Ep. 56 - Rituals for the Thresholds of Time, Part 2

Lunar Alchemy: Cultivating opportunities for Growth with Intention with The New Moon

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this insightful conversation, Kate Shepherd reunites with Beth, a watercolor artist and moon cycle coach, to delve into the profound influence of moon wisdom on intention-setting and navigating life's ups and downs. They explore the nuances of moon phases, their impact on energy, and emotional states. Beth underscores the significance of reflection, celebration, and rest synchronized with the rhythm of the moon's cycles. They also confront the contrast between societal expectations and our intrinsic nature. Beth shares simple and profound wisdom on crafting rituals and setting intentions for the new year by aligning with New Moon Energy 

SHOW NOTES

Welcome to the second part of this special two-part series dedicated to bringing closure to the old and welcoming the new. In the first part aired in December, Megan Sheldon guided us through ceremonial closure techniques for bidding farewell to the passing year and ushering in the new. Megan's expertise lies in creating personalized rituals and ceremonies, empowering transformational moments in our lives.

Now, in this sequel, we welcome back Beth Suter, a familiar face from Season One's Episode 11 of the Creative Genius Podcast. Beth, a watercolor artist and moon cycle coach, shares profound insights into harnessing the potent energy of moon cycles for intention setting and life navigation.

Beth's Expertise and Moon Cycle Wisdom:

Beth delves into the nuanced understanding of moon phases, linking them to reflection, celebration, and rest. Her depth of knowledge illuminates how each lunar phase corresponds to different aspects of life. She guides us on aligning with these cycles, creating rituals, and setting intentions for a fresh start every month.

Simplified Approach for Transformative Change:

Rather than overwhelming ourselves with an extensive list of resolutions, Beth simplifies the process by identifying one aspect of moon cycle energy that can yield substantial transformation. She crafts a feasible formula, tailored for each new moon, revealing the magic within the 13 to 24 cycles within a year.

Embracing Natural Cycles for Sustainable Growth:

Beth emphasizes the importance of honouring the natural cycles of rest, growth, and release, inherent within moon cycles. This episode is a powerful resource that listeners can revisit monthly, offering prompts, questions, and a structured routine around the new moon for transformational experiences.

The Compassion Within Moon Cycle Practices:

Central to Beth's teachings is the reminder that growth isn't the sole focus; it's equally vital to embrace rest and release. Moon cycle rituals serve as a reminder of when to channel vibrant energy and when to nurture introspection, providing a balanced approach to life's evolution.

Invitation to Transform:

Listeners are encouraged to embrace Beth's offering by committing to her new moon rituals monthly, an invitation to incorporate these practices into their lives for sustained growth and introspection.

Workshop Invitation

The next Activating Intuition & Creativity workshop is scheduled for January 25th. For patrons of the Colorful Community tier Patreon Membership, workshop admission is included. The support from patrons helps sustain the podcast, and Kate Shepherd is grateful for every contribution.

Parting Words:

As we embark on this journey of intentionality and transformation, remember to take care of yourself and have faith in the unfolding journey.

Key Discussions:

1. Reflecting on Personal Growth: Embracing the power of retrospection to release what no longer serves personal growth.

2. Moon Cycles and Intention Setting: Understanding the profound influence of various moon phases on directing energy and emotions toward specific intentions.

3. Aligning Practices with Moon Cycles: Embracing reflection, celebration, and the vital role of rest as harmonious practices in sync with the moon's rhythm.

4. Societal Expectations vs. Authenticity: Unveiling the disparity between societal pressures and the intrinsic essence, particularly prevalent during festive periods.

5. Rituals for the New Year: Insights into crafting meaningful rituals and intentions using upcoming moon cycles for a fresh start and sustainable progress.

Takeaways:

Moon cycles offer a potent tool for intention setting and navigating life's journey.
The diverse phases of the moon exert distinct influences on emotional states and personal energy.

Reflection, celebration, and deliberate rest serve as pivotal practices intertwined with the ebbs and flows of lunar cycles.

Crafting rituals and setting intentions in tandem with moon phases offer a gateway to renewed beginnings and continual advancement.

What We Talk About

Beth's Insights on Moon Cycles: Understanding and harnessing the energy of lunar phases.
Power of Moon Energy: Delving into the phases' impact on emotional states and intentions.
Embracing Reflection and Celebration: Highlighting the importance of rest and honoring achievements.
Navigating Societal Expectations: Addressing the contrast between societal norms and authentic inclinations.
Crafting New Year Rituals: Insights into setting intentions aligned with forthcoming moon cycles.
Tapping into Lunar Cycles for Intentions: Strategies to release and progress through moon-aligned intentions.

NEW MOON DATES FOR 2024 

January 11th, February 8th,  March 10th,  April 8th.  May 7th,  June 6th,  July 5th, August 4th,  September 2nd, October 2nd,  November 1st,  and then December 1st and December 30th. 

