Claudia acknowledges the significance of living in harmony with women’s natural seasons. She questions societal pressure to emulate men and emphasizes the importance of embracing feminine needs. She also shares journaling essentials.

the seasons of womban

I am staring at an open laptop, on the 50-day streak of my writing in this blog, and wondering where the zest has gone. Not for this space, no, not that. The overarching energy of the planet at this moment in time. Is it the move into a Pisces moon that is causing this emotional wave of wanting to fall into yourself and bury yourself under blankets? That must be the only reason for it. Just a general air of uninspired and quite lost. No birth of projects within my spirit, no excitement to product content, no real direction or motivation with my writing in this space; I just am. I just am. It just is and I just am. The grey sky with rain doesn’t help.

I feel I know, in my spirit, the underlying reason for this sense of blase, but it’s not something I can release safely in this space. It will be saved for the pages of my journal. Yesterday, I broke my creative journaling streak and there is guilt about that, like a sediment settling at the bottom of my sacral Chakra – the Chakra that dominates creative birth. I was tired, it didn’t take priority though I had ample time to do it – the time wasted in front of the television, sitting, mindlessly, like a zombie. Maybe a release would have helped this, instead I’ve just let the fog grow over me and it begins to consume me. It begins to consume all the joy of the days, as we move forward, towards it. The thought never leaves me and so the feeling, too, never leaves me. This is all very vague but this space has peering eyes and I must be cautious.

You know, women have seasons. We truly do. And the best way to live a productive and meaningful life is to acknowledge these seasons and live according to those seasons. Perhaps I am just in my season of slow to grow, of apathy to bloom, of quiet before the storm. These seasons make us vastly different from men; the feminism of my 20s tried to sell me the idea that we are not different than men and to subdue my Divine Feminine Self so I could be accepted as a woman equivalent to a man but to live that way is to profoundly exhaust our system. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but women are biologically different from men and so are our emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical needs.

We have seasons, they do not – they do not give birth, they do not have cycles, they do not have seasons. Period (pun intended?). If I ignored this season of self, if I ignored this need to slow and fall into this muted tone of life at the moment, I would be suppressing a need of my Divine Feminine Self. If I tried to “power through” with fake positivity and hustling, I’d be overstimulating my Divine Feminine and overcompensating on my aspects of the Divine Masculine that exist within me. I’d essentially push this computer to overheating and malfunctioning – like I often did in my 20s, under the guise of being a feminist.

Feminism of today is not about empowerment, it’s about over-powering our system and breaking us. You’ve got to view it with discernment; what voices inserted themselves into our spaces and convinced us to be like men and overload us and overwork us rather than letting us slow down and fall into our compassionate roles? What voices convinced us to want to hustle rather than serve our selves, our homes, our children? What voices convinced us that was where we would find our joy? What voices would rather see us emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically broken so that we rely on a (patriarchal) system to “fix” us all over again? Men are profoundly unhappy, emotionally suppressed, with higher rates of suicide than women, so why would we ever want to be like them? Why would we ignore our seasons and live in a false reality of Self?

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meal plans + other necessities

I am writing before my shower but my thoughts are on rushing to the grocery store so I can get the mini shop done for the week before my kid goes down to nap – so I don’t lose the opportunity to write again upon my return. Best get to it, no? Priorities, no? Grocery store runs are no longer the pleasurable trip they once were because I view them as getting in the way of my writing. They are now a burden. A necessity, but a burden. Here are the meal plans for the week ahead, starting with tomorrow (Monday) to next Tuesday:
– Eggplant Parmesan with fried pizza dough
– Spring Peas Pasta
– Indian food (bhajis, butter halloumi, lentils)
– Homemade sweet potato sushi
– Mushroom Penne (store bought)
– Libanese takeout
– Boursin Barley
– Gnocchi in homemade tomato sauce
– Lemon Spaghetti

I also have additional ingredients on hand to make another bean dish and a quick pasta if I’m looking to extend the menu. (I am continuing this after going grocery shopping, coming home and putting baby to nap – now sitting back at my laptop.) This week was a more expensive shop because I bought more packaged foods (Indian food mixes, frozen foods, the premade penne, etc.) and the takeout for the week will also amplify our week’s cost of food.

