Happy Sol’s Day!
Yeah, I know another week without the Pagan Pulpit, but milestones don’t come up very often and this one is kind of a big deal – 1000 likes. You like me, you really like me. I just want to take the opportunity to thank all of you that support this humble blog. You make all worthwhile and the likes are appreciated.
Thanks for reading and every like.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Sol’s Day
I know I know – no pagan pulpit again. Hey, this is my blog and I do what I want. Mostly though I am looking at catching up on some filing of posts today and looking at my other writing plans.
I should not that there are now 600+ posts on this blog and the streak of posts every day is up to 511 with this psot today. Content, I got that. Whatever the future might be I am starting to enjoy writing again. I now need to translate that into writing habits.
Thank you for reading – all of you.
Peace.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Tyr’s Day
Journal Entry:
Before I get back into the cycle of Virtues, Principles. Goals, Bucket List and Routines that I do, I must address a few sundry issues. the most notable of these is that the purpose of all this is to keep myself grounded in the now, learning from the past and looking to the horizon. Mostly I am now aware that my 51st year of life is drawing to a close and the goals need to be set for 52. This process starts now with a lot of meditation and thinking about what is best for me.
Like an ancient sailor, one can set a goal for a certain place, but the wind and sea require one to be flexible about the execution of how exactly that is achieved. Life does not always cooperate with ones’ goals. Mostly the next year will be about the following:
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.
As I look at what is crossed off here this was about taking stock of myself to maintain a progress toward honor. I am thinking that next year’s goals will involve blogging as well – maintain the habit. but also coming to terms with my new YouTube channel being a new pulpit for myself. Being an honorable social media personality might be the issue here.
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.
My goal here will be much the same I think. But might raise the stakes and require two things to be crossed off my bucket list instead of just one.
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.
This is the most likely goal to fail this year so I might simply renew it with some changes. Like, make it more basic – Write a full book this year instead. I want to learn from my struggles as a writer this year in order not to struggle next year as much.
Higher Virtue: Love:
I think I am about to make a decision that will be a major victory for me learning to love myself. The downside is there is no way to not to probably get some pushback from others who love me but won’t like what I have decided.
Morning Routine:
The changes here reflect what will happen when I am at the 6-3 schedule. This week and next I am going back and forth from 4-1 and 6-3 so this becomes more negotiable between the old routines and the new. Good thing, as I am working on a lot of changes.
I remain.
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Sif’s Day.
Journal Entry:
Sometimes life forces change and with my routines, a new job with a new schedule is going to force some changes in my routines. Other changes were already being thought about because if I put things in front of other things that are more habit then I tend to do that and the thing that is a habit as well. The idea is that in particular by putting my daily reading before writing on for my Blog, the reading will get done as will the blog. It’s an experiment that happens to work for me.
The other change is now the daily word count for writing will be 1000 words until I get consistent with that and then I will raise the word count upwards as things get easier. I need to jsut be doing it every day and then expanding it to the point fo maximizing the word count without exhausting myself as a writer or person. Blogging itself has to actually be done in such a way that I am two days ahead fo myself. revising the psot for the next day and writing the one for the day after that.
The Morning. Work and Rest Routines have worked far better than any other method I have used. The difference now is creating an option on the morning routine for exercise at the gym on workdays and taking a morning walk on rest days. Moving from 3/4 time to full time means five workdays and 2 rest days on average per week. My daily schedule as a department manager also changes from 4am to 1pm to 6 am to 3 pm.
After consideration of all these factors, the routines I have been following are revised as follows:
Morning Routine:
Work Day Routine:
Rest Day Routine:
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.
Bucket List: Do a rebellious act on April 30th, 2020 – Beltane.
Discipline and Routine go hand in hand, Most of the whole issue of my routines is about living the Virtue of Discipline.
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
Bucket List: To get at least one tattoo by March 18th, 2020.
The real trick at this point it to persevere in my routines. That every failure in them; not only do I get up from, but that learn from those failures so I have them less often.
