Dear friend,
Hello!!!
These are getting challenging by the moment. I wouldn’t say I’m running out of steam or things to say. More like: How to say things??? What am I saying and why am I saying it??? The same questions that came to the fore when I started this challenge.
😅
It’s been 11 days of doing this, and... it’s been nice!!!
• Challenges like this are still new-ish for me. I can see how people might enjoy taking on programmes and routines regularly that last a significant period to see how they can push themselves to do things, healthily so. It does have a positive effect on your mindset and I like that these things can be very grounding too.
• I like challenges like this especially when it’s connected to your craft and passions, when you want to learn something new or teach yourself to do things differently. Like a ‘Resolutions’ thing.
• The challenges I’ve done are a motley crew: personal art projects (Women of My World); meditating, every day for a whole year (and I’m not stopping! completed a year in August and I will not jump ship anytime soon); journalling every day for a month (it’s been 3 years now); cutting out Coca-Cola for a year (this led me to quit it completely!!! Inshallah it stays); commit to practising/studying Italian, daily (I was finding the language hard and wasn’t taking to it. This, until I went to an Italian restaurant, recently, and voilà! I could recognise words on the menu. This had me commit in a new way!!!); journal prompts focusing on a certain area or theme (some have been a two-week thing, some - a month) etc. These are the ones that have been most significant for me.
• See, the reason for me leaning in is because I did enjoy these Virgo-y things from the time I was a kid. As I grew into the years, I felt self-conscious about tending to my nerdy/geeky side unabashedly. I dialled it down, and my self-esteem issues took precedence. To the outside world, if it feels like I’m a kid now, really giving in to this ‘inner child’ energy, so be it! Imum Coeli. Fourth House. Roots. I am tending to my Foundation stones. :-) [It has been cool to see many others in my spheres follow their inner Light and passions too. Some are women (single at that! delightfully secure! très inspiring!) and most are in their 30s and above. I can’t speak on the behalf of attached women, I’ve been single for yonks so I can speak on that.]
• The outcomes from these challenges are - 1. They ground me, they help me tune all the way in; 2. They’ve helped me on my self-awareness, self-care and self-discovery journey; 3. They’ve revived in me things I believe I had lost or left behind; 4. It’s helped me tuck into my purpose, what I’m passionate about; 5. It’s shown me how much more Life can be when you remember who you are and why you came here (an awe-inspiring feeling); 6. It feels good to tuck into different self-care and therapeutic tools that not only help you be better but also that you can inculcate into your Practice as ‘everyday elixirs.’
• Rituals are sacred, sacred things. And being human in this strange world needs us to have something to hold on to, that helps brighten us, carry our hearts and lighten loads. Your rituals are akin to a self-care habit that restores and soothes you, a crystal you hold dear, a Talisman, a journal or crew of them that makes up your Keys. Codes. Secrets. Thoughts and things.
• Before summing up, I gotta say - a lot of this started on a self-accountability, ‘I wanna feel/be productive’ level but it truly is so much more than that now.
I am glad I could write about this. My ‘Daily Divination’ spread (the one I do for myself) had a subtle Bonfire theme going on today and it goes with this energy. Celebrating new things! Habits! Selves! Marshmallows abound, toasting to the new.
🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘
Roanna