Greetings friends! It is Monday again, the Moon is waning, Jupiter & Venus are aligning, the Perseid Meteor Shower is about to peak, and I’m floating in a cloud of ethereal sounds from the early 90’s.
My Moon Den sale is still active! If you place an order before the 22nd you’ll receive an automatic discount of 15% off, regardless of your order total. This is a great time to restock your personal collection, and I’m so grateful that many of you have already claimed much of what is in stock! I love seeing all the different candle combinations & sharing this magic with you. <3
I’m also dropping a link to August’s Skygazing Report below which is full of wonderful info that will surely inspire you through the rest of the month. Tomorrow is a significant day, with a conjunction of Venus & Jupiter taking place in the pre-dawn eastern sky whilst the waning gibbous Moon passes Saturn near the meridian midheaven. Read the report below for all the details!
Maybe it’s because the Siouxie and the Banshees cover of Dear Prudence just started playing, but the notion crossed my mind earlier, and we shall take it as a delightful synchronicity.
The Muse asks, how do you practice patience? How can you patiently persevere?
It almost feels like a paradox. To persevere is to move, to act, to continue, to press on. To be patient is to accept the circumstances at hand, to pace yourself. So how does one assist the other? Or, are they obviously intricately connected?
In my own life, there are dozens of things requiring me to be more patient right now. Drafts that are still drafts. Paint that is drying. Song mixes that aren’t mastered. Poems that haven’t been edited. Lifetimes waiting to be lived.
Patience, Prudence.
Yet, at the very same time, there are deadlines on the horizon. Earth spins on its axis again & again & again. Days go by, lunar cycles begin & end, and even though we haven’t even reached the September Equinox, it feels like the year is almost over. Madness!
We have to maintain momentum, but we must moderate our movement. (My more mystical friends might be starting to draw some connections to the recent Mars-Saturn opposition & the sagas that has brought to the main stage.)
When unpacking glassware, who is more likely to drop something… she who is breathing steadily & reaching carefully, finding a quiet rhythm all her own - or she who is constantly having to catch her breath, anxiously glancing at the clock every few seconds?
Maybe both, maybe neither. But this is no zen parable. It’s just an inquiry.
Can we stop glaring at the time?
Can we breathe deeply?
Can we persevere with patience?
Maybe to persevere is to be patient. Maybe to be patient is to persevere.
What do you think?
But enough from me, let’s hear what Jon Kabat-Zinn has to say about patience.
The following is from his book Wherever You Go, There You Are.
If you cultivate patience or forbearance on a regular basis, inwardly and outwardly, you almost can’t help cultivating mindfulness, and your meditation practice will gradually become richer and more mature. After all, if you really aren’t trying to get anywhere else in this moment, patience takes care of itself. It is a remembering that things unfold in their own time. The seasons cannot be hurried. Spring comes, the grass grows by itself. Being in a hurry usually doesn’t help, and it can create a great deal of suffering- sometimes in us, sometimes in those who have to be around us.
We know that things unfold according to their own nature. We can remind ourselves to let our lives unfold in the same way. We don’t have to let our anxieties and our desire for certain results dominate the quality of the moment, even when things are painful. When we have to push, we push. When we have to pull, we pull. But we know when not to push too, and when not to pull. Through it all, we attempt to bring balance to the present moment, understanding that in patience lies wisdom, knowing that what will come next will be determined in large measure by how we are now.
wishing you patience & peace
~ Alyssa
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