Happy Mani’s Day
Journal Entry:
The more I engage the question the more I am now aware and can confirm that I am an atheist. I have no belief in any way shape or form in a god or gods. Even what people consider supernatural has a natural explanation. I am open to any rational explanation that would prove the existence of something divine or supernatural, but my experiences in the church and in particular being pentecostal have allowed me to see how you can boil everything down to magic tricks, groupthink, mass psychology, and psychological manipulation.
So the question people always level at atheists is what morals or ethics can you have without the divine? My response, you assume the divine/religion created morality. Given that all religions have similar statements of morality, is it not possible that they are all borrowing from the same source – humanity. It is why I can borrow the Nine Noble Virtues and be an atheist follower of parts of Asatru. It is a good list and it gives my moral philosophy a good foundation but all tose virtues can be found elsewhere including in the atheist moral philosophy.
This is the week I engage these virtues for their own sake and ask myself how I am doing regarding them.
Honor:
“Honor is the feeling of inner value and worth from which one knows that one is noble of being, and the desire to show respect for this quality when it is found in the world”
Principle – To possess a feeling of inner value about myself and my future with a desire to find the same in others.
Goal: Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days). (achieved)
Bucket List: Hike the Northern Lakeshore Trail along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by March 2024.
I struggle to be of value to me. It is not that others don’t say thank you and that they appreciate me. Rather, it is when I look in the mirror and think I can be more and do more. My sense of self-worth is probable below average right now and part of that is my unknown future. I just feel Grey at times.
Courage:
“Courage is the bravery to do what is right always.”
Principle – Act with Courage at the right time.
Goal: Cross one thing off bucket list every year. Deadline March 31st.
Bucket List: Go Back to Budapest, Hungary for a vacation by March 2029.
What is the right thing is more of a question right now. I keep hoping and searching for something better but I don’t know what that is right now.
Truth:
“Truth is the willingness, to be honest, and to say what one knows to be true and right. It is often better to not say anything at all if one cannot be honest.”
Principle – To Be Honest, and Speak Truth to Myself and Others. To Be Silent in the presence of Fools.
Goal: To Write a Non-Fiction Book by March 31st, 2020
Bucket List: Read 52 books (one per week) in the year 2020.
Honest self-evaluation is hard right now. I don’t like a lot of things about where I am, what I am doing and what I am thinking.
Higher Virtue: Love:
It is the same old story right now of the tension of being concerned for others and a lack of concern for myself. My self-maintenance of love is a little low but I have to make an effort to remember to do it. I need to be myself, the problem is that it is very different from what people expect me to be and that is something that is going to make them uncomfortable which my empathic self will pick up on and then be uncomfortable as well. It’s a vicious cycle and one that doesn’t end well for me. Something needs to change and I am falling back to thoughts I had a few years ago. The tension is building and that is not good.
Morning Routine:
- Stretching / Yoga
- Shower, Personal Hygiene. Morning Meds.
- Review Nine Noble Virtues (NNV), Principles, Goals and Bucket List
- Meditation – 5 min.
- Check Communications and Email.
- Paper Journal: Create a Daily Log and To-Do List.
- Get Dressed for the Day
This order is working out a little better.
I remain.
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
The Grey Wayfarer 