomplished, because I’ll be hyper-focused on something other than the family medical issue.
I’m still going to be aiming to become more consistent—especially in terms of posting to the different blogs (I have a editorial/content calendar created [more or less] for LinkedIn, and semi-created for this blog—just need to work on one for the other blog).
Becoming more consistent will really let me lean into my strengths and values: learning/knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/growth, and intellection.
In addition—they all give me great practice at time and project management as I’m aiming for at least 85% overall completion (I’m fully acknowledging that I may not hit the step goal, and that I may also not have that much time outside—but I can work towards all the other ones).
Time/project management goes hand in hand with consistency and productivity. I’m going to be making more use of airtable (for content/project management—it’s a calendar and spreadsheet in one space), an old fashion timer, and pen/paper to manage my time and projects.
Curious to know what is your favorite time, project, or productivity tracker/manager?
So the moon is going to be transitioning through it’s new phase tonight, and moving through the Scorpio constellation. It was also a partial eclipse today as well. That means there are only six days left in October, and then sixty-one days left in 2022.
Looking back at what I wrote the past two years for the Scorpio new moon (in terms of SARS-CoV2 cases):
2020—the world had over 54 million cases, the US was topping 11 million, and there were over 1.3 million dead.
2021—the world had almost 248.5 million cases, the US was almost at 47 million cases, and there were over 5 million dead.
2022—the world has almost 632.8 million cases, the US has over 99 million cases, and there are over 6.5 million dead.
I don’t know if we’re ever really going to be out of the pandemic/epidemic roller-coaster for this virus—but that is a post in and of itself.
So, what can one do during the Scorpio new moon? Well according to ‘Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles’ by Yasmin Boland, you can:
Get sexy
Invest wisely
Make inner peace
B-r-e-a-t-h-e
Drop grudges
In terms of the above items—the only one that I’m uncomfortable trying to do—is the first. Though, it can also refer to doing something to boost your self-confidence—which is how I’m going to be looking at it.
This moon is also moving through my first house or my image zone (how one presents themselves to the world). While the Aries new moon is the start of the zodiac calendar—when the new moon passes through your first house, it can also seem as the start of a “new year” (we can have a “new start” twice a year if necessary).
So what are some things that one can do in reference to their first house during this time? They can:
Surprise friends with the ‘new you’
Throw out all your old make-up and start again
Get married or meet someone new
Good time to move
Splurge on something in a vibrant color
Have a facial
Get your sight checked
Looking at the above list—there are a few things that can still be automatically crossed off—throwing out make-up (currently I don’t wear any make-up, since I really haven’t left the house in like two years, and currently all the chats I’ve been doing have been virtual); getting married or meeting someone new (with the various things that are going on right now—literally don’t have the time for this); getting a facial (can do it at home for a fraction of the cost); and moving (on-hold for quite awhile currently).
I’d love to surprise people with the ‘new me’—I just have to figure out who she is—though I know this can be a simple as getting a new hairstyle.
So what are the two to five things I’m going to try to focus on for the Scorpio New Moon? Well, they are:
Working on healing my relationship with food and movement. This includes having random dance parties in the living room on a 15-minute break between task, or getting out of the house with my dog for a quick 20-minute walk through the neighborhood
Work on getting the second website up and going (focusing on science/medical/health communications), in addition to also focusing on trying to get a remote communications position as well
Start working through various finance e-courses that I’ve bought over the years
Continue to unplug at night (putting the computer to ‘sleep’ by 8pm)
Continue figuring out my personal/professional brand
All in all—focus on progress and not perfection. All of the goals are ‘open-ended’—including the e-course goal (mainly because I’ve forgotten the exact number of finance related courses I’ve bought over the past three or four years).
That means—even if I only manage a few days (or even a just a week) focusing on each one—that is progress, baby steps forward is progress—and that is what I’m aiming for—the slow steady progress that would result in finishing a marathon.
Though there are some that are more ‘internal’ work than other–such as figuring out the personal/professional brand, and healing my relationship with food and movement.
