I hope you and yours had a lovely equinox! Last autumnal equinox, what we Heathens call Winter Finding, I wrote about letting go of the old to make room for the new, and I thought I’d hold myself accountable by letting you know how I did.

Last year I said I’d let go of…

…the notion my house would clean itself and instead spend an hour every morning cleaning it myself.

It took me awhile to get into this habit, but I’ve made some serious changes. I don’t necessarily clock an hour, but I have put together morning and evening routines that keep the laundry in check, the kitchen clean, and clutter from taking over at least the public areas of the house.

Verdict: While I still have more to do, I count this as a success. Going from chaos to the fundamentals of order in a sustainable way is a big deal for me!

…some unhealthy eating habits.

I finally got around to this one after an over-indulgent Yule, dropped ten pounds between Yule and Ostara, and have kept it off since then. My diet is so much better than it used to be, and I feel great! Plus my husband and I have made the switch to organic farm vegetables and family-raised, sustainable meat from an in-state ranch. I gotta admit, I’m getting picky about my meat; corn-fed beef doesn’t taste near as good as pasture raised!

Verdict: Success!

…all the unneeded stuff that doesn’t fit in the house.

I’m behind on this one. TheScott and I started an addition on our house several years ago, and it took a lot longer to finally finish than I anticipated (we finally got our occupancy permit at the beginning of the summer). The purpose behind this resolution was that once we were able to move into the addition, I would only keep things that fit in the expanded version of our house, and donate everything we didn’t have a place for – nothing goes into storage. While I’ve started weeding through our things, I haven’t gotten very far yet.

Verdict: In progress.

… Pagan dabbling to focus on Heathenry.

This was by far the easiest change and the most incredible. Going Heathen has felt like going home. I’ve put together an ancestor altar (which I will write about one day – I LOVE it!). I’ve started connecting with the Heathen gods, who are answering in interesting and beautiful ways. I attended my first public faining at Freyfaxi, which was delightful. The focus on family and home that comes with Heathenry has resonated with me and helped me fulfill my other 2010 Winter Finding goals (as well as a few other things that have been weighing on my mind!). My fear of death, something I’ve lugged around since middle school when I first tried to contemplate eternity, has faded to a sort of calm acceptance. I look forward to growing as a Heathen (and through that, as a person) in the future.

Verdict: Resounding success.

I feel good about the changes I’ve wrought this year, and I’ve started thinking about what harvest I want in my life this time next year. This year I will clear from the fields of my life:

  1. Physical lethargy. I hate working out, but I prefer my body spry and strong. And that means exercising.
  2. Clutter – that thing I didn’t finish last year. Yeah. That will get done. By this time next year, my home will be settled into a manageable routine, and not just in the public areas. I’ve made great progress – a good base to from which to build. If I push myself a little more, I really can have the home I want.
  3. Worry over things I cannot change. I can’t make the world work the way I think it should, I can’t change other people, and much of my own wyrd is simply out of my hands. I can only do the best with what I have at each moment, and I’m better off if I let those moments come when they will and not wish to speed the future along. I will get an offer on a story when I get an offer. I will have a family when I have a family. Other people will make their own decisions and come to their own conclusions, and no good comes from me stressing over it.

I don’t know how to measure that last one, but I do think it’s important, and I seem to worry more as I get older. I need to reverse that trend. Now is a beautiful moment to be alive.

Is my list overly ambitious? I’m flush with success and planning big. 🙂

Did anybody out there celebrate the equinox? How was it?

+ Featured Image: “Bas-relief in Persepolis – a symbol Zoroastrian Nowruz – in day of a spring equinox power of eternally fighting bull (personifying the Earth), and a lion (personifying the Sun), are equal” by Anatoly Terentiev [Note from Jax: I’m not really sure how a lion eating a bull makes them equal – it kinda looks to me like the lion’s winning – but I’ll never understand those crazy Zoroastrians. Really, I picked the photo because I like to think of myself as the lion, devouring my bad habits and replacing them with new awesome ones. *Rawr*]