Category: General

I am digging through my drafts trying to either find or make something publishable, but nothing is really there.

Between the bullshit that led to me shutting down most of my online presence, stepping back from the majority of my social circle, a massive increase in my day to day pain that has become periodically disabling (I finally broke down and started using a cane, I had to change jobs, and am looking down the barrel of doing it again because my workplace is fighting me over accomodations), major financial issues, and the prolonged illness and eventual death of my dog, I’m more exhausted than I was a few years ago when I genuinely thought it couldn’t get worse.

Maybe I was tempting fate. Whatever.

I think I have to just sit (or lay down, which is easier on my hips and back anyway) with the fact that I am not the same person I was when I could write here consistently. Unfortunately that, and all the circumstances surrounding that, also mean accepting that a lot of the external trappings I relied on as a frame of reference for who (or at least what) I am as a person are gone, and I have to reevaluate.

I don’t like that. It’s a lot of work. And pain and distress literally shrink your brain. It gets better when those get better. (Hooray for neuroplasticity.) But I have no idea what kind of timeline I’m on for getting better in a way that’s load bearing.

I didn’t want to talk about any of that because I didn’t want to grant that kind of satisfaction to people who I know would enjoy learning that I’m struggling. I don’t place a lot of trust in the likelihood of something stirring their conscience. I didn’t want to show weakness.

On the personal level I also resented my own weakness due to how abruptly I went from being a physically powerful, capable person to someone who can’t stand for more than a few hours on some days.

But giving into that, making concessions that go beyond my actual limitations, is just obeying people whose opinion isn’t actually that valuable. It’s letting other people run my life. I’ve had enough of that shit.

The weather is cooling off now and this was the time of year where I was starting on my very goofy path towards Heathenry. It is a little weird to think about how a religion I got into by accident ended up having such a deep (and unfortunately somewhat destructive) impact on my life. I feel a little more alive and hopeful. My body tolerated recent farm chores better than I anticipated, though I’m watching my physical state closely to make sure I don’t overdo it and get stuck in another flare.

Maybe it’ll be okay. Maybe not. Still not a fan of uncertainty. But I’m trying to let myself at least enjoy feeling something good.

Since I don’t have any active social media tied to this blog anymore (the Facebook page still exists, but is deactivated and unviewable)…here. An altar cleaned after sitting half-dead for a year, minus one hammer because I’m willing to wear it again.

Don’t get too excited, my offline life mattered more than my online life. This blog mostly still exists because I forgot I had my hosting costs on autopay.

Don’t ask me what’s up with the Jord devotional, though. I don’t know either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Goddess Worship Doesn’t Replace Feminist Praxis

“But I didn’t and still don’t like making a cult of women’s knowledge, preening ourselves on knowing things men don’t know, women’s deep irrational wisdom, women’s instinctive knowledge of Nature, and so on. All that all too often merely reinforces the masculinist idea of women as primitive and inferior – women’s knowledge as elementary, primitive, always down below at the dark roots, while men get to cultivate and own the flowers and crops that come up into the light. But why should women keep talking baby talk while men get to grow up? Why should women feel blindly while men get to think?”

— Ursula K. Le Guin

https://falkabarn.blog/2022/07/07/call-for-submissions-jord-devotional/

Hello Friends, Since I have been really struggling to write anything, I’ve gone to my trusty prompt box and I’m going to work through some prompts until the well fills up with ideas again. Update, for all y’all, I still am sick with walking pneumonia and having a terrible time sleeping. I have a feeling […]

Prompt No. 1: The Hardest Part of Faith

I am going to be compiling, editing and releasing a devotional through the Troth! I am seeking out work written in honor of the Earth through a Heathen perspective, by the various names she has in our traditions. Devotional works in honor of the land are also welcome.

I am placing particular emphasis on poems, prayers, and rituals, but artwork would be enthusiastically accepted as well!

You do not have to be a member of the Troth to submit your work, just bear in mind that because we are publishing through them, any submissions have to comply with the Troth’s stance on inclusivity. We will also be asking for first publishing rights in North America. This means that the Troth has the right to be the first to distribute your contribution—after that, you can republish your work with no restrictions. There is also a release form to sign, which I will provide.

Please also bear in mind that contributions are not paid. All proceeds from sales of the published devotional will go towards Red Hammer, which is the Troth’s disaster relief fund.

Contributions can be emailed to peaksinmay AT Gmail DOT com. Submission deadline is December 31st, 2022, with the goal of releasing the finished book in April.