I’m going to avoid talking about the negative parts of 2017. Like many people, I’ll be looking forward to having this year in the rear-view, but I’m going to focus on the good stuff because, really, what else you gonna do? And honestly, there was plenty of good stuff at the House of Perpetual Indulgence*.
* Nickname given by an old friend and that we’ve embraced.
I don’t really talk too personal around here, but I believe I mentioned that we dealt with a serious accident some years back that had a huge impact on us in several different areas. Since that time, a significant portion of our physical, emotional, financial, and magical energy have been getting us on solid footing again. We were very fortunate and I’m incredibly grateful as things could have been so much worse (memento mori, remember?).
I share this not for sympathy (shit does, indeed, happen). I’m just sensitive to sounding like our recent successes are all there is (the “blog my perfect life” syndrome), or that nothing bad has ever happened to us, so of course things are going well. So if you take a lesson from the following, it’s that organized project planning and a big dose of magic can change even the most fucked up situation and that planning ahead can make the shit easier to deal with when it hits.
First of all, the household made major progress on all three of the Early to Bed, Early to Rise (EBER) project priorities: to be healthy, wealthy, and wise…
- On the health front, there were very interesting results from the Decan work I’ve been doing. Also the 9 nights of Hecate devotional, which lead me through some amazing dreams to a potential solve for long-term health concern (and now mushrooms talk to me!). Couple this with some serious focus on self-care, and everyone in our household has benefited in different ways.
- From a sustainability / prosperity standpoint (which is how I interpret “wealth” since the risk in our capitalist society is of viewing it as purely materialist and income based) we have sorted out some vexing problems that have increased our optionality significantly. We eliminated debt. We dealt with some deferred maintenance. We invested in some areas with solid household ROI. Think buying a side of beef and setting up a shop in the garage.
- I feel like the information gathering phase of the project went especially well — the right data has just been falling in my lap through the year. This includes mundane and magical information related to both the goals above and other areas moving forward. And the latest, in case you haven’t seen it yet, is Austin Coppock on the Rune Soup podcast. That one is really honing the direction for the rest of the EBER project. So much so that I’ll be kicking off phase two just before the Winter Solstice, earlier than I expected.
Second, there’s the expansion of my consulting business. I really enjoy this work and am looking to connect with more people who need help with their project goals in 2018. This includes some surprises I’ll be rolling out in the first quarter. My own podcast on Rune Soup was a game changer. I’d never done one before, but it was really fun and it was wonderful to get feedback from people. I’m absolutely looking to do more of these next year (suggestions / invitations welcome).
Finally, I’m at the same place I was career-wise a couple of years ago. A lot of magic moved me into a spot with many more opportunities and I’ve been working my ass off ever since. In order to manifest my big next-step career goal, I’m going to have to be on point for the next couple of years.
Over the next two weeks, I’ll be setting the stage for 2018 with familiar themes (resolutions anyone?) and new stuff too.
