What Is Paganism?

I read a little bit of a book a long time ago, and to my own detriment abandoned it for reasons no longer clear to me. It was called ‘Living With Honor’, and it was intended as an exploration of pagan ethics. It posited that, of all the diversity to be found among western Neo-Pagan religions, there are four common threads: Fashion (Paganism as a marketing gimmick or lifestyle), Magic (all such faiths leave room for the possibility of supernatural occurrences), knowledge (all such traditions value ancient learning and revere understanding), and a reverence for or a delight in nature.

Now, supposing one were to agree with this (and having read the book I’d say that in an ideal world, the author is spot-on), one must then go on to ask what these values mean for those who consider themselves Neo-Pagan. What are our ethical responsibilities within this framework of values?

In my opinion, we first and foremost must commit ourselves to an open attitude regarding all new knowledge and discoveries, approaching without bias or prejudice all new knowledge as brought to light in the fields of physics and metaphysics. We must not—cannot—cling to the ignorance of the past, and while I do not endorse blind acceptance of new technologies, we must at least marvel at our own creative capacity. To reject scientific advancement as ‘unnatural’ is in direct opposition to everything a true Neo-Pagan should stand for. Man is of nature; all our faculties are naturally produced. While man may attempt to go against the natural order of things, is that attitude not itself man’s very Nature?

To sum up: any Neo-Pagan who calls for a complete rejection of modernity and a return to ‘simpler times’ is guilty at best of excess sentimentality, and at worst of willful ignorance. Science brought us solar power—would you have us reject that? Science brought us eyeglasses—would you rather go blind?

Oh, the hurting of the knees…

So I did Free Run for thirty minutes on Wii Fit last night—for those not in the know, I jogged/ran in place and around my room like an idiot for half an hour. It’s a good workout, but those shoes need MUCH better arch support. They’re tennis shoes and all, but damn my left knee is killing me this morning.

So, got a lotta work this weekend. As per usual. Am absurdly wide awake for it being 8 o’clock in the morning and still pretty grey outside. My current source of joy is tormenting fanfic drabble writers on insanejournal—Snape/Harry fic has really gone to the dogs thanks to these people. I am reminded why I always preferred Sirius / Harry: there’s some actual chemistry there to work with.

Speaking of relationships, I’m reading a FABULOUS book called Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel. I’ve never torn through nonfiction so quickly, and it’s pretty much saying everything I ever thought of about relationships: better intimacy does not always make for better sex, and the closer you are emotionally, the harder it becomes to maintain passionate physicality. Currently I’m in the chapter talking about fostering separateness in a relationship, something I think I would really benefit from. Now, how to get these ideas across without him thinking of this as some sort of rejection…

A test of a new utility…

So I recently (five minutes ago) acquired Windows Live Writer, which will supposedly allow me to upload one post to ALL my blogs (two of them) simultaneously, because really guys, asking me to maintain one journal is difficult enough.

Unfortunately I don’t have a great deal to say. I’ve been making some life changes. Those interested in gaming might be amused should I refer to these changes as ‘min-maxing’: I’m minimizing stress and maximizing happiness. My productivity sure did take a shocking upward turn, I’ll give it that, and I am definitely calmer.

Basically, I Like Routines. They work for me; getting up at the same time and eating the same breakfast and coming home to do the same yoga workout and make the dinner and work at the same job is just very liberating. I know what’s coming, so I can be more fully in the moment that I usually ever am. If I know what’s coming, know I have time for it, I can stop WORRYING about it. Previously, I’d say I spent about 99.999% of my time worrying about what I was going to do for the next 00.001 percent of the time. Sorta sucked.

The yoga has been astonishingly helpful too. I’ll be damned if standing on one leg doesn’t actually bring you closer to inner peace. Who knew? Oh yeah, a bunch of yogis, for the last several thousand years. Sue me, I’m a slow learner.

The Time...

...has come for another post. Or so I am told :)

Anywho. I finally had it out with my significant other, and it went better than I expected (in some ways). There is too much, so allow me to sum up: he doesn't take care of himself physically, this makes him a very negative person to be around, and as a result he is further neglecting himself, our apartment, and his life. He does not clean, he does not care, and his sex drive has plummeted (which, let me just say, SUCKS).

