- Posts for Witchy Wednesday tag
Happiness | Our Prairie Nest
Happiness

I was planting seedlings in our garden today and wondering, Am I happy?

It’s a normal question for anyone to ask from time to time in their lives. And today, probably stemmed from the fact that I was lamenting the need to work versus get our garden ready. But the fact remained that the garden did need t0 get planted, and I started pondering the flexibility of my life these days.

I’m grateful that what I do allows me to live this way. The joke I make to my husband is, “I’m a magician. I turn words into money.” Of course, writing is much more than that. But I know how incredibly fortunate I am right now.

In my previous job, I was so stressed out, that I couldn’t wait to escape it. Oh, the money was good! And I suppose if you like to market a luxury item geared toward a high-end market, it’s fine. However, I breathed a sigh of relief every time I crossed the bridge that signified the change from city to country. I didn’t enjoy having a fast-paced job or being in the city, no matter what the pay and benefits were.

My former boss didn’t understand my feelings. He thought someone intelligent and capable couldn’t possibly want something less than all of that.

But I didn’t want less.

I wanted more. More time for me, more time for what I love, more time for my family and friends, and more time where I could just genuinely be me, instead of the version of me the company demanded.

Maybe I don’t get a steady paycheck anymore. Yes, now I’m paying 30% taxes instead of 15%, because I no longer have an employer to pick up the other half. True, I pay taxes instead of receiving a refund. Also true that I am not rich. At least, not financially.

I am, however, immeasurably happy when I can do something like this: sit on a tree stump in my backyard, watch my daughter flit through the sprinkler, and write. My time doesn’t belong to anyone but myself these days.

Charles Bukowski was onto something.

If you dream of the same thing, work on it now, rather than waiting. It took me a long time to get here and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

Full Circle | Our Prairie Nest
Full Circle

As a witch, I believe many things in life come full circle – work, family, and who we are, just to name a few. Seasons change, but they always cycle back around. The same goes for astrological events, such as a planet changing signs, whether it happens over a day, a week, a month, a year… or even 84 years, such as the Uranus transit.

And when things come back around, we usually find ourselves shifting in response. Doing away with that which no longer serves us or making room for the new.

Life doesn’t stay the same from year to year, let alone day to day.

For a long time, certain things have become part of what’s normal for us. This applies to both our wider world and personal matters. Some of the “new normals” aren’t just positive. It’s long past time we had them, like marriage equality and transgender rights (both of which those of us who are part of or allied with the LGBTQ+ community have to continue to fight for). And other things are beyond reprehensible, like the normalizing of gun violence, particularly in our schools.

Another new normal in our lives is, well, an old normal now. And that’s social media. I’ve had a Facebook account for at least ten years, maybe longer. And realized I’m just sick of it. I want it gone entirely or to use it differently, and I’m working on that.

Remember when personal interactions were, well, personal? They didn’t happen in front of the whole world?

I do and I miss those days. So I’m working on bringing my life back full circle, back to where I put what matters most first – my family and friends, and the things I love. Social media has some small part in that, of course, and I’d like to keep it that way – small. Simple. Really, I’d love to go back to the way things were, but that’s unrealistic. Social media is our new normal. It’s how we use it that determines if this is a positive or a negative.