I’m hosting workshops again! IRL! I’m so excited to be back to gathering in-person at the lovely art cafe Good Practice in Denver. The space is cozy, cute, and chock-full of creative inspiration. Right now, I’m hosting two monthly workshops there: a lunar journaling circle and a creative accountability group.

✨ The highlights ✨

Lunar journaling - New Moon in Virgo

• Wednesday, September 9th

• 6:00-7:30pm

• Good Practice (2931 W 25th Ave. in Denver)

• $20 -Tickets here

Creative Accountability

• Wednesday, September 16th

• 6:00-7:30pm

• Good Practice (2931 W 25th Ave. in Denver)

• $20 - Tickets here

💫 More info 💫

For the lunar journal circle, we will meet around the new moon to reflect, dream, and set intentions together. We’ll light candles, do some quiet writing, and (re)connect with each other and ourselves. I’ll bring prompts (an expansion of what you get in the newsletter), some yummy herbal tea, and a few of my favorite new moon ritual practices. I’d love to see you there. Starting this series under the Virgo new moon just feels right!

I’m also really excited about the creative accountability group, which is a genre-expansive, mixed media space for creatives of all backgrounds and experiences (yes, that includes you!). Whether you’re a seasoned artist who’s stuck in a rut, a writer struggling to write, or someone wanting to make room for more creativity in your daily life but unsure how to start, this space is for you! I started this series because creating shouldn’t be a lonely endeavor and sometimes getting started is the hardest part. We’ll get to know each other, recenter ourselves and set bite-sized goals with some guided journaling, and then work on our art together. Come chat, create, share, and dream in community—bring your own project or pick up a new medium for the evening!

For 10% off, use the code GIMLI when you sign up! And as always, if price is a barrier, please reach out to me and we will work something out.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. And if you can’t make it in September, don’t fret! I’ll be hosting these again in October.

Links again for you:

Lunar journaling - New Moon in Virgo

Creative Accountability

Hope to see you soooon!

Em

Happy new moon in Gemini! The new moon happened last night (Sunday) at 8:54pm and it’s a goooood one for intention-setting, dreaming, and ~manifesting~. Fun, flirty Gemini asks us to bring extra attention to our ways of communicating, specifically our words—whether they’re thought, spoken, or written.

Words are magic! For all their limitations, they are the building blocks of consciousness, communication, connection, and possibility. While they are not the only tools for these things (as many other species and fellow brilliant humans remind us), I’m so grateful that they are tools at our disposal. So many words to learn, play with, and rearrange! So many words in other languages that allow for new ways of thinking! So many millions of ways to foster connection, shift paradigms, and engender new realities!

Symbolized by the twins, Gemini can get a bad rap in mainstream circles and while of course every sign has its sticky parts, I love that Gemini reminds us of the beauty and nuance in duality. All of the air signs (Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra) teach us to hold multiple truths at once—a practice that’s so integral to being human—and Gemini especially encourages us to stay curious and open, even when it’s hard.

Banter! Flirt! Let yourself have fun! Don’t take it all too seriously! Don’t take yourself too seriously! Sow seeds with your head in the clouds and feet on the ground. Gemini isn’t always great on the follow-through, but I think that’s okay right now. Let’s let ourselves dream, imagine new worlds, and see possibility everywhere, trusting that we’ll figure it out as we go.

All that said, it’s an especially great time for some journaling, and here are some prompts to help with that. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest!

• What possibilities feel exciting right now? Which of your ideas have heat behind them?

• What am I waiting for?

• Where am I holding myself back?

• Where can I get more curious?

• What can I learn from where I am right now?

Wishing you good vibes and good banter,

Em

P.S. For my Colorado cuties, I’m starting an in-person lunar journal group at Good Practice this fall, so stay tuned! In the meantime, please join me monthly for a creative accountability group that’s part dreaming and part doing in the cutest creative space. Tickets for July are here, with an evening group to come!

Subscribe now

Happy new moon in Taurus! It’s happening basically right now at 2:01pm MDT (okay, I’m a little late, but we’re moving slowly this season, baby!). As a Taurus myself, I love this late spring time of year. Flowers are blooming and my neighborhood is turning green again and everything is finally coming back to life, including me.

Like sweet Ferdinand the Bull, the sign of Taurus reminds us to slow down and move at the pace of nature. When we reconnect with the earth, we reconnect with ourselves and our own sacred timing. Aries season kicks off the astrological new year with a fiery bang, and then Taurus season asks for more grounding, planting our feet in the dirt and letting them take root. In this slowness, we can nurture all the growth happening underneath the surface that might still be invisible.

