{"id":956,"date":"2009-01-01T01:10:56","date_gmt":"2009-01-01T06:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=1026"},"modified":"2008-12-24T13:12:27","modified_gmt":"2008-12-24T18:12:27","slug":"door-to-the-beyond-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2009\/01\/01\/door-to-the-beyond-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Door to the Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Beginnings – Candlemas<\/strong><\/p>\n

I get the feeling I’ve been through this Door before, but let’s do it again…\u00a0 I know Candlemas (or Imbolc, Oimelg, or what have you) isn’t until next month, but our Gracious Editors have asked us to write our Imbolc articles for this month… soooo….<\/p>\n

Most of the year, we Labelled Persons feel we are burning our candles at both ends.\u00a0 In February, we get to burn them all out, get new candles, and start over.\u00a0 In essence, Candlemas is the Pagan version of Mardi Gras.\u00a0 We should learn to have fun at it, like the Cajuns, Brazilians, and others around the world do.<\/p>\n

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”\u00a0 (attributed to Albert Einstein)<\/p>\n

Hey, I’m crazy.\u00a0 I know it.\u00a0 I try to be the best crazy I can be (as opposed to the most crazy I can be).\u00a0 It’s not easy, it’s not hard, it just is.<\/p>\n

Hmmm, what did I do last year…\u00a0 well, I did a one-hour recorded video interview about the homelessness issue on local public access television, which broadcast January 5 and several other times \u2013 unscheduled, like me, LOL — which led me to make 2008 the best year ever for the homeless of Asheville.\u00a0 New programs, a new shelter, more volunteers.\u00a0 Now if I could just get City Council to repeal some of the laws on the books which, essentially, make homelessness illegal without providing any relief for those who find themselves on the streets.<\/p>\n

I won’t republish my entire Yule Letter here, sorry.\u00a0 There would be no use writing this article if I was just going to republish things I had already written, now, would there?\u00a0 But I had a lot of big things in 2008, making it a hard act to follow.\u00a0 I’m still waiting to hear what my 4th Quarter Distribution for my work with Eternal Press will be, but that could be the springboard for 2009.<\/p>\n

So what do you have planned?\u00a0 Is this just going to be another year of surviving for you?\u00a0 Are you going to accept depression, things beyond your control, same old boring stuff?\u00a0 Well, if you’ve been reading The Door, you probably have lots of ideas for changing all that; if you haven’t, you can find the back issues in the archives and at my website, so go be positive and read what has been written.\u00a0 Always good to get a plug in \u2013 and I’m always amazed when I re-read these articles how good they were.<\/p>\n

Note: I’m usually down on myself, it’s an old habit I’m still working to change.\u00a0 It amazes me no end when I do something well or write something good, and even more when I read it later and still find it exceptional.\u00a0 One of the reasons for this amazement is that I tend to write these articles virtually out a mindset of stream-of-consciousness, and rarely work on them after finishing them.<\/p>\n

Here’s a thought: perhaps one thing you could do is start writing things down, and then you could put them somewhere that you’ll find them in a year or six months, and see what you think of what you’ve written then.\u00a0 If you still love it, polish it a bit and see if PaganPages, WitchVox or another online zine might be interested in publishing it.\u00a0 You might get MY job.\u00a0 I wouldn’t be mad, you’d be freeing my schedule up for something else.<\/p>\n

Last month, we discussed the new “candles” we are sending to Washington in January.\u00a0 If that was important to you, how much more important would it be to clean out your own house?\u00a0 I don’t mean dusting and vacuuming (something I don’t do enough of).\u00a0 I mean making changes.\u00a0 Finding little things that you can feel good about, and adding them to your routine.\u00a0 Just a bit at a time.\u00a0 Only what you can do, not some ambitious program that you will back down from when it appears that you have over-reached.<\/p>\n

Set large, sweeping goals.\u00a0 Then find tiny steps to take to get there.\u00a0 I know I have been working on my devotion to Deity in the past year.\u00a0 You might understand that I have been working on learning and honoring various Hindu deities as I grow into my path.<\/p>\n

