Moonthly Experiments

How I'm finally getting to all my creative projects

Hello lovelies,

As we move through this holiday season, taking time to slow down and enjoy the company of our loved ones, many of us are using the downtime to think ahead to what we want to accomplish next year. For me, this is such an exciting time, and I feel alive getting to dream up all the goals I have for the coming year.

Unfortunately, I think most of us find it easy to ideate about all the things we want to do, but then struggle to actually accomplish them.

This has always been the case for me. I’m a dreamer at heart, and curiosity has me floating around from one shiny project to the next, usually unable to actually get started. It’s frustrating.

Maybe this sounds familiar to you, so I want to offer up a method I have been trying out for the past few months to help me get around to actually trying the creative projects my heart is begging me to do.

I call them Moonthly Experiments.

Basically, for each new moon cycle, I choose a project and follow the phases of the moon to complete it.

Why “moonthly” instead of monthly, though?

I find it works best to provide more structure to the ramp-up and flow of my projects, because, rather than just giving myself a month with no mile markers, I’m working with the natural cycles of the moon that affect us all.

Working with the moon cycles feels intrinsic to my own internal cycles. It gives me a sense of clarity on what needs to be done and when.

In fact, the publishing of this very post is because I want to get back into writing and sharing on my Substack, and I figured the best way would be through my Moonthly Experiments to give me the push I need.

In the past few months, I’ve been able to complete projects that I’ve had on my to-do list for a long time. So far, this has included making my own runestone set, organizing my creative space, and diving back into my writing.

To ring in the new year, I plan to learn bookbinding so I can make my own huge grimoire that can be passed down to future generations (this has me so giddy, I can hardly stand it).

Now, choosing which projects to start with was difficult. Afterall, that’s one of the reasons why I could never get to any of them in the first place–I didn’t know where to start!

So, to make this easy, I consulted my tarot cards to choose for me. I wrote out a list of several projects I was torn between, and let the tarot tell me what the first three should be.

This could work with other divination tools, as well, or even just drawing them from a pile at random. If you’re stuck, I recommend trying this to end the paralysis and just get started.

If you’d like to try a Moonthly Experiment routine, too, these are the steps I took:

1. Write out a list of projects/experiments that you want to do or try.

2. Make a separate list of several things that you want to do the most.

3. Use your favorite divination tool or draw your options from a hat to decide on the first three Moonthly Experiments.

4. Get started on Experiment #1 at the next new moon

5. I also highly encourage you to keep a journal specifically for your Moonthly Experiments. Nothing complicated, just a simple “What went well/What didn’t go well/What’s next” setup will work.

It’s so incredibly valuable to share our processes with each other, and I love learning how other people organize their goals and dreams.

If you try this, or if you do something like this already, I’d love for you to share it with me in the comments.

I hope your holidays are filled with joy, wonder, and rest.