Tune in for a transformative dialogue on syncing life's rhythms with the captivating cadence of moon cycles, fostering intentionality, and embracing authenticity in navigating life's journey.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

 WeLcome to this second part. Of this very special two-part series that I put together for you. part one, which you would have heard back in December. Was about closing out the year, close it. How do we say goodbye to a year? How can we bring some ceremony and ritual? In ways that feel personal to us, to our lives, to close out the old and prepare for welcoming in the new and our guest, Megan, Sheldon. Walked us through some absolutely gorgeous ways of doing that . Megan is a master at helping people create ritual and ceremony. In ways that really feel like them so that we can really feel into the transformative power. That these moments can have in our lives.

So if you haven't listened to that episode, I wholeheartedly encourage you to pause and go back. And make time for that and do some of the journaling and some of the reflections and she had us think about a word. That might represent everything that, that 2023 was for us summing it up into a word. And then creating a ceremony around letting go of that.

And for me, that was really a really, really powerful experience. And I would love for you to have that too. So go back and listen to Megan. You can do that any time. It doesn't have to be in January. You could be listening to this in June. You can have these kind of starting over moments at any time. Which is something that our guest in part two of this series talks about to. Beth suitor is back.

She was with us in episode 11 of the creative genius podcast, way back in season one. And honest to goodness. Some of the things that Beth has shared with me over the years have truly transformed my life. Not just like, oh, this is kind of a new thing that I liked doing and what a cool idea. Some of the things that I've implemented in my routine and in my day to day life, even with creating this podcast. Have been utterly transformed for the better. By suggestions that Beth has put in front of me. So I'm very excited to have her back.

Beth is a watercolor artist and moon cycle coach. So she really has a in-depth. Intimate understanding of how powerful moon cycles can be as a tool for setting intentions and navigating life. She talks us through the different phases of the moon and how they relate to reflection and celebration and rest and how, which phases for what and how we can start to align with these cycles. And create rituals and set intentions in alignment with the moon cycles to give us a fresh start every month. , I asked Beth. To join us for this episode to help us create one small little new habit that we could create that would have the biggest chance of supporting major transformation in our lives.

So this episode is geared for the person who's ready for change. Who's ready to step into a new version of themselves. But who doesn't want to overwhelm themselves with a huge long list of goals that may ultimately end up feeling overwhelming.



Rather than bringing us a whole new complicated set of things we have to learn and master. She picked the one facet of working with moon cycle energy that she felt. Would have the potential for the biggest impact on our lives. And she simplified it down so that it was attainable and achievable and not overwhelming. And then she created a formula for us to use it. Every new moon. And there are 13 new moon.

So explain that all in the episode, usually there's one every month, but there are 13 to 20, 24, and she explains the magic of that.

I feel like as I get older, I realize that. Overwhelming myself with a huge, big, long sky high list of ways. I want to improve and change and grow and even bring my dreams to life. Usually it doesn't land very well. All right. It's a recipe for overwhelming myself and I really love. How Beth approaches this with a truly grounded, rooted, and sustainable formula for us to actually. Tap into all of the wisdom in Ireland cycle.

So we get to honor the natural cycles of rest and growth. And release, which are all included in the moon cycles. This is a really powerful episode. I would bookmark it. You can come back to it every month. And that's what we hope that you do. She actually walks us through a bunch of really beautiful prompts that you can do. Questions, you can ask yourself. And oh, a little formula for a routine or ritual you can create for yourself every month. Around the new moon. So that you can tap into this wisdom and experience some of this incredible transformation that's available for you. And one of the things that Beth is almost always stressing to me that I'm always grateful for the reminder is that it's not always about growth. In connecting with the moon. We remember that the natural cycles include growth. And rest and release and working with the moon helps us to remember where we are at any given time. And how we can surrender to those beautiful natural cycles. And so doing cultivate a life. That is that fertile soil for, for helping us make our dreams come true. And achieve our goals and our visions that we hold for ourselves. It's a powerful, beautiful episode. I hope you listened to it on repeat back to back with Megan's episode . And if you're a patron, I will be cutting out the parts that Beth created for the formula that you should listen to every month. And putting that as a downloadable inside your Patrion membership.

I f you're listening to this, and haven't upgraded to the Patrion colorful community tier yet, or you haven't done one of the monthly workshops. I bet you with all my heart to do it. These workshops are, I feel like there's something that just comes through me. I'm channeling. I feel like when I'm giving them. I'm actually the voice of creativity. Itself not, I'm not it's coming through me.

It's like I get out of the way. And creativity. Uses me to speak to you to help you heal the thing you need to heal. So that you can express more of yourself and then you can go out and do that. And then have that. Ripple effect. Right. Then you get to be that for somebody else. And it's an honor for me to do that.

And it's also just.



Plain old, amazing to watch people healing. Really old stuff and navigating really new stuff. And having the experiences that they're having with the workshops. So please join the patriotic colorful community tier, if you haven't yet. I promise you. It's the best $20 that you'll spend all month.  

The next one is on January 25th, and this is the perfect time to sign up for it. Get out your notebook. Find somewhere really cozy to sit and have a listen to this episode.

With the clear gentle kind and infinitely wise, Beth suter
  I'm so happy you're back. Thank you for coming, Beth.

I'm so happy to be here.

