The new moon is rising in the sky tonight, and on some calendars, it’s not only a new moon, it’s the first day of a Blue Moon cycle.

There’s a difference of opinion as to what constitutes a Blue Moon.  Common belief holds that a Blue Moon is the second full moon to fall in the month, whereas almanacs generally define it as the third full moon in a season in which four full moons occur.  Regardless of how you calculate it, a Blue Moon usually shows up every two or three years.  I choose to follow the common belief; since we’ll have two full moons this August, today starts the Blue Moon cycle.

Why, you may be wondering, do I care what moon it is?  Because I’m using it as a focal point for some projects I’m planning — including kick-starting this blog.

However a Blue Moon is defined, there seems to be an agreement as to what it means — the remembrance of things past, the release of outdated and unneeded baggage, a realignment of priorities.

During this Blue Moon, I’m going to do all three.  Look back on things in my past and share some of them with anyone reading, release things from my life, and select some new priorities for the next few months.

In keeping with those themes, I started in today on the ‘release’ portion of the program.  Over the years, I’ve accumulated papers — school-work, career-notes, articles-of-interest.  Sixteen boxes worth, to be exact.  By the end of the Moon, I want to be down to no more than two boxes – one if I can manage it.  And so tonight, I went through two of those boxes, and after scanning pages into my computer and shredding the leftovers, I have a three-inch stack of paper left.

It’s a start.