A lot of this tending, rooting, and healing happens more slowly than I’d like, but I’m practicing patience. These days, when everything feels so hurried and rushed, I like to picture a stubborn bull digging his heels in, refusing to budge and forcing everyone else to wait until he is good and ready (is my Taurus showing yet?!). I’ve felt like that bull lately, desperate for moments of stillness when everything feels too fast.

I’ve been finding those quieter moments outside, allowing me to reconnect with my body and Mother Nature, reminding me none of us are so separate. I’ve been reconnecting with the earth on trails in the mountains, at the botanic gardens during weekly date night with my partner, on headphone-free neighborhood walks where I listen to the birds and really notice the trees getting greener by the day. These pockets of slowness also reconnect me with my own innate peace, worth, and creativity.

Taurus is often thought of as a materialistic sign, but for me, that shows up less in money and finances and more in the material world, everything we can see and smell and touch. It’s pleasure, softness, and comfort. It’s seeing beauty in everything, even (and especially) ourselves. It’s falling in love with the world, the only one we’ve got, over and over again. I don’t think we’re going to save the world with a litany of everything gone wrong, but maybe we can try with a love letter—to a lilac bush, our imperfect, beautiful bodies, a friend, the moon. No small miracles.

You can find journal prompts for today’s lunation below. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest!

Sending you love, slowness, and gay irises.

xx,

Em

Journal prompts for the new moon in Taurus

• How do you come back to yourself?

• What is your body saying when you pause long enough to listen?

• Where can you resist urgency culture this week?

• What does “security” mean to you?

• What rituals or routines do you want to nurture in this season?

Happy new moon in Aries! It technically happened at 5:52am MDT this morning, but I didn’t have my shit together okay! This new moon also falls on my little brother’s 30th birthday—everyone say “happy birthday, Brian!” (he most certainly does not read this newsletter but I’m sure he will feel the love through the cosmos). And yesterday …

Read more

Happy New Moon in Pisces! We made it through another eclipse season! The astrology we’re living through right now is wild (end of empire shit), but I don’t feel qualified to talk about that, so seek out other teachers please! I will be here with my little journal prompts and lunar calendar, celebrating the end of the astrological year and welcoming in the new one.

As you may have heard me talk about before, January 1st is not the most energizing time to celebrate new intentions and seed new ways of being. In the Northern Hemisphere, we’re in the peak darkness of winter. It’s cold (or it should be), it’s dark at 5pm, our bear friends are still deep in hibernation, and nothing appears to be growing. Instead, many cultures mark the new year with the Spring Equinox, like the Persian Nowruz and haru matsuri with the cherry blossoms in Japan. The Spring Equinox also marks the start of Aries season and with it, the start of the astrological new year.

Equinoxes are special because day and night come in equal parts, offering the perfect balance of light and dark. Because of this, I also think they’re a great time for ritual, reflection, and intention-setting, equal parts honoring where we’ve been and looking ahead to where we want to go. Last weekend, my super cool friends Raven and Cass led a beautiful Ostara workshop on the themes of composting and seeding, which is a lovely—and timely—way to look at it.

Tonight (Wednesday evening), this Pisces new moon comes at the very end of the astrological year before the new one arrives with spring on Friday. New moons tend to be ideal for setting intentions and planting new seeds, and this one in Pisces marks an especially auspicious time to go deep with our reflections and big with our dreams. Below are a few journal prompts to help with that introspection. The new moon officially happens at 7:23pm MDT this evening, but the next few days and this weekend will also be especially fruitful times to reflect and water your seeds before diving into the new year. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest!

Read more

Read more

It’s a full moon in Gemini! It happened about an hour ago at 4:14pm MST today, so tonight’s a great night to go howl at the moon. I love Geminis for their ability to hold pluralities, dance with nuance, and be with the both/and of it all. Our chatty, chaotic, communicative, curious, creative queens.

Read more

In the final days of Libra season, we have a Libra new moon on Tuesday, October 21st at 6:25am MDT. In the Northern Hemisphere, Libra season portends the beginning of fall with its shorter days, cooler mornings, and dancing leaves. This time of year calls me to slowness. Longer nights lend themselves well to introspection, staying in, and going to bed early.

Of course, in the last moments of Libra season, I’m still thinking about balance. The world is entirely too much, and I know many of us are so far past the point of burnout we don’t know what to do anymore. I’m remembering (again and again) that balance is an active, dynamic state. It’s the opposite of passivity. Amid so much chaos, finding balance requires near constant micro-movements and adjustments to keep from toppling over. Whenever I’m tempted to think of Libra as a passive sign—not fiery and grandiose like its opposite Aries—I work into tree pose or dancer and notice all the tiny stabilization muscles turn on. If Aries is a HIIT class, Libra is a yoga practice. Balance takes work, Libra reminds us. Justice takes work. It doesn’t just happen.

