Welcome to 2023 and the new year!

The energy of this season is inviting us to be seen. 

For some, this invitation is to allow ourselves to be seen by others. For some, this is an invitation to see ourselves.

Externally, there will be waves of change happening around us. Those waves of change will be happening regardless of whether we ride the waves or hunker down and let the waves crash over over us. 

What will help us navigate these waves is our inner fire.

We’re being invited to the energy of our fire. To nurture our inner fire. To allow our inner fire to expand and rise. To allow our inner fire to be seen.

Our inner fire is fed when we acknowledge our personal sovereignty and take steps to set boundaries and ask for what we need. Sometimes we find that the person who most needs to hear what we need is ourself.

Our inner fire expands when we speak our truth in love. Speaking our truth sometimes looks like words and sometimes looks like actions. Speaking our truth isn’t about spewing our thoughts onto others to shame or 'encourage' them into changing. Speaking our truth doesn't require us to get on a soapbox and share our truths with everyone and anyone. Speaking our truth means getting really clear on what our truth is! Because then, our truth simply flows from us in how we live our life.

Our inner fire wants to be seen. Actually, it wants to shine. Don't worry, shining doesn't mean you have to be a flashy presence in the public eye. Think of yourself as a lighthouse. Just quietly shining in the storm. And if you're someone who loves sparkly glitter, then let your lighthouse shine with sparkly glitter. You be you.

Because you being you is what it is all about. You being you came here for a specific purpose. For some reason. You trying to be someone else isn’t helping anyone, much less yourself. 

You be you. Because that’s the you the world needs.
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That’s the you that you need.

This week’s energy has depth to it. There’s an invitation to simultaneously look inward and towards the horizon.

The inward look takes us to our soul and our purpose. Who are we? Why are we here? 

The look to the horizon calls us to action. Where is our path taking us? What is our next right step?

This timing, at the end of 2022, is a perfect space to anchor in our intentions for the new year and to plan for the future.

2023 has strong, almost laser focused, transformational energy within it. Our spirit is being called more and more to step into who we came here to be. It is time to let our light be seen in increasing measure. For each of us, how we do this will be different so don’t feel that your path needs to look like someone else’s. 

Where is it that you are feeling a need to allow your light, love, and purpose to expand? For some who have recently reconnected with their intuitive self, this journey is likely to begin with inward changes and expansion. For those who have been on this path for a while, it is more likely to be external changes and expansion. 

As we reflect back on our experiences, growth, gifts, and learnings from 2022, what wants to come forward into 2023? Intentions don’t need to be complicated goals or visioning, intentions can be as simple as noticing a desire for more peace or gratitude in our life.

What do you want to cultivate in you and in the world around you?

This is a time of transformation, i.e. change. Change sometimes feels bumpy. We ride those waves better when the frequency of our energy is high (gratitude, joy, peace) and we are grounded and centered. 

We are all pieces of all the people we meet and the experiences we have. Some build us up. Some tear us down. Some trap us in drama. How can you increase your connection within the world in ways that also support your light? 

Look for ways to nurture yourself. Playing your favorite music. Going for a walk in a park. Short rituals with your morning coffee, evening wind-down, or on your drive home.
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Breathe in the peace of this season. Let it permeate every cell in your body.

Energy flow through the calendar year:

The year starts a bit contracted (a continuation of the energy from the end of December) and then widens through mid-April with a strong activating flow that will support expansion, creative endeavors, and entrepreneurship. 

May through June has more of a yin/yang energy. Lots of light, lots of shadow, and all with strong emotional underpinnings. July and August has more of the same but may also have more volatility as the tables begins to flip and these tables may be figurative or literal.

And then in September and October, everything S.L.O.W.S. down with a significant contracture. This one may feel like being in severe traffic construction gridlock and it may be helpful to get off the beaten path and take the scenic route. Or, put another way, we may be pushed to get out of our ruts! 

In the final months the year, the energy begins to untangle and lighten like a slow long exhale. This period also contains threads of mental energy linked to contemplation and reflection upon our stories and beliefs. 

There are several potential bubbles throughout 2023 (February, April, June, July, August, October). These include infrastructure systems, politics, financial markets, and changes in nature. Whether they heat up enough to ‘pop’, depends on how our individual and collective hearts approach our values.

