Allow Yourself to Wane Like the Moon

The cycles of the moon inspire me.

I don’t always follow the energy. My body is sometimes active when things are darkening and sometimes exhausted when the light grows.  (And sometimes my body is both at the same time. Which is unfortunate for the things I’ve promised to do.)

In my more introspective time, I can see how I feel that being active is ‘good’ and being less active is ‘bad.’

And the answer is capitalism.

It’s a struggle to be sure. Like being immersed in boiling water for the whole of your life, it’s hard, if not impossible, to separate yourself from what everyone else is doing. The peer pressure of living in modern society is worse than in high school.

And yet, I think many of us realize things are not quite right. That we aren’t meant to go go go all the time.

Resting is a part of growth and creation.

Allowing ourselves to wane from time to time is not only a necessity but also a blessing.

Sinking into (Moon) Shadow

I’m ready for the longer nights with the moon. While I will whine and count the days until the shift back, I need this time. I need this time when things start to slow down, sometimes out of the temperature dropping and sometimes out of holidays that make so many people leave where I live.

It’s great. The world seems quiet enough to rest. It seems like things could settle enough to see clearly. It seems ripe for gestation, liberation, and pushing the To Do list to the side.

But why wait until the dark? Why not cultivate a little slowness because you need it?

• Set aside time – In whatever way makes the most sense to you, set aside time to be slow or still. Just a minute once a day. Just a minute once a week. However you can, take your time and allow it to wane. It will remind you that this is possible. Even if short.
• Move slowly – Make it a practice to slow your body down, your attention down, your breathing, etc. Maybe you don’t have to keep moving or being quick. Maybe you can pretend you are walking through water. Maybe you can reclaim the rhythm of sustainability. Sustenance. Ease.
• Enjoy the silence – If you can, find times when you sink into silence. Again, it could be a minute or an hour. A day. Take these times to turn off all the things you can turn off. And just be. Just sit. Maybe you explore the sounds outside of where you are and where you live. Maybe you close your eyes and sink into the bird song or the rush of cars outside your windows. Maybe you find those old headphones, put them on, and keep the world away for a bit. Even muffled, the movement from sound can restore.

The moon offers us the possibility that we can be shifting and changing all the time. But it is not a constant movement into glorious brightness.

Those shadow periods offer reminders that while society might measure success in movement, taking a break might be what we need more.