A Reminder, Once Again, of My Many Blessings

Following the record levels of snow, my region is now experiencing record levels of flooding. People are being evacuated, homes are sliding down hills, water treatment and power plants are being threatened.

Yesterday I saw yet another article about recession and hundreds of thousands more layoffs.

I have friends on LJ and elsewhere who are unemployed, struggling with extreme physical health challenges, serving in a war zone, have recently lost loved ones, and whose children are facing huge, painful challenges.

Grief and hardship are not competitive, not somehow legitimized or rendered meaningless by how extreme they are compared to someone else's suffering. . . but last night and this morning I have been sobered by my many blessings: a warm, dry house on a hill, a job at a company that isn't doing layoffs, a daughter who is healthy and happy. . . Even my profound grief has been healing over time, and I am more and more comforted by the sure knowledge that I have not lost my beloved forever.

Let's all be careful out there, folks -- and be excellent to each other. . . If we have the opportunity to be kind, to be generous, to do anything to lift another up -- whether with a hand or a smile or a prayer, or a contribution of money or clothing or food for those in need, let's do so.

Need a Little Surrealism Today?

This purports to be a Toyota commercial. . . but I don't see it as presenting the car as the actual object of desire. . . .

Yikes!

Dance Adventure

With the exception of square and contra dancing (neither of which I've done since college), I've never been comfortable with dance -- but one of the delightful aspects of my relationship with uncrowned_king was his penchant for sweeping me into a dance in my very small kitchen. We were going to take a ballroom dancing class together.

Now Wolfling has started doing salsa and loving it, and I'm reading a memoir called Faith in Carlos Gomez, in which a woman whose physical self image is very similar to mine, and who feels very isolated from people in general, finds her life opening up when she gets involved in salsa.

And yesterday jillwheezul gave me some very wise insights about the desireability of my embracing joy and whatever "special" is coming to me.

So. . . this will be my next adventure:

4-1-1 Introductory Sampler ($49.95 per person)

If you are new to ballroom dancing, our sampler is a great way to try the numerous popular dance styles available today. Our sampler includes:

4 half hour private lessons
1 group class
1 party

If I don't report back on my private lesson schedule in the next few days, please pester me!

Cowabunga!

Private Dance Class
Tomorrow Night
6:00pm





ETA: Walking out to my car, I was sure I could hear a very large wolf rumbling with pleasure.

New Perspectives

Wow. . . I was unprepared for the one-two shot from the universe today.

First, on the subject of "weight loss" -- which I put in quotes because while I do want to lose weight, I do think about it in a holistic way: better eating habits, more exercise, more water, and etc. Today on FetLife, I found a post from someone asking what group members thought about "weight loss as an ordeal" -- and my ears pricked up.

One of the big challenges I have around improving my physical lifestyle habits is that I don't have any emotional energy around it. I've never been physically vain, and I don't have any important goals that are impacted by my physical condition (except insofar as any activity or goal is impacted by one's physical self), so it's always been a challenge for me to stay motivated. But framing it as a spiritual ordeal could be a valuable, vital paradigm shift. This is something I just happened on this afternoon, so I'll have to sit with it for a while and discuss it with my ordeal mistress (Ereshkigal), but I'm intrigued by the potentials.

The other shift is, of course, this sudden strong desire to try dancing. I see it as a direct consequence of my recent conversation with Ereshkigal and Her urging me to get in touch with Inanna and embrace passion. But it also builds on Wolfling's new-found love for salsa, and her desire to get me involved, reading Faith in Carlos Gomez, and jillwheezul's affirmation of embracing life. . .

I don't want to get too excited about any of this, because I hate my tendency to go head-over-heels and then burn out when things get challenging. . . but as I write that I think about my perserverance in staying with my priestess training for a year and a half, so maybe I'm starting to gain some resilience.

However either of these paths go, I want them to be joyous. I supposes there's always a time on any path when one has to simply grit one's teeth and keep going, but I want my overall approach to be gentle and joyous. And if you're asking how an "ordeal" can be "gentle and joyous" -- well, I'm kinky, and I'm pretty sure I know what that kind of space feels like.


More bulletins as events warrant. . .