For those of you who were not with us way back in season one, Beth was among my very first guests on the Creative Genus Podcast. She was in episode 11, and we talked about lunar phases and aligning with and connecting with the magic of Moon Wisdom, uh, a way of.

Amplifying our intention setting and manifesting and navigating life kind of is a, is a really powerful tool. And I took, a lot of Beth's information that she shared with me in a coaching capacity applied it to my life and my work, especially with this podcast. And I, I always say this, Beth, I re I've referenced you in so many episodes, , it has, it changed my life.

And so when I was thinking about . I wanted to create a really beautiful episode for closing out 2023. I know 2023 feels almost like this cap year at the end of a string of really hard years for a lot of us. And it feels

potent. It, yeah, it feels really like an a special, I mean, we always have this instinct at the end of the year to ritualize, you know, end of the year and, and then the new year with resolutions and stuff.

But I wanted to create something . Really special for the listeners, to help us to really sort of sit in a deeper ritual or ceremony around that and, help us close out the old year and bring in the new year. And you're the first person I thought of to do that.

Oh, thank you so much,

Kate.

So, and may, so for people who didn't hear that episode way back when and who don't know who you are, can you just give us a little sense of who you are and the work that you do, especially when it comes to the moon.

Yes. And thank you again for having me.

Very happy to be here I just adore you so much, . my Name is Beth Suiter. I'm a watercolor artist and a moon cycle coach in Boise, Idaho. I kind of have two parts of my business, the watercolor artwork, and the moon cycle. I have found that I have a very big passion for teaching, especially women, how they can use the phases of the moon, plan their goals and set intentions for their life professionally and personally. And I have seen that through this process. Not only do they learn about the energy of the moon, but what they really find out is their own personal patterns . I think it walks them back to themselves and it slowly builds intuition, bringing them back to their higher self and remembering what they love to do and how they want to move through the world. It's been amazing to see what it's done in my life and then in your life and in the women that I have been able to have the privilege to teach and work with. So thank you for letting me be here,

I wonder if you could tell us how does Moon. Magic. I, I guess that's the best way. The terminology, I'm not sure what terminology we should use. I like moon Magic, but so how does

Moon Magic influence our energy and our emotion and how, overall, like, I know you're gonna get us into some of the sort of specifics of different phases of the moon and how we can use those in different ways, but overall, how do we begin to harness the energy?

Like how, how does it work?

Well, I think the best part of it is if you just think about, it's a time for reflection. There's a time for action and there's a time for resting , and then it's rinse repeat over and over again, and it's when we can start trying to line up our own personal resting. With the time that the moon is resting, that is where I have found the magic lies.

So just simply, if you look up at the sky, the more light that the moon has, then the more energy. And as it has less light, then less energy, but it, it builds. So a new moon is when you don't see, there's no illumination.

It's a new beginning, a blank slate for you, and it slowly starts gaining light and you are slowly gaining energy and you're getting this feeling of newness, of freshness like we do at the new year. And maybe you have an idea cut sparks and you wanna act upon it, and this is a great time for you to take that action. And as the moon is gaining her light and energy, you can build your momentum. And then when the moon reaches her fullness, the full moon, which we are all very familiar with, it's a time of release and celebration. So we can look back and think about the last two weeks and all of the gifts that have come our way. Any heartache that has come our way , and we can celebrate all of it. The next day , the moon starts losing light again, and now we're going back to that slowness again. and we're trying to stick with what we had set our intentions for at the beginning of the moon cycle. Why this works so well for me, and people that I come into contact. I am an achiever and a doer, and I love goal setting, and I love making progress, and I love seeing progress . I I'm a generator, and my guess would be you are a generator or manifester. Generator. We tend to have a lot of energy, so we will

power through even to our detriment and. I have found that it's harder for me to honor rest and recognize the power in it, and that I'm not going to see return on investment or progress every day. And that's normal and it's natural. And now I value resting and just being so much more, and I don't know why, but I needed a permission slip for it, and the moon cycle gave me that permission slip . I used it today, for example, I woke up very anxious and just not feeling great. I knew we were meeting and I just, I didn't feel good and I thought, I know it's the last week of the moon cycle. I know that my energy is lower. I know it feels like a sludge and I know that if I get out into nature and I forget my to-do list. I can feel better. And that's what I did. I went to the river for an hour. I came home and I took a bath and I just said, I am gonna be today.

And just allowing myself that time, I could relax back into myself.

I think especially this time of year , it's very difficult. Because nature is telling us to rest

more even on a bigger, uh, more than just one moon cycle, but just within the season of wintering.

the nature inside of us is saying, yes, let me slow down, let me sleep more. AnD for me personally, I have found there's some dissonance between my true nature and the part of me that is trying to engage within what's happening. society, right?

Externally. Um.

there's a real disconnect or there's a real sort of splinter there where what, what, what the world is telling us we should be doing is very, very different than what our bodies and our hearts and, you know, our, our own internal systems are telling us we need.

Yes.

to hold the two.

