January 2015: "I'm SO Goth..."

I stole copied this pic from Mary Bart's blog, Mourning Glory Designs, because I just LOVE it, both the cat and what it says...




And if you can, BE the first person to love the person you hide... 

Hello, 2015: My "New Year's New Lifestyle"

Has anyone heard my weird bass noises yet?  I've been practicing for a bit now, and so far no complaints!  Of course, it does help that I'm using headphones so that no one actually HEARS my efforts but me...  ;-)

Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about how negative my outlook has become due to all the chaos that happened in 2014 (including the leaking pipes that recently caused my bathroom to be torn up yet AGAIN), and I have decided that this needs to change.  To that end, I am starting myself, not on "New Year's resolutions", which everyone ends up dumping sometime in January anyway, but on a "New Year's New Lifestyle".  (These could very easily morph into my goals for Bat Fit 2015, so stay tuned.)

I begin my New Lifestyle by dividing my life into four sections: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual.  I've used this division before, and it works because I'm able to be clearer and more specific about what I want to do.

In my Physical Lifestyle, I am paying more attention to what I eat and how much.  I am using the pedal exerciser my mom got me every day.  I am also choosing to start taking a private tai chi/yoga class with a friend at her home.  Now I will have an "exercise buddy", and we won't have to deal with getting to and from classes in rush-hour traffic.

Mental and emotional aspects of my life often overlap, as I am sure they do with most people.  I have decided that I will put career-related activities and things to do with my personal mental health and well being into my Mental section, while things like creative writing, music, and dance will go into my Emotional section. 

In my Mental Lifestyle, I am still deciding what I want and how I will achieve it.  I guess you could call this section "Under Construction" at the moment.  While I know what my ideal job/career would be, I also need to be realistic about the limited opportunities in this place and at this time.  I need to decide how flexible I am willing to become in order to move forward, and create a viable job/career goal for now.  I am also choosing to be more positive about the job I have right now; this may be easier to do this than I thought, since I found out today that my take-home pay is over $400 more than it was before!  :-)

In my Emotional Lifestyle, I am practicing the bass at least every other night.  I'm not planning on joining a band or becoming a professional, so I don't need to push myself if there are times when that would be more harmful than helpful.  However, practicing any kind of discipline causes you to live totally in the moment while you are doing it, which is good for your emotional health.  I am also working on a very simple needlepoint project I inherited years ago; the main design is completely done, and all that remains is filling in the blank canvas that surrounds it in a plain off-white yarn.  I have done many needlepoint projects over the years, but I'm finding this one extremely soothing, simply because it's just empty space.  I need quiet, empty space in my life right now, and this is a perfect focus for it.

In my Spiritual Lifestyle, I am doing two different book studies/practices with like-minded people. The first is with The Shamanic Witch by Gail Wood.  This book combines elements of witchcraft and shamanism into a unique practice.  I've read it before, and found it very enlightening.  The second study is with Walking the Twilight Path: A Gothic Book of the Dead by Michelle Belanger.  This is also a unique practice about discovering the beauty and mystery of death, and incorporating elements into one's daily life.  I am working on combining the two practices into my own unique path.

May 2015 be a splendid, wonderful and totally gothic year for ALL of us!!  So mote it be...