It is very much April, and I am noticing-feeling different things at once about my relationship to this month right now.
A part of me that wants to pause (paws!) and acknowledge the movement: here we are. April.
The part of me that wants to press pause on this movement. La-la-la nothing-is-happening!
Also the part of me who knows the voyage is being voyaged whether I look or not. Even if I distract myself, we’re still sailing through this part of the sea, and this moment is new, and all moments are new, and April is here. I can say hello or not. So I will.
Come in, come in, April. Come in, flowering vitality. I am here for this. I will play with you.
Looking out at March. What worked?
Saying: This Is Right. Saying yes to the pull of adventure. No to everything else.
So long, March. Things I might try differently next time?
Keep trusting. Conduct more. Do less.
Observing the sea of April. Hello, April.
We’ve been hanging out for a week but now I’m ready to look. I am here. I want to be here now.
I see you and you are beautiful. I see my wants and fears and expectations, colored balloons.
I notice how I am remembering last year when everything fell apart in April, the slow-burn beginning of the eight months of watching everything go up in flames. I feel that sudden gust of wind that says: change is coming. Breath catching in my throat.
I repeat truth: Now Is Not Then.
And I smile at all the beautiful things that came into my life through the undoing and collapsing of the old, stagnant structures. I am ready for change that is sweet, steady, playful and glowing. It smells of spring.
Qualities I want in April.
Clarity. Trust. Pleasure. Quiet. Plenty. Strength. Radiance. Conduit.
What does the Stompopolis calendar have to add?
This month’s quality: RECEPTIVITY.
Um. Yes. Seriously every month I look at the new calendar page and think, “Past-me was a genius! How did she know exactly what was needed?!”
And also: Wanna play catch?
Hey, April. Wanna play catch? Hey life and love and joy: wanna play catch? Hey emptying-and-replenishing…wanna play catch?
Play. Catch.
I am receptive.
The superpower listed is… tada! The superpower of Delighting In Small Things. Yes please.
April superpowers
Trusting that what I need is here. Trusting my ability to improvise with what is here, even if I don’t think it’s what I need. (Or can’t recognize that it’s what I need!)
Bond Girl fearlessness. The fearlessness comes from the trust, of course. If I miss the train, it was not my train. That is what this trust looks like.
Bond Girl also says: Love the edges. So some of that too. The superpower of loving the edges.
Things I’m working on and playing with in April.
Letting the compass solve the mysteries. Saying thank you in my heart. Going deeper into silence.
Things I’m looking forward to in April.
Beach Day. April Rally! Napping. More and more flowers. So many flowers. Delighting in the flowers.
What April could be like.
Radiant. Glowing. Covered in wow.
Slightly future me says…
Tend to what you want. Treat it like you do the flowers. Make your internal space welcoming for these desires and aspirations. Give them a home to land in.
Naming the moon.
This is a tradition I borrowed from Waverly. You can read more about how I do it if you like.
The Moon of Plentiful As The Stars In The Sky and The Sand Of The Sea.
I want to be here now.
I want to be here now.
Goodbye, beautiful March. You were a month of flowers and hidden jewels, like I asked. Thank you. Goodbye what-is-done. Thank you for being done.
Hello, April.
The secret word is ready. Ready. Over and out.
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 / January / February.
And last month we slid into March like it was a safe house!
Feel welcome to deposit notes for your entry into April here, if you like. Or drop off wishes or leave flowers.
We make this 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 pleasure-filled, playful, welcoming April. And love. All the love.
Follow
“Hey, April. Wanna play catch? Hey life and love and joy: wanna play catch? Hey emptying-and-replenishing…wanna play catch?” And the image of the playful dragon?
… are exactly fitting my state of mind. Excellent!
Hello and welcome, April!
April, I will gladly play catch with you — or ping pong, or badminton, if you like. I have fond memories of keeping a steady volley going, back and forth, between me and a good friend — talking, laughing, dreaming together, keeping the ball (or shuttlecock) moving all the while, whether it fluttered out of bounds or bounced off a nearby lawnmower. Bodies and minds in motion, constantly in play.
I like that idea, April. Let’s play.
April. I usually love April, when Spring is normally in full blooming loveliness. Not this year, however – the temperature, the light, the trees and (lack of) flowers all say it’s still winter here.
And I have noticed an element of ‘WHERE IS MY SUMMER?” creeping in.
So I’m playing with patience, and staying warm, and letting go of expectations, and preparing.
Welcome April, and playful dragons, and delighting in small things (a bumblebee! Surely a sign?) – but it would be lovely if you could grace us with some sunshine …
Last month, I jotted notes to myself about whether April’s moon would be foudroyant (a new word to me, meaning “having a dazzling or stunning effect”) or lustrous. But walking home from the bakery today, I realized that it’s the Moon of Homework and Home Work.
Which is not at all as dreary as it might sound to Someone Not Me: tending to my home gives me pleasure. Studying is engrossing. Future Me is urging me to devote more time to both. So, while I didn’t have a name for it until today, the April moon has been shining its light on these things.