Imbolc - Setting your goals do it yourself crafting tutorial

Wake up sleepy head…

The sun shines brightly, slicing through a crack in my bedroom curtains, forcing me to peel open an eyelid.  I can’t help but feel a bit excited this lovely morning.  Why? Well, I’ll tell you…it’s that time of year again where plants and animals alike are stirring ever so slightly after a cold and dark winters sleep.

I cast a sleepy gaze over the snowy hills in my back yard and it doesn’t seem any different than yesterday, or the day before that.  Everything is burdened down by a heavy blanket of icy snow.  Chill winds still blow the crystallized flakes in a dizzying display of glitter.  But deep inside I know something is different.  I can feel it in my core.

The energy of the world around is vibrating a little louder today, not too much, but just enough so I can feel it.

Imbolc (Imbolg), Brighid’s Day, St. Bridhid’s Day, Candlemas, Groundhog Day…many names for a similar time. Whatever name you wish to attach to the myriad of festivals or celebrations coming up in February, the bottom line is the same.  SPRING is just around the corner!  Fertility in all its many forms has begun.  Seeds deep in the frozen earth are beginning to sprouts.  The first signs of life in the growing bellies livestock and other animals can be felt.  And as with all of this fertility, your mind and spirit are enjoying an awakening of sorts as well.  It’s time to get those creative juices flowing!

As we come to the time of year that puts us smack dab between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox we may experience a limbo of sorts.

While winter was a wonderful time for resting and resetting after the busy harvest season, at this midpoint we may find ourselves itching to break free from the introspective months.  All too eager to get cracking with our spring and summer plans.

But let’s not be too hasty.

Too often we see New Year’s resolutions—once so strongly proclaimed—fizzling out, barely a month after they’ve been declared.  Why is this? I believe simply stating you’re going to do something is a great start…but that’s all it is, a start.  For me, and I suspect for many others, a goal must be reiterated monthly, weekly, or even daily.

Do it yourself Goal Calender

Items you will need:

• Glue gun and glue sticks (or white glue) – you can use tape in a pinch but if its a year long calendear you will want it to stand up to time.
• Markers or pens
• Scissors
• Felt for your pockets (Or other material you would like to use if you are making a board type goal organizer)
• Paper for writing down your visualized goals

While trying to find a way to help myself stick to my goals I came up with this little craft idea for a Goal Calendar.  Now like most crafts, you can make this as simple or elaborate as you like.  For me, I chose to do this in such a way that my children could participate.  I’m big on the Witchlet friendly crafts!

Many of us have used affirmations, vision boards, and perhaps even project boxes.  This is sort of a mash-up of all of those things.

To get started, we created a calendar with twelve pockets.

My son wanted to be able to set his goals on a monthly basis.  You may wish to put only a few pockets.  You could separate it into days, weeks, months, seasons or break it down by holidays.  However you create it, the end result will be the same.

It will be a more tactile way of keeping track of your goals.  This allows you to see your accomplishments and be more aware when things start to slide. If you didn’t achieve a goal during the set time frame, then move it to the next pocket.

If you start seeing that you’re always moving things to the next pocket, and then the pocket after that, you may want to re-evaluate your goals.  Perhaps you are setting unrealistic expectations for yourself.  Or maybe it means you need to have a look at what’s going on in your daily life that’s stopping you from reaching your goals.  Perhaps there are positive changes to be made there.  Remember to keep your calendar in a place where you will see it daily.

If you don’t have a lot of room, here is another wonderful idea for keeping track of your goals – it’s not only pretty, it’s also very space saving.

Here we simply wrote down our goals and rolled up the paper until it was small enough to insert into the glass vial.  A small decorative box keeps them all together and provides easy access to for managing your plans.  Isn’t that pretty?

A really simple and economical way to do this same thing would be to use envelopes.  I recommend as with all of the other ideas, to keep this somewhere where you are likely to see it.  Out of sight is out of mind and that’s not at all what we are going for here.

I’m sure there are endless ways to do this type of craft.  If you’d like to share your own goal oriented project please send us a brief description and a pic or two at right here on our blog or you can visit our facebook page.

Other things to do in while you’re in limbo:

• Remember those corn dollies we made in the fall?  Now’s the time to remove them from your kitchen, make a bed where they can rest and display them proudly!

• This is a great time of year for fire and purification rituals that represent light and the returning of warmth.

• Make candles.  The colours associated with this time of year are white for the snow, red for life’s blood and the sun, and green for the growing vegetation.

• Have a “Say Farewell to Winter” ritual.

• If you’ve been thinking of starting a year and a day program, now’s the time!  If you’ve completed your program it’s time for your initiation.

• Place clothing or strips of fabric outdoors overnight—do this on February 1^st, 2^nd, or 12^th –to be blessed by Brighid.  The fabric can then be taken indoors and used as a healing cloth.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Thanks for reading!
Renee =)