Yesterday, I was walking around the neighborhood with my partner and our pups, talking about routines and support as we shift into this slower fall season. I was lamenting the paradox of needing structure and routine while also needing flexibility and grace (so much grace lately). Like many people, especially my fellow neurodivergent ones, I need clear containers and stepping stones laid out in order to get out of bed in the morning—otherwise the overwhelm is completely debilitating—but I also need those parameters to bend with me when anxiety keeps me up late or I’m bowled over by a tidal wave of grief. It reminded me that balance is a practice, too, and it’s active and constantly evolving. Whether it’s balancing work life and life life, relationships and alone time, movement and rest, I don’t think there’s a perfect formula or stasis to achieve. I think it’s far more beneficial to strengthen our stabilization muscles than expect the ground to get less shaky.

I’m using this new moon to set some Libra-guided intentions around balance, harmony, justice, and care. I hope they’ll guide me and hold me as we move deeper into autumn and deeper into the dark. I’d love for you to join me. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest!

Read more

Eclipse season is almost over, culminating in today’s partial solar eclipse in Virgo. Known for being times of transformations, unfoldings, and shake-ups, eclipses are all about letting go—something that doesn’t come naturally to me and my beloved fellow control freaks (especially those of us with prominent Virgo placements).

During the last new moon in Virgo, I wrote about attention as currency, and this eclipse season, I’ve looked more closely at who and what is getting my attention. I’m trying to scale back, do less, and be more present where I am. After a great dinner conversation with a couple friends and a multi-hour deep dive into the latest Elizabeth Gilbert controversy*, I’m reflecting more on excitement vs. boredom in my life, which might also be about doing vs. being.

Growing up, my brother and I weren’t allowed to say we were bored, or my mom would tell us “only boring people get bored” and then give us something to do. While I still think there’s some merit in that, I’ve also come to associate doing nothing (a phrase I inherently take issue with these days) with being bored, but chasing excitement and busyness all the time is its own kind of addiction, and its own kind of control mechanism. A new crush, a dramatic friendship, or an all-consuming job can be alluring and intoxicating in that they distract us from ourselves. Why would I stop to be when I’ve been told my value is predicated on what I do? Why would I stop running when this pace has become my homeostasis? Why would I want to slow down and give the pain a chance to catch up?

But lately, I’ve actually been craving the space to let the hard feelings catch me. To know what I’m feeling and to be present enough in my body to let myself feel it in real time. To remember what a regulated nervous system feels like. To see what emerges when I take my brain off of the hamster wheel, stop seeking constant distraction (however subconciously), and just let myself rest. I think it’s really important for humans, and especially creatives (which are synonyms but we’ll save that conversation for another time), to be bored sometimes. That’s where the processing, the alchemizing, and the magic-making happen.

Of course, there’s so much privilege in slowing down. But I think a lot of us here actually have that privilege, whether or not we’re willing to admit it to ourselves. Slowness (or rather, not being constantly busy) is really destabilizing for me, which is how I know it’s important for me to practice. The world doesn’t stop when I do. I need to remember that, and in this late-stage capitalist hellscape that’s put all of us on a fast track to Burnout City, I think you probably do too.

Below are some journal prompts for today’s partial solar eclipse in Virgo, which happened a few minutes ago at 1:54pm MDT. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest.

Read more

Happy eclipse season. The total lunar eclipse in Pisces is happening on Sunday, September 7th at 12:11pm MDT. Because I seem to forget every eclipse season, here’s what’s actually happening with eclipses. Lunar eclipses happen when the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow on the moon and making it look dark. In a few weeks, we get a solar eclipse when the moon is directly between us and the sun, blocking the sun’s light and making things partially or fully dark on Earth for a few minutes (depending on where you are in the world).

This lunar eclipse in Pisces is a continuation of a journey we started a year ago in September 2024, one that will continue until 2027 on the Virgo-Pisces axis. Because eclipses are rare and notable, they can be times of immense change and shakeups. In particular, this lunar eclipse in Pisces is ripe for emotional release, clearing space for what comes next and the seeds we want to plant in a few weeks under the solar eclipse in Virgo. The flowy, dreamy, intuitive energy of Pisces is hard to pin down. Slippery like a fish in your hands, it’s the opposite of Virgo’s structure and rigidity. This full moon and lunar eclipse reminds us that we need both sometimes: structure and fluidity. Containers and release. And if you’ve been clinging too tightly to the reins, it might be time to loosen your grip.

