December Vibes, Queries, and Remedies

We’re trying something new this month, my love.

The vibes are Not Good for many of us.

Exhaustion and frustration are sapping

the energy we need to operate in the world.

So.

I'm coming to you on the first of December,

with some extra support and perspective

to help you navigate this last month of the year.

Subscribe! Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Pandora | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn

Mentioned:

My website, nataliekmiller.com, where you can sign up to get notified when the Time Witchery planner makes its debut.

The book Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto, by Tricia Hersey.

Make Magic:

Frustration and exhaustion are big-time awful.

But they’re also a signal and an opportunity.

They help us identify the places where

things could be better, and they remind us

that the change we’re seeking starts with us.

Transcript: December Vibes, Queries, and Remedies

Natalie Miller: Welcome to Mind Witchery. I’m your host, Natalie Miller, and I’m so glad you’re here. 

Hello, my friend. This month, I'm doing something a little different. I was in this place of putting together a Full Moon episode, and it just wasn't going. It just wasn't happening. And I decided to practice what I preach, and to open up to my intuition and imagination, and this is what came through.

I am calling it December Vibes, Queries, and Remedies. It's coming out here on the first day of December, and intended to give you some extra support and perspective as you navigate this last month of the year. And, by the way, these are coming from me and my own self and my own life. They're coming from things that I'm seeing a lot of with my clients, with my beloveds, in the news. It's just what I'm noticing, and so I'm highlighting these pieces for you and also for me. Right?

All right. So, December vibes, probably the loudest vibe I'm picking up on is an enough-is-enough energy. Like, enough is enough, I'm not going to keep forcing something that just isn't working. Enough is enough, I've got to find a different or better way. Enough is enough, I'm sick of my own fucking excuses. 

And, I don’t know, is this like Mars retrograde energy? Is this just we've been through so much of a pandemic, and life is kind of reassembling, and there are certain things that we are just like, "Oh, no, not this though. I won't tolerate this"?

And, you know, I think that this enough-is-enough vibe is being fueled by how fucking tired we are. [laugh] We are tired. I'm seeing this in so many places, just having made it through these almost three years. And I just had to double check the math because don't you have that also when you think about the pandemic? It's like, wait a minute though, how long has it been? [laugh] Because it's all this blurry gob of time. 

So, it's almost three years though, having kind of crossed this pandemic gauntlet that, you know, still lingers in mysterious ways but, certainly, we're kind of through the thick of it. And, you know, those three years of coming after the end of the twenty-teens, which was just—I mean, Donald Trump was president. [laugh] Like, it's just unbelievable how deeply traumatizing and challenging 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 were, before we even got to 2020. 

So, yeah, we're feeling kind of enough is enough, and also we've got this bone-tiredness, this weariness. And/but [laugh], and this is kind of the beautiful thing, this enough-is-enough energy, and this tiredness I see everywhere is co-existing with this deeply held belief that things can be different. And perhaps it's because we've seen so much happen, like, our sense of what is possible, what kind of radical change is possible, what kind of dramatic shifts are possible, we've got that. 

And I think we also have—or what I'm seeing in myself, and what I'm seeing in my clients and my beloveds—we've got a sense of our own agency. So [laugh], as frustrated as we might be, or as tired as we might be, we do also have this sense that things can be different, and that we can make them different. 

So, of course, I'm wondering how and where this might be resonating for you. Where are you getting this sense of, "OK, the way things are, the way I'm approaching things, it's just not working, and I'm tired, maybe even a little scared but, ultimately, I'm hopeful. Like, I believe that things can be better and different, and I believe in my power. Maybe it's just this little glimmer, but I believe in my power to create something better and different"?

OK. So, I want to talk a little bit, if those are the vibes, about some of the remedies, some of the questions we might ask ourselves this month to, like, navigate these waters that are both kind of frustrated and hopeful, both sort of exhausted but also very, in an interesting way, very clear on what really matters. Yeah? Because part of that enough-is-enough, like, it's just time for a different approach, is a non-attachment, a really healthy non-attachment to the way we have been doing things, to business as usual, in favor of a new or different approach that really helps us do what we want to do, and be who we want to be. 

