Words fail us sometimes. I hear people telling me of their failings, how they cannot make progress with their life or career. (We have all found ourselves here, on some level.)
Listening to them, I see a person not only unable to choose the next move, but unable to even consider they might have options to change their circumstances, change the person that they are/have been. They appear stuck, frozen helplessly by the mantras of the past.
Linguistically, they describe a situation, and then (even if supplied with a helpful response), their next statement is predictable: “…I can’t”. Occasionally, this is followed with a qualifying reason as to why, but more often than not they simply stop, and look down.
Biologically, feelings of depression and other forms of anxiety force us to pay attention to our immediate surroundings. Something IS wrong, so we MUST solve the current crisis before moving on. Which, as a survival strategy, makes sense. However when anxiety lasts for months or years, we can get trapped into habitually seeing no further than our now, our here.
Looking up and away from the ground beneath our feet when we feel as if at any moment we will sink into quicksand, takes courage. If, that is, we can even remember to think of looking ahead, while it takes all our concentration just to stand!
Thanks for teh memes, interwebz! 🙂
A ritual, for those who can’t even…
Standing with your arms by your sides, look at your feet. This is where you are.
Repeat continuously, aloud if possible, “I literally cannot even … I literally cannot even … I literally cannot even … I literally cannot even …”.
Would you like to move?
“I cannot even … I cannot even … I cannot even … I cannot even …”
Look a short distance ahead.
“I cannot … I cannot … I cannot … I cannot …”
Take a step.
“I can … I can … I can … I can …”
While doing this, take a plenty of time at each stage to take stock of your internal state; using at least three adjectives, describe how you feel, physically. Paying attention to our body gives clues to our elusive subconscious emotional status.
For a more magickal experience, do the ritual inside a magic circle, with yellow candles to represent the importance of ego magick, incense which matches the intention to expand awareness, and holding a sword to signify your decision making ability.
NW
The Blog of Baphomet 
Reblogged this on Sable Aradia, Priestess & Witch and commented:
What a useful and practical ritual from the Blog of Baphomet! I will remember this; there are times that I will use it.
VERY good Nikki. To the point, practical and bang on the money. I pulled through years of clinical depression in my 20’s entirely through a concerted shift in the language I used to convey myself and my situation. I approve this message… And verify it’s efficacy.
Reblogged this on Weaving Among The Stars.
This is just brilliant so I’m definitely going to save and use this practice. It’s so simple yet it’s so worthwhile. Thanks for sharing this NW with us all.
Blessings,
CazWytch.
My sister has been struggling with depression for all her life and it is exactly as you describe.
Some days she is feeling slightly low but in special occasions like Christmas Season it gets to the orange zone of “I cannot”, the info-graphic of this post and description is really helpful, thank you.
Thanks Jordi. We need to act and speak with compassion (as I am sure you know!) towards our companions who feel so stuck. Steady drips of practising wear away the ice block, begin with baby steps into the forbidden zone of ‘I can’. Try noticing (without patronising) when they do achieve, gently encourage without instructing; ‘maybe you might like to [insert task which they can definitely accomplish]?’ . The language patterns we would do best using can seem tricky at first, but become a natural approach. Much of the process of success revolves around the art of seeing the possible, both for oneself and by extension the other.
NW