I'm a fan of bite-sized activities because 1) I get bored easily and 2) I'm lazy. Bite-sized activities are also great for peeps who already have tons of stuff on their to-do lists. 

With the summer solstice coming up on June 20, I thought it'd be fitting to throw out some mini ideas on how to celebrate the longest day of the year. 

I'd love to plan and participate in a full-on summer solstice ritual, but chances are I'm not going to do either of those. I will, however, charge my crystals under the full strawberry moon (aka hot moon, rose moon, sheep moon) and celebrate this joyous time of year with some of these suggestions (some suggestions adapted from James Kambos' Summer Solstice essay in The Witches' Datebook 2016). 

☼ Watch the sun rise. If you're a morning person, this will be easy. Even if you're not a morning person, if you have to be up early anyway (for work or other obligations), wake up a bit earlier, just this one day, and enjoy the sun rise. Savor how it colors the sky and give thanks for its illuminating, life-giving light.

☼ Surround yourself with sun symbols. Draw them, paint them, wear them.

☼ Invigorate with citrus. Arrange oranges and lemons in a bowl. Use citrus fruits in your breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Bathe or adorn yourself in citrus scents. In fact, if you spritz on a little citrus or inhale an orange/lemon/lime, you'll perk up and be able to watch that sun rise. 

☼ Serve your food on brightly colored dishes. 

☼ Change your bedding/table cloth/bath towels to reflect bold, bright summer colors.

☼ Eat lunch outside and let the sun bathe you in its warmth. This is especially nice when you work in a cold office. 

☼ Sip on ice cold lemonade.

☼ Admire plants and flowers. Notice how they grow towards the sun. Whisper a wish into the flower petals. Dig your hands into the dirt.

☼ Wear bright colors. Technically, the color correspondence for June 20 is ivory, but you could compliment with orange, yellow, and red.

☼ Light a yellow, orange, or gold candle. Watch the flame and think about all the gifts the sun gives us. Give thanks for a beautiful summer solstice.

​Perusing through my Pinterest feed, I came across this quote:
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It got me thinking, what does it mean to "stay in your magic"? And what is your magic, anyway? 

So one day when the electricity was out, I sat down with pen and paper and made some notes. Here's what I came up with.
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When life gets tricky, chaotic, dark, angry, messy - as it always does - you have to remain true to you. You gotta stay in your magic! 
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First things first! When life feels a little unstable, a little off, check in with yourself. Many times, our lives can get tricky when we're not listening to our callings, our passions, our intuition. Is your higher self/spirit/inner wise self trying to tell you something?

Sometimes it feels like a nagging or one of those pesky gnats that fly around your eyeballs and drives you crazy. You keep swatting at it, thinking you've finally gotten rid of it, but it always comes back. It's tiny, but it knows how to get your attention and you better believe it's not going anywhere until you recognize. 

That's how our higher selves are sometimes. It can be quiet and gently nudge you to go a certain way or, if you continue to swat at it, it can ​fly straight into your eyeball or up your nose and cause all kinds of panic.

Don't panic, darling. Just listen. That's all it wants. And I guarantee when you listen to your spirit (your awesome, wise, magical self), and move in the direction it wants you to, life will get all kinds of spectacular. A little scary? Maybe. But well worth it.

Some easy ways to check in with yourself:
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• Meditate a little each day
• Journal, let it all pour out
• Notice the stirrings in your heart. Ask yourself, if I could do anything right this moment, what would it be?
• Notice when you feel envy. Why? What is it about that person/situation that makes you feel envious? 

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Staying in your magic means loving who you are and staying true to that person, no matter what's trendy or societally accepted or considered beautiful/smart/successful. 

You gotta do you. Think about it - you're the only person on the planet like you. Sure, we're all similar in some ways and there are people out there who enjoy/hate the same things as you, BUT there's no one who looks exactly like you or talks like you or sashays down the street like you. That's pretty cool, don't you think?

When life gets topsy turvy and weird, just go with it. Shine your light in this crazy world. It needs your magic!
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When you find that thing you love to do, do it. Even if you only have five minutes a day to do so, use that precious time to do it, whatever it is: painting, writing, reading, dancing, smooching, walking, gardening, cooking, coloring.

To stay in your magic you have to follow your bliss. Otherwise, the hours and days pass with little meaning, ruts happen, life gets tricky. And even when it does get tricky, at least you'll have your bliss to hold onto.
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I believe we're all well aware of the pain and darkness this world holds. I've seen it with my own two eyes and it ain't pretty. I feel like a lot of people cover their eyes to the darkness or try and put a bandage on it or turn away and pretend like it's not happening.

I say we acknowledge the dark parts and walk into the shadows as beams of light. 

Life is tricky for everyone, some more than others. To stay in your magic is to make life a little less tricky for those around you. 

Make someone smile, give compliments freely, share your gifts and resources and time and money, lend a helping hand. Shine a little light in the darkness. It won't make it all go away, but it will be like the silver lining of a rain cloud and may help someone more than you will ever know.
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I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a huge fan of change. It's hard, mostly inconvenient, tricky. But, as the old saying goes, the only thing that's constant is change. Might as well get used to it, flow with it, be open to it.

The good thing about change is that it usually leads to better things. I can't say it always does because nothing is black and white, but even when the situation seems bleak, you can take away lessons from it. You can grow from it.

Here are some great quotes about change:

To stay in your magic you must also stay in gratitude. Why? Because gratitude is what fills your heart and soul up so completely that even when in the trickiest, darkest moments of life you will feel lifted up. In fact, it's especially important to find gratitude in your darkest moments. When you can't be the light, let your blessings shine. 

Uncover the beautiful, happy, funny things/moments/people in your life. Let them lift you up.

Seek out the wild and magical places that fill your heart with gratitude. 

At the end of each day, recount what you loved about the day. Write them down, share them, or keep them swirling around in your mind. Let them guide your dreams.

So that's that, my friend. Remember your magic, stay in your magic, and all will be well.


Photo Credits: Image 1/Pinterest | Image 2/Wildfox | Image 3/The Wheat Field