New Moon – Snow Moon Begins

Hey all,
 
So today’s the day my second PBP13 post goes up (and it has), but it’s also a new moon. So. Where are we at?
Unsurprisingly (I guess?), as this is the beginning of Snow Moon, we’re having a spate of unseasonably warm (like seriously) weather and, thus, have freezing rain, freezing rain, and more freezing rain in the forecast.
It’s gonna look like Fimbulvinter around here. O.O
Again. 😦
 
That said, I’m trying not to let the grey weather (and the frequent need to shut the blinds on our main-floor, street-facing windows, which isn’t helping the lack of sunlight) get to me.

It’s… not actually working that well. Without the sunlight (even watery, overcast sunlight) coming in through the bedroom window, I wake up groggy and grumpy, and have trouble getting myself started in the mornings. It’s that time of year, I know, but it still sucks. I think a sun-lamp on a timer is going to be in our future. O.O
 
For now, however, I’ve replaced the bulb (burnt out) in the living room floor-lamp with a “daylight-spectrum” bulb – which actually does make a lot of difference – and I’ve invested in a grow light for the potted plants and moved them all closer to the windows. Hopefully, between the window-light and the grow-light, we’ll be well-kept in onion-chives and similar for the rest of the winter.
 
So. I’ve got about twenty-eight days to play with, ahead of me. What are my goals for Snow Moon? Maybe it’s because it’s January, or maybe it’s because the Snow Moon (typically) kicks off Capricorn, but goals for this lunar cycle are best aimed in the direction of clear, short-term goals that contribute to laying (or maintaining) the foundations of one’s larger, farther-reaching plans and dreams.
 
Wanting to “get fit” this year (to pick a common New Year’s Resolution)? Spend Snow Moon doing ten minutes of yoga in the mornings or on your lunch breaks; Spend Snow Moon going for a brisk walk around the neighbourhood[1] every day – maybe by getting off the bus a stop or two early on your way home, or by doing your grocery-shopping at the neighbourhood grocer’s[2] rather than driving to the big box grocery or avoiding doing the shopping because of the icy sidewalks.
 
Wanting to build a small empire on Etsy or some other online market? Spend Snow Moon practicing your photography skills and figuring out how best to brand your product. Commit to the small, short-term goal of posting one new photo/listing/clip/etc every week. Commit to the small, short-term goal of posting one new blog-post/team-treasury/fetlife-update every week, too. Then get busy and do it!
 
Wanting to deepen your spiritual practice? Dedicate Snow Moon to trying, and getting habitual at, a specific practice – like light/water offerings, seated meditation, shivanata, or twice-monthly lunar esbats.
 
If you haven’t already guessed, these are my goals for Snow Moon. To do ten minutes of yoga every other day. To take a quick walk around the immediate neighbourhood (possibly while picking up milk, taking out the compost, or some other necessary errand – because multi-tasking will kick my ass out the door way better than “but I said I’d do it” any day of the week) on the days I’m not doing yoga. To list one new Etsy item every week, and to promote it to my various Etsy teams during that same week (but not necessarily on the same day). To do the excercises in Trance-Portation as I come upon them while reading the book, and to read no further until I’ve done the excercise in question[3]. I’ve also committed to write four “leather woo” short stories for OrgASM, although that’s more relevant to Syrens than it is to Urban Meliad. 😉
Time to take pictures and do some (more) writing! 🙂
 
What are your goals for Snow Moon?
 
 
TTFN,
Meliad the Birch Maiden.
 
 
[1] I know, I know, even when it’s cold.
 
[2] I live in an urban, “ethnic” neighbourhood. There are eight million grocery stores within ten minutes of my door. And a ten-minute walk in the cold, followed by half an hour stocking up on kale, duck, and buttercup squash, followed by another ten-minutes in the cold is a lot less daunting than 20-30 minutes walking each way.
 
[3] Chances are good that it’s going to take me a full year+ to get through this book in this way, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. 🙂