And I, I love that explanation of sort of overall how Moon wisdom can serve us. I think, I think a lot of people think, oh moon, it's magical and, you know, new agey and weird and I mean, it can be just like anything. There's, it's a continuum. You can take it as far as you want, but just at its very basic, it's a symbol that's in the sky that you can see or not see, depending on where it is.

Every day that can remind you and, and be, and be that permission slip for you. I like the moon can actually tell you like, oh look, I'm in the dark right now too and I'm still

gonna be here, you know, two weeks when the, you know, and I thi so I just wanted to just quickly say. For anybody who wants to know more about this 'cause Beth and I went into this in great depth in her episode.

Go back and listen to episode 11 because we talk about this and it's like a masterclass. I of moon wisdom and how to harness this stuff for yourself.

I feel like most of us have this impulse when it comes to the end of a year or the end of a month or the end of anything. Like we have these, these impulses to mark that somehow or to have some sort of rituals around that somehow and, and, We've kind of, I don't know the right word. We've sort of weeded that kind of activity out of our society.

We don't have, you know, we do New Year's resolutions, but that's a really stressful tradition. , I don't think

It really

is.

anybody.

I know

we ourselves drastically. '

cause we wrote a list on the January 1st, so yeah. So I wanted to create this moment for people in this episode where it's like, , here's a little toolkit of some other ways you can approach . Going into the new year because Megan, has just walked us through how to close out the year, how to say goodbye to the year, how to honor and let go of and surrender to the things that didn't happen and all that stuff.

And so we're feeling, you know, a little bit more at peace with how we're closing out the year. And, when we do those things, it actually almost paves the way for us to, to walk forward into the new year. So, . What I wanted to ask you is how can we tap into the upcoming moon cycles, wherever we are gonna be at the beginning of the new year?

. How can we tap into those upcoming moon cycles? To set intentions for the upcoming year to maybe create some new habits that are more nourishing, that are more, uh, that have a cadence that feels a little bit more in line with

Mm-Hmm.

sustainable energy output and, you know, all of that stuff.

Yes.

are your, what are your thoughts on that?

We have a lot of pressure on the new year that we just have that one time to write our resolutions and then we don't revisit it until a year later and then are very frustrated ourselves if we didn't accomplish it, like or don't even remember what they were because 12 months have gone by and what I love with the moon cycle is you can begin again at any time . with the new Moon we have 12, and this year, in 2024, we're actually gonna have 13 new moons. So you get your New Year's resolution, your January one, your new beginning. You're going to get that 13 times, which feels so good . . you can break it down into such smaller pieces. So you're talking about, you know, we're letting go of 2023. At the end of a moon cycle, you are letting go of that cycle, which is about a month's time. we have to make room. For what's coming next through letting go and me, it's very tangible because it's a ritual that I follow I know I'm gonna come back to those

resolutions, I'm gonna come back to those goals and I'm going to make an assessment . ​ So as we approach the end of any year, most of us have this sort of intuitive, it kind of feels like it's in our bones. It's this impulse to, reflect on, you know, all the things that happened for us over the last little while and let go of maybe things that don't feel good anymore.

But I think there's an even stronger impulse once we've done that. Or To set some intentions for what we want, for the things that we desire, for the things we wanna create. And I was hoping that you could help us today in shedding some light on how we can tap into, the upcoming moon cycles to set our intentions and, How does it work? What's the best time to do that? And how do we, What's the best way to approach it?

I think that is a beautiful question. Anytime, new to the moon cycle, they'll ask me to explain it and I always say that a new moon is like the new year. I. And what I love about the moon cycle is we have a new moon, 12 new moons. Typically next year, 2024, we will have 13 new moons, and it's like 13 New years, 13 times for you to have a fresh start, 13 times for you to come back to those intentions and your goals, and it allows you to check back in with yourself much more frequently. It allows you to take your big goals and break them down, and it gives you something to hold onto to let you know that you'll come back to your big visions. You can come back to your projects as creatives. And I, we are all creative. We have lots of ideas. We have lots of desires, lots of things we want to do, and many of us, myself included, I think, can get lost in all of the things that we want to do, that we get overwhelmed by all of those desires and intentions, and therefore we do nothing. So

Right.

at The New Moon, you're going to revisit all of your big dreams and desires. And then you are going to slowly hone down to what is the desire that's really calling to me right now. And you're going to focus on that for the whole moon cycle, which is about a month. And then at the end of the moon cycle, you're gonna go through that letting go process again. You're going to revisit all of your big dreams and desires and the current thing you're focusing on, and then you can ask yourself. Did I make the progress I wanted to make? Do I wanna continue moving forward on this? Do I realize this actually isn't what I want and I need to pick something new. And I think a month gives you enough time to really stay focused and give it a go and to see if you've made progress. what I love about it is as we gain more intentions and desires, which is human nature, we're always going to have them. As we continue to evolve, we can write it down and put it on our, I like to think of it as a shelf. Your idea shelf. Your intention shelf, you can put it on the shelf and let yourself know, I will revisit this at the next moon cycle. That way we don't squirrel so often. but again, it comes back to that ritual like you're talking about. We are able to, at the New Moon, get reflective, set our intentions as the moon starts gaining light, we are starting to take action on those intentions. The full moon marks our halfway point, the full illumination. This is where we celebrate what we have done over the last two weeks. This is where we release what isn't serving us, and then as the moon is going back towards darkness, we start slowing down. And as a person that loves to chase shiny objects, this is a wonderful way for me to reign that in. and remind myself, I still have two weeks. I've committed to these goals and I'm going to continue working on them. And I'm not going to start this new shiny object, at least for two weeks. I will revisit it. And I can't speak for you, Kate, but I know for me When I don't feel busy and I don't kinda have this undercurrent of, there's always something I, I need to mark off and do. It feels uncomfortable, but what I am realizing is that's, that's peace and that is space, and that is so necessary and natural. The constant undercurrent of feeling so busy that you can't give gift yourself the 10 minutes to sit in

