In today’s society we are pushed to give 100% at work, 100% at home, and have a social life as well. There is a lot of pressure to “Have it all ” , so much so that this can be exhausting and leaves a lot of us pushing the envelope and stretching ourselves too thin.
One of the best things a witch can do for herself, is to recognize when you have hit your limit. This requires paying attention to yourself, as much as you do others. We always seem to notice when someone else is tired, getting sick, but we push ourselves past being exhausted, we go to work when we are sick and don’t take time for ourselves when we need it, due to guilt. We end up feeling guilty like we are letting someone else down by making sure that we are rested.
This topic is heavily on my mind because I have recently had to step up and set my boundaries and take some time for myself. Yesterday, was an emotional day for me ,for many reasons, It is one of the few days that I allow myself to be emotional and take the time to truly feel those emotions. A couple of weeks ago I had made plans for the day after (today, for those who are keeping track), thinking that one day would be enough time for me to deal with the emotional upheaval that this day would bring. Boy was I wrong!
I woke up this morning, fighting to find the fortitude to get ready and go into work, let alone meet up with friends later . Tears were not far from my eyes, and I knew I could only marshal the energy for work that day. I spent over an hour going back and forth with myself about cancelling on my really good friends whom I hadn’t seen since September, but realized ultimately it was in my best interests to take a deep breath, contact them and take another night to process my feelings and focus on my well being.
As it turned out they were in similar situations and so we rescheduled plans.
However, this is a big lesson that many of us struggle with. As I have stated in my previous post “Fulla: The Treasure Within” I am working with the Handmaidens of Frigga, each in turn. The last full moon saw me turn my attention from Fulla to Gefjon. The tale of Gefjon is that she ploughed out land in order to claim it from King Gylfi, thus creating the island of Zealand and the lake of Malaren in Sweden. By asking for what she wanted, putting in the hard work and then creating boundaries around that Gefjon found a home for herself. She was also wed to a son of Odin, Skjold and their descendents according to myth became the Royal family of Sweden.
From this we can discern that Gefjon, whose name means “giver” works in the realm of wishing and gift giving, but so long as there is hard work behind the gift. By creating the boundaries of a new land and granting sovereignty to a Royal lineage, she shows her influence over personal sovereignty, and the setting of boundaries in order to claim and care for what is yours. the fact that this topic is so blaringly apparent in my life at this time is serendipitous, as it offers me a chance to immerse myself in the world that belongs to Gefjon and learn from her.
This all goes along with the book I am reading (and hoping to do a review on) currently. Self care, Self Sovereignty and setting boundaries will be a topic for a little while in this blog. Please tell me readers, what do you to take care of yourself? What things do you take as a sign that you need to indulge in self-care? Is this an issue for you, if so why? Let’s start a dialogue about taking care of ourselves the way we take care of others and see where it leads us.
The Frith Wytch 