New Year, New You - The Time Is Now

Initially, I wasn't going to join in on Deb's 'New Year, New You' call for action and all kinds of magical ass-kicking.  Although it's a great concept, I just didn't think I could do it.  I've been mired in stress that I'm sure is at least partially my own doing, and I've been wandering aimlessly for the past month.  My writing here, in my opinion, has not been what it used to be, and I've been feeling very uninspired.

But it turns out that Deb's muse is infectious!  I'll let it speak for itself:

Don't wait until that stupid glitter ball drops and you're already making drunk and/or sentimental mistakes, start now.  Start now when it's hardest.  Start now when you feel so weighed down with emotions better left to glittery and not so glittery vampires and when you feel like you could sleep forever.  Now is the time you need to wake up.  Get up, get up!  Don't miss this moment.  Create magics great and small, mundane and mystical.  Find everything you've been looking for, mysteries revealed in every form of divination and song and when you fuck it up, when you are too tired to try, bring each other up from bloodied knees to get back up smiling.  You are all made of stars and you have stardust in your veins.  Do something about it.

Here is what you'll do.  You'll write prompts.  You'll explore.  You'll fall down.  Sometimes you'll lay there awhile, finding things under rocks that you never wanted to know.  They'll pull you back, using yarn, glue, cajoling and stern words.  You'll keep sewing yourself into who you'll want to be and you'll tell them, sometimes too much, because that's your way and what's needed.  You'll find how far you can really fly when you've made wings to carry you and be breathless from your accomplishments.  Besides your words, you'll give something made from your hands.

And that, dear readers, is what it's about!

But here's the thing:  New Year's may be coming up, but of course that is not the only time to work on one's goals in life, and it's not the only excuse to be a Billy (or Betty) Badass in whatever you do.  I for one am working on bringing back the Ocean Delano who started this blog, the one who put together strands of different spellwork and wove them together into something awesome.  I let personal catastrophes get in my way, thinking that I'll start doing my awesome thang after the next bill I pay off or catastrophe I avert.

But that's not right!  We are magicians, shaman, witches, SORCERERS!  It's almost a duty to us to do our Crafts and to work our wills all over our spheres, reaching out to the world to take part in its creation and destruction.  New Year's is a marker, and an excellent one.  It's a time that's supposed to carry the promise of renewal and success, and I'm not pulling punches anymore.

Now, with all the pump-up speak done...exactly how am I going to do this?  WHAT am I going to do to cultivate and express my magical badassery, and HOW am I going to change my life for the better?

GOALS

Finances - This is, first and foremost, the topic at the center of my life and my attention, and that's not going to change much in the near future.  My whole life before adulthood I was raised in a paycheck-to-paycheck world by a single mother.  As an adult, I've furthered that lifestyle and given it new dimensions with the sheer number of ways I've wasted and screwed myself out of money.  It's time to take control back, and once I do this, I will be a lot happier and healthier.

By extension, my Career needs some serious work.  When your job makes you feel like an axe is constantly lingering over your head...something isn't right.  And it's not just the fact that IT infrastructure support is a sucky-ass, completely insecure field to work in.  I'll be working on staying successful in my new job, as well as learning more and honing my abilities.

In addition, I'm looking into secondary sources of income.  One such possibility is going into my own small (and I mean, tiny) business.  Given my love for the magical arts, one thing that immediately jumps to mind is offering my services online and locally.  I've been tossing around name ideas, but so far "Delano Sorcery" has sounded the best ("Delano Products" being second).

Me - Yes, me.  Now, now, I know that on here I'm all kinds of humorous, exciting and awesome ;) - However, I could use a little polishing up in several ways.  I'm not as confident in person as I am on here, I'm not pleased to admit.  If I had more confidence, hoo-boy I'd kick that much more ass!  And probably get more of it too!  >:D

But yes, I need more confidence, especially after the wringer I've been through the past couple years.  In addition, health is more of a concern of mine.  My weight is something I've battled since childhood, and although the past few years have seen me the most successful with it ever...it's still just barely, and I've been backsliding since March!  I want to look good, dammit!!!

PRAXIS

Levels - One thing about Strategic Sorcery that I've been giving more attention is touching each of the levels of reality more directly.  Out of these, Mental and Causal sorcery has been of most interest to me.  I want to explore these, especially the Informational Level. 

Talismans & Amulets - Amazingly enough, I don't have a ton of experience with amulets and talismans.  It even sounds shocking to see myself writing that!  But, it's true.  So, coming up, I am going to work on making talismans for the more long-term aspects of my goals.

Initiations - Looking back, the elemental and planetary initiations I was inspired to seek by Rufus Opus have been a godsend (pun not intended, srsly).  Things about me have changed and made me into more of who I want to be in regard to handling the negative things that come our way.  This relates to the "Me" goal above.  I've shaped myself more out of who I don't want to be anymore, and so I want to begin doing a little more shaping into who I want to be.

Once I complete the first series of planetary initiations, I'm going to start working more in-depth with each power.

Results, Results, Results! - That's what I started this blog for, and it's what I'm going to keep working on: Effectiveness in my magic!

Magically, this has been my busiest and most developmental year ever!  I'm not stopping, either.  I can't remember if it was Rufus Opus, Inominandum, or Gordon who stated that this is an exciting time for us magical folk.  Hell, all three of them might have said it.  But it really is.  We've never been more connected, and capable of reaching out as far as we now can.  We're following in the footsteps of all the great magi who came before...we're making the new traditions and systems, and it fucking rocks!





And you thought the pump-up speak was done...silly readers.