Okay, let’s get into the good stuff — journaling!

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what are some journaling essentials?

Like journal type preferences, this will be unique to every individual. What I will share with you here are some of the essentials that I cannot live without when it comes to all types of journaling that I do – creative journaling, junk journaling, and reflective/diary writing. Once again, I’m not going to have affiliate links in this article (the time to create them does not bring me joy, and I will not participate in things that do not bring me joy), so you’ll have to do some Googling! I’ll give store suggestions where I can.

• Pens – First and foremost, the most essential item you could have is a pen: A GOOD PEN. Not just the free pen you took from the hotel room or your office at work. You need a damn good pen. I have two fountain pens but they’re not even my go-tos because I haven’t really nailed writing with a fountain pen.
  
  My favourite pen ever is a Sarasa pen in black with a 0.3 nib (nibs refer to the tip of the pen, the size it writes in). I’ll take a 0.4 or a 0.5 from Sarasa as well, but they are not as dainty and my writing is immensely messy. I have a Kaweco Sport and BIC fountain pen – the Kaweco is smoother but more difficult to write with, the BIC is scratchy and thin but easier to practice with. I don’t recommend starting with a fountain pen but you will definitely start finding yourself interested in collecting them once you start journaling!
  
• Washi Tapes & Stickers – Washi tapes are translucent, decorative tapes that peel off of paper easily. They’re the perfect quick way to add a bit of pazazz to an otherwise boring journal page. Stickers are not just for children; sticker and stationery culture go hand-in-hand and it’s a huge business in Asia (and now the West) for journalers. My favourite place to shop for stickers is on AliExpress. Just search “journal stickers” or “washi tape” and you’ll be amazed by the selection — and the prices! It will be hard to resist stocking up, just be aware that the delivery time can be quite slow.
  
• Cut & Paste Tools – A good pair of scissors, some stick glue, and a roller glue are totally necessary for junk journaling and creative collage work. Roller tape is my favourite to work with; essentially it’s like a white-out tape but with sticky tape/glue. This is so much better than regular glue because it won’t cause the pages of your journal to curl when it dries. Norino, from Japan, makes the cutest ones.
  
• Ephemera – Ephemera is considered collectible materials that had a short-term purpose. What this means for journaling is that it’s all the little junk that you’ll throw into a journal later. This includes – but is not limited to – tickets, transportation passes, brochures, postcards, business cards, receipts, and the like. Basically anything that gives a little glimpse into your day or your week and helps show a tangible piece of your memory or experience. They can be used as background decor for a collage or as a centerpiece to your page.
  
  One of my favourite web shops for ephemera is DonkeyJournals on Instagram, who lists items for sale every few weeks or so. I’ve collected some amazing vintage Tibetan prayer papers and old book pages from her shop!
  
• Journal Prompts – Sometimes, the best way to get kickstarted with your journaling adventure, it’s helpful to have some prompts that allow you to be inspired for creating your page and writing down your thoughts. My favourite prompts come from my Sacred Motherhood spiritual journal, my Chakras Unlocked journal, and just searching for prompts on Pinterest.

Quite honestly, that’s it – that’s all you need to jump into some really effective and beautiful journaling. All you really need is a great pen that is a joy to write with, a fantastic journal that suits your needs, and the rest is just extra.

Now is the best time to start your physical journal, a legacy of you and your spirit that your children will treasure, because we are headed into a new season – and a new season of you! Don’t think about it too much; grab the old journal sitting on your shelf and write “Dear (your child(ren)’s name)” on the first page, and watch what comes forth…

xx C

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Adventures with my son, creative journaling, reading…