But we’re also getting into cooler weather–which means hot chocolate, apple pies, apple cider, and all things fall. This is one of my favorite seasons–if we could just somehow take the cooler temps of spring and fall and meld them with the longer days of summer I’d be extremely happy.
Curious to know: what is one of your favorite things about fall?
So we’re heading towards the next new moon—which means there is a week left in October, and then only sixty-one days left in 2022. The end of this year is going to be turbid, up-and-down, and I just need to figure out the time blocks that will work best for research/note-taking, writing/editing, reading, crafts, and everything else in life.
But before I fall down that rabbit-hole, I should look back at the goals I set for the Libra new moon and see how I did with each of them—before looking ahead to the Scorpio New Moon.
So what were the goals that I set for the Libra new moon? Well, they included:
Unplug at night
Continue working at both regaining my identity and developing my personal/professional brand
Facing a fear–specifically work at getting my freelance/remote/contract science/medical/health communications/consulting business up and running
So how did I do with each of them?
Unplug at night:
I managed to do this one fairly consistently. There were some nights that I didn’t ‘unplug’ right at eight, and then there were other nights that I unplugged earlier than eight.
I actually started a new cross-stitch project a couple of weeks ago–and when I unplug at night, this is what I’ve been working on:
Latest cross-stitch project
The cross-stitch project is turning out to be an abstract microbiology project…or just a bunch of shapes. Should hopefully have it finished in a couple of weeks.
Regaining my identity and developing my personal/professional brand:
This dual ‘project’ is still in the early ‘stages’.
I know who I’m ‘not’—I not the bench scientist anymore, I’m not the person counting calories, containers, or the person who’d mentally beat herself up if she didn’t push play on a workout.
I’m a science/medical/health communicator who is still looking for her group of people.
I’m that multipotentialite individual that needs to have at least two projects going to be happy—but at the same time I’m that anxious individual who is worried that she isn’t giving full attention to anyone project.
I’m working on giving myself grace and catching the negative stories that I tell myself—and also reminding myself that life currently is going every which way—so it’s perfectly fine that I’m not getting in a huge workout—if I can manage at least 4k steps a day—I’ll be happy.
So–yeah, now it is a matter of still trying to define my ‘brand’ and then merge everything into something ‘cohesive’.
Facing a fear:
Fear: getting my freelance science/medical/health communications/consulting business up and running.
Status: Ongoing.
I’m still working on getting the website up and functioning (it is ‘live’—just currently as a skeleton website). I’m figuring out the direction of possibly niching (cancer biology) in terms of the portfolio, while contemplating keeping the ‘blog’ portion more eclectic (different science/medical/health topics).
I’m also working on the always dreaded editorial calendar for both blogs and LinkedIn (because that is part of my online portfolio after all)—which would mean actually looking at something other than my to-do list—as I told someone the other day, I’m more of a paper and pen kind of person in terms of organization—I can use the computer versions—I just don’t like them.
So, all in all it was a good Libra ‘season’—all of the goals were ‘open-ended’, and all were focused on during the past few weeks. While it is nice at times having a cut and dry goal (something that can easily be stamped as ‘finished’)—having the open-ended goals also give you that daily sense of accomplishment and knowing that you’re slowly turning things into a habit (like unplugging from the computer at night).
Therefore—there has been ‘progress over perfection’. Could I have gotten more accomplished? Probably—but I’m granting myself grace and acceptance with acknowledging my inner critic/imposter syndrome did come out to play for awhile this past month—but I’m slowly making that forward progress.
These goals aren’t just going to be fading away—while they may not be ‘front-and-center’ as we move into the next new moon—they’ll still be around.
One big goal for the last two months—getting the website up and running, and hopefully landing either that remote communications position or possibly my first one or two freelance clients.
How are you moving towards accomplishing that one really large ‘fearful’ goal?