So, that's actually kind of the first remedy or the first resource I'd love to remind us all of, which is our values. In this moment, I'm seeing for myself and in so many of my people, it is so important right now for us to walk our talk. Yeah? What are you saying matters the most? When you are talking to your friends, what are you wanting them to care about most? When you are parenting your children, what are you trying to tell them matters the very most? 

When you're thinking about humanity generally, like, what are the qualities, what are the values that we need more of? And then how can you truly center those in your own life? I'm doing this right now, very much. It is so easy to get caught up in the values of the dominant culture. It is so easy to get caught up in hustle. It is so easy to get caught up in consumerism. It is so easy to get caught up in urgency. 

And if we're over here, saying, "No, I don't want hustle for myself or for the world, I don't want so much consumerism, I don't want urgency, I want something else," then now really is a moment to say, "OK, well, then how do we do that?" And I bet if we look at the place where we are frustrated right now, where things just aren't working the way we want them to, it's just not—it doesn't feel good, I have a strong suspicion that our approach in the place where things aren't working is in some way not aligned with our values. That's certainly true for me.

As I've been mentioning on the show, I've created a planner. It's called Time Witchery. It's infused with all this self-coaching magic. It's got my own personal practice kind of baked into it, and I'm so excited about it. 

And it's encountering all kinds of bizarro delays in its production. There was a supply chain issue, and then there was a printer issue. [laugh] Kind of every piece of Time Witchery, like, all of the components needed to bring it into the world, every one has experienced a little delay, a little snag. 

And, of course, that is frustrating. But it's really only a problem if I am holding super tightly to a fixed timeline. And, I mean, if you listen to my show, you know I'm not really a fixed timeline kind of gal. [laugh] Like, that's just really not how I move through the world. I love to be flexible. 

I'm definitely one of those people that is like, time, what is time? It's a concept, right? I mean, I'm very happy, generally speaking, to go with the flow, and so when I relax my grip on the tight timeline for Time Witchery, I release so much of the frustration. And when I step into what I actually want to care about and privilege, I step into co-creativity and trust. I'm like, oh, it's going to arrive at exactly the right moment, and all of this extra time must be for something. There must be some opportunity in it, right?

There's something that happens when we realign with our values. Creativity is sparked, and I think creativity is sparked because we get curious, right? An obstacle becomes an opportunity. Instead of being frustrated by the way things are unfolding, it's like, oh, how is this asking me to remember what's most important? How is this asking me to realign with my values? Yeah?

So, have a look at that for yourself. In the place where you're frustrated, is part of the frustration coming from you holding onto a value that isn't really yours, or that maybe you've outgrown or you are outgrowing? Because, you know, frustration, maybe in one way, frustration is impeding our forward march. It's impeding our push. 

But frustration then is also allowing a pause. If we choose to see it as a pause, frustration is opening this space because we're not marching forward and we're not pushing forward. A space is open where we can kind of say, "OK, who am I, and what am I doing here, and what is actually most important to me?" It's this opportunity to be in fuller integrity with what really matters to us.

It's also an opportunity for what I think is another really important remedy for right now, which is rest. In a recent Sunday Letter, I shared that I was reading the book Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey, The Nap Ministry creator. And I got so many responses from people saying, "Oh, my gosh, I am too," and also, "Oh, my gosh, this is exactly what I deeply need."

I think part of the enough-is-enough is also we cannot continue on at this pace or in this way. Like, it is a good thing the forward march is frustrated because [laugh] I had no wherewithal to march anyway. Now, rest, of course, is deeply countercultural. Our dominant culture on the planet has a very fucked-up relationship with rest. In so many ways, our culture rewards us and conceives of us as human doings—not human beings but human doings—who are being productive, and working, and expending energy. 

I mean, frankly, it's bizarre [laugh] when you really think about it. There is a near-complete lack of acknowledgement that all of that doing has got to be fueled in some way, somehow. We really do have this sense—and, I mean, I guess, you know, it's in the way we treat our planet; it's in the way we treat our bodies—this sense that we and our habitat can give and give and give without receiving; that there's inexhaustible resourcefulness. 

You know, there's signs everywhere that, no, the resourcefulness is not inexhaustible. In fact, it is exhausted, and a rebalancing is called for in this moment. I'm feeling this, and I'm seeing this everywhere, a deep recharge is needed. A lower expenditure of energy is needed. 

