Self-discovery with Journaling by the Moonlight
Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 3 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Tina M Games whose book Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother’s Path to Self-Discovery (and its accompanying deck of 54 journaling prompt cards) is celebrating its 1st birthday on Amazon on Tuesday May 3, 2011.
Author Tina M Games is certified creativity and life purpose coach. She calls herself the “Moonlight Muse” for women who want to tap into the “full moon within” and claim their authentic self, both personally and professionally. Through her signature coaching programs, based on the phases of the moon, Tina gently guides women from darkness to light as they create an authentic vision filled with purpose, passion and creative expression.
Yesterday, Tina visited Glenn M Smith at http://sensitiveselfhelp.com , where they talked about her love and understanding of the moon, intuition, revealing your inner truth and support systems.
Today, I’d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Tina when I got to ask her some questions on connection with moon phases, mothers guilt, intuition and using the deck for journaling writing. I hope you enjoy it.
Tina: Thank you, Callie, for your interest in my book, Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother’s Path to Self-Discovery and its accompanying deck of 54 journaling prompt cards. As mothers, we know the importance of the “ripple effect.” When a mother is living life with complete authenticity, we’re subconsciously giving permission for our kids to do the same. It’s my belief that “a happy mother makes the best mother” – and our kids really do want to see their moms happy!
Callie: As a Cancerian sun-sign, I feel a real connecting with the moon phases – I’d love to learn a little bit more about the connection between moon phases and our own personal transformation. How does this work?
Tina: My work with the moon phases came out of my own experience of connecting with the moon during a really dark period in my life. Shortly after the birth of my first child, and after making some fairly significant life changes at the same time, I fell into depression – a place that felt so foreign to me, a place where I felt like I had fallen into a black hole with no way out. It was during this time, a period that spanned over two years that I had disconnected from everything that made me happy. Because my son suffered from chronic illnesses related to serious colds and severe ear infections, I made a very difficult choice to give up a successful career in order to care for my son full-time. I hadn’t realized until this experience how much of my identity was tied into my career. Without it, I felt very lost and very unhappy.
It was during this time that I fell back on a great passion of mine – journal writing. And as a mom of a baby who did not have a normal sleep schedule, I found myself exhausted and emotional much of the time. So night after night, after I’d get my son settled and after my husband went to bed, I’d grab my journal and retreat to my favorite chair – beside a big bay window where I caught a glimpse of the moon. It was the moon that taught me the meaning of transition. I’d watch this beautiful lunar goddess, night after night, move in and out of her various phases. And before long, I began to connect her phases with my own emotional tides.
I noticed that the moon always began in darkness and gradually, she’d move into full light – and cycle back around again. And I noticed the contrast between dark and light – the darkness of the night sky against the beautiful full moon light. I started connecting to this – as if I was being divinely guided through my own transitions of dark and light. I began to notice the ebbs and flows of my emotions. There were good days and bad days.
So when I came to the point of writing my book, I wanted mothers to realize that every human transition begins in darkness and gradually moves into light, where we get a glimpse of what is possible. And then we retreat, to ponder the many ways we can manifest these possibilities into reality. This requires deep work, where we step into our own truth and into our own power – and where we can emerge in the most authentic way possible. This is what I call the Blue Moon phase – when we finally realize that we are here on this Earth to be WHO we are, to put our personal thumbprint on the world in the most truthful, most authentic, most unique way possible. Each one of us are individuals being divinely guided on our own purposeful path.
Callie: Mother’s guilt – oh my! Even ‘tho my son is now almost 21, I can still be gripped by an attack of ‘mothers guilt’ at very odd moments! In your experience, how can we help to shift that overwhelming grip of mother’s guilt?
Tina: I’m a big believer that each and every one of us are living OUR life story – in whatever way that story needs to play out. And for many of us, this story involves lessons.
In order to learn OUR lessons, we must journey through the challenges. This is where we grow – emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And for mothers, these challenges often include guilt.
Guilt is a normal emotion for every mother. We’re always feeling guilty about something we’ve done – or not done – for our children. As mothers, it’s very natural to put our kids above ourselves. And while this may be necessary some of the time, it’s not necessary all the time. As the airlines so smartly proclaim, “Always put the air mask on yourself before assisting a child or another adult passenger.” In other words, “Take care of yourself, so that you can assist in the caretaking of someone else.”
I often ask moms to describe what the guilt is about – and we work from there, trying to unravel its deeper meaning. What is the guilt trying to teach us about ourselves? What is it that we need to work through so that guilt doesn’t rear its head time and time again? And how can releasing the guilt help us become better mothers?
