East Grove Blues

So today is a full moon, the second since the winter solstice. I am hoping for clear skies tonight so I can stare at it and wonder how I got to the place I am in. This time of year is known for several festivals. Imbolc, Ground Hogs Day, and even Valentines Day is just around the corner. We are about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The Sun is coming back and the days will (hopefully) get warmer as we inch our way towards springtime.

I am taking this weekend as a holiday of my own. I call it Spring Cleaning! I am cleaning almost the whole of my house today and tomorrow. I have about half done already and I am contemplating starting the other here in a little bit. It is so nice to have a clean house, and I mean really clean. I usually do a decent job of keeping my house in order, but I don’t dust very often, especially behind my books. So I am trying to get everything as clean as I can. I have also thrown out a lot of papers from school and random mail that I get. My office area is the cleanest it’s been in ages. I doubt it will stay that way, but it will be pleasant for the next few days.

Besides cleaning my house I am also cleaning myself. I started my ‘holiday’ last night with a trip to Onsen after Yoga. I scrubbed everything I could, including the extra dead skin on my feet. I do bathe regularly, but I don’t usually rub my skin to near rawness, nor do I scrape my scalp of all its dry flaky bits. I am also fasting right now. My last meal was Friday night and I (hopefully) won’t eat again until Sunday night. I did some 24 hour fasts last week and I surprisingly enjoyed them. So this weekend I am going for 48 hours. I am drinking water and tea only. I had some green tea for lunch and I will have some rose hip tea for dinner.

I like the idea of fasting, but I have never been good at it. I have tried it several times before only to fail miserably a few hours later. I associate the feeling of hunger and anxiousness together. I am not sure why this is, but I feel them both in the put of my stomach. It is not a feeling I generally enjoy, but I am starting to tell the difference between the two. I just had to get past the mental barrier that linked the two together. I have to remember that I am not anxious, that it is only hunger, and that it will go away with time. Its a test of mental strength and will power.