Month: March 2020

“Strong and Defined” – The Rabyd Skald

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day!

I have been debating about my exercise program for a bit.  There is no argument about my stretching other than I want to add some power yoga moves before the end of the year.  My walking and hiking ill resume as soon as the weather is over 45 degrees at 8 am. It is these strength training and other training outside these that is my concern.

Right now the issue is my gym and I might not see each other for another whole month. So he power yoga thing is more of a necessity than a luxury.  Once this COVID-19 thing is over I thin the issue will be mostly practical strengths and anything that gets muscles more defined. Whatever that takes.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“One More Abnormal Week” – The Rabyd Skald

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day!

I really have a lot of catchup to do this week.  I need to get goals, bucket lists and such finalized and starting next week get going on all of it.  I just feel really tired.  I think the lack of going to the gym and getting ut combining has really started to kick my ass. COVID-19 can go fuck itself.  That said I still can do a lot of things that are positive, I just need to find the energy to do them.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

 

Self Goals – Old and New” – A Skald’s Life – Self Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy (Sol’s) Sif’s Day. 

Journal Entry:

It has been a rough week from the standpoint of being tired and quite frankly experiencing cabin fever and that is compounded by the COVID-19 lockdown in my state. I have struggled to write but as March 2020 comes to close I need to focus on my goals for my next year.

So I would say I would call my Self area mostly a success.  – Exercise program, check.  30th anniversary with the wife, check.  Nutritionally I was hit and miss but the results were good in that I lost fat and kept the muscles good  It wasn’t fully Paleo but it worked. 2-0-1 then.  Final tally: 6-2-1.  A winning record and to be honest I would have had one more win but tattoo places are shut down and that was my best hope for crossing off a bucket list item went with that.  That’s why my bucket list item under that will be double to two items for next year.

Discipline:

“Discipline is the willingness to be hard on oneself first and then if needed help with the development with others, so that greater purposes may be achieved.”

Principle: Apply discipline to every aspect of life that it can be applied.

Goal: To be following a full Paleo Diet by March 31, 2020. (half achieved)

Bucket List: Do a rebellious act on April 30th, 2020 – Beltane.

New Goal: To develop and follow a results-focused nutritional plan that results in fat loss, muscle gain or maintenance, and a lower A1c.

This is one area where I need a lifestyle focus rather than just a specific diet and one that worked regardless of what form it takes.

Perseverance:

“Perseverance is the ability to stand up and return from defeat and failure”

Principle: Keep getting up after every defeat or failure.

Goal: To engage in an exercise program that involves weightlifting, hiking/walking, and stretching/ yoga an average of three days a week from April 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2020 (Goal Achieved)

Bucket List: To get at least one tattoo by March 18th, 2020.

New Goal: To engage in morning stretching every day, to follow a practical strength-building program nad to walk 5k three times a week baring weather.

Fidelity:

“Fidelity is the will to be loyal to one’s moral philosophy, to one’s family, one’s friends, and most important to one’s self, and loyalty to one’s friends is valued as highly as loyalty to one’s family.”

Principle: Be loyal to those who have been loyal to me.

Goal: Celebrate my wife and I’s 30th anniversary (June 10th, 2019) with a mini-vacation (achieved)

Bucket List: Discover all the countries of origin from my genetics and visit them all by March 18th, 2029.

New Goal: To research my family tree to the point I can create a final copy to present to my family.

Higher Virtue – Wisdom:

There is part of my life where the stress is very real because I am trying to find a way forward that is wise and best for me. It’s not easy and that causes me to be more fatigued on top of everything else.

