It's a drizzly damp day, which for me always means tired and achy and gloomy. Gray days are beautiful for drinking tea under a fluffy blanket, but they are a miserable context for pretty much any other activity.

It is good that today is Sunday. My soul needs rest, and my aching limbs are enforcing it.

Still, there are things that need doing, and although rest is one of them, procrastinating is not. I find myself sitting on the couch, hoping that maybe in five minutes, my knees won't ache so bad. This strategy never works.

Ironically, I really could be feeling better in five minutes if I just got up and did the things. Took the supplements, drank the water, changed into something a little bit warmer. Went outside barefoot and listened to the trees breathing.

But it's never going to happen unless I will myself to do it while it's still hard.

Willpower is a funny thing. It is very good for moving the body around, but it has very little direct power over the soul... except by way of the body.

So I am smelling nutmeg, frankincense, eucalyptus, and ylang-ylang, drumming up the courage to do what I must, delegate what I can, and let go of the rest. Choosing a fragrance to smell is such a very small choice, and yet interesting enough to distract me from my elbows, knees, feet, and thumbs.

If I deploy that tiny spark of will correctly, I can create a physical context that makes the next act of will a little easier. With the smell of courage in my nostrils, I can think through what I really need, and ask Andrew for some water and my supplements. The water and the supplements don't fix everything, but they make it easier to put on a sweater and go sit outside on the grass while the kids play freeze tag.

The clouds press down like a thick blanket, and Andrew just went inside to make me another cup of tea. When I finish writing this, we will probably read a bit of Virgil together. It is a gloomy day, but always when I am brave enough to press into the gloom, I find that it is good.

Copaiba

If I could only have one essential oil, this would be the one.

Copaiba essential oil is distilled from a South American tree resin, and its fragrance is very subtle. At first I could hardly even detect it at all, but now it reminds me of a sweeter, gentler version of frankincense.

Don't be fooled, though: this oil is a powerhouse. For me, it has been nothing short of life-changing.

Traditionally used as a digestive aid and health tonic, copaiba makes a lovely tea. Copaiba Vitality comes in the premium starter kit, and is FDA approved as a supplement and flavoring. Try mixing a drop or two with honey and warm water!

Taking Copaiba internally has made a big difference in my health. It helps me stay on an even keel, both physically and emotionally, and since I started taking Copaiba I've actually almost enjoyed winter. ;)

Copaiba’s strength is in its gentleness, and it's relaxing properties help the body to receive the full benefits of other oils. This makes it a powerful addition to almost any blend, and it is the primarily ingredient in Young Living's incredible Stress Away blend.

Let's talk about hydration! Our bodies are mostly made of water, and if we don't drink enough of it, we're mostly a mess! Whenever you're not feeling well, one of the first questions to ask yourself is, "Am I getting enough water?"

All my life I've had a REALLY hard time remembering to drink water. I simply wouldn't notice that I was thirsty, until I was badly dehydrated.

Adding citrus Vitality oils to my water is helping me get into the hydration habit. Tangerine is my favorite, but I also love Citrus Fresh, Lemon, and Orange.

In so many ways, essential oils are teaching me how to listen to my body. When my water tastes amazing, I start paying attention to it. I drink more of it, and then I start noticing how good it feels to be hydrated. And then I start noticing my thirst sooner, craving not just the citrus flavor, but also the hydration itself.

Since oil and water don't mix, I was initially skeptical about adding essential oils to my water. However, when I add them to my glass water bottle, the oils seem to adhere to the glass, releasing a teensy bit of flavor with every swallow. Sometimes I refill my bottle several times before needing to add more oil.

Essential oils can break down some plastics, so if you try this, be careful about what container you use! I feel safest with glass. With its silicone protective casing and wrist strap, this one is my absolute favorite.

What is your hydration routine?

Citrus Fresh chicken

We were all set for a wonderful chicken artichoke casserole last week, but that jar of mayo in the fridge? Not exactly empty, but definitely not two cups. 

No big deal. Andrew makes a killer BBQ sauce.

We got more chicken, and also mayo. We were all set to try again for the artichoke recipe... except for the parmesan cheese.

So it was back to the drawing board all over again. We weren't exactly sick of BBQ chicken yet, but we didn't want to risk it. That sauce is way too good to overuse.

Anyway, I looked up a few recipes, but we didn't have exactly the right ingredients for any of them. Good thing too, because I'm in love with the combination that we improvised!

Citrus Fresh Vitality is made from grapefruit, orange, mandarin, tangerine, and lemon peels, with a hint of spearmint. This recipe would be wonderful with fresh zest and herbs, too!

Citrus Fresh Chicken

10 chicken thighs

1 Tbsp. salt

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 c. honey

8 drops Citrus Fresh Vitality 

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Rinse chicken, Pat dry, and arrange in baking dish. Combine salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and rub dry mixture into chicken. Mix Citrus Fresh into honey, whisk in vinegar, and pour over chicken. Bake at 350° until juices run clear, about 40-50 min.

Yum!

Yesterday was sunshiny and glorious. Today, not so much.

There's a beauty to drizzly gray days. I love them in the same way as I love Steinbeck and Tolstoy and Joseph Conrad: they are wonderful and glorious, but oy, they make me miserable.

High school literature anthologies can make any piece of writing seem dreadful, but I found Longfellow's Rainy Day in one of them, and it was exactly the medicine I needed. It told me that the soul has a weather of its own, and that with the right help and mentoring I could weather it.

Longfellow has been a good mentor to me. The library had a lovely collection of his work, without any of the soul-crushing comprehension questions. From there I moved on to e. e. cummings and Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson. I am incredibly grateful. Poetry creates a space to experience emotions to the fullest without being destroyed by them. Reading poetry helps a lot, writing poetry helps even more. 

Reading poetry is the best way to learn to write poetry, and writing poetry is the best way that I know of to learn how to live. 

All that to say that today was a pretty blah day, and that's okay. Some days are like that, and that is as it should be. 

(This photo is definitely NOT from today, by the way. But today is most certainly the day that I needed this oil. The diffuse light today is perfect for a different kind of photo. Perhaps today I will get some good pictures of the oils that I use on sunshiny days. All the different days prepare us for one another, weaving into a single interdependent whole...)

A photo posted by Elena (@joyfulheartessentials) on Feb 2, 2017 at 12:06pm PST