3/22/11—Being Open

Today's Draw: Four of Air from the Vision Tarot—Openness. Are you open to the entirety of life or do you close yourself off to certain things? How "free" do you feel on any given day?

 

This card equates to the four of swords, but it's not about rest. And while many fours are about boundaries, this seems to be one of loosening boundaries. This shows a woman in a forest dappled with light, just going through a beautiful, so...aring stone archway. Her diaphanous dress blows in the breeze and her arms are open to receive.

Often our fears and habitual tapes cause us to create boundaries to keep us from getting hurt or having to think of or experience painful or unpleasant things. But each time our walls move in closer and closer, we close ourselves off to other opportunities as well. And before we know it, we're in a moderately safe and highly restricted box…one that filters out a lot of pain and a lot of everything else, too.

Today's card comes to remind us to open to both the good and bad of life. The more open we are to the entirety of life's experiences, the more joy we feel and the less pain gets trapped in our restrictive box.

I have a tendency to fall into this mold of being trapped in the box. It's not because I don’t think I can handle what comes to me. Anyone who knows my story knows that the most difficult things that have come into my life have been handled quite gracefully. But I do have a tendency to pull in my boundaries at the first sign of trouble. In some cases, I see it as a "healthy" move…not going down roads that I know will be bad for me. But at the same time, I close myself off to experiences I need to grow. As a result, I often feel closed off and "separate". Interestingly, I know I'm not alone in this. In fact, I think everyone has some sort of armor or shield at the ready.

What about you? What tools or lessons have come your way to help you open up more?