The past few weeks have been emotional and created a fair amount of soul searching. Part of the emotion is the aftermath of Katrina, part related to politics and the future for the United States as we believed in it, and part is related to my personal and work life. Details are not important as to why or what disturbed my life. All details are the different and yet the same for all of us – important to us…and that is the important part.
When I tossed all three parts into the pot I call my life – well the low simmer of my daily life became a rolling boil of emotion.
-Perhaps I keep too many things inside of me.
-Perhaps I take things too personally.
-Perhaps I just need to re-evaluate my priorities periodically – and it takes a kick in the butt to get me thinking about them.
Tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox – a time for evaluating the summer harvest and a time for preparing for the ending of this year. The Celtic Pagan years end on Samhain – October 31. A short 5+ weeks from now. So this year I have the usual questions but I also have new questions to ponder….
-Is my home ready for the winter?
-Is my home ready for an emergency? – NEW
-Is my family safe and healthy in preparation for the winter?
-Are my finances in order in case of an emergency? – NEW
-Is my heart at peace with my actions this past year?
-Have I hurt anyone – intentionally or unintentionally – that I should work with to make amends?
-Have I made efforts to help others openly and freely – without need for acknowledgement?
-Have I practiced random acts of kindness this year?
-Have I updated my journals with major items that occurred during the past year?
-What do I hope to accomplish in the new year – as a person, at work, in life generally?
So – this is more abstract than anything today and another checklist for me to keep referring back to occasionally. Others may not feel so – but I find that time flies quickly these days. The next 5 weeks will be shorter than I would like.
Tomorrow will be a celebration of the end of summer and a beginning of my preparation for nesting at home this winter. Please join me if you would like in the review of the year.
Crossposted at The Village Blue
Lovely, and what a great checklist — practical and humane and spiritual.
I second the sentiment, thanks SallyCat & I hope you have a wonderful Equinox!
SallyCat — I am looking for new ways to perform my equinox rituals — any suggestions?
They are usually low-key and involve candles and reflections and lots of sky-gazing ….. but this year I’d like to add a little more, maybe something the kiddos can do with me…
Generally we celebrate with a dinner of locally grown foods in recognition of the harvest. If the date doesn’t correspond with the farmer’s market for us – I just go to the organic foods section at the grocery store. Everyone participates in the process and we talk about the cycle of food – sowing, growing, and harvesting. My grandkids love this part because their family grows a lot of their own vegetables.
Since this is a celebration of abundance it also is a time of sharing…
Sharing abundance and harvest either by including friends in the dinner or giving to others. This year we will be making a donation of cash to the Baton Rouge, LA food bank. In previous years we’ve accumulated food boxes and taken them to the local food bank.
http://www.brfoodbank.org/index.shtml
Other areas – http://www.secondharvest.org
Type in the State on Second Harvest website and find a food bank near where you want to donate. There are lots of affiliated food banks.
Thanks!!
Here it means running around and asking the kids, “So where are all the *&^%ing mittens and g-ddamn gloves?!?!?!” while running around like our hair is on fire trying to get ready for that first frost and all before the bus arrives. ACK!!! 🙂
Namaste SallyCat
I wish you confidence, peace, clarity, passion, and justice. May your preparations go well, may your review be heartening and fruitful, may your path be smooth enough to enjoy and bumpy enough to challenge.
at SoulForce. I follow a lot of the progress that is made there and updates. It seems to me that you are making your own contributions to the abundance this season with your work.
Peace