Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with a friend who I’ve not spoken to in nearly twenty years. She originally reached out to me for some pagan information for her kiddo about the recent Solstice, but as it goes, we ended up talking about where she was at with some ongoing life struggles her and her family have been facing.

See, my friend, a person of high Integrity, has a hard time holding down long time work because she’s a strong, justice-oriented, opinionated person who isn't afraid to share what she sees as systemically broken in the systems within which she works. Needless to say, people in power don’t like hearing such unabridged truth, as their egos won’t allow it.

By the end of our chat, we came to the realization that she has a lifetime (literally) of insights into education and recreation systems, and that unless she “stakes her own claim” and takes matters into her own hands (aka - starting a consulting business or a not-for-profit that aims to identify and repair systemic issues within educational and recreational systems) she’ll continue to try and apply the rules by which she works to someone else’s claim… and keep getting fired. Cheapening her integrity isn’t an option. While some people want her to diminish her fire and fury to squeeze herself into a conforming box, she and I (and her immediate family) know that if she did that she wouldn’t be the person we’ve all come to love and respect over a lifetime.

She needs to stake her own claim.

Venturing out on one's own is definitely more difficult, and a lot more frightening than walking a road not your own, and parroting the thoughts and intentions of others. But, we must remember that our experiences and life lessons have their own undeniable value, not to mention a ton of their own unique Wisdom.

In closing, my friend shared with me why she models her own Integrity like she does: so her kiddo can see what Integrity looks like, and to inspire that child to be their own adamantine rock of virtue… just like their mom.

Summum Bonum - the greater good. When we live for the greatest good, we cannot compromise virtue and integrity for that life. If we do, we’d be living a lie. Doing what’s right, no matter the situation or cost, is paramount…

… and right-doing rarely happens until we can stake claim on our own inherent power, wisdom, and virtue.

May we all have the wherewithal to do what must be done before life’s end.

(See y’all tomorrow)

When the end of things comes, and we ask ourselves what we have to show for the years, months, days, and hours we’ve spent on life, no one wants to list off a bunch of regrets and missed opportunities.

In the spirit of the Broadway musical Rent (or the original tale behind it, Puccini’s opera, La Bohème), how do we measure the time spent living our lives?

“In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life?

How about love?” (Rent, 1994)

At the end of things, how will we “prove” we’ve lived life to its fullest, and taken advantage of every opportunity we could? Maybe we should answer to the same tune as above…

In wisdom, and insights
With interconnected people
In meaning, in joy, in virtue through life.
Death comes to everyone, without an exception.
How will we account for our time in our life?

How about love?

(See y’all tomorrow)

​Self-importance is 
ego’s tool for sabotage. 
Avoid it. Always. 

Self-doubt is the same.
When we think it’s about us
we’ve already lost. 

So, remember this: 
It’s only about the work.
See y’all tomorrow. 

​Aside from death, are there any egalitarian experiences left? I mean, in a time when there is such passion and ferocity spent toward identity and self, the occurrences of polarizing division, perceived difference, and personal or collective elitism seem more like the norm instead of the exception to the rule. Collectively, we seem to yearn to be different and special and unique… 

… which we are. And yet, who gives a shit? 

All the things that make each of us special, and unique, and different amount to nothing at the end of life. We all have the same end to our story. Death: the state in which no one is better or worse. Remembering this helps to keep one on the middle road, the path of equanimity, neither falling into the ego trap of feeling superior because of one’s uniqueness, or consequently,  feeling inferior because of it. 

Again, we all have the same end to our story. 

(See y’all tomorrow) 

Many pagan and polytheist folx aim to live by an ethos of excellence, and while that looks good on paper, what often times ends up happening is they live as a caricature of themselves… a being to be remembered when they’re dead as a character in a grand story, but while they’re still alive in this time and place, sadly don’t know themselves in a philosophical way. A rare few would be able to answer the following questions without either making it a joke, playing semantics, or replying with some canned, theatrical, rehearsed answer: 

Who am I? What is important to me? What do I like? What do I need?

