The sun has set on this Harvest Celebration Day, and I am reminded that there are many of us that are finding it especially difficult to traverse the path that brings many families together this time of year. Whether it is those of us that are remaining in the broom closet due to the closed minds of others, fear of rocking the boat, or retribution for any of our life choices in general: I see you.
Season of Gratitude
As someone who has personal experience with the inner voice of others, I used to be driven to clean the baseboards, was worked up and stressed out over all of the things that must be done in order to appease everyone else.
I dealt with the forced false positivity that imploded at the drop of a single criticism from someone for not meeting their expectations.
The weight of the expectations of others during this time of year can be overwhelming and I am grateful to have found my voice, enforced my boundaries, and it has led me to my own version of bliss. This may be an unpopular thing to be grateful for!
The cost of being a witch will always be high, but it is a price I have paid in full. I would do it again if it meant that I am at peace, comfortable with myself, and surrounded by my tribe of people. My disclaimer here is this is not permission to go into the holidays with a torch and burn it down. I mean, we can do that, albeit with disastrous results. Not that anyone needs permission really, as a witch I don’t ask for permission to do what it is I need to do for my personal peace and sovereignty.
Those are the questions though, once we get right down to it:
- What is it we need to do for our own peace?
- How can we reclaim our sovereignty?
- What brings us joy?
- How can we show gratitude in the process?
The Road to Bliss
My road to bliss is paved with truth, boundaries, and being sovereign over both. Owning it. That is sovereignty to me. Cleaning baseboards and faking nice are not a part of my bliss. My bliss is warmth in the kitchen, awareness of the love I am putting into the meal as I make it, and the open heart with which I choose myself first, last year, this year, and every year after this.
Here are some of the costs I am willing to pay should the boundaries be tested or crossed:
- Maybe this is the last time I host the Harvest Day Celebration and make it known to all that I relinquish the tradition, someone else will need to step in.
- Maybe I choose not to go to someone else’s traditional Harvest Day celebration because (as with the lowercase ‘c’ in ‘celebration’) it makes me feel small and less than.
- Maybe I don’t clean the baseboards.
- Maybe I order the meal in and it is not completely homemade.
- Maybe when the criticism or backhanded compliments begin, I address it instead of apologizing for not meeting an expectation.
- Maybe I say that what I do or how I choose to live are no longer revolving around someone else’s expectations.
I am unapologetic for the way I choose to live or the choices that I make for myself. I stop carrying the weight of others’ expectations because it is not mine to carry. I am grateful for that.
Even here though, I must be grateful further:
- I have a home with baseboards that need cleaning.
- I have food to eat.
- I have people in my life that, regardless of the past, are still showing up in my present and that means something. Even when I must reinforce the boundaries with them.
- I have a voice.
- My consciousness is expanding daily and so is my spiritual practice.
I am so grateful for my blessings. So before absolutely torching it this season, I encourage everyone to step back and recognize what there is to be grateful for. Maybe this will be the season that we become the most thankful for if it leads to a deeper connection with others, to individual truths, and individual paths to bliss.
I see you, I believe you are doing what is best for you, and I see that the ways we own it are individual to us all. In whatever ways you unapologetically enforce boundaries, speak your truth, and find your bliss this season – own it. All of it.
A candle and key,
Kaycee
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Feature Image Credit: vlad-gedroics via Unsplash