Uncharted Diving- Unbuckle Stress & Hand It Up

Recent photo of the Northern Lights
over Southern Oklahoma

Despite seeking solace in God, reading, and my beloved LOTR-inspired activities, lately my mind and body have still been carrying stress. It feels like a diver's weight belt, pulling me down in my efforts to find peace. As you know, a weight belt in scuba diving is designed to counteract the buoyancy of the diver's body and equipment. To get out of the water and into a boat, you must unbuckle your weight belt and hand it up to someone else so you can climb out of the water. But I've been struggling emotionally to unbuckle it and hand it up, ya know? I've never considered myself an anxious person, but last night while sitting in silence, I saw my mind working through a "what-if" problem, and I was able to name that emotion exactly. I've realized I must find some peace. In prayer last night, a mantra came to my heart: "Calm amidst chaos." 

For a few weeks I've been flirting with the idea of this new season of life that I'm moving into. While the popular "soft life" trend online sounded good, it didn't quite resonate with my deepest desire and shift towards serenity. However, after some contemplation, I greatly desire to move into a season of life that I've affectionately named.

Welcome to my Serene Soul Season!

I'm updating my life to prioritize what brings peace to my soul. Not only do I want to hand my stress “weight-belt” to God more fully, but I will be refusing to carry some additional weights. During this season, I'm distancing myself from rage-bait news and controversies, TV/Movie drama, angry and hateful people, as well as a lot of the unrest around me. If something doesn't bring me peace, I'm limiting my time with it. I can hear people say, "But, what about all the challenges that need addressing? We've got to stay in the mix and vigilant!" To that, I recognize and reply: I can't patch every hole in humanity's quilt. You may choose one hole, and I will choose another. This doesn't diminish the worthiness of your efforts; it simply allows me to pursue mine more wholeheartedly.

These past few LOTR months have taught me that I want to spend more quality time with myself. I want to put my cell phone away and enjoy peaceful activities, especially to enjoy those easy relationships with loved ones and friends. To be honest, my energy is more limited as I've been aging.

I found Toni Jones spoken song, "Energy Budget" a while back and it seems the lyrics have been working on my heart over the years. For background, Toni Jones is a spoken word artist and musician known for her soulful and introspective performances. I deeply feel drawn to sentiments such as, 

"I explore a healthy relationship between my emotions and boundaries; If they feel like home and they feel safe to be around, I spend more time with that type," 

and

"I emit my own frequency and monitor how much energy I absorb from events, social media, textin', conversations, entertainment, and thinking," 

then there's,  

"I have accepted the aligned tribe. I now know that the toxic energy of those close to me are not alchemized by my spiritual relationship. With myself and kindness towards them and with a swiftness and humility, I bow outta that and let their life be their teacher," 

and finally, 

"I am surrounded only by others who feel like honey."

Maybe something in this speaks to you also? We've all heard the common ideas that most people use to gain peace like limiting social media and news while adding meditation and religious practice, nature walks or yoga, journaling and gratitude, creative expression, and acts of kindness. Yes, good things. Let's do those - however, I needed some different ideas. So here are some unique ones I'm considering:

1.     Stargazing Sessions: Choose one night weekly for moonlight reflection under the stars, fostering wonder and perspective. I had one of these moments last week when I was able to see the Northern Lights! Also, during the full moon each month, I've been trying to get out and enjoy "Moonlight Reflections." This month, the full moon is called the Flower Moon.

2.     Random Acts of Creativity: Engage in spontaneous creativity weekly. This could be public art, musical improvisation or inventing new recipes. Sometimes I take a moment to stack little pebbles into a cairn of sorts. I also zendoodle in my journal sometimes and color.

3.     Adventure Day: Plan to explore a new place to stimulate your soul. This can cultivate curiosity and discovery. It also changes your scenery up a bit more and gives you something to look forward too!

4.     Botanical Illustrations: Dedicate time each week to sketching and studying medicinal plants capturing their beauty and healing properties. I’m inspired to try this because of Aragorn's herbalism knowledge – he happens to be my character focus for May’s LOTR month.

5.     Qi Gong: Embark on a gentle movement practice like Qi Gong to promote relaxation, flexibility, and well-being for your body and mind. This practice, unlike cardio, helps us to slow down so we can reduce our cortisol.

6.   Serenity Soaks: Set aside a weekly time for a calming bath ritual, using the act of washing away physical tension as a metaphor for surrendering your stress to the Everlasting. [my lovename* for God] Add soothing essential oils or bath salts. And don't think! Just unwind and find peace.

Anyway, thanks for reading as I embark on my Serene Soul Season and redefine my life to prioritize peace and tranquility. This isn't just about doing some common practices to be more peaceful; for my health, I really have to embrace a whole new way of living—one that's centered around joy, calmness, and connection. As always, I invite you to join me on a journey of discovery and transformation. Let's explore the wonders of stargazing, the freedom of creative expression, and the thrill of adventure. Let's surrender our stress to the Everlasting in our Serenity Soaks, allowing ourselves to unwind and find peace in the soothing embrace of warm water and gentle aromas. Now is a great time to create a sanctuary —a place where to live in our serene soul season. Will you join me?

Another photo of the Northern Lights over my rooftop

 *lovename - the affectionate nickname I have for God/Jesus.