Beltane & The Season of Creativity
Disclaimer: This website uses affiliate links, meaning: at no additional cost to you, I earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate or other affiliate program participant, I earn from qualifying purchases. Mabon House only features products that I believe in and use myself. Thank you!
Soon it will be the season of Beltane, which marks the mid-point of spring. Celebrated on May 1st, Beltane is when the Wheel of the Year turns fully from winter towards summer. I love this time of year because of the natural energy that abounds. While Beltane is often associated with fertility, it’s also a time to focus on abundance and creativity. Beltane fires are the first harkening of the summer season to come. Why not use this time to reconnect with your own fire? What lights you up? What excites you? What do you want more of in the season to come?
This year, I want to embrace the energy of Beltane and springtime and delve into my creativity more fully. Specifically I want to explore: What does creativity look like in my life? What can I learn about myself through creativity? How can I harness my creativity to find more joy and purpose in the everyday?
I had thought about doing some kind of writing challenge with myself for the month of May, but I don’t really like the term challenge. I feel like it sets you up to fail if you don’t do the thing every single day.
Instead, I’m thinking I’d like to go on a creative adventure to celebrate Beltane. There is no winning or losing; there is only exploring.
Finding Your Creative Flow
I think creativity should give you a sense of accomplishment and bring you joy and, at times, put you in a state of flow - where time stops and you are just IN the moment. For me, writing does that. Not all the time, mind you. There are days when I have to force myself to put something on the page.
But when I stumble upon something that sparks a light inside my soul - I am able to go all in for a period of time - usually no more than a couple of hours at a time. And when I am finished I feel the greatest sense of accomplishment - even if the end result is just a rough draft of gobbly-gook. I know there is something there. That’s how Mabon House started. I had a kernel of an idea that I just let it lead me to where it wanted to go. I followed and here we are. All because of creativity.
Everyone is Creative
I am a firm believer that everybody is creative in their own way. And everyone can benefit from stretching their creative muscles. We do not need to be the best painter, writer, fill-in-the-blank whatever to be creative. Elizabeth Gilbert captures this idea beautifully in her book Big Magic:
“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner—continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you—is a fine art, in and of itself.”
Choose Your Own Creative Adventure
So in the spirit of Beltane and Springtime, this week’s free printable is a choose-you-own-creative-adventure worksheet, plus a list of ideas to help you get started. I hope you like it!
I’ll be sharing some other creative resources, including more about Beltane and Creativity in the coming weeks. If you are interested in participation in some sort of community adventure around creativity, let me know in the comments section below.
Take care and I’ll see you next week!
Recommended Reading
Setting Intentions for the Springtime
Hello Friends,
I hope this finds you well and safe. The blustery March winds are blowing here in Maine, like a last gasp of winter. The tiny tips of purple snowdrops are just starting to peek out of the ground and the daffodil leaves are tall and stately, but not quite ready to reveal their flower petals.
I’ve been reading up on the history of Beltane and thinking about some ideas for printables and perhaps another course, like the Ostara Course so many of you enjoyed. I also thought it would be great to hear from some of you, about what kind of content you enjoy or would like to see more on Mabon House. So, if you have a couple of minutes I would love to hear from you. I’ve put together this short anonymous questionnaire/poll, to make it easy to share your ideas for Mabon House.
This week’s printable is a Spring Intentions Worksheet. I like this worksheet because it reminds me to make time in my schedule to do things I enjoy. My daughter recently returned to Maine after living out of state for the past two years and we’ve been planning some fun day trips to take now that the weather is warming up. But our work schedules are opposite each other, so if we don’t set aside time NOW to plan for our trips, they won’t happen.
Here’s what I added to my worksheet:
I want to be, do and have: I want to be consistent in my writing practice, do more physical activity to help reduce anxiety and stress, and have more fun and adventure in my everyday life.
I want to spend more time doing the following: writing for fun, walking outside, visiting with my family, getting out and about to visit new places.
I want to spend less time doing the following: Working on the computer and screen time.
Fun activities I want to do this season: Visit some antique stores along the coast, picnic at the beach, go hiking and do some kind of writing retreat.
After reviewing my answers, I decided the theme of my springtime intentions is Adventure. Which feels really good after two years of being home most of the time. I’d love to hear about your springtime intentions and adventures.
I hope the flowers are blooming in your corner of the world and you are able to have some springtime adventures of your own. I’ll see you next week!
Recommended Reading
Free Room Refresh Planning Guide
While we’re still a few weeks out from crocus and daffodils, spring is definitely in the air at my house. The March sunshine is warm and the wind is boisterous as it weaves in and out of the pines. The air is full of anticipation and joy - winter is over and another summer beckons.
I’ve started putting together my spring cleaning list, and in the spirit of slow living I am determined to keep my expectations reasonable about what I can actually accomplish in the fickle Maine weather. My usual M.O. is to list out every possible thing that needs to be done around the house and yard, and then feel like an utter disappointment when I come nowhere near finishing everything on the list. This year I’m tackling a few key projects that should only take a few hours each, along with the standard raking, pruning, playing-in-the-dirt fun of springtime.
Top on my list of projects is giving my living room a room refresh. What is a room refresh, you ask? A room refresh is when I make over a room with minimal-to-no-spending. And is one of my favorite things to do. I bought paint for the living room last fall, so technically this room refresh isn’t completely free. But I don’t anticipate having to purchase anything else. Along with a general cleaning and a fresh coat of paint, I’m planning to give my sofa and area rug a deep clean, using a carpet cleaner borrowed from a friend; swap out the existing artwork and photos with ones from other rooms in the house; and add in some new houseplants which I propagated from my favorite pothos plant. After two years of being home pretty much all of the time, my goal is to make this space feel light and airy and brand new.
If you’re interested in tackling some spaces in your home, I’ve put together this room refresh planner to help you get started. I hope you like it!
After my book writing declaration of last week, I’ve been digging into research and sorting copious amounts of notes, determined not only to get a working draft of a book finished, but also to have plenty of great content for Mabon House. And while I love doing research, it can quickly become overwhelming because I want to include all the information in whatever I am writing about.
So to get some perspective, I thought why not ask all of you what you’d like to see more of on Mabon House. If you have a couple of minutes I would love to hear from you. I’ve put together this short anonymous questionnaire/poll, to make it easy to share your ideas for Mabon House.
Thursdays are fast becoming my favorite day of the week because it’s when I receive so many kind messages from all of you. I know some of you have been going through rough times and while I’m not able to answer every email, I just want to say that I am thinking of you. And I’m glad you are here in the Mabon House community. And thank you to the folks who take the time to send me kind words and encouragement. It really means a lot!
Recommended Reading
