Bright Side Sundays

Welcome to Magdalene Journal’s first edition of Bright Side Sundays: a weekly round-up of good info, tips, and news to help start your week off right!

Self Care

We get the most out of self-care when we practice it actively and consistently. If it’s been a while since you’ve let yourself ease into physical self-care with a good long stretch session, yin yoga can be a great area to explore. Yoga With Bird has a lovely 10-minute yin session here.

Inspiration

The joy and promise of a new season always stirs some magic. If you can safely do so, when outside, spend some time paying attention to the subtle shifts of the natural world around us. We can also explore Mother Nature’s beauty remotely – this New York Times’ feature makes me feel like I’m immersed in autumn goodness (despite being actually immersed in a Southern California heat wave!) Grab a cider doughnut or pumpkin spice latte if you can and settle in! 

Good Books

L.M. Montgomery’s prose has always conveyed a deep love and attention to the gifts of seasonal change. To me, the Anne of Green Gables series is a joy to revisit anytime, but I especially recommend it this month, for as Anne Shirley says, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

Words of Wisdom

“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.”
–Parker Palmer

 

A Key to Making Productivity Doable

At the start of a new week, I usually look back on a weekend that had held so many marvelous intentions: to bring to life numerous concepts in my daybooks; to clean and organize my personal space, (aiming for the dream work-from-home nook); and to get ahead with preparations for the work week. 

But often when I’ve tried to work on creative projects, I become so overwhelmed with where to begin that I don’t quite attain the productivity I wanted. (I do, of course, very often achieve a very clean floor – it’s remarkable how clean your surroundings can get when you’re attempting to get All the Writing done…)

I think it’s easy to say “just prioritize” when we’re stumped with where to start. But for some of us, especially those of us in the neurodiversity sphere, the “how-to” of prioritizing doesn’t seem very tangible. As someone who manages ADHD while trying to achieve creative output and keep up with the necessities of life, I can attest to the struggles in relation to “prioritizing.”

However, I had a conversation recently with a mentor that clued me in to a term that resonates much more for me than “prioritize.” In so many words, she said:

Prioritization comes from URGENCY.

To me, using an urgency-based task system feels much more real-world and grounded than ordering tasks through “priorities” or “importance.” For the way my mind functions, almost everything I want or need to do feels equally highly important. Spending time with my cats is important so they have a great quality of life. Completing a creative project is important so that my dreams get a chance to live in the world. Paying my bills is important so the lights stay on…

Yet the quality of urgency – to me, this word vibrates with a sense of NOW. Per the Latin etymology, “urgent” carries the meaning of “pressing, insistence.” Thinking in this way better helps me plan what most necessarily needs to happen next for my goals to be achieved. When I comb through my multiple to-do’s, I’m going to make sure I get things done by respecting what is most pressing. 

One might, very understandably, associate stress with the idea of urgency, and if it feels at all stressful to you, please only choose a productivity approach that feels right for you!

It’s so important for creators to ensure our visions come forth into reality, and that can involve using as many tools or approaches that feel right for you. How, then, can we make this relationship to urgency doable?

Try asking yourself:

-Which task has an immediate, upcoming due date?

-Which task is preventing me from completing a project?

-Which task has been asked of me by someone who needs my response soon?

-Which task affects my happiness and well-being at this moment, or the happiness and well-being of someone who relies on me?

These thoughts are some possibilities I’ve discovered for myself; perhaps these could help you as well on your unique path to achieving your goals. And I’d love to hear your ideas for what keeps you creatively productive!

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis of Assisi

Astrology Round-Up: New Moon in Virgo

Grace, precision, focus, calm, perseverance…these are just a few of the qualities that I connect to when I relate to Virgo energy. It’s earthy and real, yet there is a sense of the elevated and even mysterious. For despite having Virgo as my Sun sign, I feel her mystery and meaning is still unfolding for me. Something deeper than the surface shorthand of the overly particular workhorse of the zodiac. Although this hard-working aspect can absolutely be a positive element of Virgo too. Very impactful results can arise when we create space for attention to detail and hard work. (Ideally, in as loving and non-perfectionistic a manner as possible!)