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.
I need to perceive of following these routines as being faithful to myself. Being Loyal to myself involves achieving my goals and seeing items checked off the bucket list. Routine and Fidelity to myself need to be a part of my mediation for a while until it becomes a constant thought and later a habit.
Higher Virtue – Wisdom:
Wisdom is always an application thing. In this case, I have a lot of experience now in revising my routines as the situation calls for it. This was not catastrophic change and I think they might actually help out much better. Long term it might reveal the wisdom of making exercise a part of my morning routine regardless of schedule. 24-hour access gyms are good for that.
Rest Day Routine:
New and revised, like all the rest – next week will be a good test for all of them.
Goals and Bucket List Items Achieved (Since Summer 2018):
Goals Achieved: 6
Bucket List Items Achieved: 0
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Tyr’s Day
Journal Entry:
This week I am both talking about my Routines and trying to get back on track with them starting with my Morning Routine which represents the daily discipline of my life. The every day self-discipline of taking control of some basic things including my thoughts and feelings is what I am doing here.
What you see mostly with my morning routine is taking control of my thoughts and feelings and learning to control what I feel and think. There is also the basic physical discipline of stretching to wake up my body. It’s organizing my day in my head and then beginning to execute that plan in my life.
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 have a real love-hate relationship with honor these days, there are places where honor is present in my life and others where I would just soon challenge certain people to a good old fashion Viking duel to settle the question.
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.
I would say that the most likely candidate for my bucket list item here remains to get my tattoo which crosses off a goal and a bucket list item at the same time. recently I engaged my courage with work and I think it paid off. I will probably know for sure by the next ‘A Skald’s Life’ post.
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.
I need to catch up on my reading of books and probably this means a few novels because they go faster for me. non-ficiton books take longer because I try to think through them while I read them. Writing the non-fiction book is going to require some work as I keep shifting from one idea to another. I think my Youtube channel has become the living expression of the principle here.
Higher Virtue: Love:
I hate it when to love means you have to make choices of priority in that love. I have to love myself first. This has become clear if I want to be happy. This means other relationships do have a priority order but at the top is me and it has to be me.
Morning Routine:
The routine works when it is done. I have a problem being consistent with it and I am thinking that tomorrow I will start working on it and it alone for a couple days until the next A Skald’s Life. The issue is I want this to be a habit. The habit of being my thoughts under my mastery. This is going to take some months of being consistent to do this. This needs to be the focus in the coming year.
I remain.
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Thor’s Day!
Journal Entry:
Continuing with the analogy of wells in regards to the bucket list under Business, these are about gaining some accomplishment and rest in the area od career. Particularly the career fo being a writer. The thing is I have to get going on this writing thing in a far more disciplined manner and it will happen I think. There is also the thought of having a place of my own where I have my point zero from which the rest of my wanderings proceed.
To have a published writing career, finish a novel and get it published and have a home to call my own. These are goals that speak of rest times where I can look back and say – I did it and have the comfort of a home to do it from.
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
This is my writing career goal and I have one less year now. I need to get going and produce a book for publication every two years at a minimum.
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.
I actually have an idea for a novel rolling in my head and it is really good. I just need to sit down and put it on paper. The real problem is I need to make progress on my non-fiction book to get it done in the next two months.
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.
I don’t want a big fancy place, Just one that is comfortable and private with no nosy or prying neighbors. Just a place of my own to shut out the rest of the world when I need to do so.
Higher Virtue – Justice:
I am trying to get justice for myself. I am trying to get it by having a second more successful career as a writer and teacher/professor. It would be the best way to look back at those that wished me ill and acted on that wish and give them the middle finger and say – ‘still here and better than ever.”
Work Day Routine:
Good. I need to actually do it more.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Tyr’s Day
Journal Entry:
My rotation leads me to the week’s discussion of my goals and the two left in the Foundational Virtues are both important to me emotionally as well as practically. Overall I have five out of my nine goals for my 51st-year of life left. The deadline is March 31st.