I started out getting pictures from online searches. I printed them out and taped them to the wall.\u00a0 I then started building a small altar, along the lines of the Wicca I knew but changing it, one thing at a time, to reflect the Hindu aspects of worship.\u00a0 I then started waking up, and going to bed, with a prayer to the deity (I started with Ganesha, added in my beloved Ardhanarishwara, and then later Brahma-as-Guru).\u00a0 Then I started chanting the mantra to Ganesha (Om gam Ganapatiyei Namah).\u00a0 Later, I made it 5 times through the chant (Discordian that I am at the core).\u00a0 Then added in the chant to Ardhanarishwara (Om Ardhanarishwara swarapaya Namah).\u00a0 [I actually had to search the Web to find that one \u2013 which some of my friends have thanked me for).\u00a0 And finally, the chant to Brahma-as-Guru (Om gurur sakshad paramBrahma tasmai Sri Grurama Namah).\u00a0 (General translations available if asked.)<\/p>\n

All of this took me 6 months to get going, get consistent with (I still mess up occasionally), and even get to say the chant (that last one took quite some time).\u00a0 Eventually, I will use my mala (meditation beads) to do these chants \u2013 which will mean 108 repetitions.\u00a0 Ooh, that will take a lot of work.<\/p>\n

You don’t have to do the actions I did, but taking the same or similar steps to accomplish your goals is the point.\u00a0 Baby steps.\u00a0 I actually grouped a lot of my steps together above, so if the steps seem large that’s because they were.<\/p>\n

Give Yourself A Break.\u00a0 If you’re working too hard or too fast on something, you will “backslide” (to use a Methodist term).\u00a0 This is not saying you are doing the wrong thing, just that you are going too fast or are expecting too much too soon.\u00a0 Slow down.\u00a0 Start over, or back up a few steps and resume from there.<\/p>\n

Oh, gods, Anxiety.\u00a0 If I don’t do things perfectly, I’m just not good enough.\u00a0 Don’t go there.\u00a0 “Fear is the mind-killer.” \u2013 Bene Gesserit saying.\u00a0 Nobody is perfect, nothing you try to do will ever be perfect… but it doesn’t need to be.\u00a0 It only has to be Good Enough.\u00a0 That’s all.\u00a0 And if you’re anything like me, you will need to set your standards a lot lower until you have “Good Enough” set where it is in reach of your everyday ability.<\/p>\n

ALWAYS give yourself a break.\u00a0 ALWAYS give yourself a pat on the back.\u00a0 “Endorse for the effort, not the result.”\u00a0 Endorsing yourself for every little step is like getting paid for every minute of work.\u00a0 Do it.<\/p>\n

This could be the year we learn a new way to burn our candles.\u00a0 Maybe we can learn to burn them only at ONE end… or maybe we just use more artsy candles.\u00a0 However you choose to do it, be inventive, creative, bold, and feisty!<\/p>\n

