Day 110/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: light.
Sacred space and sacred time. It's autumn. Nature's cycle turns inwards, the trees begin to lose their leaves, the sap return to the roots and the rejuvenation process begins anew.
Cosy in my bed, a late thunderstorm crashing about, lighting up the sky above, rain falling heavily on my potted succulent garden as I observe the new day through my bedroom windows.
It's cool, the temperature is dropping daily and today it might be time to retrieve the heaters from their hiding place in the storage room.
Making sacred space to be still in the world is usually an effort.
Fitting it into my busy days, grasping for some "me" time, then stilling my mind...these things in the passed were very much an effort that I needed to practice.
Find peaceful places, a park bench in a beautiful garden, a secluded garden cafe, a secret spot on the beach, a walk through a bushland track to spend an hour of quiet time.
Of course we are not short of time alone at present as we hunker down with the global virus pandemic. Could there be a better time to turn inwards and discover something more about yourself.
In many ways, I think we are very fortunate here in the Southern Hemisphere, to have our movements restricted as we move through autumn towards winter. It's easier to stay home, warm and cosseted in our homes in cooler weather, than it is when the sun is inviting and warm.
And in spite of our efforts to avoid it, we keep meeting ourselves as we navigate each day. This is good. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable, we'd rather not, however my experience is that this is good.
In fact so good that I am deliberately reducing time on social media, being more deliberate about contact with others, reducing my need to go out, for the very purposes of exploring deeply into this sacred time and sacred space that we have the opportunity to live into.
My life has changed very little. My preparation for these times began 20 or so years ago when I chose to live a simple and abundant life of simple pleasures. I'd forgotten just how pleasurable it has been. My daily routines continue as before.
Study remains my focus on a daily basis.
Where I can, I offer my services to support others to access their mental and emotional resilience.
My kitty Tabasca is loved and cared for.
I sleep early and long, eat well, bathe is deep, hot rose-scented water, and care for my health.
My garden is tended daily. I watch in awe as new seedlings push through their potting mix in trays on my deck where I can check on them every morning.
My son writes me love notes and we reciprocate for a while.
Walks along the stream, through the boardwalk in bushland to a secluded grove, then onto the precinct tracks.
This is what I do with my life.
Find yourself in this sacred space and this sacred time.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.