This eclipse season, I’m holding onto the dichotomy of stories that were once true for me and what is actually true now. I’m taking stock of where I was before reassessing if that old narrative or old way of being is still resonant. I’m finding I have a more outdated view of myself than the people close to me might, and I want to make space for more presence in the here and now. I’m navigating the both/and of celebrating progress while still not being where I want to be yet.

Read more

Happy new moon in Virgo! With Mercury retrograde behind us and eclipse season not yet upon us, we have a little astrological respite right now. And there’s no better time to get our shit in order than a Virgo new moon, which is happening tonight at 12:06am MDT.

Virgos can get a bad rap sometimes, but as a sign, they’re one of my favorites (as a Virgo moon, I know I’m biased). While Virgo can be a bit of a neurotic control freak (again, I’m one of y’all—don’t come at me), we can also find so much beauty and meaning in rhythm and routine.

Virgo’s penchant for structure creates the parameters that many of us need to thrive.Without a container, creativity is rarely successful. We need punctuation to guide us and help us mark time—the days that make up our years that make up our lives—meaningfully.

Another thing I love about Virgo is the attention to detail. With so many oppressive systems counting on our inattention, paying attention is no trivial currency, and Virgo’s ability to notice and appreciate things on a small scale is an often-overlooked gift. Tiny shifts, habits, and edits can change the course of our lives (in fact, they’re the only things that really do), and this Virgo season, I’m reflecting on how small actions add up over time, and how bite-sized consistency is worth way more than a dramatic intervention.

Read more

Happy Leo season, and happy Aquarius full moon. It’s been a minute (again), but I’m officially recommitting to this newsletter! I don’t know what that looks like yet, but you’ll have journal prompts in your inbox for new and full moons, and maybe you’ll hear from me at other times too. Or maybe not! The beautiful spacio…

Read more

Happy Taurus new moon! The new moon is happening at 1:31pm MDT tomorrow on Sunday, April 27th, making this whole weekend a great time to journal and set your intentions.

There are a lot of Taurus stereotypes, mostly to do with stubbornness, sleep, and snacks. And look, am I writing this newsletter from the couch with an eye mask on eating lefto…

Read more

Happy full moon in Libra! Happy Aries season and astrological new year (quite belatedly)! It’s been a minute since I sent a newsletter and I have a lot of excuses I could give you but that’s not particularly interesting for anyone. I will say I spent three weeks of eclipse season and Mercury retrograde frolicking in Japan with my sweet bes…

Read more

Happy New Moon in Pisces. It’s happening basically right now in this moment: Thursday, February 27th at 5:45pm MST. No worries if you can’t journal with it tonight (and sorry for the late notice if you rely on me for that)—the days following a new moon are still especially potent times for reflecting, setting intentions, and checking in with yourself.

And under a new moon in Pisces, there’s truly no better time to tap into the power of our emotions and our creativity. I think of sweet, squishy Pisces as the wateriest of the water signs. Pisces is a sign of wild dreams, big feelings, radical tenderness, and abundant creativity. In the realm of the unconscious, mysterious, and often unnamable, it encourages us to simply be and feel (instead of relying so much on doing and thinking). Pisces reminds me that creativity is a portal and a tool to meet what is subconscious with gentleness, compassion, and curiosity. It’s big on surrender, not so big on control (which it reminds us, infuriatingly, is usually an illusion anyway).

Quick note for my Colorado-based sweeties: I’m starting up monthly lunar gatherings in person in Denver again soon! I’ve been reimagining them with my dear friend Leon, and we’re so excited to dream up this space together with you all, too. The first one will probably be in April, so stay tuned :)

I’m taking this particular new moon as an invitation to reconnect with my creativity and let myself feel it all, and I’d love for you to join me there. Some journal prompts are below. As always, take what resonates and leave the rest!

Read more

Hi sweet ones,

It’s a hard week. I deleted Instagram on Sunday and when I redownloaded it today, I felt myself immediately sucked back into the doom spiral. I actually felt my chest tighten and my breathing get shallow. So I left again. Of course, the despair is deeply valid, …

Read more

Happy full moon in Cancer. I hope Capricorn season and the start of 2025 are treating you softly. This feels like a good time to remind you that if you feel daunted and tired by the task of reinventing yourself right now, you’re not alone. While we’re in the middle of a cold and dark winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it doesn’t feel like a natural time for me to start new things and jumpstart big goals (that’s for spring, which coincides with the zodiac new year as well as the Persian new year Nowruz). Right now, I’m still hibernating and recovering and integrating—sowing seeds for the coming spring, sure, but they haven’t bloomed yet. I think that’s okay.