Themes to watch for in 2023:

Transformation happening fast. It is not just that things are speeding up, things are speeding up exponentially. Change always feels a bit unsteady even when it is in areas we desire and/or coupled with creative endeavors and entrepreneurship. When expansions happens quickly, we feel like we’re in constant movement. Even for those who are grounded and centered, this is going to have an unsettled feeling until we adjust to the new energy levels and re-find our balance. 

Create space for reflection, visioning, and planning. Remember, we don’t have to ride every wave.

Deconstruction & reconstruction. For those who wish to transform, there will be significant opportunities to jettison old templates both personally and within the collective. For those who wish the old ways to remain, things may get more frenetic as the competition and friction between old and new systems rises more to the surface. 

There’s a growing forward-moving energy to ‘reconstruct’ but it cannot fully emerge or embed until there is enough deconstruction to create space for new roots and growth. This will bring emotions to the surface. For some it will be more soft and tender, for many it may feel more volatile, even revolutionary. 

Intuition continues to expand. The grid of human interconnection strengthens with new openings of intuition and heart-based energy. Particularly this latter is spilling out into the galactic leylines and influencing our planet’s connections and emergence into the cosmic chessboard in a new way. More galactic portals and gates begin to emerge.

Internal landscape shifts and personal power. Our gifts that we’ve tended to hide in the shadows want to come forward as part of our personal power. Value systems, especially those related to our spiritual growth, will undergo deep review and scrutiny at the individual, community, and global level. 

There’s strong reformation energy emerging but it is hitting a hierarchical gridlock. This reformation energy, which may easily turn into revolution energy, will likely persist into at least 2024. Will we choose to do things to that harmonize or de-harmonize ourself and others? As trite as it sometimes seems, it is essential to pay attention to the energy, words, and stories we put out into the world.
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Into next year. 2023-2024 are significant shifting years for earth and humanity. These are a bridge into the second half of this decade which is a foundational gateway for the rest of the century.

Empaths and the holiday season can sometimes feel like a stressful overload, people-pleasing, boundary porous, recipe for disaster. This year, has seen an expansion of intuitive gifts with our empathic side expanding as well. More people are stepping into and exploring their intuitive empath natures.

Empaths are those folks who have extra sensitive antenna for sensing the feelings and emotions of those around them. Sometimes empaths feel an emotion such as sadness and they recognize that someone around them is sad. Other times, empaths may feel sadness in themselves and wonder why they are sad. Empaths often need to learn to sort out whether what they are feeling is theirs, someone else’s, or from a collective or community.

The holiday season can be a time of overwhelm and it is not uncommon for tensions to run high and for some people to be anxious, upset, or frustrated. 

When empaths walk into the room, they feel the anxiety, upset, or frustration that is swirling in the space. They may even become anxious, upset, or frustrated themselves. 

The natural response is to want to make these feelings go away. 

To change the energy in the space, empaths often try to fix things - at least on a superficial, keep the peace sort of way. In this process, empaths may silence their voice, minimize their needs, and ignore things that are inappropriate. 
So, what’s an empath to do?

First off, there are some situations empaths might consider avoiding. If you know it is going to be a high tension event with volatile emotions running amuck, perhaps it is best to decline the invitation. Yes, others may be disappointed. But for an empath, events like these can have physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual impact that require significant recovery time. 

If you decide to attend, are there things you can do to help moderate a potentially charged situation? Can you arrive ‘just in time’ and plan to leave in a timely manner? Is there a space within the event that is more conducive for you - a table or grouping off to the side or in another room, a task that allows you to move around a bit, or participating in a game or puzzle?

Some breathing patterns can help shift us out of a sympathetic nervous system response. These include deeper belly breaths or letting our exhales be a little longer than our inhales. 

Focused sensory stimulation can help. Some people carry a fidget stim or wear bracelets or rings that can be used for similar purposes. Drinking a glass of water or fizzy (non-alcoholic) drink or intentionally munching on crunchy and/or spicy foods are other examples of sensory stims.

Jewelry and accessories made from natural materials such as crystals, wood, or fiber can also modulate our energy frequency.

We’re all wired differently. Listen to your body to identify what would work best for you.
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And remember, be gentle with yourself.

