Nothing to see here

The Elves are not the children of the Valar, they are the Children of Eru. The Valar themselves are "creations" of Eru but not his children, per se; there's a distinct difference between the more ambiguous relationship of Eru to the Valar and the firmly paternal relationship of Eru to the Elves (and Men). However, it is true that the Valar act like somewhat overprotective parents to the Elves that live in their domain.

The only Elves we meet in LOTR who lived in Valinor are Galadriel and Glorfindel, not Celeborn. It is true that Tolkien had some drafts where Celeborn also lived in Valinor, but those were retcons written after LOTR had already been published, and do not make sense with the text of LOTR. In the published LOTR, Celeborn is a Sinda elf who never went to Valinor, but he was a relative of Elu Thingol, an Elf king who was married to Melian the Maia, who lived with her husband in Middle-earth and definitely influenced their kingdom.

(Also, Glorfindel is doubly unique in that he came to Middle-earth from Valinor, died in Middle-earth, was reborn in Valinor, and then came back to Middle-earth. Galadriel just went the one time and stayed.)

The power of the Elves and of the Numenoreans has less to do with "proximity to Valinor/the Valar" and more to do with...well, for the Elves, it's connection to and mastery over the Soul, an for the Numenorean Men it's literal direct ancestry from both Elves and Maiar that gives them the foundation to build on that same kind of mastery. This is a complicated subject, and while geography plays a role in power, it's not as important as other aspects IMO.

Elrond having less power than Galadriel is...debateable. Personally I would rank them about equal. He is certainly less flashy with his power than she is, though.

Technically Beren was the ancestor of the Numenorean kings, so yes "part of the line," but again it's more complicated than that... Luthien (daughter of Melian and Thingol, half-Maia and half-Elf) is the ancestress of Aragorn, but it's also important to note that her granddaughter Elwing married another half-elf, Earendil, whose mother Idril was a Valinorean elf living in Middle-earth. Their children are Elrond, who chose to be an Elf (and has a lot of magical power!) and Elros, who chose to be a Man and became the first King of Numenor. Eventually Elros' Numenorean descendants founded Gondor and Arnor, etc etc etc, and Aragorn is the product of all that impressive ancestry - with a lot of human generations in-between to water it down. Arwen, as Elrond's daughter, is much more closely related to the original Elf-mortal couples (and her mother, Elrond's wife, is the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, mixing in even more impressive ancestors!).

Aragorn's power is not just to do with his ancestry, though; like with the Elves of old, it's a lot to do with his own internal mastery of his spirit. Faramir, also of Numenorean ancestry, has similar capabilities - but notably, his brother Boromir did not. This is because insight/foresight/"magic" was something he both had talent in and worked to master, like Aragorn. (Aragorn had the benefit of being raised by elves.)

The analysis of magic objects is spot-on, and the most relevant part of this discussion, so great job there. I would just like to emphasize the discussion of willpower, because that's really what it boils down to: yes, proximity to the Valar helps; yes, elven ancestry helps, but when you come down to it, the most important thing is strength of will. Elves, Maiar, Valar, Numenoreans, even regular humans and hobbits (and dwarves) - some might have a leg up when it comes to their innate willpower and connection to their own souls, but any one of them, given the strength of will and the practice of making it stronger, has magical potential.

At the time of LOTR, Cirdan has long since given his Ring of Power (Narya) to Gandalf. The third ringbearer is actually Elrond. (Again, not less powerful than Galadriel, just not as obvious!)

Another example of the Ring's (Sauron's) will dominating its bearer is when Sam briefly carries it, he has a vision of ruling over an amazing garden. Being Sam, he has the practicality to not fall for that temptation, but it goes to show that the Ring will manipulate its bearers with whatever would work best against them.

For those who don’t know Tyr was a Norse god who was friends with Fenrir. When the gods realized Fenrir was gonna be part of Ragnorok they were like yo Tyr help us trick Fenrir into being bound. Tyr loved Fenrir but didn’t want the world to end so he went yo Fenrir can we put this cool leash on you? And Fenrir was like bro I love you but this seems shady. If it’s really cool stick your hand in my mouth and I will straight up bite it off if I don’t like what happens. Spoiler alert, he didn’t like it.

it's still actually perfectly fine to do it

and you shouldn't stop yourself from starting just because it won't be a permanent change.

Like if starting a new daily planner gives you an amazing afternoon of planning and four days where you feel in charge of your life,

why not do it?

It doesn't matter that it won't be a permanent change - 4 good days is still worth it.

If you ever catch yourself thinking, "I wish I could pray/stretch/prep/plan/do the thing, but I always get started on that and it never lasts more than a couple of days,"

what this really means is, "hey, I can feel better for a couple of days."

if this post is making you think of things in your own life that you wish you could stick to because of how good they make you feel,

just be aware:

you're not thinking of a list of ways you've failed to commit

Next up someone is going to claim that the Narnia series isn't kids books.

