The Year of the Goddess 2022

Way back before the pandemic and babies and the like, I wrote a post about how six different Goddesses used their year ahead to transform and find balance and light. Now I find myself revisiting this post and reflecting on the last couple of years. If you don’t know about the Goddesses, they are really great archetypes I use to help people connect to themselves, find balance, and heal rejected parts of themselves (they do a lot of hard work these Goddesses!).

So here is my version for 2022, poor loves are a little bit fed but still they rise…

Ps. You get to choose which to copy for 2022

Aphrodite 

Oh dear, poor Aphrodite. She thought it was bad in the days of Tinder when everyone was sending stunning portraits of their penis (if by ‘stunning’ you mean completely underwhelming at best and mostly disturbing) until the pandemic hit and she wasn’t even able to go on dates, see friends, or have any of the connection that this Goddess NEEDS to thrive. The worst part? Feeling heartbroken at how forgotten she felt while knowing that really everyone was in the same boat… Let’s be real, the disconnection from the world had started to affect her connection to herself. SHE wasn’t giving herself the kind of love that she was so ready to give to others. So in 2022 Aphrodite started taking herself on dates. That’s right, she started being her own perfect partner and finding ways to have adventures on her own. She fell in love with herself – and rightly so!

Artemis

Well, Artemis certainly wasn’t completely out of love with lockdown because the introvert in her couldn’t get enough of the long walks and isolation and well… the simplicity of it all. That is, until the Government started messing with her ability to get into nature and then she had to resort to living room workouts and youtube videos of places she’d much rather be… Thankfully, those rules didn’t last too long! The whole way through she pushed herself to her physical limits, testing her own strength and making sure she was in nature as much as possible. But emotionally Artemis was tired. Yes, she was comfortable in her own company but sometimes she yearned for connection with others and would feel awkward about how to go about this. So in 2022, independent Artemis practiced the art of asking for help and asking for company. She lightened her own load and she found other people to share in her adventures.

Demeter

Like Artemis, Demeter spent the last couple of years addicted to doing everything herself – the only difference being that Demeter focussed her energy on helping others. Yup, Demeter became the absolute champion of lockdown living, making sure that everyone’s needs were met and using her creativity to make something beautiful out of a bad situation. She knew how needed she was and she gave as much as she could. The people around her were feeling vulnerable and frustrated and she helped to provide them with strength.  It should have been simple as her favourite place to be is at home! But again, like Artemis, she became exhausted and forgot the last time she… well… just did something for herself. So in 2022 Demeter committed to spoiling herself like a child. She decided to turn some of her focus onto herself and indulge her childlike desires as well as making sure that she was properly fed, rested and had room to play.

Hera

It’s tough at the top and as a natural leader Hera knows this only too well. Over the last couple of years she has lost out on just having fun. She was too busy making sure that things were running smoothly, organising other people, taking responsibility for both her family and her community, and trying to keep everyone connected and working together while never being able to be actually physically together. The pandemic has really hit her right where it hurts – in her deep seated need for control. Suddenly, too many things were unpredictable and there was no sense of order. Whole structures were changing and Hera had to make sure that these changes weren’t too disruptive and that people were still living up to their responsibilities. A lot of people didn’t really thank Hera for this, finding it all a bit boring and tedious. Hera was left with the stress that other people felt able to push aside. So in 2022, Hera found new ways of getting light relief – watching comedy, befriending someone with an infectious sense of fun, experimenting with being irresponsible once in a while… Even doing absolutely nothing!

Athena

In 2021, career focussed Athena found work stressful and this drained all of her energy and time. There is nothing like a global pandemic and economic threat to boost career driven Athena into anxious overactivity… Too many ideas, too many pressures, too many competing demands, and too many changes and unknowns meant that Athena spent the whole time desperately trying to keep building her career and to adapt to the changing landscape.  Sure, she was doing well but underneath her adrenaline fuelled lifestyle (albeit that she was working from home!) she could feel exhaustion creeping in and she wondered how on earth she would ever find balance. Working from home meant that there was no space between her work and everything else in her life. She felt pre-occupied all the time and stuck in her head. So in 2022 Athena decided to have a love affair with her body in order to get out of her constant thinking and plotting… she explored new ways of eating, exercise, and indulging her sensuality… And guess what, her work didn’t suffer, instead things became easier all round.

Persephone

For Persephone, the last couple of years have been one big learning curve. She faced her fears and she faced up to herself – both the good and the bad. She began a process of letting go of anything that didn’t truly serve her but this involved loss after loss after loss. This wasn’t just loss from the pandemic and the old ways of doing things, it was also losses from being confronted with the self and with realities that were easier to avoid before lockdown forced us to stay at home and get really uncomfortably intimate with ourselves, our relationships, and our lifestyles. For 2022, having cleared out her internal (metaphorical) closet, Persephone was ready for some new clothes. And so she decided to explore joyful ways of feeding her soul and replenishing her resources – she unleashed her creativity in big ways and small (think singing, dancing, art, music….).

So there you have it, 6 different ways to light up your 2022. Who knows what’s coming but hopefully we can take on some of these strategies and enjoy them…

1. Start taking yourself on (really special) dates

2. Practice asking for help and for company

3. Commit to spoiling your inner child

4. Find new ways of getting light relief

5. Have a love affair with your body

6. Explore joyful ways of feeding your soul