Stuck at home... but not really stuck.

I am, right now, equal parts frustrated and elated.

Why?  Well, for the umpteenth time this winter I'm stuck at home instead of able to go to work - the snow, which is dominating our landscape and obliterating landmarks in seas of white, has again trapped us all inside.

I really dug down and called on the Goddess for this one - I'm upset for mundane reasons about having to miss work but if I let that distract me as it has in the past, well, it'd be 1pm and I'd be 5 episodes into an Agents of Shield marathon, instead of having gotten a ton of chores done today, finished the layout for a painting project, worked on some paperwork for a set of presentations I'm making later this month, and managed to get the dishes done somewhere between the second and third cups of coffee.

So, with a little help, I've put aside my mundane concerns and focused instead on the creativity I've denied for so long.

You know that feeling you get in your gut (or, in my case, in the side of my throat) that something is poking into you, like a bone, just stabbing you little bits at a time?  That's what my creative blocks feel like.  They pain me, and the point is that I'm supposed to pay attention, create and let them go so I can get the art out of my head.  Well, that doesn't always work - mundane concerns get in the way, and then it's Friday and all I want to do is sleep.  I get tired from the worry and stress, and nothing creative gets done.

Well, not today!

So how do you get over this?  Call it out.  Stop ignoring the boney pains and give in to them instead.  Maybe it's giving yourself permission to be creative, maybe it's putting aside the doubt and going for it... but a few herbal aids can help with that.  Peach tea, either with ginger or with mango, is a great creative booster.  Every time I see the pit of a peach, it looks like a little dried brain and honestly, it bolsters me.  It reminds me of the connection between myself and the land.  I can taste that in the tea no matter what time of year it is... and when you're blocked by mounds of snow and can't go wiggle your toes in the grass to move those creative blocks, tasting Spring and Summer can be a life saver.

If you're allergic to pitted fruits, or to ginger, try this instead - <insert fruit tea here>.  No really, fruit tea of your choice.  The goal is to find that taste of summer and heat that you miss in the middle of winter and drink it into your bones.  Drink two or three cups, and keep that scent around as you work.
So today I'm drinking mango and peach tea like it's going out of style, thanking the gods for their aid and creating till my fingers ache!