Rest Day Routine: 

  1. Morning Routine
  2. Wife: Communication / Cuddle Time
  3. Reading – 1/7th of a book
  4. Blogging – Organize, revise, post for the next day.  Write a new post for two days out.
  5. Cleaning – varies but one room of the apartment at least.
  6. Writing – 1000 Words

Goals and Bucket List Items Achieved (Since Summer 2018):

Goals Achieved: 7

  1. Graduated College with a BS in Political Science and minors in Economics and International Business – December 2018
  2. Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship by May 2019 – May 2019
  3. Celebrate my wife and I’s 30th anniversary (June 10th, 2019) with a mini-vacation – June 2019
  4. Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days).
  5. By March 31st of 2020, to be the leader/participant in a group of some kind.
  6. Find a new, better paying job by March 2020.
  7. To engage in an exercise program that involves weightlifting, hiking/walking, and stretching/ yoga an average of three days a week from April 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2020

Bucket List Items Achieved: 0

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Writing Erotica” – Freya’s Chambers – Sensual Art

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day!

Disclaimer:  The topics covered in Freya’s Chambers include serious discussions of sex, sexuality and related issues.  If it isn’t your thing; you can move along, otherwise enjoy and feel free to discuss.  Given the nature of some subjects be prepared for nude images as there may be some.  I avoid genitalia as a general rule but is not always possible.

See the source image

Discussion:

I haven’t really addressed the subject of sensual literature so far in Freya’s Chamber’s so here goes.  I am not a fan of romance novels as the plot seems pretty much the same.  The only innovation I have seen is not it is not always exclusively boy meets girl.  They=, meet, a problem arises, the overcome problem while falling in love, they confess love and curtain.  The sex scene that would follow such stories is far more interesting because the romance to me is all the hype of how passionate people are toward each other.  That sex scene would reveal if the hype was just hype or real passion.  Making love does that.

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Erotic novels try to capture that passion and give it physical form. It indicates how creative we are when it comes to sex as quite frankly the ways we make love are legion and the ability to describe them with words is, in my opinion, a difficult art.  It is this descriptive wordplay of erotica that draws people to it.

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I have tried my hand at erotic stories.  Privately and both before I left the ministry and after. It is not as easy as you might think  Words that envoke fantasy and passionate sex are not just run of the mill words. There is a whole new vocabulary, grammar style and way of fitting words together to describe what two (or more) people are doing so not only can you see it with your mind, but feel it with your heart, smell it, taste it and feel eery sensual action. Try simply describing and writing out a sex act you had once nad capture al that and you will see what I mean

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Most of my erotic stories when I first started centered on married couples trying to resurrect passion in their lovemaking.  Later it became about forbidden love or even infidelity. Adding in fetishes and other human traits simply followed in these themes.  Recently though I have written about mental sex.  Two people sit down in a cafe and look at one another and basically have sex with each other in their imaginations.  It gets interesting to switch back and forth as they each have subtle differences in how they perceive each other. Sometimes they know each other, other times they don’t.  Nothing gets beyond the short story.

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Sensual words are something that impresses me now. It is hard to do them right and with effectiveness. Like all writers, those who craft erotic literature are all over the place as far as skill and depth.  Those that are the most skillful, seem to pull me into their world where I am not just a voyeur but a participant in the making love itself.

See the source image

Perhaps one day I will get it right myself and pull that off.

My Two Cents,

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Business Goals – Old and New” – A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day! 

Journal Entry:

The Business area of my virtues was the most successful when it regards the goals I had this past year. I found a better paying job, finished my degree and found a support group.  3-0.  That’s 4-2 overall which I will take at this point.

The issue for the future is to find goals that move forward with my life beyond faith, building long life and prosperity doing things I enjoy.  I want to build on my success so far and take it to another level.

Self-Reliance:

“Self-Reliance is the spirit of independence, which is achieved when each person is their own master and no one else’s’ .”

Principle: To walk in the spirit of independence by being my own master and no one else’s

Goal:  Find a new, better paying job by March 2020.

Bucket List: To be a published author of at least five books by March 2029

New Goal: To find and engage a new career path that puts my new degree to work.

I went to school for a reason and I need that to work for me in the area of a new career. I ave actually started something that should fulfill this goal but I am keeping it close to the vest for now.

Industriousness:

“Industriousness is the willingness to work hard, always striving for efficiency, as a joyous activity in itself”

Principle: Work with the enjoyment of work itself.