Why does this characterization-of-spirit happen? Heck, I don’t know. Who can say for sure? While I can’t say for sure, I’ve worked in-the-field (as it were) for some time, and have, as a result of that time spent and work completed, gained a particular perspective into the lives of pagan folx, myself definitely included. That being said, I believe that the farther a pagan person gets away from the present moment by putting their spirit and religious-self in a time that’s not now and a place that’s not here, while at the same time supporting a strong dichotomous relationship between their pagan life and their non-pagan life, the more dangerous the ground upon which they build their spiritual life becomes. Being oneself would feel like putting on a play, production, or taking on a character. It’s all an act. It’s not real. Living that way is out of touch with reality. It’s not really who we are, and this whole production is being performed… why, again? (#ego) Consequently, the same is true if one is “pretending” to be someone else in the secular world and being their “real self” in pagan spaces. 

Is this a “problem” unique to paganism? Unlikely, but I don’t believe I’m qualified to speak for the entire human species with regard to how and why we behave how we do. However, I do believe I’m in a position to see “into” a large cross-section of the pagan community. It’s from that place that I can say: while perhaps not unique to paganism, it’s a “problem” we can frame through our pagan experience. 

I’m left asking myself, how do we stop this whole characterization-of-spirit in the first place? How do we not engage in the process as a whole, avoiding ego’s pitfalls and worse yet, an ignorance of self? By consciously engaging in self-exploration with diligence and zeal… that’s how. By committing to oneself to not make excuses when it comes to understanding one’s own body and mind… and being REAL about it… that’s how. 

That’s it. Just that. 

We just have to choose to do it without bullshitting ourselves, or thinking that what matters in the right-now has anything to do with what happened in wherever-the-hell-else over two-thousand years ago. 

But hey, I guess if one needs to believe that a divine being in a far off time and place caused one to do good in the world in the present moment, that’s totally cool, too. As long as there’s good getting done in the here-and-now then maybe, just maybe it’s getting done because people come to know themselves in different ways other than my own martial-informed way. 

Remember, at the end of it all, our “story” is just that… a fucking story. Remember, what LOVES stories, especially ones about itself… the enemy: ego. 

Know what matters. Know thyself. YOU matter. 

(See y’all tomorrow) 

Trusting and having faith in what we can’t control is bad business, and we’ve learned over the course of the last year that the one thing over which we DO have control is our own decision-making, choice-making mind. It’s the best tool we have in our life-toolbox, and the best thing about it is this: it’ll never fail. It only fails with user-error, misuse, or when we don't take it out of the toolbox at all. 

No matter our circumstances, illnesses and ailments, or whatnot, we all have the opportunity to practice “good health” by remembering what remains in our control and focusing on that thing.

​Caveat: Abandon or ignore the practice at our own risk. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

I find it amusing that the post titled “It’s Just a Number” falls on a Friday the 13th. The number thirteen even has its own specific fear: triskaidekaphobia. Heck, in reading a bit before writing this post I found out that those who are worried about this particular Friday may be suffering from Paraskevidekatriaphobia or Friggatriskaidekaphobia: a fear of Friday the 13th. 

Really, it’s amazing (to me, someone who doesn’t have the above listed phobias) that a number could cause such fear within a person… 

… but we’ve seen how the numbers of one’s age can cause their own unique form of anxiety. 

I’m not talking about gerontophobia, but the fear the the numerical age we are (or that someone else is) isn’t enough, or that it’s too much. If there weren’t an actual fear of numerical age, then why do people lie about being younger, or older than they are? We fear we’ll be judged harshly because of our age, or that we won’t get access to whatever social thing wherein we want to be. 

But then again, maybe this does have to do with gerontophobia, after all. If we weren’t afraid of aging and fading in power why would there be a complex, multi-billion dollar industry meant to extend the expiration date of a human being?

Other than being able to have legal access to certain things (tobacco, alcohol, adult-themed events, etc.), or creating boundaries for the sanctity of youth and preservation of innocence (consent ages, etc.)... age doesn’t matter. Again, aside from the aforementioned bits, age is just a number. 

When it comes down to it, it’s about what we do with the time we have. Every day. Every breath. Every moment. When we focus on numerical age, we’re missing out on those moments. 

Seneca said, “Life is long if you know how to use it.” 

Live wisely. 

(See y’all tomorrow)