Ice Cave

[Heidi]

Welcome to the druids' cave, where ice patches create intricate designs on the walls, and a fire crackles merrily in the center.

Grab a fur or two and join us near the warmth.

Pour a cup of tea and tell us of your journey:

• Where you have been

• What you have seen

• Where you hope to go

• What you seek.

[Infinity.Creates]

Infinity slips into the cave, short body easily navigating the edges of the walls, until she made her way nearer to the fire.

 

Hey all, I'm excited to be here with the Druids! I'm Infinity, and I've been hanging out with the Rangers until now. Unfortunately, I had a mental health mishap last month and decided to come over here to focus and heal on that. I seek peace and energy in life, and I want to become strong in all areas of myself.

[Leimanu]

1 hour ago, IAmInfinite said:

Infinity slips into the cave, short body easily navigating the edges of the walls, until she made her way nearer to the fire.

 

Hey all, I'm excited to be here with the Druids! I'm Infinity, and I've been hanging out with the Rangers until now. Unfortunately, I had a mental health mishap last month and decided to come over here to focus and heal on that. I seek peace and energy in life, and I want to become strong in all areas of myself.

 

Hey there! I hope u find what u need with thr Druids. I've seen a lot of challenges recently that include some sort of mental balance, specifically being more honest with others in some way.

[Helix "The Peasant"]

Hi, druids! Will we have mini-challenges like other guilds do? I think we could think of a few, couldn't we? 

[Heidi]

7 hours ago, Helix "The Peasant" said:

Hi, druids! Will we have mini-challenges like other guilds do? I think we could think of a few, couldn't we? 

Tell us more!

We love new ideas.

 

Declutter: get rid of one thing a day for a week? blitzkrieg a single room of the house in one week?

Yoga: take one pose to a new level (depth, duration, time held, etc.) this week.

Meditation gets my vote: meditate every day, mindfully, for one week. (See how this affects your attitude through the day and your rest at night.)

 

Any others?

[Heidi]

16 hours ago, IAmInfinite said:

Infinity slips into the cave, short body easily navigating the edges of the walls, until she made her way nearer to the fire.

 

Hey all, I'm excited to be here with the Druids! I'm Infinity, and I've been hanging out with the Rangers until now. Unfortunately, I had a mental health mishap last month and decided to come over here to focus and heal on that. I seek peace and energy in life, and I want to become strong in all areas of myself.

Welcome, @IAmInfinite! Pull up a cushion and join us in a round of self-care and balance, two elements of true strength that are so often overlooked -- I know I certainly had much to learn on these fronts back in my Ranger Daze.

 

Are there specific outcomes you would like to see? Better rest at night, for instance, or a more calm approach to coworkers? Maybe yoga is your thing and you would like to have increased range of motion and flexibility? Perhaps more mindfulness in the day.

 

Tell us more.

[Heidi]

& Hai! @Leimanu -- I see you there.

Tea?

[Snarkyfishguts]

21 hours ago, Heidi ☯ said:

 

• Where you have been

• What you have seen

• Where you hope to go

• What you seek.

 

Hi Everyone! I'm Snarky, in case we haven't met. 

I've been mostly lost in my own thoughts  

I saw a black and white spotted duck on the way to the grocery store. I've never seen one of those before! I've seen white ducks, brown ducks, mallard ducks.. Never a spotted one.

I hope to go ...to a place of my own someday. I'd like to be completely independent for a bit.

I seek..well... this month I just seek some spiritual sunshine and to be more productive.

 

I hope everyone has a really great challenge and finds what they are looking for!

 

 

 

[Heidi]

Welcome, @Snarkyfishguts!

Spiritual Sunshine sounds just lovely.

[Helix "The Peasant"]

@Heidi ☯

Sure! We could add a little role-play to it, to keep things a bit more spicey, but yeah.

24 hours of meditation total from all of us, to unlock the secret of the ancients. 

Pet at least one animal this week, to gather allies for the battle against the enemies of nature. 

Get a massage from someone to calm the nerves.

Give food to a homeless man/animal. 

 

Just random ideas, feel free to join in the brainstorming! 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

How about you guys throw some whey protein into that tea and come Test Your Strength in The Amorous Assessment of Anatomic Artillery! This is a Powerlifting and Weightlifting open to all guilds and all experience levels. Some of the most beautiful squats I've ever seen came from the yogis I know.

 

 

[Infinity.Creates]

Ooh a mini sounds like fun, though some suggestions might be the same as people already have as part of their challenge? But some sound like fun!

 

7 hours ago, Heidi ☯ said:

Welcome, @IAmInfinite! Pull up a cushion and join us in a round of self-care and balance, two elements of true strength that are so often overlooked -- I know I certainly had much to learn on these fronts back in my Ranger Daze.

Are there specific outcomes you would like to see?

 

I want to get fit, but that will come from healthy eating, and it all comes from a healthy mind. This challenge, I'm going to try some basic yoga, Bible reading (the aim is to finish it by Easter), mindfulness, diet and journaling. 

[Leimanu]

10 hours ago, Heidi ☯ said:

& Hai! @Leimanu -- I see you there.

Tea?

Well hey there.

 

I just bought some loose leaf tea. My current obsession is coconut oolong, but the jasmine is like drinking flowers.

[Twilight]

Hello from winterland!

 

Where you have been

I've been looking to rebalance my life from the ground up for the last year or so.

What you have seen

I've realised a lot about myself. I've identified many ways I've been depriving myself of basic things for no reason. I've come to understand self-care as "self parenting" rather than "self spoiling." I've made a lot of progress, but I'm not there yet.

