Happy Sacred Sunday!
This Tuesday was the Autumnal Equinox, which means we officially entered the fall season here in the Northern Hemisphere. If I’m being honest, the day escaped me. Tuesdays are my coaching days, and as soon as my last session ended, I jumped in my car to have dinner with my friend whose mom passed away suddenly. By the time I got home and laid my head on my pillow, I was out like a light.
How many times have you been so busy navigating your daily life that you miss a birthday, a holy day, a change of season … and you discover it while scrolling through Instagram the next day?
Yeah, me too.
Change often happens behind the scenes while your life movie is playing at full speed. That’s why it’s so easy to miss.
But even without knowing it was the equinox, I had been feeling an energetic shift in me that I couldn’t quite name. I spoke about it in The Well on Wednesday, and many of the members reported feeling a similar shift.
Fast forward to last night. There was a full moon. I probably would have missed this too if my son hadn’t learned about it and suggested we do a full moon ritual.
Nothing fancy. Just my son, his friend, and me in my backyard, sitting on our couch facing the moon with a piece of paper, a pen, and a fire (thanks to the tabletop fire pit my client gifted me).
We jotted down anything negative we wanted to release, ripped up the paper, and burned it in our fire pit. We then wrote an intention we wanted to manifest and placed the paper on the table to sit under the moon all night. And we prayed together. Hugged. Held hands. Shared a bliss-full moment.
It was the first time I had ever done a ritual like that. I’d heard about these rituals and imagined one day I’d participate with a group of woo-woo women at the beach or something. But I never imagined it would be with my son in my backyard. It was the biggest gift I could have ever received.
Rituals have a way of slowing life down, romanticizing it, and making a moment feel sacred. A moment like that makes everything feel okay.
I remembered what Byron Katie told a woman she was working with in her book, Loving What Is:
“Aside from what you’re thinking and believing, can you find one time in your entire life when you weren’t okay? It doesn’t happen. You’re always okay.”
No matter what your circumstances are, no matter how much uncertainty your future holds, no matter how much pain you’ve experienced in the past … other than the thoughts running through your mind, you are always okay.
As I sat under the full moon last night with my son, I felt that sense: we are okay.
Today is our last Sunday of September. Last week, I invited you to slow it down before October arrives. This week I’m asking:
What are you ready to release from this year, season, month, or week? Maybe it isn’t a circumstance. Maybe it’s a thought.
And whether you noticed the equinox or the full moon doesn’t matter. The beauty of life is that you create your own rituals, adopt your own language, and find your own moments. Light a candle. Write in your journal. Take a bubble bath. Go to church. Sit outside. There are no rules, only rhythms to nurture your soul when you need it most.
Then hit reply and tell me one thing you decided to release. I read every note.
Lastly, it took me a while to download my intention for October, but it came through my best friend and right hand, Frances, and I can’t wait to share it with you next Sunday. It’s going to change the way we approach the last 90 days of this year.
Sending you so much love today and always,
P.S. Funny that I’m talking about experiencing bliss in my backyard under a full moon, because this week on the podcast I’m talking about how you’re not guaranteed bliss anywhere… not even in Paris. [Listen here.]