saturn / zen

I've been really drawn to minimalism lately.

I'm not sure what the driving force behind it is exactly. Most likely a lot of little things wearing on me. Living in a small space (not complaining, just saying), having too much stuff that just looking at gives me bursts of anxiety. Clutter is making me feel claustrophobic.

I went through my clothes last month and earlier this week I went through them again.
I sifted through my son's toys and put the neglected ones in a bin in the laundry room (but now I need to figure out what to do with them next).
I got rid of stuff around the house that was just taking up space (there's still more).


And I got really into it like I tend to do with things and then I started to feel impatient and frustrated with myself because I wasn't getting there fast enough. I keep thinking of the things I have to do to work toward my goal. Which is both motivating and repressive. That mindset is holding me back. In reality, it's a process. The process matters. I'm trying to be more zen but at the same time being totally un-zen with this anxious mindset. The monkey mind is up and running and taking a lot of my attention as usual, but there's more beyond that in our brains. Like breaking through a layer of Earth's atmosphere. I think of it as a clearer place. Not as cluttered.



I have more to say on this topic but the thoughts are currently swirling and not sentences.

What are you drawn to lately?

art on congress st., portland, maine.

The Hanged Man and Homemade Prayer Flags

I've been thinking about the hanged man in tarot lately. For a string of questions about decisions to be made, he would show up somewhere in the spread. This is what he looks like:

My understanding from interpretations I have read is that he is hanging from his own free will. He is voluntarily gaining a new perspective of his surroundings. Things had gotten stale and stuck with the current vision, so he has flipped to see what he's been missing. Gathering information. The halo around his head stands for enlightenment- he has found his way in this pose. Know what else I just thought of? How he is detaching. Asking us to detach from our perspectives and expectations, to find actual truth.

THM is also a paradoxical card- doing the opposite of what seems natural to do. It is not natural to most to flip and do the opposite of your reaction, but sometimes our reactions are simply that, and do not help us to find resolution in our queries and problems.

How I've seen this as a lesson in my own life- when I'm frustrated or irritated with someone close to me, and my reaction is to distance myself, or back away, instead, doing the opposite. Instead of creating more distance, offering up peace. Talking. Putting energy in while stepping away from my emotions.

Not that I'm saying to neglect your intuition in a toxic relationship, or anything. Far from it. Just telling how I have seen THM play out for me. And I know it's only the tip of the iceberg, that there are many other ways I can expand my vision to help me move forward with this decision making process that seems overwhelming to me. :) Sometimes I feel frustrated when I see this card- I AM trying to expand my perspective and get more info! WHY isn't it working? Sometimes I get caught up in and distracted by questions rather than just moving toward what I want.


Oh, and for those of you who were following the post about altars and such, I wanted to share a photo of prayer flags my son and I made together. It was SUPER easy to do, just construction paper with whatever we wanted drawn or painted on them, taped onto string, which is taped to the wall. Easy peasy. :)

I'd love to hear about your thoughts/experiences with The Hanged Man! xo

zen homes and altars

I'm in the process of downsizing. Releasing objects from my home that I no longer need is a wonderful feeling. Clutter gives me anxiety to look at. I have a craving for the minimal. 

from lisa congdon

I also have a three year old. And live in a small space. So clutter can, and does, happen quickly. The recycling area and dishes in the kitchen, books and photo prints left on the dining table, and the TOYS- look a lot more offensive in small spaces- it's less forgiving.

Slowly, I am getting there though. The thought of having less stuff is a freeing one. Less holding me down, less visual clutter entering my mental sphere.

While I am for sure no pro on the matter (my home is really messy at this writing), here are some tips that currently work for me in getting my space at least somewhat zen.

