Hmmm. Time to passage between months again. New month and new year.
Anyone remember how we did this last year? I don’t! But I just looked it up. You guys, there is all kinds of craziness in the archives. I am constantly being surprised by things I trip over in there.
Anyway, it looks like I wrote about the qualities of the voyage on January 4th. Then I did a Hello, January on the 11th. Apparently I didn’t want to do entry for January. Interesting!
So. I think I’ll reverse things this year. I want to enter the month first and then look more at the qualities I want for the year.
Hey there, January. You’re looking fiiiiiiine.
Passaging out of December. What worked?
Scheduling my two weeks of Silent Retreat at the Vicarage to happen at the end of January. And making last minute plans to run away to the beach for Solstice with Danielle.
I really needed that because December was full of hard work, internal and business-related. I don’t know how I would have gotten through it without knowing that this was waiting for me.
Also! Lots of emptying and replenishing, even during the hard work. Regular ten minute breaks to recline on the floor and feel. Walks in the park. The tiniest 80s dance party ever.
But mainly what worked was playing. Having secret agent code words and planning mysterious ops and saying things like “I need to check in with my man in Lichtenstein!”
So long, December. Things I might try differently next time?
Oh man.
Last year (I mean, 2011) I also had way too much in December. Remember? I was exhausted. So this year I scheduled ALL OF DECEMBER off. Just for writing and reflecting.
But the extent of that scheduling was putting it on the calendar. And making sure the new Floop got set up ahead of time.
I didn’t realize how much work there would be waiting for me. And how much more needs to happen than simply cordoning something off.
So next time I want to focus on extending the thing that already worked: solstice beach rally. Making it longer and more focused. Starting there.
Also I really need to get out of town for Christmas. Possibly New Year’s as well.
Passaging into January. Hello, January!
Hi there.
I am inordinately glad to see you. Mostly because this past year was so damn hard that any kind of change feels like fresh air.
Partly because it is sunny and gorgeous today: cold but clear. Partly because I went to the best dance class ever this morning and I feel like a gazelle. Partly because I’m in a cafe I love with Tom Waits in the background. Followed by a quiet instrumental version of La Vie En Rose, because like I said, things are good today.
I don’t know. I just feel happy to be encountering you. Especially reading about how much I dreaded you last year. Already something is different. We get to have a new relationship. Every time.
Qualities I want for January.
Sweetness. Vitality. Pleasure. Anticipation.
Let’s choose words for Jannuary.
I’m going with the word on the calendar: ENTRY.
I’m turning the page in the Stompopolis calendar.
The vortex stone in the image is part of one of our secret speakeasy rituals. It only gets used once.
And it’s sitting on the Scale of Scalability, which doesn’t measure anything. It just scales!
January superpowers?
The superpower from the calendar for this month is perfect:
The Superpower of Maybe Nothing Is Wrong.
Additionally, I want: The superpower of finding treasure in unlikely places. The superpower of remembering what it is like to be a bell.
Things I’m working on and playing with in January.
Stopping.
Attention to fabrics and textures that delight. Warm sweaters. Crushed velvet in my hands. Red flannel sheets. Coziest hot water bottle from Berlin. Engaging senses.
Naming all the missions and giving each one a compass. Keeping track of them with Paperless and the Red Rose Missives.
Things I’m looking forward to in January.
Well, at the end of it there is my well-earned two weeks of being at the vicarage. Anticipation!
There’s the class on TIME on the 10th! I am currently editing the ebook that goes with it. Yes, you will get the ebook if you signed up for the class even though I didn’t tell anyone about it. New year’s present. 🙂
There is entry and exit. And writing dates with my playmate. And more flowers.
There is the Dolphin Adoption Agency.
Mostly I’m looking forward to moving and stretching and early to bed. I need to get a lot of work done before the Vicarage, but I also plan to be a hibernating bear. Because it’s January.
I’m asking for and wishing for….
Presence. Steadiness. Grounding and heart-opening. Smiling.
Naming the moon.
This is a tradition I borrowed from Waverly. You can read more about how I do it if you like.
What does January want to be? For me, I mean. January. What’s the opposite of stagnation? Flow? Newness? Harmoniousness? Congruence? That’s what I want.
The Moon of Everything Is Revitalized. Yes, please.
And?
I want to be here now.
Goodbye, December. Thank you for everything. Goodbye everything that is done. Thank you for being done.
Hello, January. I am touching you gently on the wrist, barely grazing your skin. It’s exciting and new. We exchange flirtatious smiles. And we know right away that we are going to be friends. Huh. How about that.
Play with me…
I mess around with entry and exit each month, going with whatever shows up.
For other versions, peek at 2011: July / August / September / October / November and December. Or 2012: January / February / March / April / May. A love letter to June / July / August / September / October / November / December.
Feel welcome to deposit notes for your entry into January here, if you like. Or drop off some wishes. Or leave flowers.
As always, we make this a safe space by not telling each other what to do, how to be or how to feel. We make room for each other.
Wishing you a just-right January: pleasurable, supportive, and full of unexpectedly good things. And love. All the love.
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Hellooooooooooooooooooo January! wishing all the sweetness and revitalizing to you 🙂
January, you gangly goofball! Let’s rub noses — and keep ’em warm.
Although I went to Rally in 2011, it only sunk in in 2012 (thanks to community and courage). So I want to start 2013 with taking it to the next level, making it my own, pro-activeness, converting it to outward energy. I want the superpower of Finding the One Sparkle Deep Inside.
Yay, hibernating!
I have really been enjoying naming the moons, and am happy to be entering my second year of doing so! Part of what makes this practice magical, for me, is that I don’t over-think it — I just let the word surface, and then ask myself why.
