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When the world is horrible, NEST.
I’m not going to list all the horrors we’re seeing these days – you know what they are, and you can feel it, in the heaviness of the global energy and the aching exhaustion in your chest.
There’s always pain in the world. Most of time, when it’s not right on our doorstep or affecting someone we know, we can let it slide … literally, off our feeds and out of our awareness.
But then there are times like now … when there’s so much pain that we can’t turn avoid it, can’t turn away, can’t shut it out.
If we want to keep going and actually DO something to help, we need energy and fortitude, for the long haul.
Just as the aircraft emergency protocol instructs us to tend to our own oxygen mask first, so we have to tend to our own energy first now.
In this national emergency, anger will only get us so far. We’re going to need fuel to keep that fire burning.
We’ve got a LOT of work to do.
We’ve got to tend to ourselves first, if we’re to have the stamina it’s going to take to dismantle the roads that led us down here.
“Home is where one starts from.” ~ T.S. Elliott
Understand that you aren’t the President, even if you know you could do a better job.
You can’t do it all. And that doesn’t, in any way, dismiss-or-diminish what you can do.
But once you’ve done what you can do, with the resources you have right now (like money, energy, phone and voice) …. Surrender.
We need you strong for the next round.
Fill your well with what you know nourishes you.
Watch movies that delight you.
Cook and cuddle and create.
Let your home comfort you.
(It can, and it wants to.)
If the weather allows, throw open the windows and let the breezes revive.
If it’s cold, snuggle into soft blankets and warm sips of something nourishing.
Smooth your skin with scents that sweeten your soul.
Fill your space with music that calms and quiets.
And then, when you’re, once again, centered and strong …
Only then is it time to SMITE.
And no, I’m not suggesting Zelda-esque sword-swinging, as tempting as that might be.
I’m suggesting you do a little housework. (It’s okay. I’ll wait till your eyebrows descend from your hairline.)
Allow me to get a little woo here.
Cleaning can be a magical act.
Every spell in history is made up of an intention + action. Many’s the wise woman who turned her floor-sweeping into the sweeping away of troubles and troublesome people.
Do not discount the potency of house-magic, just because you’ve always seen housework as a chore. As with politics and opinions, perspective is everything.
You get to decide what each and every action ‘means’. If you decide that by literally taking out the trash, you’re metaphorically tossing out everything that feels like crap …. boom! You’ve cast a spell.
Smite those dust bunnies with the same glee as you would metaphorical lobbyists, and you’ll find out how good it feels.
I’ve been cleaning house (literally) to help with the ‘clean house’ energy directed at the White House.
I’ve been cleaning my windows so as to see clearly what to do next.
I’ve been sparkling my mirrors so that I can look into my own eyes and remind myself that I can make a difference.
By literally putting my own house in order, I’m reclaiming the sense of power that antidotes the media-insinuated powerlessness.
Smite the simmering helplessness by deliberately and strategically helping yourself.
Comfort yourself today, so that you can comfort others tomorrow.
As within, so without.” ~ The Emerald Tablet
Activism begins at home, warrior. Start there. Start now.
More by Jacqueline:
Jacqueline Gates has mastered the art of applying theatrical skills to anchor and amplify the manifesting technique known as acting-as-if. Because when you begin LIVING-as-if you already are who you secretly dream of becoming, it won’t stay a secret very long.
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