Nox Amicus

For the last lunar cycle I chose ‘Boundaries’ as the topic that needed focus – whether that be identifying them, manifesting them, or dismantling them. It was an enlightening month where I needed to make some pretty profound choices; choices that will shape the next few months and possibly much longer.

In the past few days I’ve been thinking about the reasons behind those choices and around limits that needed to be established. In that reflection, the word that kept coming up in my mind became the theme for this cycle’s intention: Honor.

Honor means different things to different people. To some it’s synonymous with respect, and to other’s it’s more far-reaching than that. For me, honor needs to be intrinsic. It cannot be something you give until it’s recognized as something you have. In order to express honor, I believe we must also live with honor. That’s a lot easier said than done. Living with honor is valuing what we know in our souls to be good and just. It is eschewing arrogance and hubris in favor of compassion and understanding. It is showing restraint so that our convictions won’t trample the convictions of others. To know when to stand firm, but go no further.

I had a conversation recently with someone I was not politically aligned with. We talked, we listened, we debated – neither trying to change the other’s mind, but rather to just understand. This one conversation seemed to be a path toward easing the toxicity our political climate has created. Honor one another and live to the principles you espouse – cultivating honor in ourselves may engender honor in others.