So the moon will be entering its next full moon cycle for the year probably tonight (at least for me). This means that we’re not quite a third of the way through October—but time does seem to be going a little quicker. I’m hoping that the last quarter of the year goes a little smoother…but I’m also not going to hold my breath on it either.
So what are some of the questions we can reflect on during this time?
Have I been hotheaded, selfish, or argumentative this month?
Have I been going too fast or been impulsive this month?
Have I been brash, blunt, or too competitive?
Have I ignored other people’s finer sensibilities?
Have I had enough fun?
So before answering the questions, I do need to point out that it is the beginning of the month, so I actually going to answer these questions based on 1) how I want to behave during the coming month, but also 2) how I behaved during the past couple of weeks. So as usually I’m going to number the questions 1 to 5 as I answer them.
I would have to say no—I haven’t been hotheaded, selfish or argumentative this month (a couple months ago—yes I was slightly argumentative then). We’re still dealing with a family medical crisis that may or may not resolve the way we’d like it to—so I could be considered semi-selfish in just wanting the whole ordeal over one way or another.
Considering the month I’m currently having and the past two months, I don’t think I’ve been overly impulsive this month nor do I think I’ve been going too fast (possibly going a tad too slow). I know what I need to do—but currently the other issue is taking majority of my concentration and I’m working on ensuring that I don’t impulsively spend too much money.
No, I haven’t been brash, blunt or too competitive—this month. I was slightly brash and blunt a month or so ago—but that particular circumstance called for me being brash and blunt (and I’m still not going to apologize for it either). While I understand the need for competition (to ensure that the best person is hired)—I truthfully think that there probably is more than enough work for everyone who wants it—so I’m only going to try to be competitive with myself—and only the person I was yesterday.
Well I would say this year it would depend on the situation and the people involved. While I do try to empathize with others—I’m also starting to draw my boundaries and stating what I will and won’t do in particular situations. I also realize that sometimes things can get a little tense and sometimes conversations may need to be put on hold.
What is this word fun? While there are hopes that we’re moving from a ‘pandemic’ to an ‘epidemic’—we’re still stuck dealing with the damn SARS-CoV2 virus, and considering the past nine weeks (and counting)—I really haven’t had much fun, and am still working on ways of adding ‘enjoyment’ into my day-to-day routine.
Aries is moves through my sixth house (or my daily work and health zone). This house is where we can sit and reflect on who we are (both in terms of professional/work and personal/health) and decide to work on those aspects that we don’t like.
For the past two years I’d made various ‘commitments’ such as pushing play daily on streaming workouts or committing to intentional movements each day. Well, I canceled my Beachbody-on-demand (and technically my Beachbody) subscriptions this past month—for whatever reason, I’d prefer to pop in a DVD than trying to log into the website…the DVD player relies on power (and not being overly dusty), while streaming workout relies on power plus a good internet connection and the website not being down.
Therefore I’m still in the process of trying to develop a good mix of things I like to do (weight lifting, walking, hiking, and so forth) and making a ‘schedule’ that I can more or less stick with—because life has been throwing more lemons and limes at me than I can use for making various drinks and dishes.
I have a good idea of what I’m wanting to do career wise—it’s a matter now of making a schedule that will work with everything that is going on in life right now—plus I’m still dealing with the feeling of burnout (but not just in terms of career—currently its in terms of everything).
Since I’m pretty sure that this Aries full moon is going to be a very chaotic time, I’m going to limit the number of goals that I’m going to be setting. The goals for the Aries full moon will include:
Write out a list of things I’d enjoy doing in terms of intentional movement (weight lifting, walking, cardio, yoga, and so forth)—and try to devise a schedule.
Have at least two mini-book reviews written and posted on various sites
Work through at least part of a personal/professional development course
Continue reading (and possibly finishing) at least one non-fiction book that I’ve already started.
The motto for this quarter is ‘Progress over Perfection’
Four goals for the Aries full moon–and hopefully four goals that will get accomplished. I know that I have an extra one or two listed above–those are bonus goals…I’m trying to just remember to take things a day at a time, and even then–remember to take things an hour at a time, and if need be a minute at a time.
