This was given to me by my mom as part of our Autumnal Equinox gift exchange this past September… I love it! This is a reminder to myself that TODAY marks the day that I signed up for monthly UNLIMITED yoga…I’ve taken classes here and there and in my home…but never signed up for an auto monthly subscription… Change is in pursuit. Excuses can fall by the wayside.
Tag: the walden moon
Autumnal Equinox Plant Sanctuary.
For this Autumnal Equinox build yourself a plant sanctuary in and around your home. This can be an ongoing and steady project…one that I have been working on for a while now…I find most of my plants at grocery stores and places like Home Depot. You can find some fairly cheap plants anywhere and they really do brighten up your life. I’m becoming obsessed with turning my home into a garden…and every corner I find joy in decorating with plants and adding charms and things around them. Take a look at what I have so far…and get inspired to make this your Autumn project!
Details. Add charms around your little plant sanctuaries…like tiny trees (these trees were made by my mom), bunnies, and butterflies.
Add iron wall decor that has plant elements to them for an extra dynamic to your plant sanctuary inside.
Use a side table to sit your plants on in front of a window…and put your plants in pots inside of pots to catch the water instead of a water plate. (I typically water my plants on Sunday…some I stretch out water times like cactus…read the care for each plant).
Make tiny little altars in your home surrounded by plants.
Bring light into your home. OPEN your windows!
The mantel isn’t completely done…but I’m working on it! I’m trying to add earthy elements like potted plants, tree branch candle holders, a wooden flower piece, and my favorite dragonfly picture from Katie. This one I’m still working on! (well the whole house really!)
Use store bought flowers to make inexpensive arrangements in your home. (These were left over from my little sisters second reception.)
Make little corners interesting with plants and if you can find one, get an earthy light fixture! I found this one at Home Decorators online.
Decorate your pots with charms like this sun!
Use old vintage decor to frame your plants. These were old relics from my childhood in Germany…they were made in the USSR.
Add bits of fun to your outside porches. Keep in mind that when it gets cold you’ll have to protect your plants!
Decorate your pots with stones that circle the plant.
And at the end of the day…light some candles and build you a stately castle.
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
8 Things To Let Go of…at Any Moon Phase.
Last night was the FULL MOON, BLOOD MOON, HARVEST MOON, SUPER MOON…and I didn’t even try to look for it…well I did right before I went to bed, but it was way before the Eclipse and the clouds were out. But after a weekend full of events…I was just tired to wait up.
I got to thinking last night…I seem to have this need to be perfect all the time, and I’ve proven to myself each time that the worry and stress that I generate from this “need” only makes me even more unhappy. So I made a list of:
8 Things to Let Go of…at Any Moon Phase.
1. Being Perfectly Perfect. Yeah, that doesn’t exist. I’ve been the victim of my own perfectionistic expectations and I’ve got to say…it doesn’t feel good. For example, I wanted to write last night about the Blood Moon when the Blood Moon was happening, I felt like I needed to…needed to have a perfect blog with aligning it with the perfect moon phase and yada yada yada. But life happens and you get tired. And that’s okay. So sleep when you need to and let the worries of perfection drift away.
2. Self Limiting Beliefs. All the time you spend not believing in yourself and making up excuses as to why you “can’t” do something…is time spent that you could be spending on whatever it is you wanted to do in the first place. No more excuses…do it! It may take time and effort (and money)…but NOTHING is impossible, except a genie in a bottle granting you a wish for having a particular person fall in love with you…Haha.
3. The What Ifs. This is a death sentence thought process. Do not let the what ifs get in your head. You can’t possibly be missing anything because RIGHT NOW is only RIGHT NOW. The whole “what would life be like right now if I would have, could have, should have?” nonsense is null. You are exactly where you need to be right now…and if you aren’t happy with the situation you are in right now…GET OUT.
4. Clutter City. Get rid of it. Get rid of the junk in your house. Get rid of the junk thoughts in your head. Make your very own oasis at your house…and get rid of the junk you don’t use and don’t need. Go room by room and do a make over. You’ll feel better once you do it. Strange as it may be…having a clutter free house really does brighten up your mood.
5. Guilt. Stop feeling guilty. Don’t feel guilty if the dishes need to be done but you didn’t have time to do them. They will get done. Don’t feel guilty because you wanted a candy bar and didn’t want to share with your kids…you deserve candy too. And if something happened…it happened. You can’t change the past so move on. Stop worrying or feeling guilty…learn from it and move on.
