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Recent photo of the Northern Lights
over Southern Oklahoma |
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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?
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Another photo of the Northern Lights over my rooftop
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*lovename - the affectionate nickname I have for God/Jesus.
