New Moon in Gemini: Making Besties with Yourself
"If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone." — Maxwell Maltz
This quote felt right on the money for this new moon, with a simple message to our inner creative. We each have attributes of an artist, a maker, thinker, doer. However that manifests for us is entirely our own. Well, kind of. It’s been influenced by years of experience. Trauma. Lifelong recovery. Broken bones and decorated casts. First and foremost, it means being a grown individual who makes the choice to pursue self-love.
How can I grow and flourish as my own being while also yearning for our community that simply cannot be accessed the way it was not so long ago? This question has come for me a lot recently. I think it’s a good time to ask this question too: what does friendship mean to you? This isn’t a hypothetical. It’s a thinking prompt. A writing prompt. Get out a pen, take 3 minutes or longer. Explore this question in full. How do you find friendship within yourself first? Have you flirted with yourself enough? Said hi, even? Checked in? Have you perhaps been a bit mean, harsh, or critical and think someone might deserve an apology? Even if you don’t think you deserve one, you 100% do. See what happens if you grant yourself some recognition. Shame will get you absolutely nowehere; you gotta get up from under that rock and greet the light of day, as well as the moon in its many phases. Your inner child misses you, and the adult that you are could probably use a little company as well. Get tender, now is the damn time for tenderness and play, as much as you can incorporate it.
I’m called to explore themes around friendship (thanks, Gemini), and the balance between emotions. There are a LOT of emotions and feelings to hold these days. During this new moon, reflect on the past, and see how it illuminates the moment you live in now. Take a look at how you talk to yourself. It’s a great time to reevaluate and consider whether you’d keep yourself as a friend and why. Consider the same for others in your midst.
I recently rewatched the film The King’s Speech. I’m not entirely sure what called me to revisit it, but in doing so, I was reminded of a beautiful lesson. We can recover from our pasts. We don’t have to live in the haunts of our minds. It requires vulnerability, and forgiveness - starting with ourselves. Always always always. For those of you who haven’t seen this movie, it’s about King George the VI, struggling to inspire anyone starting with himself due to an impediment. The title has a double meaning. The timeline focuses on the buildup of an important speech he must deliver. It also directly names the issue of the story - his speech. His ability to speak. When we fear our own abilities, they have no capacity to develop. There is much more to recovery than mechanics, as the teacher in this film makes obvious. He doesn’t push, or coax, or demand. He doesn’t even seek perfection. He simply allows the process of someone else’s learning to unfold. Because that’s what friends do for each other. This brought me to a solid point, reflected in this Gemini new moon: a great deal of how we go about understanding our own individuality has to do with the company we keep. Our friendships. First with ourselves, and then with others. The souls we trust, and are able to express our full, honest selves towards. These bonds are essential, from our earliest years to our last. But where and when do we learn how to be a friend? Usually this comes from our initial surroundings. Our family, and those who reflect our capacity of self-worth back to us.
We’re experiencing a collective change, and a deep challenge. We’re not just trapped inside, we’re trapped with ourselves too - unable to turn to our safe routines, luxuries or go-to salves. The bars are closed. The shops are too. I’ve been playing Catan, juggling work with being a part-time homeschool substitute, and cooking a lot more. I haven’t been to a movie theater since January (my main outlet of escape). There’s some new satisfaction in discovering that there’s more to life than what I’ve always felt comfortable doing. I’m also making room to be extremely bummed too. Both are valid and allowed! To acknowledge all facets of self, the diverse range of emotion, is to begin enacting self-friendship. A friend is someone who accepts you, supports you, and calls you on your shit because they know you can do better and are better. It’s a journey, not a race. This is what the new moon in Gemini says, with a smile and a friendly slap on the back. Let this be heard, felt, and practiced.
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Art by Justin ‘Scrappers’ Morrison