Eustress and Daily Magick (Pagan Blog Prompt 2012)

Main Entry:	eustress
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	stress that is deemed healthful or giving one the feeling of fulfillment
Etymology:	from Greek eu 'well, good' + stress, modeled on distress

 

Throughout my life (as I'm sure many of you can relate), I've had tremendous stress. Between work, school and the homework that came with it, other home responsibilities, extracurricular activities, and the occasional interest that I enjoy but can't seem to find the time for, many (if not most) of them happening concurrently with one another, sometimes it felt like too much to bear!


Add to that an overwhelming feeling that, between all these, I've never left near enough time for my spiritual practice, and I'd end up piling guilt on top of this gigantic shit-pile. Not only am I stretched too thin between too many responsibilities, but now the one thing that might be able to help the most is beyond the tips of my fingers, just short of my grasp.

I've made the excuse before that I'm more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of witch, which is absolutely true, but isn't reflective of the whole story. In reality, I approached my spirituality that way because that's all I could muster. If I even found ten minutes to hold circle, or whip out my Tarot cards, or write in a journal for reflection, or even cast some sort of spell (even a quickie!), it'd be haphazard, all over the place. Certainly not at all planned.

For years, I've wanted to be that witch who had everything figured out. I saw friends of mine doing amazing things in the witchy and Pagan and Wiccan and heathen world, and I wanted so much to be a part of that! I wanted my name to fall on their lips with respect, knowing that I'd achieved something great in the community.

But no... all I'm left with is this blog and some tattered bits of spirituality aimlessly tossed together at the last minute. At least some of it is contained in one place, right?

So I got to thinking. Since there are so many restraints on my time (or what I believe are more restraints!), is there anything I can do on a daily basis that might lend to my spiritual and magickal life? Something that might give me some peace while also helping me grow as a person, as a witch?

Bit by bit, I started to turn my stress -- those things that I was doing on a daily basis that really needed to get done, but that maybe raised my blood pressure a bit -- into eustress, or a healthful and fulfilling stress: "eu-" being a Greek word defined as "good" or "well", and "stress being"... well, I'm sure you know!


It took a bit of a mental readjustment, and that was not at ALL easy. I mean, seriously: When presented with a struggle, how do you react? (For Christians, the acronym "WWJD?" comes to mind, ha... so maybe for witches, "WWWitchesD?" Sure, it sounds like a pro-wrestling mantra, but work with me here.) I used to take them with some nail biting, some pulling of my hair, and some stomping of my feet. Often times mentally, as I'm sure that'd be seen as attorney-like whoops! childish, especially in a legal setting.

Each of those struggles meant one of two things: Either fight it and get a major migraine, or work with it and find the benefit in it.

Sometimes, this seems damn near impossible. After all, you have all these external influences -- people (ha!), environment, constraints due to time or other factors -- and internal influences -- capability, adeptness, willingness -- to work with. Some of these things are out of your control, which makes it even more difficult.

But without those struggles, what else would you have? A meaningless life without some sort of goal to strive toward. Your life would be empty! Can you imagine waking up in the morning with absolutely no reason to do so?!

It took a while, but I began to see everything as a learning opportunity, a way to grow and change. Each struggle presented its own challenge; if the smaller ones seemed manageable and I approached them with confidence, the larger ones didn't seem as daunting anymore. And I tried my damnedest to keep a smile on my face, even if it was completely fake.

As a result, these stressors weren't seen as threats anymore. Rather, they became molehills, things I could leap over. Those things that were more like mountains? I found a way to climb them. Whether it meant finding new tools, seeking new methods, or even asking for help (and that's a learning experience in itself!), I found there was always a way to scale them.

Spiritually, I began to feel blessed for each stress that came my way, as I knew they helped me grow in some way. Those new tools were my altar supplies, those methods were my spells, those questions were my reaching out to the community. That was an even harder conclusion to come to, but once I finally achieved it, it became such a normal part of life that I was actually taken aback when I received this comment:

For something that has become so much a part of my life, I had no idea that it was also affecting those around me, too... and in such a positive way. I get that a lot nowadays: That I'm sunny, pleasant to be around, intelligent yet respectful (this one always makes me laugh!), and as above... blessed.

I can't help but feel that way. Sure, there are some days when I still want to kick the crap out of something because this stress is too much and too hard dammit!!, but like all things, it's a process. A learning experience.

And through eustress (and finding that balance as, hey, too much of any stress can be a bad thing! Even too much good stress!), I find I learn something new every day.

So I guess my name falls on others' lips after all... in a way I never expected. :)