Simplicity
\nLove
\nOrder
\nFaith
\nJoy
\nRespect
\nBeauty
\nGratitude
\nSelf Dicipline and Self Reliance
\nPeace
\nCharity
\nCourage<\/p>\n
Our turn on the wheel as brought us to December and Courage. \u00a0As I look back over the past calendar year I \u00a0see twelve simple words. \u00a0Twelve ideas that seem so easy to practice. \u00a0On paper and in my mind, I easily handle every virtue in my day to day life. Yet, when I got “out of my head” and into the real world to live each word, I quickly learned that turning a vague word into a verb was not easy. \u00a0It took energy. \u00a0It took planning. \u00a0It took commitment.<\/p>\n
The first quarter involved simplicity, love, and order. \u00a0Working from with-in to with-out required quiet meditation and a shift in perspective. \u00a0It is easy to say I will simplify my life and show love as well as bring order to my daily walk. \u00a0How messy it feels when I begin to let go of old, outdated ideas and grievances in order to have the room to allow love to be the center focus! \u00a0What to do with all the “stuff” I’ve been hanging onto? Bringing order to the initial chaos was work!<\/p>\n
With the second quarter turn the promise of spring was a visual reminder of faith. \u00a0Each seed was a promise of fullness to come. \u00a0The color and sounds of life teaming all around was joy itself! \u00a0And as the summer solstice arrived \u00a0respect echoed deep within my soul as I witnessed the abundance of light and life around me.<\/p>\n
As the days moved into late summer and early fall beauty was radiating throughout each tree, plant and person I saw. \u00a0How easy it is to be grateful when enjoying the lazy days of summer. The challenge becomes remembering that sense of gratitude as the weather changes, the vacations are over and a sense of the same old grind is starting back. \u00a0I remember feeling that way when I was in school. \u00a0Yet, as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder we tap into our own strength and feel our own roots dig in and hold us strong.<\/p>\n
Then is peace available. \u00a0I adore the winter months. \u00a0The oak and poplar trees in our yard stand deeply rooted and quiet in the dark of the season. \u00a0Leaves gone; a dark night sky; the trees are guardians for our home and spirits. \u00a0They give so much to my wellbeing. \u00a0I seek to share that with others. \u00a0Not to “give back” as I don’t believe I have “taken” away anything. \u00a0No, I seek to share my time, talent and treasure because that is what nature has shown me.<\/p>\n
Goddess leads me to a place where I must open myself up to receive. \u00a0And that brings us to Courage. \u00a0Cowardly Lion and his song of “if I were the king of the forrest” sings in my head! \u00a0Oh how strong and brave and true a woman I would be if everything I said or thought about myself happened instantly! \u00a0Cowardly Lion seemed like a scaredy cat although his talk was big. \u00a0It is the practice of putting “feet” to our words that make them real. \u00a0Only in his travels to Oz did Cowardly Lion gain the courage he desired. \u00a0Once at Oz, he was told he already had all the courage he needed. \u00a0It is the walk of our path that brings us the people and things that will lift us higher. \u00a0We need only have the courage to face the moment before us.<\/p>\n
Courage in the darkest time of the wheel of the year is challenging. \u00a0Our ancestors faced such darkness. \u00a0Each of us face darkness at one time or another. \u00a0Taking a breath and feeling my roots deep within Mother Earth as well as gazing up at the winter sky I am grounded. \u00a0I am peaceful. \u00a0I AM.<\/p>\n
Blessed Be this Yule for you and yours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Simplicity Love Order Faith Joy Respect Beauty Gratitude Self Dicipline and Self Reliance Peace Charity Courage Our turn on the wheel as brought us to December and Courage. \u00a0As I look back over the past calendar year I \u00a0see twelve simple words. \u00a0Twelve ideas that seem so easy to practice. \u00a0On paper and in my mind, I easily handle every virtue in my day to day life. Yet, when I got “out of my head” and into the real world to live each word, I quickly learned that turning a vague word into a verb was not easy. \u00a0It took energy. \u00a0It took planning. \u00a0It took commitment. The first quarter involved simplicity, love, and order. \u00a0Working from with-in to with-out required quiet meditation and a shift in perspective. \u00a0It is easy to say I will simplify my life and show love as well as bring order to my daily walk. \u00a0How messy it feels when I begin to let go of old, outdated ideas and grievances in order to have the room to allow love to be the center focus! \u00a0What to do with all the “stuff” I’ve been hanging onto? Bringing order to the initial chaos was work! With the second quarter turn the promise of spring was a visual reminder of faith. \u00a0Each seed was a promise of fullness to come. \u00a0The color and sounds of life teaming all around was joy itself! \u00a0And as the summer solstice arrived \u00a0respect echoed deep within my soul as I witnessed the abundance of light and life around me. As the days moved into late summer and early fall beauty was radiating throughout each tree, plant and person I saw. \u00a0How easy it is to be grateful when enjoying the lazy days of summer. The challenge becomes remembering that sense of gratitude as the weather changes, the vacations are over and a sense of the same old grind is starting back. \u00a0I remember feeling that way when I was in school. \u00a0Yet, as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder we tap into our own strength and feel our own roots dig in and hold us strong. Then is peace available. \u00a0I adore the winter months. \u00a0The oak and poplar trees in our yard stand deeply rooted and quiet in the dark of the season. \u00a0Leaves gone; a dark night sky; the trees are guardians for our home and spirits. \u00a0They give so much to my wellbeing. \u00a0I seek to share that with others. \u00a0Not to “give back” as I don’t believe I have “taken” away anything. \u00a0No, I seek to share my time, talent and treasure because that is what nature has shown me. Goddess leads me to a place where I must open myself up to receive. \u00a0And that brings us to Courage. \u00a0Cowardly Lion and his song of “if I were the king of the forrest” sings in my head! \u00a0Oh how strong and brave and true a woman I would be if everything I said or thought about myself happened instantly! \u00a0Cowardly Lion seemed like a scaredy cat although his talk was big. \u00a0It is the practice of putting “feet” to our words that make them real. \u00a0Only in his travels to Oz did Cowardly Lion gain the courage he desired. \u00a0Once at Oz, he was told he already had all the courage he needed. \u00a0It is the walk of our path that brings us the people and things that will lift us higher. \u00a0We need only have the courage to face the moment before us. Courage in the darkest time of the wheel of the year is challenging. \u00a0Our ancestors faced such darkness. \u00a0Each of us face darkness at one time or another. \u00a0Taking a breath and feeling my roots deep within Mother Earth as well as gazing up at the winter sky I am grounded. \u00a0I am peaceful. \u00a0I AM. Blessed Be this Yule for you and yours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}