self care: keeping your life altar clean

So, since I haven't really been cooking and haven't really been in the mood to take pictures (it gets dark like an hour and a half after I get home...no daylight!), I've decided to talk a little bit about self care.

First, I'll admit, I'm pretty granola and into weirdo hippie things.  I have my limits though.  Very clear, I'm too pessimistic and cynical to be a hippy limits.  Plus, I was a punk during my teenage years, so naturally, I would scoff at the idea of being a hippie.  (Is it hippy or hippie?  See, I don't even know.)

Anyway, I draw the line with certain things, but I find myself rolling my eyes at myself.  One thing that I do that's really groan-worthy is...and I can't believe I'm admitting this...keeping an altar.  I'm not religious, at all, and I'm not even what I'd consider "spiritual," but I'm a firm believer in having some sort of physical space to put things that you're into or inspire you, just so you can see them everyday, and be like, "hell yeah, I have these awesome physical things that embody who I am in some weird material way!"

For me, this "altar" is a shelf that my dad gave me in our living room.  I keep various knick knacks, all of my vegan cookbooks, zines I've collected over the years, some incense and candles, just things that are cool that I would say represent who I am or who I was at various stages in my life.  I also keep cards I get from people on my shelf, and it used to house my records and record player.

The point of this story is it's important to create a space, physical, for you to remember to pause and alter (heh. see what I did there?) your thoughts.  Somewhere in the past few weeks, my altar got cluttered and dirty...dust built up, ashes from incense piled on, random things got housed there, and things were just in a state of disarray.

Today, I took time and cleared it, and in some, weirdo, psycho-somatic way, I feel kind of better.



It's also important to treat your body like an altar.  After clearing my altar, I put some fancy vegan lotion on and just relaxed.  It's a shame that I don't remember to care for things until they're steeped in chaos, but that's how life goes.

Don't worry, I'll post recipes tomorrow, I promise!