new year wordplay ~ new moon ~ reminder
Happy new calendar year, new moon —
This love letter has a windy, trippy sort of word vortex + a reminder that Collective Illuminations is Monday night. Still some spaces remaining!
Really, though, this is all about the wordplay. Here we go...
I'm one of those people who avoids new year's resolutions. Too much baggage: expectations, the success vs failure binary, the imaginary wagon (I mean, is this Oregon Trail? C'mon.).
I prefer intentions; I set them all the time. They are ongoing, with no hard expectations or pressure for success.
In this recent portal of the new year, I decided to explore intentions and resolutions more deeply. (If you've been reading these love letters for a while, you know digging into language one of my favorite things to do.)
Here we go:
intention: related to intend
~ Both relate to purpose, desire, aspiraiton, and attention.
~ Fun tangent: intention and attention have a common root, ten, meaning "extend" or "stretch toward."
Affirming. And I learned some depth about extension, intention, and attention.
Same process, different word:
resolution: related to solution, resolve (re-solve), resolute
~ Over time, these definitions have swirled around dissolving or reducing into simpler forms, explaining, having steadfast purpose
If you explore these layers of definitions, they make quite the spiral.
As I swirled around them, the winding path warmed me to using "resolution" for myself. Now that I have a different context, I don't have to step into the messy vortex of expectations or the pixelated wagon.
As mentioned previously, one way to understand the universe is that it's not kidding.
It's resolute. I have a whole new appreciation for that.
I share this as an example of so much of what Siderealchemy spaces hold. Language is so powerful. It's one of our primary ways we sift through our understandings, our beliefs. We are surrounded by tons of ideas and perspectives and information and advice and solutions. It's essential to define your understandings and beliefs for yourself. Then you can act in alignment, without the distractions of all the ideas and perspectives and information and advice and solutions.
And, I know, I also just told you recently that Siderealchemy is about what is beyond language.
Here's the thing — you don't go beyond language until you stop flailing in it. When you're always in the vortex of parsing and defining, you don't go beyond, to actual presence. Language is a portal to the presence that is beyond words.
If you're nodding, but also part of your mind is like, "That's nice, but too hypothetical," I get it. I have a specific example, one that comes up for lots of people: soul mates.
Some people define soul mates as the ultimate, perfect life partners. Others see that same concept as limiting and oversimplified—that soul mates are powerful, but not necessarily people you can have a sustainable, long-term commitment to.
And other people see the whole idea as woo new-age bullshit.
And if you're flailing in the competing messages of "Soul mates is new age bullshit!" and "Soul mates means The One is out there!" and "Soul mates are just people who move you along your path!" — you just tread water. Probably frantically.
In the Siderealchemy space, YOU define soul mates, then act accordingly. Embrace the idea, hate it, whatever—lean into your beliefs and ignore the noise.
Now, a specific take on this example (mine):
Soul mates, for me, is a [shrug]. Meh. Soul mates is a useful concept for lots of people; the right definition brings order to a scattered mind. But for my neurodivergent mind, the whole debate is exhausting.
Then I act accordingly. I actually don't bother defining it, so I skip the flailing space. I know what I want out of partnership, out of intimate relationship. It probably aligns with some ideas of soul mates, but validation or agreement about whether I have a soul mate now or in my past is not important to me.
And by not flailing, I have the energy to be deeply present in my relationships.I'm not rushing around considering ideas and perspectives and information and advice and solutions, seeking external validation. That frees my energy to be fully present as mySelf.
If you care, deeply, and resonate strongly with soul mates, as many people do—I think that's wonderful. Super happy for you, friend. Dig in.
(For the record—I do love the idea of kindred spirits. If you've read Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea/the island, you know what I mean.)
So. That's a lot of words to describe going beyond words. Thanks for staying with me.
The more I lean into this kind of reflection, the simpler and more straightforward it becomes, be it about soul mates, success, friendship, reciprocity, purpose, boundaries, or any other big value or belief you can have.
Simple doesn't mean easy, but I hope this gives you some inspiration and support. Whatever your resolutions, intentions, or any other meanings that you define.
If you want to explore this more with me, schedule a session. And, again, spaces are still available for Collective Illuminations on Monday.
Blessings for 2022,
S.
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Siderealchemy
she / they