Tonight, I’m working the night shift for my company for the last time in one and a half years. After an excellently-timed three-day weekend, I’ll start a typical day shift from the wee morning hours to the late afternoon. I will finally be able to enjoy a normal sleep schedule, a social life, and any local events that take place in the evening and at night–among other perks.
However, this does mean I need to reevaluate my daily practice.
Right now, I wake up at approximately 11 AM or noon and shower, dress, and make my daily offerings of my day’s first meal to Anpu and Wepwawet. If I’m busy in the “morning,” I’ll do my errands first, then make offerings later that afternoon. It’s a very laid back, flexible schedule because I don’t have any serious obligations until the evening.
Starting next Monday, my schedule will essentially flip-flop. I’ll have to get up at 5 AM, but even then, it will give me very little time to do anything before work besides getting ready, eating breakfast, and the daily tarot reading. Should I still make time for offerings in the morning? I don’t want to feel rushed while I’m trying to get ready for the day. Should I wait until after I’ve returned home? That makes a lot more sense, but it’s very different from what I’m used to. My schedule after work might change day by day, too, since I would have other mundane life obligations like going to the gym and socializing with friends.
The most important thing I need to remember, though, is to do it. I spent the majority of last year in fallow time because I didn’t make offerings or communicate with my gods. Even though I had the same laid back schedule as the one outlined above, I did not make time for Them. I knew it, too: I knew I was neglecting Them and my spirituality, opting instead to spend my days playing video games for eight hours straight. It weighed heavily on me the entire time, and I’m grateful that Anpu is a patient deity. I don’t think Wepwawet, on the other hand, would be very pleased if I neglected my duties to Them once more.
I made a promise to Them at the start of this year that I would make offerings every day without fail. To do that, I have to consciously set aside time every day for my gods, even if it’s only 15 minutes. So far, I’ve kept it up, and I don’t plan to stop even with the changes about to happen in my life. Adjusting to the new routine won’t be easy, but I have to do it. It’s the least that I owe Them.
So, this is my tentative new schedule:
- Breakfast & Daily Tarot
- Work
- Dinner
- Other plans
- “Prayer Time”; this should include a cleansing shower, daily offerings, and 5-15 minutes of prayer-chat
- Sleep
All-in-all, I’m looking forward to the changes, and I’m particularly interested in seeing how well (or poorly) I adjust to them. I just have to keep telling myself that I have to do it, that the gods and my faith are of high priority–that all of it is worth the extra effort.
I agree it can be so hard to fit in some “peaceful time” in order to meditate and connect with deity. Our lives are all so fast-paced and packed with other duties. I have also had a “fallow year” (great phrase!) recently, and although my spirituality was always in my heart, my practices fell away. But to continue the fallow field analogy I think our hearts and minds are more fertile and ready for growth after such a period. I know that when my son has spent a weekend at his grandparent’s house I appreciate him all the more on his return, I’m hoping the same will be true of my connection with deity.
Blessings,
Eba*
Reblogged this on The Darkness in the Light.
It can be hard to make yourself go connect spiritually when you come home from work. I find myself so drained that it can be hard to convince myself to drag my tired self in front of my altar. Once I do, though, it fills me with enormous energy and turns out to be exactly what I needed.
I’ll do my best to make it happen, every day.