The Venus 3x3

A little love collection for your Venus Day

Happy Friday, beauties.

I’m doing something different today, that I hope to do at the end of every month.
It’s a general collection of various life things and arts/culture things that have brought me joy, sparks, and or a mild rabbit hole obsession.

This is brought to you by our Venus Retrograde challenge—I can’t tell you how much focusing on love, relating, compassion, kindness, beauty, resources, values and the joy—and nuance— of relationship has brought me into the present moment.

The world is on fire. There is so much needless pain, so much unnecessary suffering. Believe me, I understand, and I am not looking away, and I am working on certain actions in my private life that are more about support and building up, rather than destroying or tearing down.

After a long descent into the underworld, I’ve needed to recover: not only my health, but my reasons for living. After some incredible hellish years of near-death illness, a cup-filling is needed. To reintroduce myself to the world, to creativity, to beauty, as I reorient, is through that which keeps my attention, helps me source more safety, and reminds me that love is why we are here. Keeping track of what I’ve been loving and what has kept me feeling alive is a kind of diary of connection, and a way to remind myself, and you, that the world is still beautiful, surprising, wondrous, and magical.

So here goes the first 3 things, 3 practices, 3 moments: of beauty, of inspiration, and appreciation.

1 of 3: Love Letters from Tupac to Madonna

I don’t know what size rock I was living under in 1994 that made me not get the memo about Tupac and Madonna’s romance. (To be fair, I was more of a riot grrl then, blasting Emily’s Sassy Lime, Bratmobile, and Bikini Kill. But I DID have the Bedtime Stories cassette tape on Repeat, so I have no excuse!)

Tupac’s break-up letters from Rikers are amazing: mature, caring, and the way I wished some exes had treated me. Most importantly, I need to know where Madonna got her necklace and her sweater in the above photo. Please! I’ve been searching Etsy, but can’t find the right chunk factor. Le sigh. Her look is major style inspo right now.

Read the rest here.

2 of 3: The Perfect Candles for Ceromancy (and Ceremony)

Ceromancy is divination through candle wax. I have recently become intrigued by the shapes that a candle makes after she is burned down. To practice my craft, I’ve been on the hunt for particularly excellent, all-natural candles that make the coolest shapes.

These candles make awesome shapes.
Best part is, they are women made here in the United States.
Loving the Celebrate and Play, and Rainbow bundle sets.

3 of 3: My Garden Being In Perfect Shape (so far)

I’ve been really sick the last few years, and everything in my life suffered as a result, including my little garden. This year, everything is gorgeous and green. Our kale is happy, my hellebores is verdant, and all the other herbs and flowers say hello every morning.

Lemon balm and thyme, calendula, my queen Hellebores, and kale.
Snapshots from my friends in the garden. Some, we’ll be eating, soon!

3 Practices That I’ve Been Loving.

1. Energy Work in the bath at 8 am. At least twice a week, I try to get a nice long energy work session in the bath before work. Part-ritual, part honest-to-goodness energy work—because energy work IS work—it’s been the best way to start my day. I add herbs, salts, and oils. Highly recommend.

2. Loving just 5% more. I work with highly sensitives and folks with trauma histories, and one of the taglines I frequently use in my facilitation is “% more.” It came to me as a way to gradually open, to invite, not to force. If you say “relax!” to someone who did not have great things happen to them when they relaxed, it might be too much. But if you ask someone to feel 5% more relaxed or open, most of the time, they can handle it.

I’ve asked folks to try being 5% more loving, and I’ve put the ask on myself, whenever possible. What it’s done is made just about everything more enjoyable. Less tense, and more present.

3. Bedtime Stories. My partner and I read to one another before bed. It’s soooo much better than phones. Right now we are reading How To Love by Thich Nhat Han. The 4 components of love are: lovingkindness, joy, compassion, and equanimity. (With trust and respect as components.) Try reading out loud to yourself, your partner, your roommate, your pets, etc., before bed.

3 moments of appreciation, inspiration, and beauty

1. The rosemary is in bloom, and I couldn’t be happier. An everyday moment of beauty.
   

2. I’ve been trying to make more moments more magical and more attuned to my natural sensitivities. We talked about this in our Highly Sensitive Workshop.
   I light the candles before I do my taxes. I eat with the silverware. I make sure to always have beverages and snacks in the car. It’s the little things, but it all adds up.
   

3. "In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you." If you need a solid, solid watch, might I suggest Everything Everywhere All At Once? One of my favorite movies ever. Best acting. Best concept. No notes.
   On this most recent rewatch, I burst out crying at the part below. Phew.

   

What about you?

What’s filling your heart?

What’s opening you up?

What’s moving you forward?

What’s a simple, but mighty practice?

Let me know in the comments.
Happy Eclipse! Happy Mercury Retrograde! Happy Venus Retrograde!
<3 s <3