Goal: Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship by May 2019 – May 2019 (achieved)

Bucket List: Write A Novel and Get it Published by March 2022.

New Goal: To write 1000 words per day for a year.

Working on my writing career here by being industrious in my efforts to keep up a good word count for the whole Year.

Hospitality:

“Hospitality is the willingness to share what one has with one’s fellows, especially when they are far from home.”

Principle: To share out of my abundance to help people where I can with their life’s journey.

Goal: By March 31st of 2020, to be the leader/participant in a group of some kind.  (Goal Achieved

Bucket List: To own my own home by March 2024.

New Goal: To begin regular significant donations to The Clergy Project as a way of paying them back.

I want to help the other faith wayfarers of the world and this seems to be the best way.

Higher Virtue – Justice:

To move forward with my career of being a writer, the support career and being an advocate for those who leave the faith has become something I feel is about being just to myself.

Work Day Routine:

  1. Morning Routine
  2. Workout – Gym after work.
  3. Wife: Communication / Cuddle Time
  4. Reading – 1/7th of a book
  5. Blogging – Organize, revise, post for the next day.  Write a new post for two days out.
  6. Writing: 1000 words/day.
  7. Personal Business: record financial transactions, savings plan actions, budgeting, appointments, job search, other actions, etc.
  8. Check Communications and Email after 4 pm but before 6 pm.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Tolkein’s Day” – Odin’s Eye

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Woden’s (Odin’s) Day.    

Discussion:

Today is Tolkein’s Day and as most of us might be at home, perhaps picking up and reading one of his books is a good way to celebrate it. I cannot underestimate the influence of the man on my imagination as a boy growing up. The Hobbit remains my favorite fantasy book of all time. The effect on me was to open my horizons and cause me to think more with the eye of how imagination can take us to places we could never go with my other way

Time to Look Through the Eye:

“To see the truth, change one eye for another”

Meditation:

I meditate on my days as a child a lot.  I would have to say the chief influences of that wonderful year I went from elementary school to middle school was one of the best between reading The Hobbit that summer, as well as, Mrs. Frisby and the Rat’s of Nihm (an introduction to science fiction for me)  were both books that set my course.

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Of course, I also learned a great deal about adult female anatomy from the teacher who gave me Nihm.  She had a habit of dressing in lingerie that shall we say was a little loose fitting and didn’t cover much.  She apparently didn’t notice my body was going through puberty a little earlier than most boys my age.  Between Tolkein. Nihm and the free anatomy lessons, I found my boy’s heart starting to grow into manhood.

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Mystery:

I would say that the same feeling of awe and mystery is with me today.  Tolkien gave me a sense of imaginative mystery that still inspires me to write to this day.  Not to mention giving my favorite wizard of all time – Gandalf. A wizard I might say that is based on Woden – Odin’s English counterpart.

See the source image

Spirituality:

In some small way, I think this might have been the beginning of my fall from faith.  I found myself constantly at odds with people who would condemn Tolkein for his use of magic or that he was a Catholic.  mY response would be – ‘who cares, the man writes good stories.  It is this rebellion that remains in my soul whenever some busybody with an opinion wants to intrude into my life. A rebellious spirit that lives with me to this day.

See the source image

Conclusion:

I am grateful to Tolkein for his works and to a time of my life in a summer that I was reading them that made me start shifting from boy to man. Happy Tolkein Day everyone!

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“Foundational Goals – Old and New” – A Skald’s Life – Foundational Goals

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Journal Entry:

My foundational goals have been the least successful.  I did ain’t an my daily blog streak but getting something off the bucket list and getting my non-fiction book finished did not pan out. 1-2 record here but I have learned a few things as well. Basically, I need one new goal and I need to edit the other two to provide for a better chance of success.

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.

New Goal: Maintain my YouTube Channel with at least two videos uploaded a week.

I am using another platform in addition to the blog to move forward with developing and honorable stance toward life. This has given me a pulpit and by this time next year, I want to look back a YouTube channel that is full of videos.

