Thursday, September 8, 2011

9/9/11—Pursuing Your Passion

Today's Draw: The Queen of Pentacles from the Spiral Tarot. Are you pursuing your passion professionally? Would you like to? What is holding you back?

Holy crap! The last three cards I've drawn this week were all drawn just days before...6 of Wands, Ace of Cups and now the Queen of Pentacles, which was our weekend card last weekend. Now I'd be less surprised if I were using the same deck each time, but these six draws in the past week were from six different decks. The only card that wasn't a duplicate was The Fool. Let's see if he shows up again tomorrow. ;)

OK, if I were going to read the three cards together...6 of Wands, Ace of Cups and Queen of Pentacles...I might say we're in for a new beginning that would engage our love and passion, would be very successful along those lines and would also bring us money. That's one way of looking at it. Or some victory regarding a new love that makes you feel more secure than you had in the past. That's another way of reading it. But here's the dealio, no matter HOW you read it, it's really good stuff!

Look how relaxed and chill this Queen of Pentacles is. She's like a barefoot hippie queen who probably made a fortune in some sort of organic something and now she's so far along on her path that she has some time to enjoy the nature she loves so much. 

One of the Catch 22s of pursuing your passion is that it, at some time or another, ends up feeling like a job. I'm happy to say that I have the career I dreamed of in high school. Other interests have come and gone in my life, but being a writer never loses its sheen in my eyes. But let's not pretend. It's also my job. And I have to answer to clients and all the other stuff that comes along with a job. Still, I think it's better putting in your 40 hours doing something you love, but I don't really write for enjoyment like I used to anymore.

Also, in the past few months I've started making a second career out of tarot, another enduring passion in my life. And I'm even combining that with writing. So I know a lot about pursuing my passion. In fact, I've always wanted to write a book about THAT, called Spiritual Self Employment, a sort of spiritual path to being self employed and protecting your passion from the lure of money (which can put you off track) and the evils of the business world. Which is not to say you can't make a mint following your passion. I think money always follows passion. It's just that the lure of money can sometimes cause you to compromise your vision (unless your passion and vision is to make a lot of money...haha), which will eventually turn sour on you. I know from my own experience that the universe has never allowed me to feel lacking in anyway for the path I've chosen. 

Anyway, what I suppose I'm summing up to in a way is this—pursue your passion. You will never lose doing so. And by "never lose", I mean there are gifts beyond money in it for you, one of which is not dying with regrets...haha. If it turns out you can't survive, you can always go back to the old thing, whatever that was. But if you really want to leap and have stood on the precipice wishing you could jump, this week's cards are totally behind you. 

Since I'm not likely to write Spiritual Self Employment anytime soon, here are a few highlights:
  • Create a vision or business plan with your intention for the business, such as "I want to heal others and bring them to a higher level of enlightenment, while fueling my passion for teaching." Once you've written what you want to get out of the venture, keep your vision plan near you at all times. I have, on more than one occasion, "fired" my biggest client because they were making my life miserable. The only reason to keep working with them was money, but money wasn't in my vision plan and happiness was. Having a vision plan you can reference makes decision making easier down the road and keeps you in line with your integrity.
  • Never compare yourself to others or look on the other side of the fence. That just plays with your confidence. The universe is infinitely funded with opportunities and if you believe there's more than your share out there, there is. 
  • The people who have what you want, have it because they were willing to do what you're not willing to do. Take risks. Trust yourself. And let go of wanting to micromanage the universe in the fulfillment of your wishes. Trust me, the universe has a better plan for you than you have for yourself.
  • Along the lines of the universe having a bigger plan, I always like to reference the case of Al Gore. He loses the presidency...painfully. Which made him open to pursue his passion for the environment. The work he's done for the environment globally goes far beyond anything he could have accomplished in that realm as a president, imo. In my dramatic way, I like to think that he lost the presidency and saved the world....a much bigger dream than he had for himself when he was running for president.
  • Be careful who you share your dreams with. Other people will project their fears on you and drag down your confidence. What people say and think is ALWAYS about them and has little to do with you. Protect your dreams from dreamcrushers. And most people are dreamcrushers. 

These are just snippets of all the good stuff that would be in Spiritual Self Employment if I weren't too busy working on a tarot book, professional reading and my advertising copywriting business. I've been self employed for 15 years, through two recessions and I'm still here. I'd love to write this book some day, only because I'm proud of the emotional balance I've attained as a self employed person. I think emotional balance and spiritual trust are the hardest parts of being self employed and there's just nothing out there to guide you through in a spiritual way. But it will have to wait because my passions are standing room only at this moment. :D

And we can't forget to enjoy our passions along the way, like the queen in the picture. Like once a month I get together with tarot friends. And once a month I get together with marketing friends. Just for fun. I think that keeps the fuel flowing. And surrounding yourself with others who feel the same way you do about something is energizing. 

Like the Fool earlier this week, I highly recommend taking a leap. I know some have practical reasons that haunt them, but really, what is the worst case scenario? That six months from now you have to pack it in and go back to doing what you're doing today? If doing what you're doing today is the worst case scenario, then why not start thinking more in terms of best case scenarios?

2 comments:

  1. If you DO decide to go this route and have money anxieties, something that can help calm those anxieties is to think of money as a friend rather than a commodity. Create a safe, welcoming environment for money in your consciousness and let go of any desperate, needy consciousness surrounding money. Would a healthy lover stay with a needy, desperate person? NO. Neither will money. So let go of the neediness and become welcoming.

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  2. I totally agree, Sarah! As you know, one of my practices is that, whenever I get nervous about money, I "tithe" to the universe and spend, tip, whatever like I have an unending supply. I just make a practice out of it anyway, but especially when I feel like I'm holding on too tight.

    Look at what time you posted! Make a wish!

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