One of my New Years Resolutions this year was to do one thing a week that scared me.

I was also going to get fit and healthy again, get some freelance articles published and find a home for (working title) Brand New Without Tags. How am I going against these? Actually pretty well- considering I’m only a week into it. Yep, I decided this year to completely take January off completely and not even think about anything goal related until February.

I’m currently alcohol free for FebFast- a totally over-rated challenge, if you ask me. I’m not craving those nightly wines, but I seriously am missing the ritual…and I put on 500g last week.

How does that happen? I found myself drinking diet soft drinks. And for whatever biochemical reason I always put on weight when I start drinking diet soft drinks. Why? The reason is simply too complex and too much information to go into here in full. But it has to do with the messages that my rather mixed up body sends to the brain which then sends messages to my dodgy pancreas to send out more insulin and grab it all for later, ie turn it into fat, because the brain is expecting the sugar rushed promised by the fake chemical sugar replacement.

Anyways, I am off alcohol, 500g heavier (instead of lighter) and now have to fight the cravings that would mean I have another addiction to deal with (ie the diet soft drinks or, heaven forbid, sugar again) at the end of this. It makes the idea of a couple of glasses of wine really quite manageable. Millions of Europeans can’t be wrong.

Anyways, that was last weeks “do something that scares me” challenge.

This weeks was to connect with others and talk writing and writing goals. Too easy, I hear you say. And, I have to agree, it should be. But my Pisces Moon doesn’t like to put herself out there, will wait for an invitation and will curl up into a little ball at the nanoest of nanograms of even potential rejection.

Yep, despite the façade I put up, meeting new people scares me. Talking about my goals scares me. Talking about anything that is important to me scares me. But I did it and I had a lot of fun. As a group, we all have things that we can learn from and be inspired by. We all have different backgrounds, different styles and there is room for all of that and opportunity for all of that…and that is a very cool concept.

And very Aquarius Sun conjunct Aquarius Mercury (speaking of which, I still haven’t posted that piece on Aquarius Mercury yet…my bad). The meeting of creative minds was also very appropriate for todays’ Leo Moon- the ultimate best Moon for creative self expression.

Both of which lead me neatly into tomorrow mornings (Sydney time) Full Moon at 18Leo32’.

Leo is aligned with the 5^th house, with play, creativity, self-expression and the inner child. In this whirl of modern living it is that inner child which is forgotten- if indeed he/she ever really existed.

Think about this honestly- when was the last time that you let yourself have fun- simply because you really wanted to? Guilt free, fuss free, responsibility free fun? What about this one- when was the last time you picked up your hobby, and I don’t mean planted your bum on the lounge and watched a game on the TV?

Speaking of which, is it just my Aussie ignorance, or has the NFL really managed to do the impossible and manufacture time? Why else does an 80 minute game go for what seems like 5000 hours, or is it just that us Aussies are watching it on a Monday morning completely sober? And, what’s with the padding? #justsaying… In any case- how can us Aussies talk when we can watch a game of cricket for 5 days that may still have no result at the end of the day…

Back to my point…the hobby I am talking about here is something that allows you to creatively express yourself. We all have a 5^th house, and we all have something that is creative if we could only give ourselves permission to indulge in it (yes Virgo, I am looking at you).

This Full Moon will bring ideas from a million directions, so listen for them and jot them down. This Full Moon also coincides with Saturn about to turn retrograde and also with Venus pulling on her trainers and striding into Aries.

So, your challenge this Full Moon, dear readers, is to think about these questions, think about your own creativity and think about how you express yourself and how long it is since you were heard. Then give yourself permission to take time out and listen to that inner child and play a little…or a lot. My inner child is threatening to have a tanty of dramatic Leo proportions over this no wine thing, so I had better go deal with her.

Until next time.

The technical details?

Full Moon 18 Leo 32’

Sydney:           7.54am 8/2/12

New Zealand:  9.54am 8/2/12

Perth, KL etc:  4.54am 8/2/12

New York:       4.54pm 7/2/12

LA:                   1.54pm 7/2/12