And when we move into 2023, this bright new year, it's got to be with our own energy in a replenished place. And as we're building what's next, we've got to build into it more ease and spaciousness and sustainability, opportunity to keep charging and recharging. Yeah?

So, here's your query. Where is it that you are feeling called to receive? This could be in the very material realm. It could be I'm called to receive body work. I'm called to receive better nourishment, like food and water. It could be in a social realm. I'm called to receive more sexually, or I'm called to receive more emotionally. Maybe like I'm called to have support in my parenting or in my business or in my household.

Where are you called to receive more? And what is the rest that you're craving and also maybe that you're resisting? [laugh] I don’t know. If you're anything like me and so many of my friends, there is a call to rest, and you are not picking up [laugh], so. But where are you called to do that? Are you called to rest creatively? Is it time to just kind of take a break from creating so much and, instead, to receive inspiration from others?

It might be a time to take a course or read a book or explore something new to refill your creative reservoir. Maybe you are called to rest your body, or maybe you're called to rest emotionally, to receive rather than give so much emotionally. I think one way of figuring out where rest is called for is to notice where things are really hard right now. What is just really difficult and, in that place, how can I stop doing so much, and start allowing? How can I let it be as easy as possible?

And, you know, maybe that is really the best remedy I have to offer you for December. It's a remedy for always [laugh] but especially for this month. How can we just let it be easy? What does it look like if I let this be easy, if I trust that the easiest way is the best way, the easiest way to spend the holiday, the easiest way to bring the new offer into the world, the easiest way to approach this relationship? Like, what is it that takes the pressure off? What is it that, instead of asking so much of me, actually gives me time or gives me space or gives me support?

It's funny, as I say that, I can feel in my own self a little of that anxiousness that our culture injects into us around letting things be easy. Our no-pain-no-gain culture, our feel-the-burn culture is always, I think [laugh], wanting things to be hard, and telling us that we'll know it's good when it's hard. We'll know it's working, we'll know it's effective when it's really difficult and challenging. 

But, my goodness, if 2022 has taught me anything, it has been that letting it be easy is key to sustainable, well-resourced magic, because what I've found is that when I'm not holding on so tightly, I'm able to be more flexible, more receptive. I'm able more easily to remember what really matters, and to edit and shift and change my approach so that what matters is at the heart of what I'm doing.

And, for me, I will just say in closing [laugh], that is what December is really here for for us, is a recalibration. Like, where is there pressure, and how I can relieve that pressure by letting things be easy? Where is there exhaustion, and how can I relieve that exhaustion by receiving or by resting? Where am I feeling this enough-is-enough, and may I please trust that I don't actually have to push through in this space? 

I can instead pause, recalibrate, remember what really matters to me, the values that are important to me, the way that I want to be in the world, rather than the things that I want to do in the world. This month, every obstacle is actually an opportunity to remember what matters, to check in and to be sure that we are being who we want to be, that we are walking our talk. 

And, yes, that is going to require and build so much trust: trust in the process; trust in yourself; trust in the universe. That is going to [laugh] call on but I think also enhance our patience—patience—our ability to be with what is, and the courage we need to take our time, and to move with great integrity as we create what's next.

All right, my love. I hope that this little experiment of an episode, your December Vibes, Queries, and Remedies, I hope you found it useful, and I hope you really heard and felt in your bones that idea that you could just, in this moment, let things be easy. You could just take your time. You could just rest your eyes, your heart, your hands a moment. You could see what happens when you let go of the pressure to rush and to push, and you open to receiving and resting.

I promise you, I am right here doing it with you. As always, thank you so much for listening. Bye now.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Mind Witchery. To catch all the magic I’m offering, please subscribe to the show, or if you want a little bit of weekly witchiness in your inbox, sign up for my Sunday Letter at mindwitchery.com. If today’s episode made you think of a friend or loved one, your sister, your neighbor, please tell them about it. We need more magic-makers in this troubled world. 

Like all good things, this podcast is co-created by stellar people. Our music is by fabulous DJ, artist, and producer, Shammy Dee. Our gorgeous art is by the sorcerers at New Moon Creative. Mind Witchery is produced in conjunction with Particulate Media, K.O. Myers, executive producer. And I am Natalie Miller. Till next time. 

End of recording