I'm very much an advocate for doing deliberate check ins. For me, reflection and self awareness are important parts of what it means to be a Druid. Usually checking in can be a brief thing - taking the time to just pay some attention to how you're feeling, how things are going, where you are with the Druid path, what's good, what's working, what isn't. A little while in contemplation around all of this gets a lot done.
It's worth taking this further every now and then. Sometimes life pressures will make it inevitable. There's a lot to be said for being open to radical life re-thinks without having to be in crisis first. All too often we only take deep dives into our own lives and choices when we absolutely have to. Humans are creatures of habit, and it is all too easy to get into habits that don't really serve us and to stay with them because change feels more threatening than whatever is familiar.
Being able to change is sometimes a question of privilege. You can't make good choices if you don't have good options. However, it's always worth looking for the options you do have, because any small margin of improvement is worth having.
It's worth taking the time every now and then to consider your life as a whole. What's driving you? What are you passionate about? What do you need? What's important right now? Are you doing what you intended to do? What's limiting you? What's helping you? Question everything. Dismantle your life in a contemplative way and see which bits of it matter to you and what you want to keep. Even if you can't make radical changes right now, it's worth knowing what you would change if you could - this means that when opportunities arise, you'll be ready for them.
Who am I and what do I want? What do I need and where do I want to head with my life? What's needed from me? What do I do that works? What's good? I've been asking myself this a lot. These are not questions with quick and simple answers - which of itself is indicative. These are things I should know and that I need to take the time to establish. There's a touch of the existential crisis to it, and it's hardly the first time I've been around one of those. However, from experience, making time for small ones at regular intervals means keeping on top of things. It's when we don't look at these things that we can end up living lives that make no sense to us and do not answer our needs.
We're not fixed things. Life changes, and changes us. We can't expect to figure ourselves out once and then just live that understanding forever. Existing is a work in progress and needs treating like one. We all need room to grow, learn and change, to discard previous ways of being and to experiment with new possibilities. Change can be terrifying when it feels beyond your control, and is a lot easier when you actively engage with it. The changes we embrace will be adventurous, and may nourish us and help us flourish. Question everything, choose deliberately, live intentionally and craft a life.
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