9/2/11

Goddess of the Week: Athena

Helmeted Athena holding the snake Erichthonios...Image via WikipediaRois says she needs a goddess who will help her not give up on her blog.  She needs a goddess who values perseverance.  She needs the Greek goddess of war and wisdom, Athena.

Omnipotence has its advantages.  Solving problems quickly and efficiently is one of them.  As a consequence, most goddesses don't really embody perseverance, but they do value perseverance and they definitely reward people who don't give up.  Take, for example, Odysseus.

Odysseus was the wily Ithican prince who fought with the Greeks in the battle of Troy.  Athena backed Odysseus because he was a brains over brawn sort of soldier, and she was, after all, a brains over brains kind of goddess.  But the end of the war was just the beginning of Athena's aid to Odysseus.

Talk about perseverance!  It took poor Odysseus twenty years to get home.  He kept running into Cyclops and sirens and enchantresses and horrible storms.  (He'd pissed of Poseidon, but that's another story.) This one gal even turned all his men into pigs!  You ever try steering a ship with a crew of literal pigs?  Not easy!  But Odysseus never gave up.  He never got discouraged.  Every day he battled monsters, bad weather, and his own personal shortcomings to make it home to his his really underrated wife Penelope.  And--every time--just when things looked totally bleak, Athena would come to the rescue and save the day.  With Athena's help he made it home, too.  He got back just in time to kill all these dudes who wanted to marry poor Penelope.  It was pretty bloody.  But he got to be king!

Here's the thing, Rois, no one understands your dilemma more than I.  Every week I wonder why I blog, and sometimes it is so hard to sit down at the computer.  I've got two challenging kids.  I work.  I write.  I make way too little money, and I really need to make more.  But here I am.  Why?  Most of the time I have no fricking idea.  I did get a free book once.  I did get to eat pie with Deb and Carrie, my blogger friends from Arizona.  Just today someone at Grocery.com offered me the chance to write content for them for absolutely no money!   But, really, is this the best use of my time?  Is this the best way for me to help my family?  I doubt it.  But here I am, because sometimes, for reasons that only make sense to Athena, you just have to do things, and you just have to keep, keep, keep at it.  And when it gets hard, you have to think of Odysseus and you have to think of Athena, and you have to fight off your monsters. Whatever your monsters are, you have to fight them off.  Because the only other choice is to give up on yourself.  Of course, the time may come when blogging has nothing to do with what's important to you.  When that happens--sure--walk away.  Why not?  But until that time comes, you must persevere.  So: persevere.

Channel this goddess: when you want to give up, when it seems too hard to go one, when you need a little divine help on your hero's journey, when your workmates literally turn into pigs.


Need a goddess: I got goddesses!  Post a comment describing what you need or want a goddess for.  Then check back in a week or two to see what you got!  Yeah!  It's fun!
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19 comments:

Unknown said...

Love it! I need a little more Athena in my life too. And thanks for the shout-out! :)

Watson said...

I think we can all use a little Athena.

Margaret, you missed another reason for your blogging...we love you and look forward to what you have to write!

Mairie said...

Thanks for Athena - you're right - sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Cheri said...

I'm glad you have Athena at your side helping you to persevere. I just got to know your blog and I'd be missing out on all these really cool and kick-ass goddesses if you weren't still writing! Someday I'll be back asking for one of my own.

Unknown said...

Blogging is a lot like getting up to go pee when you really don't feel like it. You put it off and put it off until you feel like it MUST be done. But then, after you make yourself do it, you wonder why you put it off so long. Sure, it's inconvenient- but you feel a million times better when you're done! ;)

Anonymous said...

I started blogging so I could meet all those cute Nigerian guys.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Roise, my two cents...

Pull up some older post you've never finished and post one of those. Take a break even... maybe swing by and pick up the Ultra Hiker then the two of you can go sailing with Athena. Meet some of those cute Nigerian guys she's so fond of.

Shell Sherree said...

On a purely selfish note, I'm very glad you're still blogging, Margaret. A fine choice of goddess for a dilemma enjoyed by many.

Susan Campisi said...

I most definitely relate to this dilemma. Blogging is so time-consuming, and yet, we blog. How else would we connect with all these amazing and talented people? Another great goddess tale, Margaret.

Tony Van Helsing said...

There aren't enough hours in the day to comment on all the blogs that I would like to comment on.

Lindsay N. Currie said...

Margaret, your posts inspire me more than you'll ever know. I love this one.

Petrea Burchard said...

Rois (and Margaret), I quite understand this dilemma. (Tony, I understand yours, too!)

I go through cycles. Sometimes I want to quit, sometimes I love every second of it. It helps to objectify why I do it with a list of positives vs. negatives. The positives always outweigh. And PA has the right idea: post an oldie, or pre-post a few and take a break. That might help.

Margaret, you always tell it so well.

Cafe Pasadena said...

This reminds me of a song. Wish I could recall the name of it or the group.

Star said...

Timely goddess. The new and "improved" blogmaster interface adopted by Blogger is not floating my boat for various reasons, and it was supposed to be compatible with my browser brand and version...but it's not, or so the little warning notice informs me. ("Would you like a little whine with that?" "Yes, thank you.")

Rois said...

Thanks one and all for the comments.Sometimes I just think I am writing to an empty room.I'm keeping my blog,I've let go of writing so often so maybe that will help along with a shrine to Athena by the computer.

Bellis said...

What Tony writes resonates with me. I love reading blogs from so many talented and amusing people but I can't manage it every day and commenting takes time. I don't get much done the whole day long since I stopped working (I had so much more free time when I had a full time job - how come?).

Forget the cute Nigerians. Try writing about mountain bikers on hiking trails if you want to meet testosterone-pumped guys.

Margaret said...

Daisy: Thanks for the support.

Cheri: Whenever you're ready I'll get you that goddess.

Jess: I keep thinking of you. Good luck on your deployment. You should take Athena too. She's an ace soldier.

AH: That's because all the cute Nigerian guys read your blog. Lucky you.

PA: Excellent advice.

Tony: You're absolutely right. It's really hard to read all the blogs I want to read.

Rois: Glad you approve. A shrine will definitely put you in the mood, but I know exactly how you feel. I think almost all of us bloggers do.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

I love what Daisy and Cheri had to say here, Margaret. And for the record, I have felt like Rois many times when it comes to blogging. Nice thing is that there really are people out there who care about what I have to say. And I suppose even if there weren't, I'd still blog for the shear enjoyment of writing and posting pictures.

Nice take on this goddess once again, my friend.

TheChieftess said...

I rather like Athena!!! She's one I need to remember from time to time when life overwhelms my commitment to my blog!!!