Darlings –<\/p>\n
So\u00a0here\u2019s a thing\u2026<\/p>\n
You know the expression, \u201cPhysician, heal thyself?”<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a similar one.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreacher, hear thyself.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I wrote to you last week, I felt as though I was at the end of my rope, burned out, knowing I wasn\u2019t giving you\u00a0my\u00a0best work, but pushing through to try to do the best I could.<\/p>\n
I was trying dig deep, find something meaningful, remind people of something helpful, something that would nourish your spiritual lives, something concrete and actionable.<\/p>\n
I told you that sleep was essential to creativity. I told you that Americans are chronically\u00a0underslept. I told you that deep rest is one of the \u201cmagic bullets,\u201d along with enough water and movement, that can keep us well in body, mind, and spirit.<\/p>\n
And then, dear friends, a week later, I realized that I had worked 18 days in a row.<\/p>\n
18.<\/p>\n
I was working flat-out on new projects, on responding to people, on offering new aspects of ministry, on writing, on letting people know what I\u2019m up to. The work was good.<\/p>\n
But eighteen days? Really?!<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t even KNOW when I sent that video and love letter that I was really writing to myself.<\/p>\n
How is it that we get into these \u201cDo what I say, not what I do\u201d moments? How is it that we can become such hypocrites?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how I feel right now. Like a big hypocrite.<\/p>\n
Then again, human. Human I am, and I know I\u2019m not the only one among us who’s\u00a0overworking and\/or missing our own messages.<\/p>\n
So\u00a0this week\u2019s\u00a0Reflections<\/em>\u00a0is unusually short.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because I\u2019m going to spend the rest of the day lounging, playing with my fountain pens, writing letters to friends and family, and perhaps taking TWO naps. I might read about whales. Or even dig into the new novel my wife has been telling me about. Or listen to a podcast or two \u2013 something not directly related to my ministry.<\/p>\n I love you. AND I need to fill the well and listen to my own words.<\/p>\n I do have one exciting thing I want to share, though, before I sign off. This week, February1-2, is the fire feast of Imbolc, sacred to the Goddess\u00a0Brighid, and one of my favorites. Some of you have asked that I offer something for the holiday. Not just the usual short video, but something a little more substantive.<\/p>\n I decided that I still don\u2019t have the energy to write and coordinate a whole ritual this year. My apologies if you were hoping for that.<\/p>\n BUT!<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to try something new\u2026So do watch your Inbox this coming Friday or Saturday for something a little \u201cmeatier\u201d or, as we in Stone Circle Wicca say for those of us who are vegetarian, something with a little more avocado.<\/p>\n Love you so much.<\/p>\n Signing off for a nap \u2013<\/p>\n ~Catharine~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Darlings – So\u00a0here\u2019s a thing\u2026 You know the expression, \u201cPhysician, heal thyself?” There\u2019s a similar one. \u201cPreacher, hear thyself.\u201d When I wrote to you last week, I felt as though I was at the end of my rope, burned out, knowing I wasn\u2019t giving you\u00a0my\u00a0best work, but pushing through to try to do the best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewayoftheriver.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}