Thoughts about responsibility and its connections to my path.
(Image description: A photo of an open book placed on white, wrinkled fabric with a green surface beneath it. The book has a single line of text that reads: A little space to be creative.) Credit: Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
In my monastic studies, I’m learning that discipline is a vital part of Polytheistic Monasticism. Keeping a schedule and maintaining it is a keystone. It’s meant to incorporate prayer, meditation, contemplation, work, and other parts of life.
It’s easy to think about doing different monastic tasks, but putting the tasks down in writing is a more proactive and concrete way of holding myself accountable. By doing so, I’m holding myself responsible for how I spend the day and trying my best to keep Brighid as my spiritual center.
A recent reminder of this came in form of the Sheep card from my oracle deck, indicating that I needed to focus on responsibility. Another card I picked was Lady’s Mantle, which means I need to do something simple for reflective and contemplative purposes. I had the feeling they’re connected to the matter of figuring out where I require responsibility in my path.
Having a schedule will help to balance out the different aspects of my life, both the important ones and the less valuable parts.
Like many people, social media can end up taking too much time in my life. I have my duties as an administrator and like being informed about politics and current events in the Pagan blogosphere, but there’s limits to that. Socializing is important, but there’s also a reason I see myself as a hermit.
The time I spent there could be used toward more constructive activities, such as reading and meditation. There are additional tasks and jobs I’d like to include over time as I continue to adjust to my monastic path.
I have responsibilities to family, pets, myself, and Brighid. I know that creativity lies at the heart of my relationship to Her, even before I knew She would enter my life. Perhaps, before I even knew of Her name, that creative spark was the call that reached past the obstacles of my mind and led me to Her.
Carrying out these practices, spiritual or not, can help me embody Brighid’s values. Embodying these traits is as much of an offering as offering drink, food, or incense to Her. They’re long-term offerings in comparison to fleeting ones.
Extending this further into my physical environment, realizing what I want my hermitage to represent and decorating it can bring me joy and inspiration. I feel that a Pagan or Polytheist hermitage or monastery would be simple yet rich in its appearance, rather than sticking to spartan surroundings.
I’m sure there’s more to build upon these musings, but what’s listed here is a good start for building a rhythm in alignment with my spiritual objectives.
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