Yesterday was the winter solstice.  I consider this to be the first day of the new year.  I think the calendar makers screwed up. They were most assuredly men. Everything had to come out mathematically correct.  The days start getting longer today. Everything changes.  Today should be January 1st.  Wouldn’t that be nice if we just time-travelled right through the last 10 days of December. BAM! Christmas is over. We were so busy we forgot what happened.

So here we are ….. the first day of my New Year. I’ve been reading some astrological stuff. I call it ‘stuff’ because I can never remember the details. Astrology is like horse breeding. The details and the names and out-crosses don’t stick in my head. I know what I like when I see it. And I have friends that are experts so that makes me one by default.  ….  I digress.

The point is that according to the astrological ‘stuff’ this is the end of a 9 year cycle.  I am supposed to leave behind things that no longer serve me.  Also, I read the Konmari Method of Tidying Up this year so I am prepped for getting rid of  “joy-less” crap around here.

To put it mildly….. I have been over-served.   I bellied up to the bar of life and over-served myself. Hiccup.

So here are some things that are no longer serving me.

The big A.  ANGER.  The real Scarlet Letter. What an insidious beast! Sometimes I don’t think I have any anger issues, then all of a sudden,  I can’t pry my shoulders away from my ear lobes. Geez Louise! Anger, stress, negativity, impatience ….. call it what you want. It manifests itself in my neck, shoulders and upper back. (like most women) So what am I doing? I’ve been working with a massage therapist for about 2 months to get rid of the chronic pain and knots  and to return some flexibility. It may even be generational anger it goes so deep into my body.  It’s been decades in the making so might take a while. I’m determined to stick with it and become more aware. The election was a major setback here. No joy there. A little therapy and a weekly online video chat with a small group of enlightened marvelous women has helped immensely!

Food. Eating isn’t really that joyful. I think I’ll quit altogether.

Some friends. If you complain a lot, you might have to go.

Ill-behaved dogs. Please leave them home. Don’t spread the joy.

30 pairs of cowboy boots.  Really Terah?  The ones that hurt my feet, haven’t been worn in a year and the pink pair.  Yes, pink. 10 pair can bring me more joy than 30. Head to “Sweet Repeats” thrift shop in Pratt if you want some cowgirl joy!!  Size 10

Nice clothes that barely fit when I was skinny such as Levis button front 501’s and a few slinky tops. Gotta go.  Let the skinny bitches have their day. Again …..

My slimmed down happy closet!

I went through my Christmas decorations and pitched half of them. I kept the hand-made and kid-made stuff unless it was really ugly then it went bye-bye. There’s enough ugly Christmas crap in the world, I didn’t need to re-purpose any of this. PUT it out of it’s misery! Please.

I had one whole drawer full of panty hose with two pairs of Spanks still in the package. Seriously.  I haven’t worn panty hose since 1995. Ta-Ta! To the burn barrel. JOY to the WORLD! No woman needs to be put in bondage again….. ever.  (safety notice: Panty hose and Spanks are very flammable would make a great fire-starter)

I “fasted” from social media for about 3 weeks after the election, so I didn’t take my annual “year end spiritual fast” like last year. But what I have done is this….. I have purged my social media feeds of images and stories of the new Tangerine in Chief and the shitbirds coming to power.  (unless it makes me laugh) What a relief that is. It takes a little daily maintenance, but totally worth it.  Halleluia!!

I just want to lighten the load in every way.  I want to be freer in my home, my body, my health and my relationships.
Happy Winter Solstice everyone!  The ‘new’  New Year!!!

These stay!

 

 

Love,  Cowgirl-Red   aka Terah

P.S.

I made my list of 60 things last year  . Things I was going to quit doing or never do again. You know… my F*ck It List. That actually went pretty well. This is just a little refresher course. An annual maintenance contract with myself.   Getting rid of more things that no longer bring me joy.

Please share with us your insights and observations!  Start a conversation.  !! XOXOXXO

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

  1. You made my morning!!! What a great post! And so glad you are keeping the red cowgirl boots! Im going to do the same….get rid of shit I no longer need and that does not cause me joy!!!

  2. Fantastic, inspiring post! Great job! Downsizing always feels so darn good. I hope 2017 is the best year…better than we ever would have expected. 😉