Ever so often, I think it's healthy to enter a stage of introspection and self-evaluation. This process allows us to look at ourselves more clearly, to assess our lives and decide what works and what doesn't.
During my recent blog and social media silence (mostly silent, anyway), I have been going through just such a period.
Life has improved greatly, in so many ways, since our move a month ago, but as the external stress evaporated, I found myself, at first, grasping at old habits and routines. Tried and true methods of living that have served me well -- or so I had thought -- for years.
One of the things I returned to was the FlyLady system.
I have fluttered and flown, using her wonderful system of babysteps and the mantra "You can do anything for 15 minutes" for more years than I can count. Her system helped me get control of household clutter and develop habits that continue to serve me well even now.
I have come to realize though, that although certain parts of her system contine to serve me, that other parts of the system do not.
The key to the system is to set a timer for 15 minutes and accomplish tasks as quickly as possible. For people that detest doing household chores, there is an immense logic in this approach. For me, however, I realized that I have been training myself to rush through tasks that, for me, need to be a more leisure activity.
Part of the reason I began to focus on household witchcraft is because I enjoy the process of caring for my home and family. It brings me satisfaction to have people compliment me on my home, in any fashion, be it a compliment on the cleanliness, the decor, or the overall vibe.
Granted, when I began the FlyLady system, I didn't enjoy housework. Raising Witchlet, who has learning disabities as well as emotional challenges, and helping a close friend raise her 3 special-needs children, I was often over-whelmed by my home. The house was out of control and the thought of bringing it to heel seemed huge. FlyLady helped me get a handle on things and also helped me to find the joy in my role as Domestic Diva, and that led me to seek out Domestic Pagan practices.
I suppose you could say that the FlyLady helped me find my spiritual path.
Even so, now that my house is under control, I find myself reluctant to rush through my daily chores.
As I began the "Weekly Home Blessing" hour earlier this week (another FlyLady trademark), I found myself feeling skittish and nervous. After giving the source of these feelings some thought I realized that to me, a "Home Blessing" should have a very different feeling to it.
I love the concept of the FlyLady way, but I don't want to rush through it. Rushing means that I'm setting aside the "blessing" part and it becomes just a flowery term for cleaning.
As a Domestic Pagan, the very act of caring for my home is spiritual. If I'm rushing, I'm not actually "blessing" anything.
So, in my true eclectic fashion, that is one area of my life where I'm taking the parts that work for me and leaving the rest.
That's one of the beautiful ideals of Paganism, in my opinion. The concept that it's perfectly ok to run out and learn all types of things, from every aspect of life, and keep what works for you without feeling stuck in rigid rules, concepts or ideals that don't serve the person you want to be.
Even at 38, I'm still learning and growing. Still adjusting and adapting the person I want to be, and I'm ok with that.
Of course, this isn't the only change I've been embracing, but it is one of the most relevant to this blog.
Have you experienced or learned something and then decided that it (or parts of it) no longer serve who you want to be?
Blessings,
Rayven