For me, this January is evidently the Moon of Cocoa:
–sweet
–warming
–comforting
–nurturing
Hello, January. Let’s be friends.
Hello January. Can I call you Jan?
I feel like I’ve thought about you more than any other month ever. That’s because I’ve never been one to pay attention to New Year celebrations/changing of the numbers.
But this December, when I decided that my own changing of the year could happen on the solstice, eye-rolling be damned, January came into focus.
And there you were Jan, a new log on the fire.
Qualities I want for Jan: purposefulness, warmth, spark, humility and glow.
I want the superpower of knowing the right time (not the correct time).
judy just posted the SPARKs List http://wp.me/p277Bi-iE
Hello January.
I’m super excited you’re here – but to be honest, a little nervous too. There’s so so so many things I think we can do together, and I want to make sure we have all the time in the world to pick out the most fun things.
Things we’ll be playing with:
Planning without over-planning
Xeno’s Routines
Comfy supportive structures
Qualities I’d like for us:
Ease
Play
Rest
This will be the Moon of Comfort.
I got my sparkly Stompopolis calendar today, so it seems like a good time for entry 🙂
January, you feel fresh and new. You even smell fresh and clean. It reminds me of the feeling you get after a really nice shower.
What I want in January: Peaceful groundedness. Everyone following the classroom rules of being nice and doing their best. Me too, I don’t always follow those rules myself.
To make resting and transforming my top priorities.
What am I playing with in January? Back to work on Monday. Doing a lot of systems experimentation there. Also did some decobwebbing, which is also a huge iguana at home. D’s bday. Working my afternoon job for most of January, which is great becuz money, but also means a lot of reconfiguring.
I don’t know if I’m looking forward to anything this month! Must set up some things. Possibilities: date night, fake cafe days, massage, walks on the beach, making my living space more home-y (and staying here more!)
Qualities: Replenishment. Presence. Freshness. Clarity. Newness. Sky blue.
This feels like a great month for me to try doing things a little differently.
Hello, January. You are the moon of Breathing. I will stand next to you, holding your hand, breathing with you, as we let this year begin its beginnings.
Some flowers for you!
I just had a houseguest who had with her one of those German hot water bottles. Oh, my! So superior to my English and American ones. Making a gwish before I hibernate…
Flowers to you (and all of you) and your brand new January companion, too!
Grieved a lot in December for things fated to be let go of. Decided to lay down old pain and leave it alone. I can’t afford to carry it and there’s no future with it slowing me down.
December was hard. I got overworked and overlooked and ended up exhausted. The holidays were even harder but with the beginning of January got better.
I realize that 2012 was only the start of strong resolve to finding my own way of winning no matter what.
Last New Year’s synchronicity was that someone, who had a near death experience, said he learned to live fully by his intuition from there on out. He really learned to trust a higher calling for direction. I did some of that this year finally and it was the right thing to do and when it was not, I learned from it.
I feel I know true intuition now – and that what it might tell me changes as I grow. It meets me where I am.
I was open to synchronicity last week and it came again. Another New Year’s party. I got two messages. One was to go further with my art/work and don’t sell myself short and the other was to just keep doing it and doing it hard. Two different people.
What didn’t work last December was getting upset at male behavior and this month, I am not bothering. I may be tempted to run through my same old trip, but I will at least not show it. Strong resolve to become a more stoic and private person – like a movie star from the 1920’s.
January is great so far. I have already done a few things I said I would resolve to do. I have plans for my resolutions and self-restitutions. January is truly calling for choosing and beginning again.
Qualities I want for January:
Artistry, effort and surrender, stamina, energy, persistence, play.
Word for my January – Choice
January superpower – Grace under pressure. And I would like an additional super power of things magically working out from smaller to larger – just so as not to scare myself!
January’s things of work and play –
Letting go my ego, but noticing it first.
Asking myself if I can make another choice.
Asking myself to do something other more productive with time than I do at times.
Being open to making new friends.
Things I am looking forward to in January –
Fostering two dogs.
My new art software and updates.
Collaborations with artistic friend.
An increasingly more organized and easier to manage
living and work environment.
Taking really good care of me and making sure I treat myself like I would a friend who really needs my love, help. and support.
Every day expressing gratitude and expressing my talents to the fullest where I can.
What I really want in January is all the things I never though possible all of last year. I want inklings and clues to the best of possibilities and the confidence to meet them.
Not reacting the same old way to the same old stuff. Biggest one of all that I want really.
Goodbye December and thank you, I suppose, for being darkest before the dawn of January.
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Hello, January. We seem to be taking our time with this getting acquainted thing, yeah?
So far, you have been telling me you are the month of Waiting Things Out. And that your moon is the Patient Moon.
What worked in December: Respecting (some) of my limits. Generosity of spirit, when I could manage it. Asking questions about the demands I am making of myself and others. Not over-researching my fantasy tennis team. 😉
Things I might try differently next time: packing and scheduling less. Recognizing [x] is not for me. Making some things earlier. Choosing a downtown hotel.
Qualities I want for January: space. health. comfort. safety.
A word: sovereignty. (It is the feast of the kings today…)
I would like the superpower of minding my own business. (Which includes distinguishing between what is truly my business vs. other people’s business wearing monster rompers.)
Things I’m working on/with in January:
* my business
* my body
* the bowlfuls of grapefruit and Meyer lemons my big sis sent home with me from New Orleans
* creating more space/energy/support for the people and things still in my life
Things I’m looking forward to:
* improving the soup I made tonight
* other things I plan to cook
* shredding some clutter
* improving the yard
I’m asking and wishing for:
* a better relationship with skin cream
* feeling better in my skin
* satisfying replacements for [y] and [z]
And? flowers to all who want them.