The Five Life Areas for Building a Worthy Life
There are five broad life areas for those who seek to develop an Anglo-Norse mindset to focus on as they build a worthy life. Ideally, we need to develop proficiency in these areas. We do not need to be experts in these areas. As the Havamal states that it is best to be middling wise if you want to live the best of lives. So aim to become as proficient as your needs, and as much more as your passion requires. These areas are the five F’s, so called because each of them, like our Futhorc start with the letter F [Feoh]. As you think about setting your goals to build a worthy life look at the five ‘F’s and see where you need to improve or what you want to focus on. Every day should have at least one goal/habit dedicated to each of these life areas.
Faith
What you believe in. It doesn’t matter if it is a religion, humanism, atheism, science, animism or a combination of all of these things. Your faith is the core of your being; it shapes your worldview. It is the basis of your personal moral and ethical codes. Your faith provides you with the rituals needed to connect with the sacred. You need to attend to this part of yourself daily, as it is the foundation of who you are and the framework through which you see the cosmos and relate to the world around you.
Faith is, in essence, the centre of the Anglo-Norse mindset. It covers the religious and spiritual practices of the individual and their community. For the Anglo-Norse Heathen, faith is based primarily upon the tribal thews of the Anglo-Saxons, and Scandinavians.
Daily practices can include things like:
* meditation,
* breathing exercises,
* reading religious texts,
* daily devotionals,
* or five minutes sitting outside communing with nature.
* Any habit that will help you feel grounded and connected with yourself and the world around you.
Family
These are your people. From family by blood and adoption, to close friends that you can rely on. These are all the important people in your circle of life. These people matter, their opinions mean a great deal to you, you will kill or die to protect them. You will also support them when their lives go to shit. You celebrate their successes as greater than your own. You know that your life is lessened without them. Without your family you have nothing. You need to attend to these relationships to keep them strong and yourself whole.
These are the people that you sit at Sumbel with. They inspire you, support you, encourage you and pull you up when you are being a moron.
Daily practices can include taking time to talk with members of your family. Ideally, this should be face to face. However in some cases this isn’t feasible, there are so many forms of communication available so there is no excuse:
* Phone calls,
* text messages,
* video chats,
* email,
* messenger,
* Facebook,
* and even letters
If you use technology like Facebook actually comment on their posts, the like button does not build relationships, comments do. Visit your friends and give them gifts. Your life will be richer and your worth will be greater with strong bonds of friendship and family supporting you.
Fitness
Your physical health. You only have one body, you need to look after it. A healthy body means that you are capable of doing everything that you need to do to live your life well. Workout, eat well, minimize drinking, smoking and other things that can weaken your body. Yes, sometimes you have disabilities and physical limitations. These things are part of your life and who you are, work around them as best you can. Remember we do not have to be supermodels or Champion bodybuilders. We just need to be fit enough to do the things we need to live our lives well, and a bit extra in reserve to carry us on when disaster strikes.
For those developing an Anglo-Norse mindset, fitness also includes studying the martial techniques and skills of the Angles and the Norse. This is generally known as Historical European Martial Arts [HEMA]. There are many organisations dedicated to the study of HEMA from the SCA and other re-enactment groups through to dedicated HEMA fight-schools. Do be aware that most HEMA schools focus on the longsword and fighting techniques of the 15th,16th and 17th Centuries.
Common weapons of the Anglo-Norse are:
* sax,
* spear,
* ax, either single-handed or two-handed,
* sword,
* hammer/mace [very rarely used, even less common than the sword].
* body armour such as chain maille and cotuns,
* helmets of the Pioneer, Coppergate, Shorwell and Gjermundbu style,
* round or kite shield [with rounded top].
I would also include the staff and walking stick as additional weapons to train with. These two are wooden variations of the spear and the sword. The quarterstaff is often synonymous with the concept of English self-defense and it can be argued that it can form a solid foundation for the study and usage of all polearms longer than five feet [150cm]. The singlestick, walking stick and shillelagh as weapons of self-defence arose from using wooden replicas of swords.
Food
What you eat. Part of being fit is good nutrition, yet this goes beyond nutrition.
It also covers:
* food security,
* production,
* processing,
* cooking,
* sharing,
* and of course eating.
Learn how to grow your own food. Even a tomato bush in a pot is better than nothing. Understand where your food comes from, how it gets to you, how to cook it. Most importantly how to share it with your family. Try to grow as much of your own food as you are capable of doing so. Whether it is a few herbs in a pot to acres of produce, grow something that you will eat and enjoy.
Growing your own fruit and vegetables will help you understand better the cycles of nature, and further develop an Anglo-Norse Mindset.
Finances
This is your income. Regardless of what you do, we all need money in our society. We have bills to pay, things to buy. Without money, we cannot long survive in our modern age. Whether you are on a disability pension or a highly paid lawyer you still have the same basic function in regards to your finances:
* Learn to budget,
* provide for your family,
* put some away for emergencies,
* learn skills that will improve your income.
You will need to live within your means, budget your money and know what you spend it on.
To help gain a further appreciation of the Anglo-Norse Mindset, learning the traditional crafts of the early medieval period is very helpful. Whether you choose to work with cloth, wood or metal. Re-enactment groups like the SCA, and Homesteading groups, have great resources to help you learn many of these skills. As you master these skills you can look at bartering your skills/items or selling your handiwork at markets or online You could even teach your craft to others in workshops or short courses.