The River That Carries Us (& a few words about today’s New Moon in Taurus)

Photo: The wild white water rapids of the Madison River churning and flowing. Ennis, Montana (2007). Copyright SJPhotography.

The River That Carries Us (and a few words about today’s New Moon in Taurus)

I’ve been trying to complete this edition all weekend, but I’ve been living in a strange liminal place – one where the old urgency is gone, and peace feels both beautiful and disorienting. I’m not creating from survival anymore. And that’s a radical shift for me.

Maybe that’s why I noticed the moon this time.

So… I’m just gonna start by saying, I am not one of those people who track every moon phase and know what house it’s in and what ritual you’re supposed to do. Half the time I don’t even know the new moon is here until someone mentions it.

But today… this one – this New Moon in Taurus – it’s powerful. Not in an overwhelming way but just… deeply felt. There’s been this humming or soft vibration happening in my body, and it’s disconcerting in many ways. It’s like a quiet earthquake happening inside my body. And maybe you’re feeling it too.

So I thought I’d come on here and speak to it – not as some moon expert, but as someone who's deep in it, right now. Feeling big shifts, big emotions, big letting go.

And what I want to say is… this New Moon feels like an invitation. Not a demand. Not a checklist. Just a gentle, body-level whisper that’s saying: You can let go now. You don’t have to keep holding on so tight.

Because if you’ve been living in survival mode. If you’ve had to scan, hustle, perform, over-function just to feel safe or accepted, then you know how hard it is to actually stop that pattern – that way of being. To trust, and rest, and to unclench.

And that’s what I’m going through right now. Some days I feel like I’m floating. Other days, I am face down in the mud with all my triggers screaming at me. It’s messy. It’s not graceful. But it’s real.

And this New Moon energy feels like it’s saying: You’re allowed to be exactly where you are. You belong here – because you are. No performance required.

I keep thinking of the story of the river creature from Illusions by Richard Bach. It’s stuck with me for years. Maybe you’ve heard it, maybe not – but I want to tell it here, because it fits what this moment feels like.

So... there’s this creature who lives at the bottom of a great crystal river. And like all the other creatures in the river, it clings tightly to the rocks.

That’s what they all do because the current is strong, and letting go feels dangerous. That’s how they survive – by holding on.

But this one creature… starts to wonder what would happen if I let go?

The others warn her, Don’t even think about it. The current will smash you against the rocks, and you’ll die.

But something in her knows – it’s time.

So one day, trembling and scared, she lets go.

And yeah – it’s brutal at first. She gets slammed around, tossed, and thrown against the bottom. She doesn’t know if she’s going to make it.

But then… something shifts. The current lifts her. She’s not fighting anymore. She’s floating.

And as she moves downstream, the others look up in awe and say Look! A miracle! A river creature who flies!

But she says, I’m not a miracle. I just stopped clinging. The river carries us all… when we let it.