Nox Amicus

It’s 9:37pm and the moon is new – so it’s time again to look back on this past month’s focus, and think about what lies ahead.

During the past month I found that I approach Responsibility differently than I did even a few years ago. I had gotten into the habit of saying “yes” to anything, a holdover behavior from childhood, regardless of whether I could actually accomplish the thing or not. In the past few years, I’ve been a lot more careful about “yes” and have tempered them with a well placed “no”. That balance has worked well.

The lesson seems obvious now, but Responsibility is very much a balancing act between Yes and No – gauging what the different outcomes might look like, weighing the options, and then calling the play. Sometimes “no” may hurt the listener, but as I’ve said for a long time, No makes Yes much more valuable.

All week, leading up to today, I thought I knew what this New Moon cycle was going to be about. I had this post drafted in my head, I looked up definitions and etymology, I was ready to set pixel to screen. As I sat here typing though, it changed.

No – it’s simpler than what I thought it was – and much more valuable.

My focus this lunar cycle is Hope.

Few people know about my battle to regain “Hope”. Several years ago, just using the word in a sentence was ‘strongly discouraged’. “Hope” became “wish” – but you know, they are two very different words. It’s interesting – when you don’t use a word, the intent behind it leaves your life too. Never doubt the power of words – whether they are in use or if they are absent.

So this month will be about Hope in all of its forms. Hope in the promise of a new day, hope in a smile or a hug, hope that keeps us moving forward. — feeling hopeful.