Lying awake at four in the morning
Published: Fri, 12/20/19
In the last week I have helped Venetia and baby Iduna at three in the morning a couple of times. As you might expect Ventia’s sleep pattern has been more than a little bit disrupted and sometimes I make her a cup of tea and some toast or even change a nappy. Yes, I am getting the hang of that too and Iduna seems happy enough to let me do it. I find the hardest part is getting her little feet back into the legs of the little one peice outfits she wears. I point out that it would be easier if she didn’t wriggle so much but she doesn’t seem to take any notice. Sometimes when I have had a little nocturnal adventure with Venetia and Iduna I can’t get back to sleep afterwards. I find myself wondering what it will take to bring up our little girl to be happy and healthy. I have to stop myself worrying about the kind of world she will be growing up in. And yes, only a fool lies awake fretting about such things and it will all be the
same in the morning.
Here is a picture I took this morning of who I have been getting up in the night for (although I admit I have been having it easy compared with Venetia). https://www.screencast.com/t/VKgfg11OX0a
I have been studying the Havamal closely in the past couple of weeks as I need to write about it. It took me quite a while before I realised that the Saying of the High One is very much concerned with what we would now call mental health issues. It is all in there: Insomnia as I have already covered. Substance abuse, with a great image of ale as a heron that steals men’s minds just as the real bird steals away fish. Stanza 13. And coming to terms with our mortality which is addressed in a number of verses. Perhaps my favourite is stanza 71 which reminds us that even when life is difficult and we might consider ourselves disabled or incapable we can still make a useful contribution, the lame ride, the handless can drive animals, the deaf can fight, even being blind is better than being dead. Pretty brutal advice but it is the kind of thing we all need to hear it from time to time. Check it out for yourself, I am thinking that,
as a manual for counseling, a therapist could do a lot worse than the Havamal.
Winter solstice and Yule coming up now, three days when the sun seems to stand still before beginning its journey back towards another midsummer solstice in six months time. See if you can take the time to reflect on the past year, relax and recuperate now and think about what what you want to achieve during the next solar cycle. One thing you might like to do is join us in Norfolk at midsummer for the Rune Retreat. Summer may seem a long time away now but it will be here soon enough. http://rr.stavcamp.org/
regards
Graham
PS I realise my plan for twice weekly posts has already collapsed for the moment, Sorry about that but I can claim mitigating circumstances.