Cycles.
Of the moon and stars. Of the seasons. Of the calendar. Of the body.
All of these cycles influence the cycles of creativity. Some of these cycles we can rely upon. Some of the cycles we’ve grown to rely upon are so out of control that they’re utterly unrecognizable.
I want to call you into an exploration of your own cycles.
When the world has gone mad and time has ceased to have meaning, you need to find yourself within your own meaningful cycle.
Understanding where you are within a greater pattern will provide you the structure to continue to be creative. It’s what will help you stay sane. It’s what will help you gather the strength to take appropriate action to put the world to rights.
But first, a bit of context...
Each Wednesday at noon ET, the Sovereign Writers Circle gathers to write. (By the way, this reliable weekly cycle transforms “I wish I wrote more” laments into “I’m so glad I wrote today” smiles.)
We always begin with a brief meditation or visualization. Then, this community of healers who write and writers who heal begin to put words on the page.
I always offer two prompts that invite creative, emotional, practical, and magical exploration. Sometimes, the writers are asked to respond to the events of the day. Since many of our members are entrepreneurs, we occasionally explore matters of livelihood and how writing can support a business.
We always wander into the vast territory where heart and mind and imagination meet.
Picture yourself there with the Sovereign Writers Circle this week. This is how we opened our session…
It’s the end of May. We find ourselves on a planet where a year is divided into twelve glorious months, so we get twelve remarkable chances to sum things up and plan anew.
Leave room for that to matter. Let May - one of the longest, shortest, strangest, scariest months - to have shape and meaning. Or, leave room for another cycle to matter.
We moved through the energy of a New Moon in Gemini last week. I know my heart lifts when I see that first sliver hanging in the evening sky as I water my gardens after a long, unseasonably hot day.
Be in the sickle cup of the moon as she moves into her first quarter. Remember what you felt when the sky was dark and when the last full moon filled the sky. Imagine what’s coming in the weeks ahead as she waxes and, inevitably, wanes again.
Maybe the cycles of the Zodiac help shape your experience and your energy. Perhaps you want to write yourself into the stars and find guidance and illumination there. We find ourselves in the sign of the celestial twins right now. This is Gemini Season, the time of creative expression, the time to celebrate the vast, flexible power of the mind.
It might be time for you to find yourself in the cycles of society (if you can find any that give you comfort). We marked Memorial Day just a few days ago. What does that mean when it comes to the national and social heartbeat? What does a day of remembrance and the unofficial start of summer mean in moments like this?
Or, maybe you find yourself drawn to the tides of your own body. If you’re a woman who still bleeds, you may feel called to tune into your own menstrual cycle, but our miraculous bodies offer so many other rhythms and beats.
There’s magic in the grand and the subtle cycles constantly being enacted all around you. Be with them and flow with them.
Unless you just can’t.
Perhaps you feel like none of these cycles matter enough, none are palpable enough. It’s a great big, broken world, after all. The heavens seem too far away, the traditional calendar has been rendered meaningless during the pandemic, the social fabric is in tatters, and the murmurs of your own body seem too mundane.
And so, when none of the existing structures hold you, you can begin at a true beginning. Offer yourself a blank slate, a clear space, a new place to create.
It can feel hard or intensely liberating to feel like you’re starting with nothing. (Maybe you feel like both are true at the same time.)
Try to inhabit the power of the author - of the authority and the Sovereign of your own life. You get to make up the chapter. (You get to acknowledge that we are all being called to start a new chapter. Knowing this early will make the transition into the new normal a wee bit easier.)
And so, as we do before we enter every writing practice (remember, you’re listening in on the prelude to the Wednesday session with the Sovereign Writers Circle), I encourage you:
Deep breath in. Spine straight, fullest extension in your writing chair.
Be in this body. Be grateful for this body and all that she does to hold you as your mind and spirit go on a great adventure.
And now, let’s write…
Writing Prompt: Find Your Cycle, Find Yourself Within the Cycle
What cycle feels most fertile and familiar to you right now? Write with the moon, the season, the feelings in your own body.
And, if you cannot find immediate truth and solace in one of the many natural and social cycles that give shape to life, embrace that freedom. Trust yourself. Follow your own words until you draft your way into a whole new cycle of meaning and truth.