You’ve changed. You can feel it in how you show up with others and how you show up for yourself. Deep in the marrow of your being, you have been on a path of transformation.
And now, heading into the holidays, some are beginning to feel the same old dread. How do you navigate interactions with family and friends who know the ‘old you’? How do you avoid feeling like you need to go back into the box of old patterns that used to serve you so well? You worry that being yourself, the new you, will cause tension and strife. Should you just ‘suck it up’ and pretend to be someone you’re not for the few hours or days of these interactions?
Actually, pretending usually isn’t so helpful.*
When we’re changing, or have changed, those around us probably already know. 
Our energy precedes us into a space and we are constantly merging with and flowing in and out of the energies around us. We ‘sample’ what’s in the ocean of energy around us. It’s how we walk into a room and ‘read the room’ to see if it is comfortable, tense, or playful.
If others are paying attention at all, they sense that something has changed. Our words and actions simply provide confirmation to what they are sensing. Sometimes, they may not like the changes in us which can amplify the tension we feel. 
And we’re afraid of the tension.
But we have no control of how others feel about us. Whether we hide ourselves away or live our lives out loud, they may like or dislike us. Accept or reject us.
But we can influence how we feel about ourselves. 
And actually, how we feel about ourselves can be very helpful in changing situations. Here’s how it works. 
When I’m not comfortable about who I am, I carry all sorts of questions and fears with me in my energy. You know the voices: Am I good enough? Do I fit in? Am I too weird? 
Those fears and questions are what others feel. And so they become fearful and questioning around me. When I talk about myself awkwardly or with shame, they may sense there may be something awkward or shameful about me. 
There will always be those who do not care for us and or our life path. In some cases, these will be toxic and we will need to separate the relationship or put additional distance between us.* But in many cases, a lot of what we feel is actually our own discomfort with our own growing pains. 
As we allow ourselves to change, we will begin to seek and connect with those who are changed self resonates with. The more we find those with whom have shared voices (including books, shows, and movies) and spaces where we can encourage each other, the more we become comfortable in our skin and our own life. 
In most cases, being comfortable in our own life allows others to be more comfortable with us. 
Additionally, the more comfortable we are, the more we are able to give others permission to be on their own journey. 


*If you, or others you know, are in a space where they are threatened, harassed, or encountering abuse of any sort, pretending or fitting in while making plans to escape from the situation may be necessary. Please seek support from those you can trust who can help you.

In November, we will be continuing the chaotic, abruptly changing, somewhat volatile energy that we’ve been experiencing. Staying in our lane, being gentle with ourselves and others, and sorting through the subterfuge of what is coming up are familiar themes.

This month, however, it feels important to pay attention to the energy around us in a different way. The energy coming in is not just helping things surface, it is bringing in energies that are supporting and shifting us in our personal and collective timelines. 

Intuition is expanding.

Here’s what I keep hearing from folks: My dreams are weird. I was thinking of someone I haven’t connected with in a while and they texted me out of the blue. The same number (song, quote, etc) keeps popping up everywhere. I keep feeling I need to trust my gut. 

Intuition is knowing something that we didn’t sit down and think about or study. It’s connected to our right brain and our third eye chakra and uses our senses such as sight, hearing, and touch in the energetic as well as the physical realm.

We all do intuition differently. 

Whether you’re one who ‘sees’ something or hears a message or are someone who just knows or feels something in your body, we all have certain intuitive paths that are stronger or easier for us to tap into.

We are experiencing energy waves that are part of shifts in consciousness. Whether we are aware of it or not, some of us are quite sensitive to certain energies and it can be easy to hunker down and protect against things that feel uncomfortable. And yet, if we’re willing to ride the waves, the energy can also help us transform and shift. 

If you’re already a strong intuitive, the veil might feel thinner and you might feel less grounded or off your center. If trusting your intuition is new to you, it might feel a bit unnerving. You might wonder if you’re losing your grip on reality - when actually you’re gaining more of the reality of this world as is being researched by studies in quantum physics.

Know that you’re not alone. We’re all on this playground together, exploring and learning.

It can be helpful to find those who are also exploring and learning. Having others to talk with who understand and are wiling to also share their experiences can go a long way in helping us build confidence in riding those waves. 
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This opening and expanding is a call from our heart to become more fully ourselves. Hello heart!