The first is to cross something off my bucket list under Courage and it is quite likely this will be the goal under the bucket list every single year. The idea is to always be making progress on my bucket list as a motivation. The most likely candidate for this is getting my tattoo. I actually could do this with my tax return depending on how much it is. I was hoping to have a better paying job to do this but if not then some money spent on my first tattoo.
The other goal is to finish the manuscript for one of my non-fiction books. No lie, this going to be a challenge now as mostly I find myself getting bored with one project and switching to another. If I am going to finish this one I am going to have to bear down and finish one thing at the exclusion of writing on the others.
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.
This blog actually has continued every day without fail since October 1st of last year. The streak is up to 478 days with this post. A goal that has turned into a genuine habit.
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.
I read spoke at length about this goal but I would add here this is one of those very important goals. Emotionally very important as it will mark a change from my old life to my new and burning the bridge at last.
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.
As a writer, this goal is emotionally important as well. I have written a novel although it is too awful for publication without some major reworking of it. What I haven’t done is write a non-fiction book and that needs to be conquered simply from an emotional ‘I can do this’ point of view.
Higher Virtue: Love:
The love for myself is both these goals. Emotionally it marks me caring more about what I want than what others think and feel. I need to cross this bridge very badly for my own self-love’s sake. I need to cross it and then burn it behind me.
Morning Routine:
Like this, it just needs to be more consistent.
I remain.
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day!
I would normally be doing a Freya’s Chambers today but I need to do some more research on some things before I wrote about them. Part of the problem is my thoughts are a jumbled mess since meeting with both my job coach and my therapist on Wednesday so I feel the need to write about this at least in general terms. It is not really a The Grey and The Wayfarer kind fo post. More of thoughts being conflicted sort of post so I am trying to sort them out by writing about them.
Every time I think about the job situation it brings up a whole pack of emotions because of the fact that my last church fired me instead of accepting my resignation so it leaves my job history with a huge hole. Of course, I don’t feel I want to use any of those people as contacts for new jobs because I clearly can’t trust them. That resource is gone and so I am now painfully aware I need to do something very uncomfortable for me which I build my network back up and that means talking to people about what they do and seeing if it fits me. I am just not very good at just starting cold conversations like that.
I am creating multiple prototypes of my life to come but all of them require either moving to the one place I still have contacts and that is not going to sit well with my wife and perhaps even my family. I WANT a completely fresh start just to move on. Just to have the feeling that I am not going to run into somebody I know and have to explain things all over again. I won’t have the fear of running into Miss Salty or the Dirty Pig because I still don;t know how I would react to either. I just to be with my best friend and start over in a new place with new people. This involves a big move literally and figuratively.
I don’t know how to express this any way that is spoken, so I write about it and I am trying to be careful about being open about what I talk with my therapist about in detail but the fact that I continue to struggle with doing what would make me happy versus what makes everyone else happy has become the BIG struggle of my life. This is my frost giant to fight right now. The problem is sometimes I see the face of the frost giant and it’s my own.
Part of me died with my faith, but it keeps acting like a ghost to haunt and attack my thoughts and feelings. I am trying to bring new life to the place of deadness, but to me, that means a lot of new things need to happen and soon. As an atheist, life is much more precious to me now realizing it will be the only one I get and is finite. I want my own happiness to be central and I want to do all I can to secure it. I just don’t feel that will ever happen if the situation does not change drastically.
Both my job coach and my therapist have helped me sort out my own thoughts on this and for that, I am very grateful. I truly think people should get over the stigma of therapy. I am glad to have it. I have to thank The Clergy Project for that.
Thanks for reading this very personal post but it needed to be done. My writing has stimied and so has my reading. Sometimes getting things off my chest helps.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Sif’s Day!