1. Do it for the zen.
Your entire living space is not going to be immaculate all the time. You do LIVE there, ya know? Perfection is not the goal here. However. It is very, very possible to have an area or two, away from the reaches of children and high traffic areas, that are simple and clean-looking. For me, it's the top shelf of a changing table turned shelving unit. I have six items on the top shelf (the other two hold toys), and that's it. I make a (small) effort to keep it this way. It's easy because it's so minimal. In a sea of chaos, there is a slice of calm. :)

2. The less you have, the better everything looks.
I used to clean houses for a job. One thing I learned from going into various homes was that the houses that looked the best BEFORE cleaning were the ones that had less stuff. Fewer possessions overall. And the possessions that were there seemed tastefully selected. These would be neater in part because they HAD less to clean up, organize, and so on. Instead of attempting to organize too much crap, there was simply less of it. Once I saw this in person it all seemed so clear to me!

3. Make regular trips to goodwill. 
Or have regular clothing/stuff swaps, or consignment trips, or eBay listings. If you can, designate a basket or bag on a door knob to toss the things you'll be donating. This way it's an ongoing process, and is a much smaller step than attempting to sort through huge piles at a time and then getting overwhelmed and going to do something else!

4. Consider creating an altar.
On the same note as point one, having an altar can be a great way to keep an area free of clutter. Basically, an altar consists of a space- I'm limited in that area so I use the top of my dresser  in our bedroom- where you keep meaningful and inspirational objects to look at as often as you please. Another slice of calm in the chaos.

Ideas for altars: Oracle cards with a card for the day. Stones or crystals you connect with. Written intentions. Inspiring/spiritual figurines. A photo or two that elates you. Artwork. Prayer flags/beads. Flowers. Pine cones. A candle or two. A singing bowl. A chime. Whatever. This space can be as non/multi-denominational or as religious as you wish. Or it can just feature elements that are important to you.

Some inspiration...

From artnlight

simple

from apartment therapy

buddha

botanical altar from ecosalon

from crafty chick's cuppa coffee

love this outdoor altar from hidden hills garden

ganesha teacup altar from leigh's wiccan boutique

I'm so inspired now from cruising photos of altars on pinterest. I'm going to give mine a makeover soon! I'll post a photo after I do.



Well this post certainly took an unexpected tangent! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, and please feel free to share your tips and tricks- or a photo of your altar- in the comments!

In search of less.

All I want to do is purge my home of things I don't need or use anymore. If I ever did at all. I just did this about a month ago, but the urge is creeping back up. The post-Christmas/birthday business. We live in a small space. Which is fine. I'm used to small spaces. :) I just don't like them to feel cramped and cluttered.

I have a nearly-empty fourth house in my chart, but right now (Capricorn/Aquarius season!), I have many transiting planets there. Cleaning house.  It feels like a cleansing on so many levels. I want to cleanse my home, my brain, my spirit. And to do that you have to go through some shit. You have to go through all the junk that isn't serving you anymore but is still hard to part with because you've had it for so long.

Capricorn wants to reach its goals, one summit at a time. Mars in Aquarius (also going through my fourth) creates the sense of urgency. Fourth house is the home, the spaces we dwell in and also the home of our souls, aka our bodies. The cusp of the fourth house is called the Imum Coeli, or IC, and I once read that this is the point where the soul enters the body. Fourth house is also feelings, emotions.

Trying to cleanse my mental states of stress that pop up. One thing that helps is, when I feel overwhelmed, is to consciously give the stressful feelings away to the universe (or deity of your choice). To get them out of your body. This is a mental/spiritual exercise but you can feel it in your body, as stress affects the body so much... Giving away the junk. This allows new things, better things, to come in. If the space is clogged up, nothing more can come in. That goes for our physical homes, too. :)

I suppose what I'm really trying to do is care for these things, my physical and spiritual homes, myself and my body, and it is somewhat foreign to me, so I need to write about it apparently! (Actually, Mercury, aka communication, is there as well so I guess I really do! haha). What needs your attention and care right now?

The Ace of Cups, my favorite of the limited number of Tarot cards I've seen so far. My understanding of the card- spiritual abundance spills over to material abundance...