6. Anger and Resentment. Can I get an amen? Let go of anger…it leads to resentment and NOONE wants to habor that feeling…whether you are the one doing the resenting or receiving it. Look again at what you are angry about and ask yourself….”but did I die?” And if the answer is no…learn to change it or accept it. Don’t be angry about it. Change it or change your thoughts.
7. The Three C’s: Comparison, Competition, and Consent. What you need to work on is yourself and what makes yourself happy. Don’t you dare compare yourself to anyone else…give yourself credit for being who you are…accentuate your best you! Stop competing…And whatever you do…don’t try to keep up with the Joneses…it’s just tacky. Lastly, don’t give ANYONE the consent to make yourself feel less worthy. No one should be given that power…because you are worth it!
8. Judgement. Instictually we want to judge…in fact we do it even when we aren’t realizing it…Literally within a few seconds of meeting someone we are already judging them and ourselves…even comparing ourselves to them. That instinct may not really ever go away, but when you find yourself judging or comparing stop for a second and find compassion and understanding. You can only vouch for yourself…and what does it matter if someone else does things differently than you? It doesn’t matter. What matters is how you spend your time and thoughts.
If I ever question anything…my last question is always “But did you die?” And if the answer is no…then I learn to accept it or change it. Period. The end. Amen.
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
P.S. You can do any of these at any moon phase…there is no special moon phase for creating space for happiness and moonlight into your life. If you want to make “letting go” special for a particular thing…then plan for a “release party” at the full moon…and let it go then!!
Happy Autumn!
Highlights from today! Cleaned my back porch screens…took a pic with my new light…and currently sitting on my back porch with my mom…drinking Cigar City Maduro…listening to Doris Day. And it feels like fall! 75 degrees I love you!
HAPPY AUTUMNAL EQUINOX!
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
P.s. Tomorrow I’ll be posting about making that indoor plant sanctuary!!! 🙂
Mercury in Retrograde.
The Tivoli River by Kelly Walden of the Walden Moon
Mercury is the planet that governs things like thinking, communication skills, and writing. It also happens to be the planet that rules Virgo and Gemini. Being a Virgo myself…I tend to want to know everything and I think way too much. Sometimes I get so lost in thinking that I create more problems than there really are…So be mindful of that when you start to reflect inward..
Being that Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun…it orbits the fastest around the Sun…so fast, that around three times per year, it appears to be moving backwards, or as they call it…retrograde. From September 17th, 2015 until October 9th, 2015 Mercury will be in retrograde…this means LOOK INWARD.
This is a time to reflect on life…to think about what’s ahead….but chill. This is NOT the time to make big decisions (wait at least two weeks after the retrograde is over before making decisions you think about during this time)….this is a time to think…plan…but sit…and sit…and sit with yourself and evaluate your life. Think about what has come and what has passed. Ask yourself big questions…questions you haven’t asked yourself before…questions you are afraid of asking yourself…
This is the time for…reading this:
“I want to watch the blue mist of the night come on,
The windows and the stars illumined, one by one,
The rivers of dark smoke pour upward lazily,
And the moon rise and turn them silver.
I shall see the springs, the summers, and the autumns slowly pass;
And when old winter puts his blank face to the glass,
I shall close all my shutters, pull the curtains tight,
And build me stately palaces of candlelight”
– Charles Baudelaire, translation from Landscape, Flowers of Evil
NOW is the time…to build your stately palaces of candlelight…don’t even wait for winter to get here…from the feel of it, AUTUMN is going to be a chilly one…and with Mercury in retrograde, WE need a little candlelight..
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
P.S. That photograph was from today…it’s the Tivoli river that runs along my neighborhood…I was headed to pick up Ava from dance and saw the sky and made a short stop to the public dock for a little photo-op.
P.S.S. MOM and DAD….hurry up and move back down south so you can kick the renters out of your house and settle back in…because I’d really love to walk on YOUR dock whenever I want…instead of the public one…I mean really! 🙂
New Moon in Virgo.
Blowing Smoke Signals by Kelly Walden of The Walden Moon
Virgo…the Virgin…the perfectionist. To put it in the best words…here is an excerpt from The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest:
“The Virgin is an image of purity. Nothing has possessed her. She is attached to nothing, wants nothing, fears nothing. Nothing holds her. She is free, unbound by any earthly drama.
Yet she is here, on the earth. What does the world offer one who seeks nothing but perfection? What can she do? She waits, aloof as the Madonna. She works on herself. And to pass the time, she helps out where she can.” – Steven Forrest
Read that ten times. Take inspiration from that when you set your New Moon Goal or New Moon Mindset.
