Saturday, December 10, 2011

New Year, New You: An Experiment in Magical Radical Transformation

Yeah. . .She's not this classy.  Trust me.
My muse and I have an on-going disagreement of sorts.  Well.  I do.  She is indifferent as usual to my thoughts and feelings.  She clomps into my bedroom, heels in hand, cosmo and cheese fries on her breath.

She (poking me hard):  Hey.  Get up.

Me: What?  It's bedtime and we're not talking friends --

She: Whatever.  I have an idea.

Me: Your ideas are disorderly and often inconvenient.  I'm going back to bed.

She: No, you're not.  I'm going to keep poking you in your brain pan until you listen.  Are you listening now?  Are you listening now?  Are you listening now?  Are you listening now?  Are you listening now?  Are you listening --

Me: JESUS CHRIST, I HATE YOU!

She: So it goes like this.

So, you're supposed to be, like, magicians, occultists, witches in the woods and the kitchen and on the soccer field, right?  Workers of wonder.  Dream weavers.  People who get shit done.  Isn't this the year to make your own luck?  You're feeling especially awful with the nights that never end and run over by the holidaze and you can't drink joie forever before needing a meeting.  So now's the fucking time.  Don't wait until that stupid glitter ball drops and you're already making drunk and/or sentimental mistakes, start now.  Start now when it's hardest.  Start now when you feel so weighed down with emotions better left to glittery and not so glittery vampires and when you feel like you could sleep forever.  Now is the time you need to wake up.  Get up, get up!  Don't miss this moment.  Create magics great and small, mundane and mystical.  Find everything you've been looking for, mysteries revealed in every form of divination and song and when you fuck it up, when you are too tired to try, bring each other up from bloodied knees to get back up smiling.  You are all made of stars and you have stardust in your veins.  Do something about it.

Here is what you'll do.  You'll write prompts.  You'll explore.  You'll fall down.  Sometimes you'll lay there awhile, finding things under rocks that you never wanted to know.  They'll pull you back, using yarn, glue, cajoling and stern words.  You'll keep sewing yourself into who you'll want to be and you'll tell them, sometimes too much, because that's your way and what's needed.  You'll find how far you can really fly when you've made wings to carry you and be breathless from your accomplishments.  Besides your words, you'll give something made from your hands.  

Here is what they'll do.  Form a community of tealight hearths and stories high bonfires.  They'll whisper their stories, spirials of success and failure.  You'll learn from each other, make each other laugh, piss each other off.  You'll get things done together and alone.  You'll be afraid together, so knees up.    

Here's how it will work:

There's a prize.  Of course there's a prize.  I will do a random drawing and whoever wins can chose  one item from my shop and I will ship it anywhere in the world for free.  The Drawing will take place on Valentine's Day.  

I will put everyone's name in a hat and have Jow chose a name from the hat.  If you are a fiber freak (yarn, Dream Ambassadors, felted soap), I will even hand dye that item in the color of your choice.

You get one entry when:

* You add the "New Year, New You" button to your blog
* You blog about the "New Year, New You" experiment to spread the word about it
* You blog in response to any of my "New Year, New You" prompts (one entry each time you do so!)
* You blog about your own "New Year, New You" experiment (one entry each time you do so!).  You are captain of your own ship, if you're ass deep in your own experiments in making yourself stronger, faster, braver and more magical, that certainly counts.

You must leave me a comment with the appropriate link so that I know you have done these things.

56 comments:

The Unlikely Mage said...

Done, and thank you! This is just what I needed to hear, cause I'm nearly surrounded in RL by people who refuse to do this. Thank goodness my girlfriend is sensible or I'd crack hard.

http://theunlikelymage.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-experiment.html

petoskystone said...

Button added, & a brief note about why the button has appeared. I choose Wednesdays for 'updates'....but that's as far as I've gotten. My muse in the coffee cup beckons...

Bea said...

Button added and introduction made. Thank you so much for this, this project could not have come at a better time!

EnergyDancer said...