stillness, that is unnatural. And this process has allowed myself and the women that I've worked with to just work our way back to what is natural. It's a remembering in my mind, we are, born knowing who we are. I believe we can think back to when we're children, the things that we love to do, our natural curiosity, and then layers get billed over the top of that. We lose that. the moon cycle is a beautiful way for us to continue to stay in alignment with our truths, with our goals and our intentions. And I think the more of us that can do that, the more beauty and peace and calm that we will have in the world.

As doers, we do forget the natural cycle of, there's a time when you're. Sowing the seeds in the garden.

There's a time that you're tending to the plants that are growing, and then there's a time that you're harvesting. And then there's a time where it's fallow and winter is happening and everything's resting, we somehow believe that we are above that or separate from that system and that we should always be in either sewing or, you know, tending or, or harvesting mode.

And we forget

about the rest mode. And I, this is one of the most powerful teachings. That I've gotten from you and this moon work. Is, you know, if I'm ever feeling like this last month cycle, even for me, I had some incredible serendipitous connections happen with people

reaching out to for collaborations and stuff like that, like mind blowingly great stuff.

And Then, uh, and I was like, whoa. We're, and I, my first thought was where we must be somewhere good in the moon. Like it must

be, we must

be, close the moon. And we were, we

it was totally, right around that time. And then, you know, a couple days went by and I sort of, you know, forgot about that.

And then I started getting really tired and grumpy and feeling like overwhelmed. And my dreams are never gonna happen. And

none of these things are, you know. And sure enough, where are we in the moon cycle? And it's in that, we're in that. And so it actually gives me, it reminds me

that it's that I'm, that I'm in a natural part of it's okay that I feel really tired and not full of strategic ideas and collaborative energy right now.

yes.

I'm not supposed to be in that mood all the time. It's a really good reminder of that.

Yes, I think that's exactly right because we aren't, we aren't going to feel good all of the time. We aren't gonna

be

we're not supposed to.

and We're not supposed to.

be, but it doesn't feel good to not feel good. Uh, but when we think of the moon phases, you know, with when she gets towards her darkness in the new moon and there's no light, the light always comes again. I think that's one thing that helps me too, because I go through and I experience, I'm experiencing it right now that it feels like muddiness to me.

Just kind of like I'm s sludging along and I, and I'm like you, I feel more tired and oh, well, all of the things I'm wanting to do on my heart ever happen. It feels kind of defeating and then this too shall pass. It's okay, let go. And I think it's good for us to completely stop thinking about our big dreams sometimes, the problems that we have, the stuck points that we have is a different frequency than the solution. So when we're stuck on the problem, solutions can't find us because it's a different wavelength. Sometimes we have to completely just turn away from that for a little while so that an answer can come if we recognize answers will come to us, you can just relax more. I think

and know, just chill out a little bit. Know everything is going to be all right and we don't have to control everything, which is an illusion anyway, right?



for somebody who's, who's new to this kind of exploration or new to this kind of activity, is there a simple thing that's tangible, that feels accessible that they could do going forward? Like to start this new year and this new set of 13 moons that we're about to have?

The first thing I would tell them is, I wanted to give you the dates for the New Moon and for them to write it down and then find it on their calendar. So you might have to push pause a couple times and come back. But for 2024, we have January 11th, which is 1 1 1. That's so fun. January 11th. February 8th, March 10th, April 8th. May 7th, June 6th, July 5th, August 4th, September 2nd, October 2nd, November 1st, and then December 1st and December 30th. So mark

those down

And we're gonna put those, if you're driving right now

and you're like, oh no , I have to write that one, don't worry. I'm gonna put them in the show notes, for this episode on kate shepherd creative.com. So don't worry, you can, you can go back and get the, those dates.

So just know that those, that's your new moon, and if you can commit on that day is ideal. But let's say either before on that day or after that day that you would schedule yourself, it would be so awesome if you had a couple hours. But even if you would do one hour for yourself, mark it out like a doctor's appointment.