Until next month and another walk through the Door…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Beginnings – Candlemas I get the feeling I’ve been through this Door before, but let’s do it again…\u00a0 I know Candlemas (or Imbolc, Oimelg, or what have you) isn’t until next month, but our Gracious Editors have asked us to write our Imbolc articles for this month… soooo…. Most of the year, we Labelled Persons feel we are burning our candles at both ends.\u00a0 In February, we get to burn them all out, get new candles, and start over.\u00a0 In essence, Candlemas is the Pagan version of Mardi Gras.\u00a0 We should learn to have fun at it, like the Cajuns, Brazilians, and others around the world do. “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”\u00a0 (attributed to Albert Einstein) Hey, I’m crazy.\u00a0 I know it.\u00a0 I try to be the best crazy I can be (as opposed to the most crazy I can be).\u00a0 It’s not easy, it’s not hard, it just is. Hmmm, what did I do last year…\u00a0 well, I did a one-hour recorded video interview about the homelessness issue on local public access television, which broadcast January 5 and several other times \u2013 unscheduled, like me, LOL — which led me to make 2008 the best year ever for the homeless of Asheville.\u00a0 New programs, a new shelter, more volunteers.\u00a0 Now if I could just get City Council to repeal some of the laws on the books which, essentially, make homelessness illegal without providing any relief for those who find themselves on the streets. I won’t republish my entire Yule Letter here, sorry.\u00a0 There would be no use writing this article if I was just going to republish things I had already written, now, would there?\u00a0 But I had a lot of big things in 2008, making it a hard act to follow.\u00a0 I’m still waiting to hear what my 4th Quarter Distribution for my work with Eternal Press will be, but that could be the springboard for 2009. So what do you have planned?\u00a0 Is this just going to be another year of surviving for you?\u00a0 Are you going to accept depression, things beyond your control, same old boring stuff?\u00a0 Well, if you’ve been reading The Door, you probably have lots of ideas for changing all that; if you haven’t, you can find the back issues in the archives and at my website, so go be positive and read what has been written.\u00a0 Always good to get a plug in \u2013 and I’m always amazed when I re-read these articles how good they were. Note: I’m usually down on myself, it’s an old habit I’m still working to change.\u00a0 It amazes me no end when I do something well or write something good, and even more when I read it later and still find it exceptional.\u00a0 One of the reasons for this amazement is that I tend to write these articles virtually out a mindset of stream-of-consciousness, and rarely work on them after finishing them. Here’s a thought: perhaps one thing you could do is start writing things down, and then you could put them somewhere that you’ll find them in a year or six months, and see what you think of what you’ve written then.\u00a0 If you still love it, polish it a bit and see if PaganPages, WitchVox or another online zine might be interested in publishing it.\u00a0 You might get MY job.\u00a0 I wouldn’t be mad, you’d be freeing my schedule up for something else. Last month, we discussed the new “candles” we are sending to Washington in January.\u00a0 If that was important to you, how much more important would it be to clean out your own house?\u00a0 I don’t mean dusting and vacuuming (something I don’t do enough of).\u00a0 I mean making changes.\u00a0 Finding little things that you can feel good about, and adding them to your routine.\u00a0 Just a bit at a time.\u00a0 Only what you can do, not some ambitious program that you will back down from when it appears that you have over-reached. Set large, sweeping goals.\u00a0 Then find tiny steps to take to get there.\u00a0 I know I have been working on my devotion to Deity in the past year.\u00a0 You might understand that I have been working on learning and honoring various Hindu deities as I grow into my path. I started out getting pictures from online searches. I printed them out and taped them to the wall.\u00a0 I then started building a small altar, along the lines of the Wicca I knew but changing it, one thing at a time, to reflect the Hindu aspects of worship.\u00a0 I then started waking up, and going to bed, with a prayer to the deity (I started with Ganesha, added in my beloved Ardhanarishwara, and then later Brahma-as-Guru).\u00a0 Then I started chanting the mantra to Ganesha (Om gam Ganapatiyei Namah).\u00a0 Later, I made it 5 times through the chant (Discordian that I am at the core).\u00a0 Then added in the chant to Ardhanarishwara (Om Ardhanarishwara swarapaya Namah).\u00a0 [I actually had to search the Web to find that one \u2013 which some of my friends have thanked me for).\u00a0 And finally, the chant to Brahma-as-Guru (Om gurur sakshad paramBrahma tasmai Sri Grurama Namah).\u00a0 (General translations available if asked.) All of this took me 6 months to get going, get consistent with (I still mess up occasionally), and even get to say the chant (that last one took quite some time).\u00a0 Eventually, I will use my mala (meditation beads) to do these chants \u2013 which will mean 108 repetitions.\u00a0 Ooh, that will take a lot of work. You don’t have to do the actions I did, but taking the same or similar steps to accomplish your goals is the point.\u00a0 Baby steps.\u00a0 I actually grouped a lot of my steps together above, so if the steps seem large that’s because they were. Give Yourself A Break.\u00a0 If you’re working too hard or too fast on something, you will “backslide” (to use a Methodist term).\u00a0 This is not saying you are doing the wrong thing, just that you are going too fast or are expecting too much too soon.\u00a0 Slow down.\u00a0 Start over, or back up a few steps and resume from there. Oh, gods, Anxiety.\u00a0 If I don’t do things perfectly, I’m just not good enough.\u00a0 Don’t go there.\u00a0 “Fear is the mind-killer.” \u2013 Bene Gesserit saying.\u00a0 Nobody is perfect, nothing you try to do will ever be perfect… but it doesn’t need to be.\u00a0 It only has to be Good Enough.\u00a0 That’s all.\u00a0 And if you’re anything like me, you will need to set your standards a lot lower until you have “Good Enough” set where it is in reach of your everyday ability. ALWAYS give yourself a break.\u00a0 ALWAYS give yourself a pat on the back.\u00a0 “Endorse for the effort, not the result.”\u00a0 Endorsing yourself for every little step is like getting paid for every minute of work.\u00a0 Do it. This could be the year we learn a new way to burn our candles.\u00a0 Maybe we can learn to burn them only at ONE end… or maybe we just use more artsy candles.\u00a0 However you choose to do it, be inventive, creative, bold, and feisty! Until next month and another walk through the Door…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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-956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956","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\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":979,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions\/979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}