My Viking Year

Over the holidays one of my friends gave me a mug. 

BE A VIKING it said, and there's a picture of an old norseman on it. He had gone into a shop to find something funny about England or Scotland or Ireland, maybe a tea towel with the queen, knowing how much of an anglophile I am. But the shop turned out to be exclusively nordic. So the mug has a viking on it. 

For the past couple of years I've found a word that I write in my book around the new year that is to be my guide word to get me around the sun. The first time I chose the word "help" and worked to either help someone or to be helped each day. This proved to be a great way to be useful and to practice asking for aid when I needed it. For the beginning of 2020 I chose "forth" which was intended to remind me to "go forth" and do and create in a bold sort of way. Well, we all know that going anywhere became problematic what with a pandemic and lockdowns and social distancing. Although, I did work to arrange weekly gatherings of my arts community and other connecting projects from a safe distance.

This year it seems like the winter was for sleeping, but now as we are being vaccinated to protect us from the devastation of covid, the time to start rousing ourselves from our slumber is at hand. I think this was a lot like those vikings, gathered around their winter fires, drinking the dark ales stored to get through the winter, singing songs and listening to the bardic poems... until springtime... like now... to begin to walk out into the world, pick up your sword and get on the boat -- ready. 

BE A VIKING

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