Hello beautiful people and welcome to this dose of Celestial Goodness. As always, thank you for joining me in this space and on this journey. It has been a while, and I appreciate your patience while I am evolving through my own life. See this week’s video here: https://youtu.be/5zCDUjeYAdQ
I am happy that you are here, and if you are reading, listening, or watching, I do hope that something beautiful happens for you in the coming days. I also hope that you are doing well, checking in on your breathing, moving your body, resting, finding the things that bring you joy, and drinking your water. I say that to you, but I am also giving myself the same advice. On some days, it feels like we can do it all, and other days, achieving even one of these things is a major victory. Let me assure you that each day looks different for all of us, and our best looks different on different days. What might be your 100% today, is your 20% tomorrow. My mom always says, when men on earth have done their best, angels in heaven can do no better. Speaking of my mom, I got to spend some quality time with her yesterday.
Yesterday felt like spring. Where I live, it was a balmy 64 degrees, well, not quite balmy, but honestly, it was perfect. Winter has been dancing slowly through the weeks and yesterday felt like warmth, sunshine, and the promise of beautiful days. Despite being born in December and growing up in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin (I jest, sort of), I struggle with winter. I have had to be intentional about absorbing the lessons of winter, and about seeing the beauty in the season.
I am reminded always of Albert Camus’s words, “My dear, in the midst of hate, I found there was within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was an invincible calm. I realized through it all, that in the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there is something stronger, something better, pushing right back.” There are so many treasures though from winter and when you look closely and intentionally, you can see them, but at least yesterday, I was thankful that the weather reminded of me of what spring feels like.
We did not know that it would be such a nice day, but it really set the stage for a beautiful evening with my mom and younger sister. I lamented to my mom that I had not written on my blog or made a video for my channel in a few months. She was very calm in her way, and said, “You know that everything is cyclical. Whatever was going on in your personal cycle meant that your focus and attention was elsewhere. That is ok too. You always come back to the things that you love.” That really filled me with a sense of peace. We are cyclical creatures—and for those of us who have spent time learning about our personal rhythm, we know when our body is whispering to us, life instructions—instructions on what it needs. At the end of 2021, I needed to rest, to travel, to see some of my dear ones. In December, we went to Mexico for a dear friend’s wedding, and to celebrate my birthday, my love and I went to Chichen Itza.
It was pretty awesome and amazing in a historical sense, but also just beautiful to see. I am a huge history nerd, and I am always filled with gratitude when I get to see something that was not only built centuries ago, but that has survived so much—including surviving humans. The sunshine in Mexico, the laughter with my friends by the seaside, and getting to celebrate love, did wonders for my soul.
After we left Mexico, we had had a short stint at home—we had some fun celebrating my love’s birthday on Christmas, went to Enchant Christmas, and an entire day of playing Unstable Unicorns with two of our favorite family members.
After that, and what felt like our millionth covid test, we left for the UK to see some of our treasured relatives that we had not seen in over two years. London during the holidays is one of my favorite experiences. We also go to visit the Harry Potter Studio tour in London, a highlight for this Gryffindor sun, Ravenclaw rising, and Slytherin moon hahaha. Another highlight was taking a walking tour of Oxford. Oxford is just a short train ride from London, so it is a worthy day trip. While I still think that I prefer the city of Bath to Oxford, it was really beautiful from an architectural perspective, and also very manageable. We rang in the New Year in the UK, and then as quickly as it began, vacation was over.
At the beginning of 2022, I needed to pick up the pieces of things unfinished, sit with my planner, and think about how I wanted this year to be. All of this has been informative to my spirit, and to how I set the intention for the year ahead. Speaking of intention and intent, those two words make up the essence of what I want this year to be for me. Each year since I turned 34, I have chosen a word that helps to anchor my year. Past words have included, “balance,” “flow,” and “prosperity.” This year, I will be turning 40 years old. I sat with down with my calendar/planner and thought about what I would like to experience in this year—in the buildup to a new decade. Intent, kept coming back to me. I have a beautiful planner, the Magic of I astrological planner. Not only is it packed with great information, it is also just beautiful and feels good to touch. One of the things that I love most is that in planning for the year ahead, there were eight areas to focus on. Each area had three additional words for more inspiration.
• Spiritual (expansion, soul, being)
• Mental (mind, learning, wisdom)
• Work (career, contribution, service)
• Love (family, relationships, connection)
• Wealth (financial goals, assets, resources)
• Social (connection, community, fun)
• Physical (health, fitness, well-being)
• Inspiration (travel, creativity, adventure)
When I thought about each area, I realized that I wanted to deepen my connections, be fully present when focused on a particular area, and to create more meaningful experiences in each area. For example, with relationships, one thing that I would like to do is to have more one-on-one conversations. In these conversations, there are no phones, nothing that draws my attention away from whoever it is that I am speaking with. One of the things that I missed the most during the pandemic was having in person conversations with my friends and family, and just really being present and not distracted while interacting with them. I look forward to doing more of that this year.
Another area is mental—somewhere along the way, it felt difficult to read more books, but I set a personal goal for this year, and whether through audio or reading the actual book, it is an important goal for me. There are so many things happening in the world, so much virtual and visual stimulation that I found myself unable to fully focus on reading like I use to.
Anyway, those are two of the things that are part of me being intentional in the leadup to my 40th. I do not have any hang-ups about getting older, I simply like to mark the decades—to be thankful for making it this far, and to reflect on what I have learned. What are some things that you are interested in doing this year? Is intentionality something that you have thought about? Do you have any goals for this year? I do also have other goals for this space as well, and I hope to continue to provide more uplifting content for the soul! I also want to expand my astrological practice, and will continue to do so. One of my friends has also suggested, and another has volunteered—maybe voluntold hehehe, to help transfer some of the audio into podcast files. So we will see—I am pushing even myself outside of my comfort zone and encouraging you to do the same.
Whatever you decide you want your year to look like, I hope that it will be an amazing one filled with beautiful and meaningful experiences, adventures, and insight that turns into wisdom. May the stars shine brightly over your week, and may it be an absolutely beautiful one indeed!
Celestial Goodness 