The Fall Equinox Is This Week. Let’s Celebrate!
One of my favorite gifts I give myself is my Monday morning planning ritual. It’s blocked on my calendar in perpetuity, and it’s protected time to help me start my week with intention and clarity.
I take my journal and my planner and various calendars to look at what’s happening with the kids’ schedules, my husband’s week, the major astrology for the coming days, where I am in my cycle, and any commitments we have on the horizon.
All of those inputs help me set my “big rocks” for the week, and often make clear where I need to dial back or bring in some extra support.
This week I am excited to celebrate the fall equinox and take advantage of the Mercury cazimi*, both on Thursday.
Celebrating the Equinox
What it is
Equinoxes happen twice a year, and occur when day and night are of equal length. In the northern hemisphere, the fall equinox is this Thursday, September 22, and marks the first day of autumn.
Traditionally, this is a time of harvest, reaping the fruits of spring and summer, and preparing for darker days.
Why celebrate
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I consider nature one of our greatest teachers. There is so much rhetoric around “balance” in our culture – work/life balance, balanced diet, etc.
Here’s the thing: even Mother Earth is only “in balance” twice a year!
That “lack of balance” is why we get to enjoy the rhythms and gifts of the seasons. Balance is fleeting, but gifts and beauty are always there.
Let’s move beyond trying to balance everything and instead embrace what the different seasons – both natural and in our individual lives – offer us. And sure, let’s celebrate those times, fleeting as they may be, when everything is held in equal measure.
How to celebrate
There are countless ways to honor the changing of seasons. Here's what I plan to do with my family:
Wear autumnal colors: gold, rust, orange, burgundy, brown.
Make a leaf garland (here’s a sweet tutorial for a kid-friendly activity)
Set alarms for sunrise and sunset and tune in to the balance of the day
Gather and arrange natural items that speak to you: the first fallen leaves, pinecones, acorns, corn, pumpkins, mums, etc.
Look for an opportunity to pass along your own bounty to those in greater need
Journal prompts
What am I harvesting? What am I ready to compost?
Where am I holding both light and dark?
Where am I most in balance? Most out of balance?
What gifts am I currently receiving?
How can I share my abundance with others?
P.s. I’m working on a course about how to recover from burnout and build a life that helps you avoid it in the future. As we said in my coaching program, you have to “live it to give it,” so I’m putting my own teachings into practice.
That meant letting it be ok that I didn’t send this out on Thursday as planned. It means I’m going to give myself a lot more wiggle room about when I land in your inbox so I can keep my promise of only sharing high-value information and don’t fall into the trap of writing from a place of “should.” (Yuck – you don’t want to read that stuff anyway!)
I’ll be sharing info about my course here first, so stay tuned.
P.p.s. Need help addressing burnout now and don’t want to wait? I have a few coaching slots left, including ONE at 8pm ET. If that’s for you, hit reply and let me know so we can get it on the books. For daytime slots, you can schedule directly here.
*P.p.p.s. What’s Mercury cazimi? This is the day during Mercury retrograde that Mercury appears to be in the heart of the sun. The cazimi is the day during the retrograde cycle when things tend to go more smoothly. If you have something big this week that you want to have go smoothly, schedule for Thursday if you can. Mercury cazimi and the fall equinox – it’s going to be a powerful day!
