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I know today's blog post might appear to be a bit off. Well, ok, the table is definitely a departure from the norm, I get it. But it is linked to the power of words. And, following on from this, I want to talk about the power of the words you use about yourself. I did a horrifically awful exercise years ago, as part of a disordered eating recovery program, where we wrote down some of the things we said to each other. And then we said them, out loud, to the person next to us. Very few people could get through that without crying. Seriously. And yet, we do it to ourselves all the time. So, while the notion of being called "Papist" or "Taig" or whatever, might not have an effect on you today, have a think about the words you use about yourself. It took me years to stop saying "I'm bad with money". Cos, you know what? I'm actually not. But until I stopped telling myself I was, I couldn't pull money together. I still tell myself I'm not flexible. Guess what? I really amn't. But nor do I commit to any program that might improve said flexibility. And I won't, until I do that work and stop telling myself I'm inflexible. Saying "I'm inflexible" is a static, non-moving, unchangeable statement. Possibly a better way to put it would be "I'm not as flexible as I'd like to be right now". Or "I'm working on improving my flexibility right now". Or any of a hundred different ways of saying it. Think this doesn't apply to you and your spirituality? Think again. How many times have you looked at a class or a program and thought "I'd love to do that but I can't because..." And you don't reach out to see if there's something that can be arranged? How many times have you thought about starting a daily practice, but you don't, because of.... And you stop there. As if all obstacles are immoveable and unchangeable. Now, of course. If a class costs €20k and you're struggling for €20 for food... yeah, €20k probably isn't going to manifest magically into your bank account. And if it did, it's possible you might have higher priorities than that class. But of course, getting the €20k isn't the end goal. Doing the class is. So, what can you do? How do you change the narrative to allow yourself to engage with the material? You could ask for a scholarship. You could ask for the reading list. You could go back through blog posts or podcast episodes or youtube videos and pick up the information from there. So have a think today: what language are you using to stop yourself doing something you really, truly want to do? And what would change that? BrÃd libh Órlagh Check out the links below: ​Brigid's Forge School​ ​Patreon​ ​Website​ |
I'm dedicated to helping women in particular develop their spiritual path in life. I'm focused heavily on Brigid in Ireland, although not all my followers are! I teach, speak, coach and mentor people to help them along their own individual path, based on what lore we have, but also allowing for each individual path to develop as it needs to.
For a long time, I had a problem I couldn't solve. My relationship with Brigid was growing. My Catholic upbringing wasn't going anywhere - not because I was still practising in any conventional sense, but because it's in me, in the way that anything you're raised inside is in you. And I couldn't work out how to hold both things at once. I've written about this conflict recently - the specific discomfort of being a pagan Catholic, of loving figures who belong to a tradition you've also had...
I want to be honest with you about something, because I think it might be useful. The last few months have been hard. I've been struggling with anxiety - properly struggling, not just the background hum that most of us carry, but the kind that makes the ordinary things feel effortful and the future feel unreliable. I'm getting professional help, and that matters. But alongside that, I've been going to the sea more than usual. On the rougher days - the ones where everything felt loud and sharp...
Last week, Ireland decided to have actual summer. Thirty degrees. Proper heat, the kind we're categorically not built for. We don't have air conditioning in the house. We do have a €30 mini air conditioner from Amazon that makes a heroic amount of noise for very little cooling effect. What we also have is a car with functioning air con - so I did what any sensible person would do. I invented a reason to drive to Waterford. I had exam scripts to collect. This was true. It was also, I'll be...