What personal/professional goal are you working towards this quarter?
So, we’re in October…that means there are only three months, 92 days, roughly 13 weeks, or 2,208 hours left in 2022. It’s the final quarter of 2022, and I’m trying to figure out what and how much stuff I can get accomplished before both the end of October and the end of 2022.
Truthfully, I’m tired, burnt out, and just ready for 2022, the decade, and the century to be over.
September was a mess—while there was my birthday, it was a nice low-key day—but the rest of the month was a mess. How as September a mess?
Well—the ongoing family medical issue that I mentioned briefly in my August in Review—it’s still ongoing, and we’re not sure how it’s going to resolve (there is a fifty-fifty chance of it going either way right now).
There’s numerous things going on in the world—ranging from Russia’s still illegal invasion of Ukraine (by the way—I think Russia should be kicked off the UN Security Council…just sayin’), to the death of Elizabeth II, to hurricanes and other natural disasters.
By the time the family medical issue is resolved, I won’t be surprised if in addition to the moderate cases of depression and anxiety, I don’t also have a moderate case of PTSD as well.
I will mention again, that it is time to end the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court, enact term limits for both the Supreme Court and Congress, and finally codify women’s health care and gun control into law.
In terms of the total number of cases of the virus within the US, when I published ‘August in Review’ on September 1st, I noted that we had reached a little over 96.3 million cases and now as of October 1st —we have reached just a little over 98.2 million cases (an increase of not quite 2 million cases). So, numbers are staying ‘steady’—though I’d like to see the number actually start going down again. But there are the various omicron subs-strains running amok.
So—please, wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and get boosted when needed.
Once I call a local pharmacy to schedule an appointment, I’ll be getting my booster shot sometime during October (and possibly the flu shot as well).
While trying to keep the mental health on an even keel—I’m trying to lean more into my strengths and values: knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/transformation (values), learner, intellection, input, achiever, and deliberative (strengths). Though sometimes it doesn’t help having the background/understanding of medical issues…ignorance is bliss at times.
So before setting goals for October (and possibly the fourth quarter), its time to look back at the goals I set for September and see how I did with each of them. The goals for September included:
120-150K steps
Hopefully one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement each day
Finishing one of the many non-fiction books I’ve started
Read at least two to four fiction books
Commit to the no spend days/no spend week/limited spending challenge
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle card darawings
Craft time
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course
Getting the second website up and running
Writing, writing, and writing
So how did I do with each of them?
120-150K steps:
I managed 126,581 steps during the month of September. In part due to a partial walk up at Boomer Lake on Labor Day, and the weekly walks to the corner convenience store for the newspaper on the weekend.
One partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement:
I managed a partial walk up at Boomer Lake on Labor Day. Since it’s been a while since I’ve walked all the way around the lake, I’m slowly getting back into the routine. I’ll probably aim for at least one partial walk at Boomer Lake each month (especially as the weather get colder), and hopefully by the spring—be walking all the way around the lake again.
In terms of the intentional movement—the step tracker states that I’ve been moving at least five to ten minutes a day—but I haven’t been writing down what I’ve been doing each day (need to improve on that).
Finishing at least one of the non-fiction books I’ve started:
Nope, didn’t finish reading any of the non-fiction books that I’ve started.
Read at least two to four fiction books:
I managed to read seven ‘new’ fiction books during September (and probably a good dozen or so re-reads). The new fiction books were:
Home Base by Abbie Zanders
Legacy (Montgomery Brothers #1) by Laura Pavlov
Peacekeeper (Montgomery Brothers #2) by Laura Pavlov
Rebel (Montgomery Brothers #3) by Laura Pavlov
State of the Union (First Family #3) by Marie Force
Collide with Me (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #7) by Claudia Buroga
Shattered Sea (The Tattered and Torn Series #4) by Catherine Cowles
Commit to the no spend days/no spend week/limited spending challenge:
I managed 22 days of not spending any money during the month of September—which considering how bad of a month it was—is a victory in itself. The goal for October will be a minimum of 22 days and a goal of 29.