Take the next few days if you have to…but come up with your New Moon goal or mindset! Remember a New Moon is for new beginnings…a time to start something new…or just simply plant a seed of good intention and let it blossom! See if you can accomplish this by the next Full Moon!! (Coming up on September 27/28)!!!
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
P.S. I’m a Vigo sun sign…. wink!
September 2015 Moon Calendar | The Walden Moon
Finally…the September 2015 Moon Calendar. Above is just a snap shot of the first page…in the PDF file you’ll get 21 pages to work with. It’ll have a calendar, description of what to do with the four main moon phases, a thematic overview of which zodiac sign the moon is in at the time with some things to think about, and spaces for you to write something down for each day with special attention to the New Moon Goal/New Moon Mindset and Full moon. To preview the file click the link below!!! You can then decide if you want to download it or print it!
SEPTEMBER 2015 Moon Calendar | The Walden Moon
I hope you like it…sorry I didn’t get it done before September 1st….BUT I did get it to you BEFORE the next NEW MOON coming up Sunday the 13th!!!! So you can plan out your New Moon Goal or New Moon Mindset and write it down!
Love and Moonlight,
Kelly
Let the Child Paint.
Here is another installment of Uma Kathryn’s art direction. On the left is Uma’s picture of a “game” and on the right is my picture using her left over chosen paints. I’ll call mine the Painted Desert Von Uma.
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
Paint Experimenting. And the Story of the Boo Hag.
Children’s art to me…is better than the skilled, educated, master of all art. Picasso had it soooo right…
” Every Child is an Artist…The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” _ Pablo Picasso.
The above selection of paint colors was chosen by my youngest daughter Uma Kathryn…a real unique little being. She selected those specific colors and created an art piece that tickled me to death…Below, I give you…The Turtle and the Boo Hag.
Now you may be wondering…who is the Boo Hag….well, the Boo Hag is that red thing…and the Boo Hag is an old Gullah Gullah story…The legend of the Boo Hag is as follows…
The Gullah Gullah folk have this saying “Don’t let the Boo Hag ride yah.” which came from this belief that an entity known as the Boo Hag would ride you at night. Legend says that if you’ve had a restless night of sleep that it was most likely because the Boo Hag rode you at night. Now the Boo Hag…well… she is this entity that finds souls at night (people sleeping) where she will hop onto you and suck the life out of you…not all the way but just enough to keep herself alive. She would slip through cracks and holes, through key holes, and underneath doors to find you to get her energy from sleeping souls by riding them and sucking their life for her own. Now, you should know that the Boo Hag is kind of like a vampire in the sense that she needs someones skin to walk around during the daylight. Without someones skin she would burn to a crisp. She is a fiery red being without the skin…and the way that she is able to walk around during the day is that she has to get a coat of skin from a victim at night to ride and take their skin for the next morning….She wears their skin during the day and at night she takes the skin off and puts it in the corner somewhere. To get rid of the Boo Hag you have to find the skin that she is currently using…once you find it, you put salt and pepper on the inside so that the next morning when she puts it on….she dies.
Okay okay….creepy I KNOW! And being the cool mom I am…I told that story to my 5 year old daughter…who now is painting pictures of THE BOO HAG! hahahaha. I’m sorry BUT that is funny! High Five mom! Memory MADE!!
ANYWAYS….to drift back to art...Uma amazes me in her art work…I haven’t shared much since I’ve only begun with this blog this summer…but I thought that that one was a good one to share first! My hope is to get her to paint a picture everyday…and today she painted that!
SO What I did was take her left over paint color selection and made my own piece below! I thought it would be neat to let her be my art director for a while and select my paint colors…and this is what I made…
These are the paintings side by side…for color scheme….with the pop in bright red…AKA THE BOO HAG hahaha.
And I don’t know how…but I got paint on my face….
THE MORAL of the whole story is….THAT kids are freaking awesome. Their ability to just paint from their gut HAS NO COMPARISON. They are who they are…and they just ARE. I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. Kids are cool. And their imagination has no bounds.
Love & Moonlight,
Kelly
PS. Uma was painting that picture to show her friends at school tomorrow because they are learning the letter T…T for turtle…although she told me the red thing was the BOO HAG…she told me she was going to tell her friends that it was “Just a surfboard.” hahahaha WOW! She cracks me up!
Playing Around with Paint.
Just bought some new paint this Labor Day weekend!!! Super excited to start painting again…I feel like I’m starting all over! Haven’t painted in a while!
Got these paints for a steal! Half off Labor Day sale!
On the to do list…get to painting! Channeling folk art.
The Walden Moon 