Rhythms for Life and Bullet Journals

In my efforts to overcome some of my chronically disorganized tendencies, I have tried to hone in on rhythms in the natural world created by God, believing that ordering one's life by these rhythms has merit. I do not use natural rhythms exclusively however.  Observing weekly rhythms is essential although this has no origin in the natural world.  Revolving around a day of rest and worship as the weekly rhythm does helps us orient every other day in relation to eternal priorities. Only because of the mind and action of God does the wisdom and beauty of this rhythm exist.   Yet we benefit from being mindful of other rhythms that are no less extraordinary, even though they are familiar enough that it seems safe to take little notice of them.  This is a mistake. 

The most directly-observable markers creating boundaries for daily rhythms are sunrise and sunset.  I make it a point to be on hand to observe these daily "turning points" as often as possible, usually combining these times with mindful observation, meditation, and worship.  Although daily schedules such as work and school are at times grossly at odds with the sunrise/sunset schedule, I believe that generally daylight should be for working and being productive and darkness should be for resting and rejuvenating.  Exercise and eating (& school work!) should generally not intrude on resting/rejuvenating hours.  I know how impossible this probably seems to many of you, but I urge you to ask the Lord what He has in mind for you.  I suspect that something might shift that would open up space for you to be more mindful of the rhythm of daily markers such as sunrise and sunset. 

The most directly-observable natural "monthly" marker is full moon, although lunar cycles do not correspond perfectly to calendar months.  The full moon always rises over the eastern horizon just as the sun slips below the horizon in the west.  The full moon is often breathtakingly beautiful and dramatic--and directly observable. Since lunar cycles are far more uniform in length than calendar months, I think it makes sense to order one's personal life to align more closely with lunar cycles than calendar months.  Doing this is not completely intuitive though and seems to call first of all for an easy way of referring to each consecutive full moon of the calendar year.

Without belaboring the point of lunar cycles being worthy of note as being helpful in ordering our lives, we ought to recognize some of the lesser-known changes that occur in relation to lunar cycles.  The  rate of transpiration in plants reportedly changes.  Seeds absorb moisture at different rates.  Plants grow at different rates, perhaps partly in response to increased or diminished light at night.  Reproductive cycles in the animal kingdom often seem correlated to moon cycles.  The earth itself and objects and substances that are part of the earth are affected by variations in gravitational pull during lunar cycles, depending on how the moon mass "pulls" on the earth.  Tides are demonstrably correlated with "pulls" during the lunar cycle.  One of my naturalist friends is taking note of how long he sleeps each night, and overlaying that record with the lunar cycle--to see if he naturally sleeps longer at certain parts of the cycle than at others.  I'm curious about what he'll find.

For my purposes, I chose names for each consecutive full moon of the year.  The best source for finding help with this gave a number of alternate names, while offering enough context to help me choose from among them, or to choose a more suitable one for our climate and my interests.  I do some scheduling of planting in relation to the lunar cycle, so awareness of full moon and new moon timing in particular are key to getting maximum scheduling benefit.  I'll list here the names I've chosen for the full moons of the year, along with the date of the full moon and the next new moon.

Notice that October has two full moons in 2020.  When this occurs (once every several years), the second full moon of the month is called a blue moon.  Below the list you will find brief notes on the rationale for my name choices.  My names might work for you too, but I urge everyone to choose names that are meaningful to you.  This could vary, depending on your geographic location and your lifestyle and interests.

Coyote Moon--Full:  Jan. 10--New: Jan. 24
Hunger Moon--Full:  Feb. 9--New:  Feb. 23
Sap Moon--Full:  Mar. 9--New:  Mar. 24
Bird Moon--Full:  Apr. 7--New: Apr. 22
Flower Moon--Full:  May 7--New:  May 22
Strawberry Moon--Full:  June 5--New: June 27
Hay Moon--Full:  July 4--New:  July 20
Dry Moon--Full:  Aug. 3--New:  Aug. 18
Harvest Moon--Full:  Sep. 2--New:  Sep. 17
Frost Moon--Full: Oct. 1, --New: Oct. 16
Cozy Moon--Full:  Oct. 31--New: Nov. 14
Dark Moon--Full:  Nov. 30--New:  Dec. 14
Cold Moon--Full:  Dec. 29--New: Jan. 12, 2021

Coyote Moon.  This made more sense to me than Wolf Moon--the name featured in the list I consulted.  We have many coyotes here and no wolves.

Hunger Moon--One of the minor names in the consulted list.  For native Americans, this referred to a scarcity of food after months of winter weather.  For me, the name represents my hunger for anything alive and green--especially fresh leafy vegetables.

Sap Moon--Minor name from the list.  Although this referred originally to tapping maple trees for syrup, I think of it as referring to rising sap in all the trees.

Bird Moon--Bird migration is a very prominent feature of this season here.  "Pink Moon" just didn't have the same appeal.

Flower Moon--Major name from the list, and I think it fits May in Kansas.

Strawberry Moon--Also major name from the list and it fits.

Hay Moon--Minor name from the list.  Buck Moon (the major name) just didn't seem relevant.

Dry Moon--The weather is usually very hot and dry here in August.  Sturgeon Moon refers to a kind of fish abundant and important to Native American fishing tribes.  We're not a fishing tribe.

Harvest Moon--Major name from the list--which I can't improve upon.

Frost Moon--Our typical first frost date is in the middle of October.

Cozy Moon--I agonized over this one.  In 2020 it's the second full moon in October.  I finally settled on this slightly cheesy name because I thought it captured the idea of having transitioned away from the growing season into a life mostly spent indoors.  Also, the fields and gardens are resting under blankets of dead vegetation, mulch, or snow.  Everything is cozy. 

Dark Moon--Not only is the daylight waning, the switch back to standard time instead of daylight savings time suddenly gives us long dark evenings.  The moon, of course, is not dark--only the evenings.  Beaver moon is the major name I encountered.  A few beavers are found locally but nothing about this month particularly calls beavers to mind for me.

Cold Moon--Major name from the list, and it fits.  Right now we're in the Cold Moon cycle and I'm sitting here at the computer feeling it. 

What I hope to do is to use the full moon time as a reminder to reflect and regroup, especially in relation to my morning and evening schedule.  This keeps me from being locked into a morning or evening routine, for example, that is just right in January and all-wrong in June.  This way gradual adjustments can be made whenever a Full Moon appears. 

I haven't really developed routines for seasonal markers like the solstices and equinoxes, but I think this makes sense and will probably happen fairly naturally for me before long. 

In Old Testament times, sabbath years were observed every seventh year, and years of jubilee every 50th year (after seven seven-year periods).  These are multi-year rhythms which seem to be based on a God-ordered plan without clear links to clearly observable natural phenomena.  They have much in common with the weekly cycle where a sabbath occurs one day in every seven. 

I'm incorporating some of these ideas into my bullet journaling efforts. I think one key to success with this system and these rhythms will be to actually adopt the philosophy of the Bullet Journal "inventor." In my words--"Keep it simple enough to be repeated without undue stress, and complicated enough to necessitate acting intentionally and mindfully in order to make progress."  After all, when the next organizational fad replaces the current Bullet Journal one, the God-designed rhythms as seen in decrees and in creation will still be left standing and they can function again as overlays to a different system--all to good effect and greater productivity and peace.