Hello,
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I have made a post on my blog about this experiment, and I'm going to find out how to add this button.
You can check here :
http://diem-et-noctem.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you.html

Anonymous said...

Done and done!

http://birchtreemaiden.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/new-year-new-you-taking-part-in-an-experiment/

Looking forward to playing with you and whoever else jumps on this train. :-)

Unknown said...

I LOVE YOU SOOOO HARD!
Also, I'm blogging this.

Mr. J. said...

Done and done.

http://jow-amagesblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you.html

Deborah Castellano said...

You all rock my socks! Thank *you* for making this a reality! I've started a spreadsheet to keep track of all entries.

Satyr Magos said...

This is absolutely brilliant. Count me in.

Initial post up along with image/link in side bar.

http://journeythroughtheobsidiandream.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you.html

Rufus Opus said...

I'll play!

http://headforred.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-im-in.html

Jason Miller, said...

Ok, I am on board

http://www.inominandum.com/blog/?p=616

Anonymous said...

Done.
http://simontomasi.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-sharpening-magical.html

Unknown said...

Bazinga!

http://beyondchaosmagick.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/its-the-new-year-so-here-comes-the-new-you/

http://thehollowones.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/its-a-new-year-new-you-experiment/

Ocean Delano said...

Fantastic post, Deb! This is my first time posting to your lovely blog, but you've totally inspired me. :)

Here's a link to my post:

http://turningmagicaround.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-time-is-now.html

Elle said...

This is something I can get with.

Well, I can get with a lot of stuff. But this is especially motivating!

http://themoodytower.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-lets-get-radical.html

The ocelot said...

I've been reading for a while, and enjoying your blog immensely.

This particular post was a much-needed kick in the magical pants for me; I'm in! I've added the button and blogged here:

http://theserpentandthefoxglove.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-new-witchery.html

And yes, the possibility of winning fiber prizes is a hell of a lure (grins).

Anonymous said...

I don't normally delve too deeply into magic on my blog. The blog is usually about teaching in a middle school rather than about magical stuff. But I am going to try this out.

Here's my link.

Vagabond Anne said...

Count me in! I've been enjoying your blog, and while I'm new to this magic hoo-ha, I'm glad to learn more. Here is my link: http://vagabondanne.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/new-year-new-you-new-me-new-world/

Chrys said...

Blogg'ed!

http://qotcpcf.livejournal.com/1325564.html

This works well with the fact that my Level One Diagnostic may be a matter of months rather than weeks. Also, making magic beads :-)

polyphanes said...

Done and done!

https://digitalambler.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/new-year-new-you/

Was just introduced to your blog by this spreading through the blogosphere. Wonderful idea!

Anonymous said...

There is also this one:

http://birchtreemaiden.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/new-year-new-you-goals/

Anonymous said...

One last straggler coming in...

http://snaegl.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/new-year-new-you/

Great idea! I'm looking forward to seeing what folks do with this.

Anonymous said...

I'm limping in too!

http://agreenbranch.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/a-new-year-a-new-you/

Looking forward to it

Grace said...

Unlurking to join the challenge. First little bit here:

http://witchybook.livejournal.com/133713.html

Peeps said...

Delurking to join. Something like this has been poking at me recently, so how could I not?

http://paganpeeps.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Discovered this site through RO and Jason Miller. I only recently started blogging. Would love to participate though!

I blogged about New Year, New You, and I added the button to my sidebar.

http://ximeragrey.com/2011/12/16/new-year-new-you/

Monsignor Scott Rassbach said...

This is a great experiment, and I'm ready to go. Got the image up, and have done a post.

Good luck to us all!

http://eighthsermon.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you.html

Anonymous said...

Alright, I'm game. Sign me up over at The Digital Enchiridion

http://michaelseblux.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/new-year-new-you/

Rose Weaver said...

I've finally written my entry for this project which is a terrific idea!

New Year, New You

Lilith said...

Reviving my blog and joining in! I was blogging mainly in Slovak, English is not my mother language, so forgive if it sounds funny sometimes, but I'll do my best and will translate the entries as well as I can!

http://lilithsowlnest.blogspot.com/2011/12/for-year-and-day.html

Anonymous said...