So we talked, and I cried a lot (because I am terrible at Honest Conversations). He said he was sorry and would try to do a lot more around the apartment cleaning and maintenance wise, and promised that if he felt unwell he'd take better care of himself.

There is still the matter of not giving a fuck about much of anything. Now, believe you me, I knew what I was signing up for this time around: we'd dated and broken up once before, and after not seeing or speaking to one another for over a year, we slowly began to make contact once again. We have now been together (round 2) for very close to 2 years.

So, I understood that my BF suffered from a serious case of WGFY (World, go fuck yourself). I like it, and besides, I usually care enough for both of us. But when you seem to not care if you are sick or not, vital or not, energetic or not...when you express almost NO curiosity as to where your energy (and your sex drive) have gone...dude, something is not not right.

This is not who he is, and I can pinpoint the change to right about the time he quit smoking. It had gotten so bad I was tempted to tell him to start the damn habit all over again. But we talked, and I think some of what I had to say got through. He did say I made him sound like an asshole and a completely unsatisfactory boyfriend--that is not the case. If it was, we would have been having a very different conversation, and I would not be sharing his bed any longer.

Well...personal update finis. Cheerio!

My Apartment For Those Who Have Not Been Here

...but first, the worst known picture of me in the history of photography. Yep. Look, this is what I look like most days, so at least it's honest. Behind me, the towel I use to dry my hair! In my hands, the camera with which this picture was taken!!

A small corner of my bathroom counter. Details are important, people! The whole sink dealy is actually separate from the commode and bath/shower; that is its own little sanctum. See, it's really this sort of thing you're interested in, not details of my relationship or how my job is going. I tell myself this because I partly believe it to be true. I am also trying to justify showing you pictures of my bathroom.

Some of my plants, or "Shannon is a crazy cat lady, but without the cats." Also I talk to my plants. From leftish to rightish: spearmint, arugula, hydrangea, and lemon thyme. Oh, and a small silver froggy.

My kitchen, or the part that matters. I bake a lot. Actually, I just cook a lot, bake a lot of bread, and make fan-freaking-tastic cakes and such. I am the Cake Master, and all will ultimately kneel before my prowess. See? These pictures ARE telling you something about my life! Seriously, they are: these are things that matter to me on some level...

...which is why you are now seeing a picture of the bar. Yes, we have a bar. Yes, we restock it regularly. No, our friends are not the ones drinking all the alcohol.

I think you all remember this chair. You know, right before Rachel jetted me a facebook message, I had for the first time in years found and flipped through our old coven Book of Shadows. When I found that Rachel's most recent post was about Bethany, well...clearly, some sort of ultimate coincidence had taken place, and obviously it was time to reach out and communicate.

Ok, Ok. Fine. All Right Already.

I am bad at staying in touch. No, you don't get it--you REALLY don't get it. I am abysmally, horribly, apocalyptically BAD at keeping in touch. Seriously for realz yo. However, years later, do not be surprised if I track your ass down and grudgingly make some sort of effort to reach out--ok, not so grudging. But really, folks, would it kill y'all to get LiveJournal accounts?

So I recently read an article about FaceBook (trust me, this'll all connect momentarily), and it convinced me that as much as I sort of hate blogs and social networking sites, it's time to just accept that they are The Future, they are here to stay, and we will not all just go back to using the good ol' telephone (not that I am any good with phones, either). I have since reconnected with my best friend from high school, a wonderful former employer, and an old college roommate--and a coven sister.

Several, actually. I miss you all terribly sometimes; too many of my friends have moved away (and I have moved away from too many). I WANT to talk to you, I really do--but when we no longer share geography, what is there to say? You will not be dropping by for tea, we will not be going shopping together, and being workout buddies is out of the question.

Stupidly, I let this be my excuse for staying out of touch. In reality, there are a THOUSAND things to say, and if any kind of connection is to be maintained over any distance, anywhere, between anyone, it MUST be said. Bethany, I randomly re-tuned into your blog and discovered you were sad about losing a job prospect. It was important that I tell you about getting fired from retail after a mere three week stint. Rachel, you commented on a photo of me on Facebook--I can't tell you how good it was just to see that lone typed sentence from you. These things are important. I have neglected them far too long. And if keeping in touch means trying to maintain this here blog, well, I guess that's what I'll do.