Like that is your time.

put it in your calendar

And I have moon calendars too that has this all marked down. But here's a routine that you could do. Find a quiet space, wherever that would be if it's in your home, um, or a library. But just find a space that you can be uninterrupted. I like to have a candle, 'cause lighting a candle can signify the beginning of something. Do a small grounding, uh, meditation. You could find what, you could Google it, you know, grounding meditation, or you can do something very simple, which is please let me be right where I am right now. And I ask that my critical mind exits this activity and I call forth my higher self. And you could take three deep breaths and just stay in that space until you feel completely relaxed. And then you do what I call a gratitude , free, flow. So for about three minutes, you just write everything you're grateful for, big, small. And if you need motivated, open up your phone. Look at photos, because we tend to take pictures of the things that we want to remember, and this gets you in a space of gratitude. I believe that when we can start in gratitude, it helps us to move forward to call the things that we're wanting, and also recognizing how blessed we already are. Once you have done that, you're going to do big dreaming. I This is your before I die, bucket list dreams, and you are going to just go all out. If you say, I wanna win a million dollars and I want to live on the beaches of Hawaii and paint the rest of my life, there is nothing off limits here. So I'll give you a couple of journaling prompts that you could do. Wouldn't it be amazing if, and my daydream looks like And you're just going to answer that.

And if you can do all the five senses, what do, what does it feel like? What do you hear, what do you smell? And you'll notice that your critical mind's gonna come in and say, that's just not realistic, but you just. Not right now. That is not the how is not the point, right? And then you are going to start zooming in a little bit more and you can ask yourself these personal life questions. How do I want to spend my energy? It's a huge question for me. An example would be I want to spend my energy painting, hiking, writing poetry, playing board games, having good conversation, those sorts of things. What are three things that you love about yourself? Because we're always wanting to improve ourselves.

We must honor what we we love about ourself. What is something you are doing really well, and what are the signs that you are living in alignment? How do you know that you're on your path? Then you can go into your professional life. What is the mission of my work? What kind of clients do I want to attract? What kind of projects do I want to work on? And is the work I'm doing currently in alignment with my core values? These are bigger questions, and that's why you need to come back to them if you can't answer them. This is not a, a shaming activity. This is, Ooh, that's interesting. I don't even know. And you might not have an answer then, and it might come later and you're going to revisit them every moon cycle and you will gain more and more clarity. I find even in my business, I end up painting myself into a corner even though I'm really in control of a lot of things. How am I spending all my time on this project that I actually It's not really what I wanna be doing. And that's okay. We, that happens. This is your opportunity to take your head out of the sand, so to speak.

Look around and see where you're going. I. Then you're gonna write down your core values. I believe our core values are what our truths are. They are our foundational beliefs. they are the pillars that make life worth living, whether that's your family generosity, giving back to your community, your creativity, you get to decide those. And then you pick one that you really wanna focus on for that moving cycle. Like for this one, for mine is, is health then you're going to break it down even more, and you're going to choose one personal and one professional goal that are in alignment with your core value because it all comes together. And this is when I like to visit that shelf of project ideas, all the things that I'm wanting to do and to get done. And I have to ask myself what is really resonating with me right now? And some things are time bound and some things are habits. Drinking four glasses of water a day, right? Would be a habit that would be ongoing. Kate, you and I are both writing a book. And I just need to get my final products, I guess, ready to publish. Everything else is done. So that is also a time bound thing. Um, some projects are going to take years, some might take a month, and you just have to figure out what's calling to me right now, and then give yourself that month to really work on it, and then you do it all over again.

Beautiful. Thank you first of all that I like. I wanna just put that on my phone. I'm gonna take a snippet of that recording and just have that, and I'm gonna actually listen to that. That'll be my ritual. Every new moon for the,

for the next 13 months as I'm gonna listen to you. And maybe So for the person, 'cause you know, who is probably a lot like you and me who are overachievers and have a huge list, like my dream goal list is, you know, I can see the, the shelves buckling under the weight of my, you know,

all the things I put on there, all the things I wanna do.

Oh yeah.

How, how do you address that with, within the context of kind of planning out it's, I love that we have an opportunity to do a new thing every month rather than kind of like this year I'm gonna, that's really great, but even in the month, how do you know you've picked the thing? How do you know what voice to listen to when you're doing that?

How do you know which is the thing to focus on? How do you know? How do you know in your body? what are your indicators that

Sure. Well, and the first thing that I do wanna say is, even though I teach this and practice it, I, I don't always know either. you know, I am, I'm still learning. And I would say for me that I just have to really get quiet and. A yes for me feels like excitement and there might be fear there, but it's the type of fear that is, I know I'm pushing myself a little bit outside of my, my comfort zone a no or a should, feels more anxious. and it feels more like very time-bound and it must get down, get done now. And so I would guess feeling into my body is one of the big things that I do.





And I, I like the question, does this feel like allowing, or does this feel like pushing?



. Do I feel like I'm making this decision out of guilt or pressure from someone else? Or does this feel true to me? And I. Knowing we were having this conversation, I was really thinking on what all of the Moon has taught me. And I think when we go to make choices and we wanna know, am I making You know, quote unquote the right choice. Or am I making the, you know, the true Kate higher self sole choice? Or am I making the, you know, small ego fearful choice? We wanna do it when it's a really big decision. Should I leave my job when we haven't even been practicing it on the small choices?

a hundred percent. it's like it's a muscle, you know? It's a muscle You have to exercise. And that is why I started teaching the activating intuition and creativity. It's the online workshop. I do it once a month in the

lead up to the full moon.

there. It's beautiful.

and we And Oh yeah, you've done it with me. That's right.