As September 17th 2020 brings us the New Moon in the sign of Virgo, I’ve compiled some insights and wisdom below to help us understand and work with this lunar moment. And remember, as with any New Moon, it’s a potent time to set forth new intentions. Every month I try to write down the aspiration that speaks to me most strongly at that time. There’s a power in committing your thought and desire to the page – it’s a first step in manifesting a reality on track with your hopes and dreams.

May this time of a New Moon and a new season bring you lots of positive and hopeful energy and the steadfastness to stay your course! 

Erica Magdalene

“All solutions will be present.”

“Virgo takes what’s in disarray and creates thoughtful rituals wherein balance can be restored. It teaches the technology embedded in nature; everything we need we have already been given. Virgo honors the medicine of diversity, knows that with enough of it, all solutions will be present. This sign teaches us that with the right tools, we can work towards a humble solution. Ready to sacrifice fame for the fortune of thoughtfully applied craft, Virgo offers the habits that foster healing.” Chani Nicholas 

“Hold your vision.”

“Hold your vision. Start small. Stick to it. Put extra care into yourself, into the world around you, into what you want to see grow. If we want to see change or progress, we can’t afford to give up or take a half-hearted or selfish approach.” Mecca Woods
 

“Virgo is where greatness occurs.”

“I’ve always held the personal belief that Virgo, or the 6th house, is where greatness occurs. When you really look at Virgo energy, it’s about detail, work, service. One of my favorite sayings is “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”… Any intentions that we set at this time, I can guarantee that we’ll be a little more focused on them, and more willing to put in the work needed. However, when we look at the aspects, it shows that in order for these things to manifest…you have to make time for it in your routine…look at, how am I spending my time? How am I using my energy? And how can I overall be more efficient on a day-to-day basis?” Gemini Brown 

“Clear focus coupled with clarity of purpose.” 

“This [New Moon] in Virgo will be the first of a trio of consecutive Super New Moons, leading to the New Moon Solar Eclipse in December. A Super New Moon is extra energized and serves to pave the path to progress. Clear focus coupled with clarity of purpose aid in aligning with the future path by taking the next right step.” Astromatrix

 

Onboarding Kitty Cats: What Cats Can Teach Us About Accepting Change

So, I have cats. Quite a number of cats. There’s an elder male, around 17. I’d love to call him the patriarch of the family but I’m not sure he displays all the leadership and wisdom one would associate with that role. (In fairness, I wouldn’t say I always demonstrate the leadership and wisdom one might associate with my chronological age either – but who does?) There is a group of 4 siblings – to my mind and heart, still kittens, though they’ll be 11 years old on their birthday next month. And there is a new member of the team, currently being onboarded into the household culture – Sweetie, an extremely sweet and loving formerly feral young cat I took in from the street this July.

I had been feeding and caring for Sweetie, along with other members of her outdoor colony, for about 8 months when, late at night on July 4th this year, I heard frantic crying through the incessant low rumblings of fireworks. I went outside and found my girl afraid and crying for me outside my window. That night, I decided, would be her last evening of living in fear of the elements outside, and I took her inside.

It’s been nearly 10 weeks since then, and this is how her onboarding process as a house cat is coming along:

Introductions

Slowly but surely, Sweetie is being accepted into the existing house kitties’ culture. It’s not always a smooth process -their interactions, though promising, must be supervised for the immediate future. 

Roles and Responsibilities

Sweetie’s role is to completely enjoy herself and have fun in her new surroundings. These requirements, though, actually require a certain amount of oversight and training. For instance, having never been exposed to cat toys before (her playthings were fallen leaves and shadows that danced across the sidewalk), it’s been incumbent upon me to demonstrate how to bat at a birdie toy, and impress upon her the function of a cat bed. I had hoped her teammates would help her understand these tasks of her new role better, but the introduction process remains at the stage of “comfortably co-exist in a room without hissings or grumblings from any parties.”

