Moon vibes, lit gatherings, and breaking the monotony of everyday life

My partner came up with a date night idea that we'd never done together. A first for him, and a distant memory for me, he took me to a literary dive bar in the East Village. What we did was attend a literary gathering of intellectuals and witchy-oriented fellow moon lovers.We arrived early, at the same time as the host for the evening Andie(Andy?), for this reading and literary celebration of the lit mag Luna Luna's fourth birthday. I'd been to KGB Bar once before, for a quick drink. But never for their At the Inkwell reading series.To recap, my partner brought me to a literary dive bar, for a reading series, to celebrate the anniversary of a lit mag that has a name that literally means "moon moon", and the night had Wiccan, witchy, female overtones and themes. This was a one-two-three-four punch of a number of my favorite things.I don't remember the last time I was at a book reading. Perhaps April 2016 for a Nick Offerman reading which was in a massive theater in Journal Square, Jersey City, and more of a celebrity appearance rather than an intimate gathering. Oh, more recently than that I attended a truly intimate and wonderful reading of "Under the Hallow" from Flynn Berry, a fellow literary fiend who I actually know from childhood. That was June 2016. Still, I'm sensing a pattern, which is I don't attend readings frequently enough, let alone read at one myself. I'm a bold and brazen lover of public speaking, yet I've never read my own work out loud other than in my bedroom to one person. Max.Exposure to like-minded individuals interested in delving the depths of such subject matters as femininity and the moon, not to mention seeing earnest and confident readers sharing their work was heartening. Why can't I do this? Why can't I attend these type of events, share a peek into my soul and put myself and my work out there?Nothing says I can't. I just don't.The reading and the entire atmosphere was out of my comfort zone. I'm obsessed with all matters lunar and am absolutely a witch-positive individual. But I'm by no means a Wiccan or a practitioner of the occult. Being amongst different yet like-minded people felt good. Uncomfortable but quite necessary.Which is a good reminder for all of us trying to pursue our creative musings.Being comfortable is a great feeling, cozy, warm and yes, comforting. It's easy and it feels good. But it's not exactly the most suitable environment for nurturing growth. When we vacate our long-standing notions, and when we go out on a proverbial limb (or to a witchy-themed East Village lit reading) we surround ourselves with new ways of thinking. And with those individual new ways of thinking we get happily exposed to new people's vibrations and energies. It's a good thing.Vibey, indeed.This has been a year of many firsts. And I love the idea of breaking the monotonous complaining so prevalent in or generation in these proverbial (and quite annoying) "digital times." Every day can, in fact, be a new day. Do something different by taking a different street to get to the train, listening to a different song, or striking up a conversation with a stranger. It's not necessarily for all personality types to do so, but try putting yourself out there. If you want to achieve different results, it's true what "they" say. You have to try a different course of action.Personal goal: never stop trying to do something different. I did this week and it made me go back and look at my body of work. Turns out, I have five poems centered around the moon or drawing on lunar imagery. I've got a new project for the next week or so and that's to revisit this specific work, clean it up, make it nice and as complete as I can and submit, submit, submit.Why not, right?Onto the next phase.