Read more

It’s almost the winter solstice, and we’ve reached our final full moon of the year. This full moon in Gemini happens tonight at 2:02am on Sunday, December 15th, mere hours before Mercury stations direct again (hallelujah).

As our mutable air sign, Gemini loves information! Data! Knowledge! Gossip! News! With a few prominent Gemini placements in my chart, I relate strongly to this sign’s obsession with learning and taking in information. I’m always seeking more—more input, more sources, more sides. I love this about myself and my Gemini friends, but I feel like this lunation isn’t calling for that. There will be a time for that ravenous hunger again, but right now, I’m feeling the need to clear out some of the clutter and old shit in order to make space for whatever newness might be coming. I want to be ready when she gets here, and I’m not in a rush.

For me, a know-it-all nerdy formerly-gifted-kid with a praise kink, not knowing everything usually feels horrible. But lately, it’s felt—dare I say—almost fun? I’ve been feeling some magic in all the possibilities of what could be but isn’t yet. All the freedom and spaciousness there.

I’m trying to let myself experience things without needing to dissect or understand them. Trying not to get ahead of myself, knowing I will someday miss this time of wild uncertainty and all the possibility therein. I often revisit David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement address to remind myself this is water. We’re in it right now. This is water and it turns out I know how to swim (or at least float).

Read more

Happy new moon in Sagittarius, and happy birthday to the lil archers out there! If like mine, your inbox is currently overflowing with promotional holiday bullshit, I hope you can take this email as an invitation to pause and take a few deep breaths, if nothing else.

The Sag new moon happens tonight on Saturday, November 30th at 11:21pm MST. This new moon—and Sagittarius as a whole—is all about ardent optimism and big, unwieldy dreams. It has playful, imaginative, expansive energy. It embodies freedom and spaciousness and pushing past preconceived limits.

If you’ve been Going Through It lately like so many of us have, it might feel especially difficult or incongruous to access that kind of fierce optimism right now. But if you’re here and pulling out your journal this new moon, I want you to try to access it anyway. Even if it’s only for a few minutes.

And now, because I am a Sag rising, I will get weirdly philosophical and pontificate on things in which I have no expertise before signing off with “fuck it, we ball” ✌🏻

In the latest Gender Reveal episode, Tuck Woodstock gives a sweet post-election pep talk reminiscent of adrienne maree brown and other pleasure activists. He’s focusing on queer and trans folks specifically, saying we need to not only stick around for these next four years but also harness our joy and feel it fully. And if joy doesn’t feel authentic or accessible all the time, we stay and we try anyway out of spite.

Especially right now, before the inauguration and the horrors to come. Because there will be horrors, ones that we have imagined and ones we haven’t. There will be joys we’ve imagined too, and ones we haven’t. I’m so curious about the joys we haven’t known yet. The bad will be bad, of course, but the good will be so good, too.

What if the unknown isn’t always the worst case scenario? I don’t mean that in a spiritually bypassing way at all, but as pure logic (trying to soothe my often very illogical brain): if I’m trying to imagine possible outcomes and fixating on imagining the worst, I need to make space to imagine the best too. What else is on that spectrum? What small moves can we make in that direction? How will we know what steps to take if we don’t even know where we want to go?

Read more

I don’t have much to say today that feels comforting, let alone helpful. I’m struggling and I’m really not in the mood to write today. But I think it’s a worthwhile exercise to try anyway, and I’m also trying to give my lil Taurus self some extra grace if it feels like I’ve been run over by a bus (which it does, repeatedly). The full moon in Taurus happens today (Friday) at 2:29pm MST. 

Taurus is all about stability, security, routine, and rootedness. And it feels like right now we have... none of that. In such prolonged upheaval and uncertainty, I’m trying to remember that stability and security were never real if they were predicated on external factors. I’m reminded of how little is in our control, but where we put our attention is one of the few things we can control. And how we respond, react, and adapt to change is, too. 

My fellow control freaks (heyyy earth signs) are probably having an especially bad time right now. And hear me when I say (from the depths of my Taurus sun Virgo moon heart) that I HATE change. It makes me physically nauseous. But I’m trying to ground in myself and broader natural cycles while the wild world spins. 

Below are some prompts about recalibrating, recentering, and recommitting when everything feels chaotic and horrible. Would love to know what resonates. 

Read more