So, your landlord/parents/home inspector/favorite movie star is dropping by, and your place is a disaster. You don’t have much time to clean it up. You’re in emergency mode. Let’s get started.

Don’t panic. Panic leads to fear, fear leads to procrastination, procrastination leads to the dark side. You can do this, but you have to stay calm.

Unlike maintenance cleaning, we’re not looking to completely unfuck one space at a time. Instead, we want to decrease the overall mess in stages, spread evenly across the whole area that we’re concerned about. If you think your home is at Level 10 filth, we want to bring the whole thing down to a Level 9, and then down from there. One really clean spot in an otherwise messy home is not going to be helpful here.

Get prepared. You’ll want to shut the computer down (or turn the modem off if you need your computer to play music). Trust me. Get your music going. Gather up trash bags, your vacuum and mop, some rags or paper towel, sponges, and other cleaning supplies. Use what you have on hand. Don’t get distracted running to the store and spending an hour browsing cleaning supplies. A multi-purpose cleaning concentrate or a jug of vinegar will be just fine.

Breaks are very important. Depending on your time constraints, work in 20/10s (20 minutes working, 10-minute break) or 45/15s. But take breaks because otherwise you’re marathoning, and marathon cleaning is no one’s friend. Keep hydrated, don’t forget to eat, and check in with yourself frequently to make sure you’re physically doing OK.

Make your bed. This will be your home base if you get overwhelmed or need somewhere clear to take a break.

Start with the garbage. Going from room to room, throw out anything that is obvious trash. Once you fill a bag, take it out. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Move on to dishes. Gather the dishes from all over your house and bring them to the kitchen. If you can, start them soaking in a sink of hot, soapy water or start loading the dishwasher. After the dishes are all in one place, spend one 20/10 getting started getting them under control.

Now it’s time for your flat surfaces. Countertops, tables, dresser tops, etc. Clear them off and wipe them down. Don’t get distracted in too much sorting and organizing. We’re in crisis mode here. There will be time to get in-depth once this is all done. The same applies to cabinets and closets. Unless you have reason to believe people will be opening closed doors, leave these alone for now.

Attack the floordrobe and shoe pile. Get your clothes either put away or in the hamper. Start a load of laundry if you need to, but keep in mind that laundry and dishes have three steps: wash, dry, and put it away, goddammit!

Get random stuff up off the floors. If something is trash-worthy, throw it away now rather than just move it around a bunch of times. Otherwise, put stuff where it belongs.

Take another 20/10 or 45/15 to catch up on more dishes, if needed.

Head into the bathroom. Pour some cleaner in the toilet bowl, fill the sink with hot water and cleaner, and either spray the tub and shower with cleaner, or fill the tub up with some hot water and add cleaner and let it soak. Put everything away that’s out and shouldn’t be, clean the mirror, counters, and toilet seat. Sweep or dry mop the floor. Wipe down the sink and tub/shower, and give the toilet bowl a scrub. Mop the floor.

Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Vacuum everything you can, and sweep everything you can’t.

Walk outside of your house (don’t lock yourself out, please). Walk back in and see what catches your eye first. Go and deal with that.

If you’re being inspected or your landlord is coming in for repairs, spend time on whatever area they’ll be focusing on.

Give the whole place one more once-over and pay attention to anything you’ve missed so far.

It’s an old trick, but if your place is a little funky-smelling, put a pan of water on the stove on low heat and add some citrus or cinnamon or vanilla. Don’t leave it unattended or forget about it.

Take a shower, put on something clean, and eat something.

You can do this. It’s overwhelming, yes, but it is not impossible. You just need to do it. You have a list. You have directions. You have a whole bunch of Internet strangers who have been there before and who are cheering you on. You can do this, but you need to get started.

When the emergency clean is over, borrow or buy yourself a copy of “How to keep house while drowning”. It is a straightforward, compassionate book on how to stay on top of cleaning while dealing with any number of crises.

As a recovering hoarder myself, one of the skills you will need to work on is reducing your “clutter blindness”. OP’s leaving the house and coming back in is a great start. I also suggest, when you are in a room and are triaging cleaning:

If you have to step around something (or you stepped *on* something), put that object away

If you touch a surface with your hands, check for crumbs, dust, grime, etc. Clean it immediately, if possible. Easy spots to be blind to are the pull chain on a fan, or buildup around faucet handles.

Sit/stand where a guest would and pay attention to where your eyes naturally rest. Any clutter, dirt, etc? Pay special attention to spots like toilets, where someone may be lingering.

You’re not aiming for spotless here - just building your awareness in the places you spend the most. As time progresses, you may also get better at seeing the dust bunnies in corners or crumbs stuck beneath a couch cushion.