<a href="http://nkyinkyin.dreamwidth.org/9211.html>late to the game</a>, but it appears that i was already playing. ah, synchronicity, what would i do without you?

Avalon said...

Hi there. :) Nkyinkyin linked me to this and it sounds like where I'm headed, so I posted a little something.

http://signoftheunicorn.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you/

Jen said...

I'm all about this and thank you! Here is my link and i will be adding your button to my site in the next few minutes!

http://www.confessionsofakitchenwitch.com/

Wren said...

Done!

http://rebisraven.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you-challenge-accepted.html

Lux said...

I finally decided to get aboard!

http://jeweledlotus.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you.html

Unknown said...

I was tempted to participate but I delineated my reasons not to over at

http://destaphiton.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-tempus-eversionis-again.html

;)

Amber said...

Ok, here's the deal... I'm so digging this idea that you have going! And I'm definitely joining, but I'm not joining with Confessions of a Country Witch... I've actually started an all new blog, and it's kinda funny that you have this around the same time, because my new blog is all about a new beginning for me! So... if you give me a few seconds (maybe minutes because I switched to wordpress like a dum dum and have a small idea of how to work it) I will add your party button to my blog. I was also hoping maybe you have the time to drop by my new blog and see if it's something you would be interested in following as well... thanks for the new party, and for being an amazing YOU!

http://motherearthsarms.wordpress.com

Unknown said...

Not quite sure how I missed this, but I'm so in! Added the button to my blog, and did an introductory post here: http://pallasrenatus.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-new-year-new-you-experiment.html

Unknown said...

So, I am late to the party, but I'm in! Have added the button to my brand-new (and barely formatted) blog, and discussed the project in my intro post:
http://diviningbelle.blogspot.com/2011/12/intro-inconvenient-priestess.html

I plan to get through the prompts I missed in the next few days - I love this idea!

Anonymous said...

I love this idea. I am late too but would still love to participate. http://getoffyourbroom.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm here finally - hope I'm not too late, better late than never, right?
http://witchinthesuburbs.wordpress.com/

Thanks to you & your muse for being the big kick in the arse I needed.
x

MG Ellington said...

http://xjenavivex.livejournal.com/645367.html

It is friends locked but you have access under your LJ username.

If any of the other participants want access, just email me at night_sky_bliss@yahoo.com and I'll figure out something.

~ Mari said...

i'm going to give this a try and see what happens. also tweeted about it for you.

http://mariadkins.com

Tallah said...

I"m game! I went a step beyond and made an entirely new blog for this project. I've been meaning to re-vamp my writings for a while and this is the perfect kick in the robes.

http://pvwitch.blogspot.com/

Kyndyl said...

posted on my profile and will be on my dw account too

http://morgwensraven.dreamwidth.org/
http://morgwensraven.livejournal.com/

Deborah Castellano said...

@ Mari - Welcome to the Experiment! I could be particularly dense, but does your blog allow comments?

Teresa said...

As usual, I'm late to the party. I'll try to play catch up. ~blush~

http://rosethornhill.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-year-new-you.html

Hannah said...

This is a great idea, I'm definitely joining!

http://thesilenceofthemoon.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-new-you-blog-challenge.html

Anonymous said...

A few weeks behind, but no biggie! I'm so in! :) Button's up, and first post is made!

http://theforestwitch.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/new-year-new-you/

Sister Krissy Fiction said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sister Krissy Fiction said...

Alright. I'm late. I'm fashionable. But I've joined the party!

http://wp.me/p1Scr3-1k

Leatheraven said...

It took a while, but I'm all in!
Melissa

http://leatheraven.livejournal.com/94982.html

Unknown said...

oh heyyy: I added the button too!! another entry :)

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm late but your button is up on my blog. Count me in, Deb!

Deborah Castellano said...

Gotcha both Lyn and Katie!

Christopher DeGraffenreid said...

I thought I would join this endeavor. If nothing else it'll make me blog more often.

http://sorceryandspirit.com/

Post a Comment