Well hello, Summer. Nice to see you. I'm so happy you're here.
Today is the Summer Solstice, and I for one am really looking forward to the moonlight in my yard tonight. I even went and bought some furniture this weekend for optimal gazing- you may recall I've been looking for ways to fill my yard- so this is a great first step. It feels right. Plus, I'm a Cancer so the moon is kind of my jam.
I'm not one for ceremony, but I do feel a strong pull to honor this particular event, where the day is longer today than any other day for the rest of the year. Think about that- it's much more than some extra hours of daylight- I'm thinking of it as more time to be in the light- to shed light on things that have felt a little dark, to be "in the light" for a few more hours today. Not a bad way to start off the season of languid nights, long evening walks, and sunshine. I don't know about you, but I could use more light. Like, really and truly.
Also, with the moon being full and poised as it is, this is the first time there has been a Full Moon on the Summer Solstice since 1967. That alone is reason to mark this day as very powerful. Because 1967 was the Summer of Love, where thousands descended on the Haight Asbury in San Francisco and loved each other and rebelled against everything from the "man" to the war to conforming to the values that society imposed on them. I have always been a bit of a hippie at heart- well not a hippie really, but someone who is more of a free spirit and a rebel. With so much funky shit happening right now, I can't think of a time in my lifetime where we could all use a little bit of patchouli infused loving, on each other, for each other, with each other. Plus this moon is also known as the Strawberry Moon, a rare thing and named for the harvest. You don't need to be a genius to see we may be headed for a very sweet Summer. I sure hope so and I'm going to do my part to make it so.
I may have lost you by now if you are closed off to this kind of thinking and prefer me to talk about shoes and perfume- but stay with me if you're not. I'm just very connected to what's happening right now and it's coming in HOT.
Yesterday I went to yoga- I go twice a week now for a while and have really been loving it. At the beginning of a yoga class you are often asked to set an intention for your practice, and mine was screaming at me loud and clear- mine was all about moving forward. And because I focused on forward movement, I did some stuff in that class that usually makes me really uncomfortable. Like standing on my head. And a handstand. True they were done with the assistance of the wall, but still- I've always been scared of standing on my head and I was really psyched that I felt empowered to do it- because you really can't move forward without facing those fears, now can you? Fear holds us back, love moves us forward. Whether it's love of self, love for another, or a passion for making a difference. You can't do any of that without constantly moving forward, and yes- it's possible to still enjoy the present with an intention to always move forward. It's not about looking around the corner all the time- it just means there's an awareness for getting in tune with a more forward vs. backward approach. And the whole Summer of Love thing feels right to me- I've been thinking lately about how magnetic a more free thinking, freewheeling life would be- where I'm getting more creative and embracing the more Bohemian side of my soul. I'm not sure it's a choice at this point, I just think that's the way it's going to be.
Too often I get stuck in past habits and values, but think we all need to focus on moving forward to get us through this admittedly dark time. To look at the SF hippie scene now, it may feel dated and more than a little wacky. But think about it for what it was in a much bigger sense- people coming together to share, to love, and to fight against the darkness. I'm not advising you to go trip on acid or practice free love (if you want that's cool though, who am I to judge), but simply think about the values of that time, and how the moon was full then just as it will be tonight. I'm just saying take some of those good vibrations and make them yours. We really need as many as we can get, with or without flowers in your hair.
Be mindful this summer, get tapped in, and most importantly, keep moving forward. I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Cobble Hill listening to Sam Cooke and I really do believe a change is gonna come. And yea, maybe I'm wearing a vintage Indian dress. I'm honoring my inner hippie today because I'm going to create my very own Summer of Love, and you're all invited if you're cool, ya dig? Happy solstice, friends. This is one to pay attention to for sure. A friend of mine said it's important to stay away from anything that disempowers for the next 3 days. I gotta go buy some sage and get myself right. You should probably do the same if you feel like you need it.
Cause that's what's up this long, hot day in Brooklyn. Yours, in peace, love, and moving forward. XO