About the Author
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LEIGH PATTERSON is a freelance writer and creative
director whose work has helped elevate lifestyle brands and
publications across print and digital media. She has worked with
a range of design-focused publications and high fashion brands,
including Remodelista, Freunde von Freunden, Urban Outfitters,
Unseen, Shaina Mote, Apiece Apart, Wildsam Guides, Cereal,
and J. Hannah Jewelry. Her personal project, Moon Lists, launched
in 2016.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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I realized recently that the narrative I was telling
others in casual conversation needed adjusting. “Hi, how have you
been? What’s new?” a friend would ask—someone I care about but
haven’t seen in a while. “Mostly work,” I’d respond.
Is that really it? Just work?
An egg and toast, sitting at my desk, headphones in my ears,
guilt about forgetting to call my mom back, daydreams, a lot of
abstract wants. How do I refine, how do I redefine?
The Moon Lists are a set of questions to inspire reflection on
the recent past. These questions, prompts, and lists are an
exercise in drawing the connection between memory and experience,
a reminder that daily choices matter, habits are defining, and
objects can hold layers of significance.
The cycles of the moon have historically been regarded as a sort
of compass for self-reflection; with the unending ebb from night
to light, the moon acts as a routine reminder that we are guided
by months and seasons, a system of order and natural rhythm that
exist outside of ourselves. Traditionally and across cultures the
phases of the moon are regarded with different types of meaning,
from new beginnings to intention setting to times of surrendering
acceptance.
As the moon cycles through its phases, you will be asked to check
with yourself, once a week, to reflect on your recent
experiences.
Every week in this journal provides a list-making prompt or
memory-gathering touchstone for self-reflection. There are
different ways to consider the present, from the objects and
themes that are front-ofbrain to the sensory details that have
filled in the spaces in between moments. There is also space to
catalog a more analog scrapbook of relevant ephemera, paper, or
to recall notes or conversations that played a part in the last
week. Take stock of what you recently acquired; this is a space
for a souvenir from the week. A receipt, a leaf, a parking
ticket, a shred of a pistachio shell. Tape it into your book.
At the end of each month is a set of questions constructed to
look back on the last four weeks as a collective whole. You can
define “the last four weeks” however you want: maybe you complete
your list on the first of each month or maybe you just jump in
whenever you can. Maybe you reflect on the full or new moon. Do
what works for you.
Maybe you share and talk through your lists with a friend or
partner. Maybe you develop your own ritual surrounding
self-reflection (lighting a candle or a stick of special
incense). Maybe you do it outside or at dinner, or at the park.
Maybe it is spontaneous. Maybe it’s written down; maybe spoken
aloud.
I do think it’s helpful to flip ahead to the prompts as you start
your month to have them in the back of your mind as you go about
your weeks . . . or if the prompts of a sequential month don’t
feel right, skip ahead. The goal here is just to set aside time
for weekly and monthly reflection, however that works best for
you; it’s a reminder to notice something you might not otherwise
and readjust your framing.
Choosing the way you observe, reflect on, and document what’s
going on at present is a reminder: you are in control of your
narrative. Call out the small moments that add meaning to your
life, that fill you up on a deeper level, and seek out more of
those experiences. This is the truest, most timeless form of
self-care. It costs nothing other than your attention, asking
that you live with your eyes open.
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