January Moon has begun...showing me my weak places

AAHHH! The January moon. I do love new beginnings; the gift of beginning again-and again.  So much hope-so much potential and possibility!  In Jamie Sams' 13 Clan Mothers, the First Clan Mother calls us to live in balance with ourselves and all of life. She offers us lessons for learning the truth about ourselves.  Sometimes these are not easy lessons.  I spent my last 13 month cycle (2012) exploring my gifts and feeling frustrated I could not embrace them fully in my life.  From that frustration came a willingness to explore the core issues underlying my difficulties.  From my willingness came the gift and courage to make the decision to stop drinking alcohol.  I made this commitment at the beginning  the Spring Cycle.  WOW, how my life has changed since then. 

This change, along with daily reflection followed by action, has helped me embrace the gifts necessary for living my life purpose (and for living a purpose-full life). As the months of commitment to clearer thinking and purposeful living accumulated, I began to notice other areas where I was not living to my potential, and not living in full integrity.  Other areas where short term relief prevented me from living my gifts.  I focused a lot of my attention on my Creative Aspect this past year: my re-vamped website launched, I submitted a writer's grant, began a certification program for veteran counseling, added my voice to social action, expanded my philanthropy through my Circle of Self website. Still I felt out of balance in my Creative Self and I noticed how this imbalance effect all my other Aspects.

The empowerment and Divine support I felt from my commitment to live a life of sobriety, gave me the courage to face another of my life long struggles (an Element of Self I have not worked with since I began the Circle of Self process in the fall of 2009): My Financial Element of My Creative Aspect of My Self. So, I started my commitment to embrace my Financial element during the last moon cycle.  During December's waning moon, I actively explored options for working with this Element.  I felt my impatience and desire to 'fix' it.  From the work I have done in my Personal Aspect around health, integrity, prayer and sobriety, I was able to garner the patience to wait for clarity about working with my Financial Element. This patience is a HUGE gift!  And I do experience it as a gift from the Divine, as patience has not been one of my readily available attributes.

I can't say for how many moon cycles my Financial Element will be my primary focus. I sense it will extend through the remainder of the winter season and probably the three moon cycles of the spring season.  I am patient and open about timing as well.  I'll share my experiences on the blog during as I move through my process.  Perhaps some readers will find support, inspiration and relief from my journey.  One of my first gifts: Brent Kessel.  Check out his work.

Two other weaknesses the first clan mother has helped me uncover: 1) inattention to details (leads me to errors which require extra time, sometimes eating crow, and inconvenience for myself and others, and sometimes costs me financially.) For example, I just noticed an error in the January moonthly calendar I sent out, so I will be resending it after I correct it tomorrow.
and 2) I have a tendency to be out of sync with my own internal rhythm.  Not only does this effect my ability to be in sync with my outer life, but if costs me a great deal of energy.  More on that later.