u/Few-Resource-6678

Hi, all -

What are some cute, walkable pockets of town between Addison and downtown?

My parents are coming to visit and I am taking them to Jimmy’s Food Store for shopping and lunch. Are there any cute walkable areas with coffee and shops that we could stop and hang on our way downtown to kill time on a Saturday morning until it’s closer to lunch?

They liked Downtown Carrolton and Addison Circle but I thought it would be nice to show them a new area, and break up the drive downtown.

Working on incorporating some magick into my mundane tasks and I think a great way to do this would be to change scents with my tasks. My initial thought was different candle scents for different tasks but I have two cats and most natural candles use essential oils which I can’t burn around them. So now I’m thinking of making my own candles using fragrance oils instead because these are considered pet safe? So what I’m wondering is:

- has anyone tried any fragrance oil companies you trust or know of any pet safe candle companies with really specific / single scents so I can customize based on intention?

- any alternatives like adding fresh herbs to my own candles. I’ve heard you can roll fresh herbs in beeswax sheets and make candles that way. Are these safe to burn around cats?

- should I consider small simmer pots instead? I have access to fresh herbs. Any ideas for small scale simmer pot burner situations?

I have been on a path of self improvement the past few months. Traits I have really struggled with my whole life are mindfulness, intention, and gratitude. It is affecting my relationships and I have this feeling like I am just floating through life and all not really taking in my significant life experiences. It’s something I really need to work on.

I “found” witchcraft by way of gardening / green witchcraft. I get such an enormous sense of peace when I work in the garden that I was actually researching to try to figure out where that sense of calm and satisfaction could even be coming from because I don’t feel it with much else. I really would like to be able to harness that calm and joy in other activities that *should* be doing the same thing - cooking, tending the home, etc.

I have been really inspired by the rituals and intention practices I’ve read about in the little bit of research I’ve done so far. Witchcraft seems like a really great way to work on all the qualities I need to work on - mindfulness, intention, presence, finding joy and meaning in routines. The problem is that I am not a very spiritual person. I am an atheist and have not practiced religion since I was a child. I have a lot of respect for the concept of spiritual / religious practice, but I just don’t believe in literal spirits or gods. I love them as a metaphor, though.

(tl;dr) Does anyone / can you practice witchcraft as a mindfulness exercise to work on self improvement, without invoking or harnessing some sort of higher power?