I’ve been trying something new this year. Instead of trying to be more productive or radically change [fill in the blank], I’m focusing more on FLOW and JOY. I wake up every morning and give myself a few minutes to transition from the world of dreams to the world of yoga stretches and the ritual of dressing for the day ahead. Cat cuddles are involved in the process. So is marinating on the night’s previous dreams as I snuggle in warm blankets. In a few minutes, I’m lured out of bed by the promise of coffee and whatever excites me for the day—time to write, family visits, a new lesson plan, a seed catalog to pour over, or just another morning full of possibility.
It has taken me time to find my flow again in a post-pandemic world. It is time to feel excited to greet the day and time to get inspired for new adventures and experiences, even if they are just sacred simple pleasures, which are what I’ve been gravitating to more over Big Excitements.
“It is no small thing,” as Tolkien reminds us, “to celebrate a simple life.”
This feels especially true this year as we are grappling with so much politically and socially. It’s easy to get lost in the doom and gloom of the moment, but that doesn’t really do much to help things. Instead, I find hope in the people I collaborate with who make our communities more equitable. I find joy in seeing these same communities thrive despite the issues that might thwart our progress. And I find immense satisfaction in helping people forge connections in this world that so often seems divisive, fraught, and isolationist. That’s just all in a day’s work—and an integral part of magical living.
Still, I wouldn’t be able to do all that without first filling my own cup. I’m reminded of the Star in the tarot. She is one of the radical self-care cards of the tarot deck. She asks you to nourish yourself first before giving out to others—and to be careful how much you give. I bask in this wisdom as I recover from pandemic-related burnout and the difficulties of working in higher ed, where over-work is glamourized. The Star offers us perspective—a bigger worldview and a reminder that things won’t always be this difficult. In fact, she is the card I drew in 2020 when we went into our first lockdown. Be gentle, be soft, go slow…that is her medicine.
And so I think of her again, now in a much better place than in 2020, and find gratitude in her wisdom. I’m learning how to flow and better listen to myself and my needs. I’m relishing the art of finding joy in the little things—and it is an art, as I literally rewire my default pandemic settings to look for the flaw, the potential problem, or, worse, echoes of past mistakes that I can’t do a thing about. Now? I do what the Star suggests and look at the Big Picture. Nothing’s perfect in the world, but that doesn’t mean life can’t be filled with wonder and connection.
I even find medicine in the plot twists and setbacks.
Take the first week of the spring term. My computer stopped working. Then, the office printer. Then my lamps. AND THEN my car died, thanks to record temperature lows. It would be easy to get frustrated at all these setbacks or wonder about Mercury in Retrograde. Instead, I used them as opportunities. I got to know my campus IT person better and had a chance to chat with my favorite colleagues when I moved to another place to print out my class handouts. I also expressed gratitude for the fact that I always prepare my lesson plans in advance just in case anything like this ever happens. Yay, for past Maria! So, really…there was nothing to stress about, and it's better that these issues got resolved now before the term got busier. Energetically?
It cleared out the last of the stagnant energy from the past few years.
It was also a real gift that my car wouldn’t start on a day when I could work from home. No pressing meetings or in-person classes made it so that a really stressful situation ended up being a cozy day at home, drinking copious amounts of tea and working in my yoga pants until my car was ready for pickup. Now it drives like a dream, even through the snow we’ve been lucky enough to have these past few weeks. Lunch was a warm bowl of mushroom soup, and each completed task was punctuated by belly rubs (my familiars’, not mine). As for my lamps…well, I think I needed to shine a new light on my life.
It’s all about perspective and I’ve been shifting mine to find the light in these difficult times.
This is what FLOW is…leaning into daily life, with all its ups and downs, reading the signs and synchronicities, listening to your energy shifts so that you can cultivate a soul-nourishing life. As I finish writing this, I’m sitting in one of my favorite coffee shops, enjoying the cozy light as I watch snow fall outside. This, too, slows me down, and I’m grateful for the gentle hush that washes over our city and the way the world seems to soften against a backdrop of snow.
So this year, why not make FLOW and JOY your focus and see how your life unfolds. As I often say, the more we open ourselves to the magic all around us, the more we find. Isn’t that wonderful?
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