The Purpose of Routine:
The idea is that much of life is unpredictable so to get things done you need to make part of your life at least predictable because you make it so. It is about putting order to chaos and making that order work in your favor. In my case, I have a Morning Routine that I do every day. I also have a Work Day Routine and a Rest Day Routine which are only differentiated by the fact of whether I work that day or not. The issue today is to look at all of them and makes some changes.
Morning Routine:
If there is a significant change I am making here it is that my paper journal will be don at the end fo the day now for the next day as far as creating my checklist and To-Do List for each day so in them orning the only thing that might happen is when I check my email and stuff I might have to add to them but I want to do the actual lists at the end of the day for the next one. In the morning I jsut want to be able to start doing what I need to do and start checking things off. the end of the day provides a better time for preparation for all this.
Work Day Routine:
With days I work I want to make progress on things like reading and writing as well as a personal business. I am trying to come to terms with the idea that on workdays there is little time for anything else and I need to be Ok with that. The other thing is my gym time needs to fill the whole hour which means I need to do a little more lifting and then perhaps hit the treadmill for a bit to fill the rest. Of find something interesting to do. The point is to stay active and fill the whole hour.
Rest Day Routine:
The trick here was to focus on being a writer and then relaxing the rest of the day. The Cleaning part is actually about making my environment relaxing so I can relax in something clean and organized.
Blog Posts – Weekly Order:
The order of posts for the blog this coming year (or whenever I change it) is as follows:
Sol’s Day: The Pagan Pulpit – Weekly written service for you pagans out there like me. Currently, I am doing a long series on Asatru but that will change once I am finished.
Mani’s Day: Of Wolves and Ravens – My life philosophy in action.
Tyr’s Day: A Skald’s Life – Foundational Virtues – My first weekly journal post dealing with the virtues of Honor, Truth, and Courage.
Woden’s (Odin’s) Day: Odin’s Eye – My various thoughts on spirituality as an atheist with pagan tendencies.
Thor’s Day: A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues – My second weekly journal post dealing with the virtues of Self-Reliance, Industriousness, and Hospitality.
Frigg and Freya’s Day: Freya’s Chambers – A weekly post on my thoughts regarding sex, sexuality, nudism and related issues.
Sif’s Day: A Skald’s Life – Self Virtues – My third weekly journal post dealing with the virtues of Discipline, Fidelity and Perseverance.
The Rabyd Skald: These posts can appear at any time any day. They usually regard things that don’t fit into the rest, or my struggles with depression in the posts subtitled – The Grey and The Wayfarer.
All posts will now drop at 4pm – Eastern Standard Time.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Happy Frigg and Freya’s Day!
Today I am simply putting all my bucket list items in one place and prioritizing them. The first thing is the time table so things that are due before others are simple to put in order. the second thing is what value I place on all of them. This is only really an issue in 2024 and 2029.
Bucket List Prioritized:
Bucket List: To get at least one tattoo by March 18th, 2020.
Bucket List: Do a rebellious act on April 30th, 2020 – Beltane.
Bucket List: Read 52 books (one per week) in the year 2020.
Bucket List: Write A Novel and Get it Published by March 2022.
Bucket List: To own my own home by March 2024.
Bucket List: Hike the Northern Lakeshore Trail along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by March 2024.
Bucket List: To be a published author of at least five books by March 2029
Bucket List: Go Back to Budapest, Hungary for a vacation by March 2029.
Bucket List: Discover all the countries of origin from my genetics and visit them all by March 18th, 2029.
Thoughts:
I suppose the endgame of all this is to be standing on a river cruise ship pulling into Budapest having memories of a successful writing career. Having done many successful hikes by that time and remembering that first tattoo day. That last stop in Budapest being of a European tour where I visited every country of my ancestors and then ended with a city I wanted to see and experience again. There is a vision here that is progressive and I like it very much.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
Hi, I'm Avisha Rasminda Twenty-Two years old, Introduce Myself As A Author , Painter , A Poet.
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The Grey Wayfarer 