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle card drawings:
I’ve managed to get better at evening meditations—mainly through the use of the soothing pod app on my iPhone. I’ve also managed my daily oracle card drawings and daily gratitude journal entries.
The time outdoors has either been brief (when I take the dogs out), sporadic (sitting outside on and off throughout the day), or semi-long (spending the afternoon outdoors or walks).
Craft time:
Well most of my craft time was spent on Canva creating various images for different LinkedIn posts throughout the month, in addition to using PowerPoint for image creation as well. I spent a little time using doing some photography as well.
Crafts, such as jewelry design/creation, cross-stitching, coloring, or doodling didn’t really happen—goal is to do more of those crafts throughout the fourth quarter.
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course:
Nope…this didn’t happen.
Getting the second blog/website up and running:
Nope…this didn’t get accomplished either.
Writing, writing, and writing:
This is one where I did do a fair amount of writing—I managed to keep two weekly series going on LinkedIn, and even started a third one. In addition, I managed usually some type of ‘original’ content another two to three days on the site. While I didn’t get much writing done for the various blogs (though I did get at least five posts on this blog done last month)—I did manage to write somewhat consistently all month.
August, September, and now October (and probably November and December) were/are also focused on trying to find my new normal.
With a family member in the hospital (now going on nine weeks), we’re hopefully that they’ll be released hopefully by Christmas—yes I’m well aware of how far off that date is currently.
That means—I need to have a schedule in place that will allow me to get my work done (writing, reading/research, crafts/hobbies, and so forth), while also being able to help with the potential home care for said family member.
I’m still working on figuring out that schedule. Every time I think I have it partially figured out—the inner critic/imposter syndrome loves to pull me back into my comfort zone—or throw out an idea/thought that has my anxiety spiking.
Looking back at what I wrote at the end of August—I claimed that I was going to aim for consistency in reading, research (on various topics), and writing.
Well, I managed to be consistent in reading fiction books (seven new books, and probably a good dozen or so re-reads), and was somewhat consistent in the research and writing.
Moving forward into October, the goals are going to be:
125-155K steps
At least one partial walk at Boomer Lake, and at least five to ten minutes of intentional movement a day
Finish at least one non-fiction book
Read at least two to four fiction
Commit to the no spend days/no spend week/limited spending challenge (aiming for at least 22 days, goal is 29)
Time outdoors, meditation/sitting quietly, daily gratitude journal entries, and daily oracle card drawings
Craft time
Getting the second blog up and running
Working through at least one module of a personal/professional development course
Writing, writing, and writing
So the goals for October are basically identical to the goals for September—with the exception of the steps (October is a little higher—at both ends).
As I stated in my review of August (and it definitely applies for September):
“Also, since I ‘fell’ down on a few of the goals last month, by repeating them—I’m giving myself grace for not being ‘perfect’ and another shot on hitting the goal this coming month.”
I have my fingers crossed that October won’t be any worse than September (and I’ll have a ‘rough’ idea on that come the end of the first full week of October)—but if it is by some chance worse—I’ll just have to give myself grace and remind myself: Progress over Perfection, and sometimes ‘okay, and published’ is better than ‘perfect and forgotten’.
I’m still going to aim for consistency—consistency in reading, research (on various topics), and writing.
Aiming for consistency allows me to lean into my strengths and values: learning/knowledge, creativity, curiosity, spirituality, evolution/growth, and intellection.
In addition—they all give me great practice at time and project management as I’m aiming for at least 85% overall completion (I’m fully acknowledging that I may not hit the step goal, and that I may also not have that much time outside—but I can work towards all the other ones).
I mentioned last month that I was going to try to ‘unplug’ from the computer at night to read or work on a craft project—and I think I only managed it a few times throughout the month—so another ‘mini-goal’ to work towards (no computer after 8pm at least four days a week).