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.

Edited Goal: Cross two things off my bucket list by March 31st, 2021.

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 Honestly Pursue, Accept and Speak Truth to All who will Listen.

Goal: To Write a Non-Fiction Book by March 31st, 2020

Bucket List: Read 52 books (one per week) in the year 2020.

Edited Goal: To Write a Book by March 31st, 2021

The goal is to simply write a book. Period.

Higher Virtue: Love:

I struggle with love right now simply because I define it so differently now and I realize the loving myself is not only OK but the most important thing.

Morning Routine:

  1. Stretching / Yoga
  2. Review Nine Noble Virtues (NNV), Principles, Goals and Bucket List
  3. Meditation – 5 min.
  4. Check Communications and Email.
  5. Paper Journal: Update To-Do List.
  6. Shower, Personal Hygiene, Get Dressed for the Day
  7. Breakfast, Morning Meds.
  8. Rest Days – Morning Walk (weather permitting)

I am going back to working out after work, the moment the COVID-19 thing is done.

I remain.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

“One More Quick Post” – The Rabyd Skald

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Mani’s Day!

I had originally planned on getting back to normal posting this week but real life intrudes and given the COVID-19 issues.  I came home exhausted of mind and body after a long day of watching people acting in fear.  Time to relax and chill.  I plan on revealing my new goal this week and formalizing my stuff the next so that will happen.  I also need to keep the score of this past year’s goals near the end of the month.

In any case, this post keeps the posting streak going and offers a cute nurse for soon vaccination of COVID-19 – one hopes.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

 

“Viking Philosophy – Part 4 – Be a Good Merchant” – The Pagan Pulpit

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sol’s Day!

Announcements:

We don’t pray here – we figure God, the gods, goddesses, or whatever powers that be (if any) either know already, don’t give a fuck, or are busy with more important matters than our petty stuff. We also kind of assume that they expect us to do stuff that we can do for ourselves and that we will do them ourselves and not be lazy. We also believe in being good friends, so we don’t presume on our friendship with the powers that be by asking them all the time for stuff while giving them nothing in return.

We also don’t take an offering here.  We figure the powers that be probably don’t need it.  Let’s be honest, offerings are not given to the divine powers, they are given to an organization to support it.  Just being honest. God, the gods or whatever never sees a dime, farthing or peso of that money; it all goes to the church, mosque or shrine.

Theme Song: Trobar de Morte – ‘Summoning The Gods’

Meditation:

Image may contain: 1 person, meme and beard, possible text that says 'NEVER INTERRUPT WITCH/VOLVA YOUR ENEMY NORSE OHATHE WHILE THEY ARE MAKING A MISTAKE'

 

Text:

Sermon: ‘Viking Philosophy – Part 3 – Be a Good Merchant’

One of the unknown historical things about the Vikings is that they were good traders. Most see the Vikings as raiders but their main long term objective was trade routes. Now the Vikings if they seemed to have shortcoming militarily it was siege\ing cities so the better strategy was to threaten economic warfare but then offer trade as an alternative to war.  Sometimes it was simple once the Vikings colonized they traded with the new colony. In any case, being a good merchant was part fo the game of being a Viking.

  1. Finding Out What the Market Needs – selling means filling a need.  You can try to sell ice and snow to Eskimos all you want but they don’t need them.
  2. Do Not Promise What You Cannot Keep – No one will do business with a person who can not deliver on their promises.  The great correcting force of the market is if you sell shit people will stop buying it and if you don’t deliver – same.
  3. Do Not Demand Overpayment – Make sure your prices are affordable and you will get long term business.
  4. Arrange Things So You Can Return – The long term is the focus in the end.  Being able to do business and keep doing it repeatedly. This is why being honorable and truthful leads to self-reliance.

Parting Thought:

Image may contain: 1 person, possible text that says 'Nordic Bloo Love all. Trust few. Everything's real but not everyone's true.'

 

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!