In the last two weeks, a levity has crept into the collective field. Not necessarily a “positive” or optimistic wave, but a subconscious swell bringing a liberty to our expression. Folks seem to be speaking their minds again after a season of introspection, and it’s not exactly the most eloquent or compassionate thoughts that are being shared. 

 

While we can still see—potentially even in ourselves—the rusty old patterns of thinking and relating, cancel culture, and flippant rejections of personal responsibility, reopening ourselves to engagement is always the first step to building something new, no matter how clunky. 

 

Since the New Moon in Aquarius, there’s a sense of time catching up to itself. 
Holy moly, where did January go? Like when the video call glitches, freezes, and then skips fast-forward. It’s tempting to put the blinders on and power through the season on this momentum. But this energy is airy; it’s capricious and prone to fitful switches in direction and force. Touching ground periodically will serve to maintain our balance. We are still in the very beginning of this year, a time for brainstorming, planning, daydreaming even. And it's okay for those plans to change. Heck, they’re gonna. This is a season to improve mental flexibility, and critically observe our emotional attachments. 

 

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we just celebrated Imbolc, the halfway point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Historically, Imbolc was a time to clean and reset the hearth, the central and communal space in every dwelling. The hearth was the place where we gathered to share food, stories, news, music, light, and warmth. Many plans were fostered, deals were struck, and commitments were pledged by the firelight. his season we are in affords us the space to reset should we choose to.

 

 

 

This Snow Moon reminds us that we are still in winter. The ground is frozen, covered in many places. It's in no way a hospitable environment for growing, at least not yet. Now is a season of preparation. While we can recognize that things are stirring beneath the surface, we can also prepare the place for planting. Like a follicular womb. Like the fire in the hearth. Like the ingredients for dinner on the kitchen island. Take this time to prepare your mental, physical, and emotional spaces for the seeds you'd like to plant and the growth you'd like to foster. The best gardening practices start by turning the soil, amending it.

 

This can look like revising your schedule or decluttering your home; practicing mantras for self-empowerment or tough conversations that you know are overdue; rearranging your furniture or your priorities. 

 

Earlier this week I learned that one of my teachers had passed away. I studied acting for two years at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles and I am beyond grateful that I was able to work with Hedy Sontag, and be invited to her private theater group. She was a woman who reveled in the preparation. Her classes were all about the details, going as deep as you possibly could into an experience before you even said a line. She once had me work on embodying the physicalization of a horse for weeks, just for one character in a short scene in class. The best performances begin by setting the stage. You've been doing wonderful brainstorming, now let's get our hands a little dirty and make the space for radical transformation this year.