Lunar Eclipses, Losing Dolly, and Welcoming September

Cell phone photo of this week’s lunar eclipse

Lunar Eclipses and Energy Shifts

So this week was a lunar eclipse, which can always bring about weird shifts in energy—and this one was about letting things go. We went to the lavender garden and waited ’til sundown, then went around town trying to get a view that wasn’t blocked by clouds (space weather and Pacific Northwest weather are often at offs.) But we finally got about 45-minutes of visible eclipsing. It was a lovely night. I tried to spend time outdoors in fresh air this week, to keep the stress from lack of sleep and everything else in the world from rocking me too much.

I’m trying to take care of my health this week, have several appointments that I’ve been putting off, and I hope that this persistent insomnia is something that hopefully will be over soon. Yesterday, I woke up to the sound of rain, and it was cool enough to wear pants and a sweater last night! The change in weather definitely has a positive effect on my mood.

Sunflowers and Barn

Losing Dolly

This week was hard, too, because of the loss of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and artist Yayoi Kusama. Dolly, in particular, who was such a role model for me as a young girl growing up in Tennessee—the way she dealt with snobbery about her accent and upbringing (I had a pretty severe Southern accent that brought on some merciless teasing when we moved to Ohio)—the way she gave so much to charities, from literacy to vaccines, and the way she supported things she loved, like being an invisible producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. How generous and gracious she was to others but also didn’t allow herself to be pushed around. Even gone, she will continue to be an inspiration.

Lunar eclipse, fancy camera

Welcoming September

September is almost here, and with it, submission season! (…and sweater weather, and pumpkin farms, and corn mazes, and earlier sunsets…) I’m trying to increase my time reading, writing, and yes, setting up my Excel spreadsheet for submissions. I’m trying to set realistic goals but also increase my focus. Things can be hazy in summer, but fall brings things into focus, I find. Just like that eclipse—clearing the air, losing the things that hold us back.

I was talking to a friend about thinking positively about his future—thinking not about your worries and anxieties, but about the good things you can envision, the hopes and dreams you maybe have been afraid to express. At this stage of life—it is hard sometimes to not worry about aging relatives, our own fragile bodies, paying bills, winding through terrible traffic—but it’s absolutely essential to keep the long view in mind—that we can’t control everything, we can’t dodge loss—but that maybe better days are ahead. That certain parts of our life WILL get easier. I am by nature an anxious person, so making myself believe this as I’m writing it is hard. Julia Roberts told a great story about Dolly, about their days filming Steel Magnolias, that Julia as a young actress was asking for water, complaining about the heat, about the length of the hours, and she asked Dolly, with your wig and your makeup, you must be uncomfortable—why aren’t you saying anything? And she said something to the effect of, when I was young, I asked to be rich and famous, so I am not going to complain about it now that I’m here.