 

Where you hope to go

I want to feel happy and fulfilled in my life, just like everyone else. Mid-life crisis? Sure, why not. I'd love a Mustang.  Seriously though, I want to be strong and flexible. I want to be able to have my friends' backs as the rebellion becomes more real for us all.

 

What you seek.

Balance and strength.

 

 

On 07/02/2017 at 11:18 AM, Snarkyfishguts said:

I saw a black and white spotted duck on the way to the grocery store. I've never seen one of those before! I've seen white ducks, brown ducks, mallard ducks.. Never a spotted one.

 

Was it a loon?? :-o

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

26 minutes ago, Twilight said:

 

Was it a loon?? :-o

 

Not a loon, but dang that's a cool bird! No this was a duck with big spots. I think it was a Bufflehead. Or something similar. But a duck.

 

I hope you get stronger and more flexible this month!

[Rippleberry]

I have been within myself and witnessed a darkness inside.

I wish to go toward the light, with achievements swathed in pride. 

[Leimanu]

21 hours ago, Rippleberry said:

I have been within myself and witnessed a darkness inside.

I wish to go toward the light, with achievements swathed in pride. 

 

I thought of this for you.

 

[Leimanu]

On 2/6/2017 at 1:33 PM, Heidi ☯ said:

• Where you have been

• What you have seen

• Where you hope to go

• What you seek.

 

Oh my gosh, I've written this 3x LOL.  AARGH, I shouldn't write emotional posts on my phone!

 

I've been hanging around the NF boards since 2012.  I just realized that pretty much the longest thing I've ever done consistently.  The longest professional thing was Peace Corps, and I finally beat the time length with my current job WOOOOOO!  I was always obsessed with new (new places, new job, new experiences - there's nothing but opportunity and potential in fresh starts) but I was always the same - same thoughts (usually negative), same habits, same distractions.

 

Something changed in my thinking and I wanted to find the adventure in staying in one place, have a deeper experience than just the surface, touristy part.  I moved from upstate NY to FL to get out of the north and help out my Dad.  There's lots of other reasons, but those are the biggest (they're also the two reasons most people move to FL).  

 

I was at my lowest, super-scariest point when I moved.  (There's people out there who've never thought suicide was an option.  Huh.)  I've been working on my depression and negative self-talk, and thankfully the fog began to lift over a year ago, so it's been the sort of fun, sort of weird, sometimes disappointing journey.  This shy girl is actually pretty talkative, and kinda mouthy!  I'm super goofy and helpful.  I work at a nonprofit health center in a non-clinical role, and at work my goofiness can come off as unprofessional and that's gotten me in trouble a few times (never with patients, but with other staff, haha!).  Unfortunately, I'm also a little stubborn and short-tempered, which shows up when I feel other people aren't organized or lack customer service.  I try to use it to my advantage.  It makes me research resources and other helpful people to refer to to help our patients.  Being able to pull reousrces quickly helps me look a little more professional.   Just randomly I was assigned to our clinic's behavioral health center, and the depression and negative self-talk crap has also helped me be more understanding towards people going through a hard time.    

 

The weirdest discovery is...I'm bored.  Depression takes up a lot of time, apparently.  My challenges have been trying to put healthy habits in place and make baby steps towards my new, shiny goals.  

 

So right now I'm just enjoying being me and finding new things to do around here.  

 

Career-wise, I want to get back into creative writing and use that skill in a communications role for nonprofits/government agencies (goal, NASA!).  

 

Fitness-wise, I'm focusing on movement and exercise and listening to my body.  I haven't been doing diet stuff because that's still too wrapped up in self-talk.  Exercise is like, 20-30 min once a day, but choosing what to eat feels like it's choice-making all day.

 

Personally, I gotta learn how to enjoy the moment, let go of the pressure, and try all sorts of new things.  

[PrincessGlam]

Good morning everyone! 

I'm PrincessGlam a wimp trying to grow in fitness and wellness of mind, body and soul. I've been many places trying many different things, until I found my true passion. Becoming strong and brave through Yoga, Tai-Chi and meditation. This four week challenge is my first as a Druid. I am excited and finally feel as if I've found my place. I thought I wanted to be a warrior, but an early revelation that I was just not excited about working out that way coupled with an autoimmune disease that makes it difficult to recover from lifting heavy and intense confirmed what I was already feeling in my heart... I am meant to be strong through graceful and deep movements that connect my mind body and soul. So here I am checking in and excited to get to know each of you during this cycle of the challenge. Sorry for my late start I forgot we begin on Sunday and not Monday

[Sunmage]

Ohh cool!

 

Where you have been

I've been in a hole called busy. Too busy for everything

What you have seen

I have seen myself and how I treat myself. How I feel I don't have to to the hard work right now whenever I feel better. I have seen myself fall back down due to that.

 

Where you hope to go

I will move towards freedom, happyness and discipline. I will develop joy in taking great care of myself.

 

What you seek.

Balance, Discipline, insight and love!

 

This will be another interesting time for me!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

1 hour ago, Sunmage said:

Ohh cool!

 

 

 

[Jittersthe.Clown]

I would like for my fellow Druids to keep this in mind:

 

It's an oversimplification, but please remember you are in control of your life.  

[Heidi]

5 hours ago, Jittersthe.Clown said:

It's an oversimplification, but please remember you are in control of your life.  

Except for the parts that you aren't, but you're not in control of them, so DON'T WORRY.

 

 

[Heidi]

@Jittersthe.Clown!

I missed you.

[Jittersthe.Clown]

2 minutes ago, Heidi ☯ said:

@Jittersthe.Clown!

I missed you.

And I've missed you too, @Heidi ☯  It is good to be back.