June | Life Lately
Happy June Full Moon! I wondered (& secretly hoped) our little girl would join us during this Strawberry Moon but she’s going to hold on a bit longer. We’ve had a lot of family members guess her name is Luna. I received texts this weekend sending well wishes related to the moon & baby. I feel seen, & very full myself. There is a lot of heaviness & awakening opening us all up this week. I have had hyper-awareness & sensitivity to it yet trying my best to balance with the joy & focus to welcome our little girl safely into the world very soon.
Preparing for parenthood | How does one prepare for parenthood? I’m not sure you do but Joel & I have done many things we think will help prepare us. This last week before my due date I keep being told rest, rest, rest. I’m going stir crazy. We have the nursery finished, clothes organized, heck all of the closets in the house organized, the bassinet is assembled, Joel renoed the screened-in porch, the car seat is installed, hospital bags are packed, & so much more. I think of Wale’s song The Matrimony when Jerry Seinfeld t’s up the song with commentary: “It’s like any growth. You can’t be ready for it because it’s gonna be new. You’re gonna have a new life, you’re gonna be a new person.”
100 Days of Blue Mind | To counter the anticipation I have about this “new life”, I’ve joined Wallace J. Nichols’ annual Blue Mind Challenge. For 100 days — Memorial Day to Labor Day — blue mind is a daily practice to focus your attention on the water surrounding you or to intentionally seek it out. From lakes to rivers, oceans to your water bottle, water is an essential part of our daily life. I’ve taken its healing powers for granted but the magic of water keeps showing up for me in very symbolic ways lately. The timing is divine. I’m journaling about it privately for now but a lot of fellow water worshippers are sharing their challenge here if you’d like to join. Katherine from Lake Effect Co. has a great description that inspired me to join here.
Black Lives Matter | As I’m sure many of us are doing, I’ve been processing the murder of George Floyd & the avalanche of progress & tension the resulting protests have created. Especially through the lens of becoming a mother, raising a white child, & the responsibility that entails. Regardless of the inner work I’m doing, I stand with the movement in both gratitude that there is a collective microscope on our nation’s deeply rooted inhumane issues and grief that it has taken so long to get here. Our generation has the power to make real change for a better world. I’m feeling called to Intersectional Environmentalism & how I can be of impact in my town.
Currently
Reading | Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols
Listening | Cream & Sugar: Rest by Black Coffee With White Friends
Watching | Shine On with Reese
I love the moon so much because she is a constant. When I look up at her I feel a connection to the deeper meaning of life & how we are all connected as humans on this planet. Sometimes it is simply unexplainable & I don’t even try to define why I love the moon so much. It is an energy I feel not a logic to put language to. I will never get it right to everyone I meet — maybe a mantra for everything; social justice, motherhood, family ties, friendships. But the inner work of self-love will exude to the outer work. The moon’s light reminds me of this. Try, try again. You can see all full moon posts here.
Happy Full Moon, friends! xo, Em
