Stress, Rejuvenation and the Ocean

I had a talk with a co-worker a couple of weeks ago about how people take certain things for granted, forgetting that others have to work for those same things. I have been thinking on this concept off and on since we had this talk. Amazingly it rings so true for me that I sometimes feel that I work harder than most and that the whole world takes advantage of the privileges that we have, myself included.

I returned from Pantheacon with a list of things I wanted to write about, my experiences, the people I spent time with and the moments of clarity I gained. What happened instead was that I got slammed with life; you know the “life” that disappears for the week before and the week of Con and then slams back into you head first once you return.  I got slammed.

I have returned to two mid-term tests within 24 hours, my portion of slides for a powerpoint due the following day, a powerpoint presentation in class on Saturday and a 10 page theory paper due on Sunday.  I returned Monday evening and had all of this to do before the following Sunday, exhaustion set in.

This brings me back to my first thought; does everyone have as many obligations, does everyone work as hard, is everyone as exhausted at the end of the week? I don’t know the answers to these questions and I have to remind myself that it is ok not to know. The reality is that I have always felt that success is a process and it is not something given freely. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it doesn’t matter what others are doing and that I am working to show my children an example of success that includes standing up and being counted. At the end of the day, if all I have to complain about is exhaustion, then it is a good day.

A friend posted on my facebook that maybe I should write about renewal, rejuvenating after depletion. What a fantastic idea, and a way to bring back into focus the self-care that I require after extending myself to the ends of my soul rope. I thought about my motivation, my connection to my family, my connection to the Gods and my overall plan for doing the work of divinity in the world. And so I combined all four of those thoughts into my mind and allowed the divine to be present.

Starting on Saturday I kept getting a nudge to go to the ocean, to honor Yemaya and nature.  I told my husband that I wanted to go to the water and release the week of stress, spend some time with the kids and reconnect to our collective mission. And so we went.

Sunday I got up early, did a little writing on my report, got the kids ready and we drove to Benicia to the water.  We sat at the water, played in the sand, sang songs to Yemaya and gave offerings to the water.  It was peaceful, reaffirming, and calming to an overworked soul.  I talked to my kids about the power of the Goddess, remembered the role of parenting in spirituality, and I remembered how all my blessings equaled opportunities to be my best self.

Less than 10 minutes from my home, the cost of gas and a $5.00 bridge toll brought me back to my center.

Today’s world is so challenging for many of us. How to you ground and center? How do you rejuvenate? How do you reclaim your best self after the point of exhaustion?

Be it simple or complex, daily or monthly…. This might just be the most important thing I could do for myself and my family.

How do you do it?