Yes,

it's wonderful. Everyone needs to do it.

Well, I won't, I wish everybody could do it because it's, it is, and it's different every month, but it is such an amazing opportunity to, I give you exercises to practice these things because you do need to begin to recognize what those things feel like in your body.

You There's a lot of. Misunderstandings around what intuition and what that inner voice is and sounds like and how it works. And I think a lot of people think there should be like this light coming off it and it should be really obvious and it, no, it's much more like feeling around in the dark and, but understanding what those yeses those

nos feel like.

So that's,



Instead of this idea of, is this right or is it wrong, is it good or it's bad, it's more information.

wE might say a yes to something even that you, even at your gut level feel probably a no. But you talk yourself into it and it ends up. as playing out as that was not a great choice. That did not work out. But then if you can learn from that and remind yourself, what was I thinking right at the time when I was asked that question

and how did it play out? We

talk a lot about in my, in my membership about taking evidence and it's really just about being curious about yourself, noticing your own patterns. Following that little whisper. One thing I would also like to say with the moon cycle and the ideal times for things that I have to watch is I don't wanna get into the should of my

own creation.

I should be doing this.

this.

so this brings me to something. I'm so glad you brought this up because. So that, formula for how to, uh, I, how would we say it? That formula that you've just given us for New Moon ritual,

Yes.

you know, that we're gonna do every month. I'm thinking about the, what comes next.

So the, the things that you can do to integrate it into your life in a way that feels light and juicy and. Curious as opposed to a heavier should or

stress and anxiety and, 'cause there's two really different energies that can come out of setting an intention, right. And then bring into your life.

So I wanted to talk to you just about the in integration and, and progress.

start small, . So maybe this new moon, if you could be as simple and small as possible, let's say it's, it is your health, what is one health habit that you know could help you? Let's say, we'll go back to the water. Drinking a glass of water, right? And you wanna set a goal of drinking, I don't know what it'll be.

We'll say four glasses of water, and then just keeping track of that for yourself through an entire moon cycle. Keep it so simple. It almost seems ridiculous, but noticing that you are committing to something for a full month. Notice how you might forget. Notice how you might go a few days and like, oh, I was committed to this and I missed it.

So I guess I'll just give up, come back, come back to it, and just stick, stick with it and give yourself, give yourself grace. Um, I think the biggest thing is just, just start noticing our patterns and then what one small degree of change can we do. Or another thing too, if you, when you get to. The third quarter moon, which is a great decluttering time.

Here's something very simple like you see the third quarter moon and you know, I am going to declutter something, whether it's a drawer or I'm gonna go into my living room and pick one thing that I don't need and I'm gonna put it in my garage, Um, simple things like that. Because we have to build. It's a practice.

You wouldn't just turn paleo overnight. Most people aren't gonna quit smoking overnight. We're not. And I think when we can give ourselves grace and just try one little thing and make it so ridiculously simple, it's almost like that's not even a big deal. But it is. And then it builds.

And it builds.

I'm thinking about, how can this be different than the typical New Year's resolution energy, and I'm, I think you also talk about checking in at another.

Point in this moon cycle

absolutely. I think it's checking in frequently. I think it's important for us to check in with ourselves a lot. Right. And one thing I do wanna say really quick before I forget, we talk so much in my membership about daily joy Everything I think in life is this, uh, duality. The duality of dreaming and wanting to move forward and being very present and having the joy at the same time. and for the check-in points, the New Moon is gonna be your really big. Bucket list. You're zooming out right at your whole life kind of time. Bringing it back down into, okay, what can I focus on for this month? You get to the first quarter moon, so it's about a week. You're gonna stop and look and see, okay, how am I doing on this project? I said I was going to get started on what do I need to make massive action this next week? What is something that I can do to make a lot of progress? Then you get to the full moon. This is your celebration time, your release time, and then you're going in right to the waning moon. So you're losing that light again and you're just kind of clicking away on what you said.

You are going to start at the beginning of the

moon cycle, the full moon when you release, and this is the giving gratitude. So that week you could really focus on how can I give back? And it doesn't have to be financially, it can, but could you give someone your time? Could you give someone a smile? Could you send someone you haven't talked to in a long time? You know, a handwritten note. And then when you get to the third quarter, which is your last week of the cycle, look back, what did you commit to that you made progress on? Can you write it down? When I'm feeling like I'm going nowhere and I'm going backwards, which happens a lot, I stop and think, what have I done right?

Up until this point, I didn't used to have an art business. I didn't use to be a Moon cycle coach. You didn't used to have a podcast. So we do have to remember to look back at our progress and on that third quarter, Now you're starting to release and let go. This is a time, if you wanna get, um, like literal, you can clean out your email and declutter a closet.

You are closing that moon cycle and I like to do like have sage and I will light my sage. I'll do it actually usually on the new moon or right before, and I'll light it and I'll just walk through my art studio and out loud I say whatever comes to me, but something general. Thank you for the opportunities that came my way. Thank you for all of the individuals that purchased my artwork, or you know, thank you for my family, those sorts of things. And then I will say, I make way for the new opportunities that I don't even know are coming.