I’ve devoted an entire chapter in my book and an entire moon phase in my self-discovery process, to mothers guilt. This is how big a role it plays in motherhood and it’s why a mother needs to face it head-on. See guilt for what it really is; an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and why it plays such a significant role in our life story. There’s a lesson wrapped up, beautifully disguised as mother’s guilt. What is that lesson – for you? Once you discover it, you can shift the grip it has on you.
Callie: Intuition is so very important – I remember learning that “mama knows best” when my baby was very poorly just after he was born. How can we, as women and as mothers, learn to have more confidence in our intuitive processes?
Tina: Mama really does know best. She knows what’s best for her child – and she knows what’s best for herself – IF she really listens.
In my case, I knew what was best for my son – and at the same time, I knew what was best for me. And I knew in a very pivotal moment of my life story, that the two were not the same. But I didn’t fully listen to my intuition. I only listened to part of it. I let guilt take over.
Looking back at that very pivotal moment in my life, my intuition was screaming, “You can give your child what he needs and you can give yourself what you need. There are ways it can be done.” But guilt consumed me, and I gave in to what my son needed – and in a sense, I was telling myself, “You don’t matter.”
While my son’s needs were met, mine were not. And this resulted in depression.
My intuition said, “A happy mother makes the best mother.” But I allowed the voice of guilt to speak louder – and I paid the price.
Intuition is our “divine channel of wisdom.” It always knows best. And when we listen to it, we can’t go wrong. It feeds a mother’s soul with the right messages for her children – and it feeds her soul with the right messages for herself. And when we can be fully open to it, it always gives us the answers we need. When we doubt it, even in the smallest of ways, we can be thrown off track – sometimes in a very painful way.
This is where journal writing can help. We can ask ourselves the deep, thought-provoking questions and we can listen for the answers, allowing them to feed through us. We are all divinely guided – and when we are willing to ask the questions and when we are open to receiving the answers, we can travel a more purposeful, more authentic path.
Callie: I love the whole process of journaling – from the ritualistic aspect of ‘settling down to journal’ to observing patterns and finding answers from within. Your wonderful deck of cards, which accompanies your Journaling by the Moonlight book, is an excellent source of inspiration. How would you recommend I use them to get the very best out of them?
Tina: My deck of journal writing cards is designed to take a journal writer to a very deep place. They are arranged in nine different moon phases, including the Blue Moon (which honors all that is unique about you). Each phase has six cards with journal writing prompts that apply to that particular phase of the self-discovery process.
You can pull a card randomly, trusting that you will be divinely guided to the right card with the right question or direction. Or you can go to the particular moon phase that speaks more to what it is you’re feeling or experiencing and pull randomly from those cards.
Another option is to pull from the images. There are nine different images in the journaling card deck (each moon phase has its own image). Look at each image and pull the cards with the image that most resonates with you in the moment. Then pull randomly from this group of cards and work with the journaling prompt on the card you’ve drawn.
The last option is to spread the cards out with the journaling prompts face up. Close your eyes and ask your divine source, “Which card holds the right question or direction for me in this moment?” Then gently open your eyes and scan the titles of each card until your eyes settle on a group of words. Pick up this card and read the journaling prompt and allow it to take you where it may.
Unlike the book, which is based on a step-by-step (phase-by-phase) process, the card deck is designed to be used at any time – and totally out of order. This is where your intuition will play a key role, guiding you to the right card in the moment.
Callie: Thank you so much, Tina! It’s been wonderful speaking with you – I loved reading your book and cannot wait to get stuck into using the accompanying cards to enhance my journaling experience!
I hope you enjoyed my interview with Tina M Games and that you’ll check out her book and card deck Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother’s Path to Self-Discovery this month at http://moonlightmomscircle.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html
Here’s why:
FREE 3-DAY PASS
When you visit the page at the link above and request a “launch reminder”, you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Tina’s 3-day “I’m a Mom… But Who Am I Really? Telesummit” with 11 creative writing moms and grandmothers speaking on how to use intuition, journaling and creativity to explore life purpose. You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast.
This telesummit is a completely free “no purchase necessary” gift from Tina, to celebrate the 1st birthday of her book.
FREE GIFTS
When you buy Tina’s book or the card deck during its birthday celebration on Tuesday May 3, 2011, you can ALSO receive a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe.
To claim your 3-Day Pass and read about the free gifts, go to: http://moonlightmomscircle.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html
Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.
AND … be sure to follow Tina tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is my delightful friend, Yvonne Perry, who will be interviewing Tina via a podcast. To visit that “stop” on the tour, go to http://writersinthesky.blogspot.com.
