The term "lifehack" has become so broad as to be meaningless, but it was originally created to mean all those little tricks that made your life a little easier - the real life equivalent of digging into the code of a program to make it run more effectively. It's the art of figuring out how to jury-rig life to get the outcome you want. It's actually pretty compatible with magic when phrased that way; it reminds me of the Virtual Adept mindset. Reality is code- hack it.
Reality is also weird. I had a sort of spiritual experience at the thrift store on Saturday. I don't know how it is for other people, but for me, there's usually a moment of Understanding! that's internal and completely intuitive. Then, over the next few days, it filters through all the junk in my brain to make it into conscious, rational thought, and only then can I put words to it. Suffice to say it began with the idea that a wooden coffee table at the Goodwill Outlet is a manner by which I can more fully understand synchronicity and Mara's generosity.
I've had a lot of complicated things going on lately in my relationship with Mara, related to the outcome of the prosperity magic I was doing with Amber. She's asking more of me than she has before, both in terms of what she wants me to do and not do, and in terms of what she wants me to talk about. It's not quite as intense as god-slave relationships I've read about, but I'm definitely "in her service" in a way that differs from my relationships with other deities. I'm not irreverent the way I am with the Norse. She is a whole different ballgame.
Mara has always made it very clear to me that she is the Lady of the Household - she always gets first choice of altar space, and the house very much centers around her. She's not traditionally a hearth goddess but she practically functions as one for us. So I'm thinking about a series of posts about "House Work" - the things she asks of me are practical, down-to-earth things, mostly having to do with how I take care of myself, my family, and my house, but which are part of the Work she feels I need to be doing.
I mentioned to a couple of friends that I didn't know if anyone would be interested in reading this, but a few of you actually are, so go figure. (I appreciate it, I'm just a little boggled.) Some of this work is going to require changing my habits - just because something is easy, doesn't mean it's the best option. So I've been looking at lifehacks and other ways to make changing my habits easier, and doing my homework so I can start in on this new phase.