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The “Beginning of Summer (Li Xia)” – the Chinese calendar node for May 5th.
The Full Flower Moon will be on Thursday, May 7th.

I have been doing quite a bit outdoors at our home since the New Flower Moon, and am hoping to finish at least my current projects by Thursday, when the moon will be full. Being attuned to the seasonal shifts is something important to me, particularly in such an unusual time. So I gardened by the moon cycles, too. It started right before the New Moon, with me cleaning up and weeding as much as I could ahead of time. I told myself to focus on one or two projects for now – and stay within a budget that had been doubled with the surprise sale of one of my old web domains.

The projects for this time were: Setting up some raised beds for vegetable gardening (even if I don’t start planting until fall), cleaning out and adding stepping stones to the path on the side of the house, adding some life to an unused, devoid area of the back deck, and planting some favorite shrubs. My days soon moved into a pattern of: morning Daoist recitations, working from home, then outdoors work for a few hours, followed by Daoist meditation, recitation and reading before bed.

April 1st ended up becoming very special to me. I was approved to begin formal Daoist Priestess training – and it began yesterday. A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step… and a 1000-day training commitment began with a single day. This New and Full Pink Moon cycle finds a lotus of a beginning in a time of muddy chaos and uncertainty…

Much is happening at this point of the cold season. We have moved into the Chinese New Year of the Metal Rat, and I have been proceeding through the second stage of discernment. I am halfway through this portion of the Daoist Priest training, which will last another three months. After that ends, I am hoping to be deemed eligible to begin the final stage of the training, which will last about three years.

I am shortly beginning the second of three Daoist training periods. This one will be at least six months long, and will have me journeying out to the West Coast to train under my Shifu for a few days. Upon receiving the syllabus and instructions for this part of the training, I was both excited and admittedly intimidated. I felt as though the first level was kind of a ‘see how this feels / Daoism as a casual philosophy or hobby’. This second level is quite a bit more intensive.

Past the Equinox, truly into Autumn. Fall is my favorite season, without question, and it begins what I consider to be the ‘seasonal slide’ – the four ‘Ber’ months that go by so quickly, the year seems to be on the last 1/8th of a tank: down to nothing in the blink of an eye.

Autumn is a season of reflection. And there is much of that happening in my spiritual life. With the New Moon, I have started the next series of Qigoing exercises. And I have resumed reading a book that advises mindfulness techniques to combat rumination and intrusive thoughts.

It has been six weeks since I began to studying Daoism under the guidance of my Shifu, a Daoist Priest. I have also started Qigong training with him, as of this full moon (Thursday morning). There is a tremendous amount to learn, and an equal amount to practice. It has become a part of my daily life.

Along this new, first section of the journey, I have already gained some insight into my own patterns and behaviors. I am learning so much about desires, habits, and the mindlessness that makes being present such a struggle.