So I'm thinking about the shape of the month for the person listening to this going, okay, I'm gonna do the new Moon thing. So we were, we started off saying we're gonna start small. So for 2024. To keep it really simple, we're just gonna be doing New Moon. Like that's the big commitment that we're making.

But if there's somebody who's like, but I actually wanna do some of these other things, you, I'm, it's sounding like there's almost like four opportunities ish to do a ritual of some kind in a month. Like, what do you think is a manageable, should we just stick to the one new moon one, or what do you think is the most

that's a really good question. I I think you could even just sticking to the New Moon, making a commitment that you're gonna revisit your goals at that time and do some self-reflection, journaling, if you wanted to break it down one more. Yes. I think four times is great because a moon cycle is almost a month, and each, um, between each phase is about a week.

So you have your new Moon to your first quarter. That's about a week. So your new moon is your intention setting and you're planning, you're reflecting and you're planning moving forward. It's like you are planning your road trip where you wanna go, and then as the next day you're, you get in the car and you're starting to drive. And then once you get to the first quarter moon, it's like you, maybe you stop at a, you know, a pit stop and you're deciding, are we gonna still take this route to get there? Or do we need to reroute a little bit? Do we need to make some changes to our plan? And then you get to the full Moon is your halfway point. Again, that's a celebration time. Um, and it's, it is like a release time as well. We can get lots of emotions during that time. And then you've commit, you've, you're committed, you're gonna hit cruise control. You're going to your destination for, you know, the next week, and you hit the third quarter moon. And then there's that last, that last final week at the end, you have reached. Wherever you said you were going to go and now you're going to decide your next trip,

I love the road trip analogy. That's gorgeous. So I can totally see it now. It makes a lot more sense to me now. Thank you.

Yeah.

sharing all of this with us today. I, I really appreciate it all so much.

Oh, well thank you. Thank you for what you're doing and I just, I hope your listeners will give themselves so much grace. Because life is so hard and it's so fun and beautiful and messy and confusing, and sometimes clarity and sometimes not. And if they can just hold on and find whatever it is that works for them to give them some sort of ritual, um, and to know to keep going.

Yeah. And to give yourself credit because

Mm-Hmm.

actually are doing way better than you think.

I think we often don't stop to tell ourselves that. And uh, and. So many of these, like if you found yourself listening to this and nodding and going like, oh yeah, that makes sense. That's because you already knew it,

not because It's

some brand new thing. And so remember, give yourself credit like you're amazing and you just, sometimes we just need to remind each other of these things. So thank you for everything that you reminded us of today.

Thank you, Kate.

Thank you.

for this podcast. Keep

going. Thank you so much.

it's it's definitely an anchor for me and I don't know what I would do without it at this

point either, so

thank

you, .

I appreciate that so much. ​

 Beth has brought a lot of really important. Magic into my life. not least of which is the almost constant reminder that we can't always be in a season of growth. Incorporating Beth's teachings into my day-to-day rituals and routines and habits truly has had a profound. Impact on how I run my life. It's made it much more sustainable. And I love that Beth reminds us in this episode.

That every month. Is a chance to start again. And in fact, every day is a chance to start again. I know this time of year can seem. You know, ripe with potential and possibility. And we want to just have a brand new, clean slate and conquer the world with all of our hopes and dreams. And that's wonderful energy. But truly being compassionate with ourselves and gentle with ourselves means acknowledging that there are going to be times on the journey where we need to rest and there are going to be other times on the journey when we need to release and let go. And there are going to be other times in the journey when we need to revisit our big plan and tweak it a little bit.

Maybe we didn't, we don't want to be going where we thought we wanted to be going. And that's okay too.

And having this set of rituals that we build into our lives for ourselves tapping into the cycles of the moon, remind us. When it's time for bright, full moon energy. And when it's time for waning energy, more inward focused energy. And how to make room for all of it. So if you take one thing from this episode today, I hope.

It's the inspiration that if you're going to make one lasting new years, Quote resolution this year. That it be to receive her offering about the new moon rituals and commit to doing them with yourself every month.

Put them in your calendar today. She's given you the dates. Put them in your calendar today and make time for yourself to do the exercises she gave us. on those new moons. And then to have faith. To have faith that it's all unfolding exactly as it should.

The next activating intuition and creativity workshop takes place online on January 25th. Everything you need to know to sign up for that is on Kate Sheppard, creative.com. If you're a Patriot and colorful community member admission to that workshop is always included in your membership. And even if you're not ready to join at that level.



it takes a lot to put together this show. And I really rely on the support of my Patriots. So even if you need to join at.



One of the more introductory levels please know that I appreciate every single dollar that comes in every month to help me keep the lights on and the mic on.

And I work hard to create content to make it. , of great value to you. So I hope you'll consider signing up for a Patrion membership this year.

So that I can keep creating all of this beautiful content for you and others.



I hope to see you on January 25th and the live workshop. And for now take care of yourself. And have faith.