Knit Pause with the Moon - Episode 5 - Find your creative light and direction

Welcome to this episode of Knit Pause with the Moon. I’m Solène, you’re host and together today we will share a moment of creative pause around the theme of finding your creative light and energy in this early Spring. I will start by sharing some reflections around this season and how to work with this theme in your creative activities and then we will do a guided meditation together to help you ground, relax and slow down to find your creative light in your knitting pauses!

A few words about the season and this New Moon

I always like to start with a few words about the season that we are in and the energy of this specific new moon, but the theme is pretty universal and you can listen to this at any time.

I’m recording this on the April 2021 for the new moon in Aries. It’s the beginning of Spring, nature is growing, blooming, as you can see I am in the garden today and it feels so great to be able to be outside and witness all the beauty of nature.

Spring is a season where everything is suddenly accelerating, and you might be feeling this energy, this urgency to move, and get things done. But it’s a transitional season from the restful energy of Winter to the bright energectic Summer. So we are somewhere in the middle, trying to find our purpose, our direction, just like the trees that grow new leaves, new branches in this season, we too have some growth to do and we need to find out where to direct our creative energy. And that’s the theme that we are exploring today together!

We have our first new moon of the astrological year, in the sign of Aries. It’s a fire sign, so it’s about how we can shine, how we can express ourselves. It’s a sign that’s ruled by Mars, so it’s often seen as ready for a fight, but more than that Aries goes boldly for what it wants, for what’s true and aligned with its values.

3 creative invitations

• CONNECT TO NATURE AS A TEACHER – In this early Spring, nature is so beautiful to watch and can be a great source of inspiration for your creative activities. So if you can, go be in nature. And my invitation is to look at nature as a teacher, what in your observation of nature can you learn from, can help you in your own growth? It’s a season where everything is growing fast but we still need to pause and reflect. Pausing in nature, pausing as we look at nature and remind ourselves of how we are a part of it, and how the natural rhythm of nature can be an inspiration and a teacher. For you, it can be just about reminding to pause when you are outside or looking through your window, just to take a moment to feel this energy of nature, to let ideas come to you. It can also be about looking at what exists in nature that you can draw from in your own creative activities, for example the birds in this season are creating gorgeous nests and their crafting techniques are sometimes close to ours. So how can we learn from the birds. How can we learn from the trees growing new branches and leaves, how can we learn from the flowers. Connecting to nature as a teacher is also about reminding ourselves to treat it with the respect it deserves, to give back to nature, by planting a garden, by tending to the plants that are around us and helping them in their growth. All that we knit comes from nature, whether it’s wool or plant-based fibres. So this season and this new moon can just be about being grateful for what nature gives us and how we can transform it and turn it into something meaningful and special.

• LEARN NEW THINGS AND EXPERIMENT – Spring is a very active season, nature is active with everything growing and we too can feel this need to grow in new, maybe unexpected ways. So a way to work with this energy is to go learn something new! There might be a new techniques that you wish to try out, maybe you want to go take a knitting class, or to watch some tutorials on Youtube. And it can be in the smallest things, like for example deciding to try a different bind-off this time around, it doesn’t have to be the biggest thing. What’s most important is that you find joy in the act of learning. That you open up your experimentation spirit and be ready to not get it right immediately because it’s more about the process and the journey than the destination. Experimentation can also be in working with a different yarn than what you’re used to, by swatching different stitch patterns just to try them out, maybe trying a whole new craft even! Crochet, yarn dyeing, spinning… It’s all about trying out. And remember that when we try new things, we often fail, it’s part of the process. If you’re feeling some frustration around that, it’s completely normal. You can just think about how seeds grow from the ground, at the beginning many start growing, making their first leaves. And little by little, some will grow more than others, take all the light, and the other ones will die. But they didn’t grow for nothing because when they come back to the groud, they will compost and nourish the soil so that the one plant that grew can become stronger and grow even more, feeding from the ones that didn’t. So it’s the same with your creative experimentations, rights now you can allow yourself to be in this moment where everything grows, where you direct your energy to whatever brings you joy without trying to get it perfect right away. And eventually, you will find your directing, you will find your purpose, and all that you’ve learned and experimented will feed that and allow it to grow.

• FIND HOW YOU SHINE – The first two invitations were about how you learn, from nature and from others. This one is about what gifts you have to share with others, to pass on. How you can shine a light on others and inspire them in return. You don’t have to be the most expert at something to shine. We are so often taught that shining is something that we can only achieve through perfection, hard work or just by being part of the exceptional few who are more talented than others. And it’s just not true. Shining is about being true to who you are. It’s about connecting to that deep part of yourself, to your values, to your desires. And about speaking from that truth, expressing who you are deeply. Creative expression and finding your light to shine is not a process of adding something, like mastering or perfecting, but more a process of retrieving. Because we all have that light. We all have something amazing to bring to the collective. We just often forget it, or it’s hidden behind layers and layers of education, and all the moments in our life where we’ve had to hide or stay quiet. Retrieving that light can be hard sometimes and it’s a process. But in this season of new beginnings, in this season of growth, it can be a bit easier to reconnect to that light inside of you. To take a moment to think about what you want to express with your craft, about how you can be a teacher, a mentor to others and bring your skills but also your wisdom to others.

Meditation to connect to your creative light

After entering a space of meditation by reconnecting to your breath, body, and to your emotions, take a moment to ground, and feel the connection to the earth and the living beings of the earth.

Then connect to the light of the sun. It’s the light that allows all the plants to grow. The light that feeds us all. Feel its warmth on your skin, in your body. Feel its warmth all around you.

Imagine yourself in a big bubble of bright yellow light. Feel that circle around you, how comforting and energizing it is. This circle of light is your solar power. As it gathers around you, it connects to who you are and it shines your light big and bright to others around you.

You can ask yourself and ask your light: What do I want to express? How do I want to shine? What is my gift, my superpower that I can share with others?

When you’re ready to come back, you can take some deep breaths, and let your breaths slowly bring you back to your body.

Useful links

• Your free guide to create your own At-Home Knitting Retreat, click here to download