So we’re going to be entering the next new moon phase tonight—which means there are five days left in September, and then ninety-two days left in 2022 (as of the upcoming Saturday). I’m hoping that the last quarter of 2022 goes smoothly—though I also know not to hold my breath on the turbidity of the upcoming weeks and months.
With the moon moving through the Libra constellation over the next day or two, there are various things that we can look at or work on over the next few weeks and they include:
Look at how you’re relating to other people (are you helping more than asking).
Look into your partnerships (any issues that need addressing?)
Negotiate–try to bring things into balance if needed
Look gorgeous–work on improving your self-image and self-love
Regain your identity–figure out how to resolve any unhealthy co-dependency issues if needed.
This is how I’m viewing the above ‘tasks’:
I’m trying to help/give value more than asking for help (especially on LinkedIn)—though there is also a time when we all need help, and should ask for it. I’m still in the mindset of semi self-isolation (the SARS-CoV2 virus is still around), therefore I’m really not around that many people (though that has changed a little over the past few months due to the ongoing family medical issue).
Well, I’m not in a relationship with anyone right now. In terms of family ‘partnerships’, I’d say that everything is about as ‘normal’ as they would be within the family
I can’t think of things with other people that need negotiating—I know that I probably need to negotiate quite a bit with myself
I’m slowly working on improving my self-care/self-love routines, plus how I see myself (self-image).
I’m also slowly working on trying to regain my identity—mainly from the negative thought patterns surrounding body image and my writing ability
The Libra new moon is also moving through my 12th house—or my secret zone. This is the time/house when you really just want to retreat from the world and work things out for a while. In terms of self-care/self-love what are some of the things you could focus on during this time?
They include:
Practice yoga
Take a break from social media and/or numerous social obligations
Start a dream journal
Face one big fear
Trust your intuition
Buy a meditation CD and use it every day for a month
Write poetry from the heart
Share one of your secrets
So once again, this new moon is urging me to focus on finding a balance (or harmony) between social obligations and self-care/self-love. Since I’m still semi self-isolate, this will probably be fairly easy to handle. While I might have a monthly lunch meet-up with a friend, every other ‘obligation’ is usually via zoom or Google chat—and most of those are only for like a half-hour or so, the ones that are longer, are social chats.
I’m going to try to get back into a yoga routine–but I’m not going to add it to the goal list, as I’m wanting to try to keep it ‘short’–as the items on the list aren’t exactly ‘easy’ to accomplish.
The goals for the Libra New Moon include:
Unplugging at night (and possibly throughout the day):
This will help with time/project management. If I’m off the computer after a certain period (say 8pm)—I can either read (try to get back to reading nonfiction), or working on craft projects (cross-stitching or possibly creating some jewelry; or even doodling). Unplugging at night would also encourage me to reflect on the day, what I got accomplished and what I would like to try to get accomplished the next day.
Work at regaining my identity and developing my personal/professional brand:
While I’m working at resolving the unhealthy diet mindset that I held on to for too many years, I’ve also realized that I need to resolve how I see myself professionally (if I’m no longer a scientist at the bench—who am I?).
Facing a fear: getting the freelancing/consulting/remote business up and running
The savings account has pretty well dwindled down to almost nothing—so unless I want to be stuck at the bench—I need to get this ‘dream’ up and running. It is something that I have in my ‘risk and die’ zones on my comfort diagram—I figured it is risky trying to set up a part-time business, and an anxiety inducing dilemma trying to set up a full-time business. I’m going to try—the worse that comes of it, I keep it part-time, the best that can come of it—I manage to double (if not triple) what I was earning in academia within the first year of doing freelance writing.
The motto for the last quarter of the year is going to be ‘progress over perfection’. I know that the last quarter of 2022 isn’t going to be an easy one—therefore, I need to make sure that I’m unplugging often enough that I can reflect on the day and/or week and readjust the upcoming schedule as needed.
What is something you’ve always wanted to try to do, but haven’t done yet?