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation: Breakfast in bed, so to speak, for the rest of her life. New brothers and sisters who will love and accept her. And the benefit, I’m afraid, is more skewed toward me than her – I hope she feels the happiness and benefit of being completely loved and cared for, while I accept the amazing benefit of pure, unconditional love from an extremely sweet little creature. 

Takeaways

Sweetie’s onboarding has brought home great lessons and reminders. hose of balance – finding the harmony as we establish the old-guard with the new; patience – understanding the unique pacing and care one needs when settling in to a brand-new environment and culture; and compassion – it’s not easy being the new person, nor is it easy for the established ones to adapt to a new person, group, or structure. 

If you’re going through similar changes, whether as the newbie or as the “old” one adapting to a new circumstance – please give yourself lots of loving-kindness, and trust your new state of being will feel comfortable and natural sooner than you think. And, try not to engage in too much hissing and grumbling on the way.

It’s Yours: How to Own Your Creative Expression

Does something call to you again and again? You’ve always wanted to try creating, making, building this… You imagine yourself writing it, playing it, learning it, speaking it.

But wait.

You can’t.

It’s not “for” you.

Acting is for your brother, who is extraordinarily charming and a natural in front of any camera. Singing is for your aunt with the sweet, clear voice. Writing is for your best friend who has a innate knack for composing stories that keep you riveted. 

Yes, these crafts are for them. But, guess what—they’re for you too! 

As in the Highlander conceit that “there can be only one,” I can’t express how often I’ve come across the notion – whether openly acknowledged, or tacitly accepted as true – that certain hobbies, crafts, skills, or pursuits, are the special province of one, and only one, member of the family or friend group. 

Of course, when we analyze this idea, we see the preposterousness of it. The world doesn’t have one precious architect, mathematician, or sculptor. But many of us as artists and creators hold ourselves back, because we fear that we’ll never match the skill of our friend. Or worse, maybe our skill or ability will be perceived as surpassing theirs, and thus, we’d be taking away a special identity from our loved one. And perhaps, in some circumstances, the friend positions themselves as the expert or “owner” of a special area of expression, and may indeed bristle when someone else comes to explore.

What to do? Will you spend your life wondering “what if” and wishing you had given yourself a chance to try? 

I promise you that certain something which keeps speaking to your heart, soul, or mind will keep returning to your consciousness until you acknowledge it and take a step forward. How then we can get past this fear, this blocker, that “it isn’t for me”?

Know that it is for you.

The very fact that you’re being called to express something is an important call to action. Joseph Campbell speaks of “the call to adventure” in his analysis of the hero’s journey. Listen because there is a deeper wisdom in your inner knowing than you may comprehend, that is essential to set you on the next stage of your own life journey.

Relate to the abundance of the Universe

If resources like love and compassion are boundless, so too is creative inspiration. An affirmation: there is more than enough for them, and there is more than enough for me. Anytime you feel stuck or guilty for exploring a new space, take a few breaths and repeat the above mantra. 

Understand that your ways of expression will always and can only ever be yours

No one else has shared precisely the same life experiences, dreams, interests, hopes, and thoughts that have shaped you into the person you are right now.Your experiences will support and shape your new craft in ways that make it truly and uniquely yours, not a copy or imitation of someone else’s work.

Call on strength 

It can take strength to explore something that you do imperfectly, at first. . It’s challenging to be vulnerable and accept trying a new path that others may not have let you feel is “yours.” When you feel vulnerable or not enough, embrace it as a beautiful, necessary part of your creative journey. Your new art may even be the perfect outlet for expressing and working through those feelings of not enough-ness.

One of the most compelling reasons to “answer the call”? You are saying yes to a new energy in your life that can gift you with incredibly positive and unexpected outcomes! You may make amazing new friends. The craft of your choice might open your mind to related pursuits or studies that you haven’t considered before. Something as seemingly simple as exploring a new art, craft, or skill can set your life in very unexpected, wonderful directions. And you know what? It might just be really, really fun!

Today, we challenge you to give yourself permission to explore and create in new ways – the path you crave is for you! Answer the call – say yes.