Today's Draw: Eight of Matter from Tarot de Paris. Do you consider yourself a conformist or nonconformist? What things do you feel right in conforming to? And have you ever encountered issues from not conforming?
The Eight of Matter or Pentacles is about apprenticeship. The book for this deck brings up a few interesting, less common points, however. The first is about this being the card of the traditionalist, which I hadn't heard before. And the other interpretation is about producing new works by reinterpreting classic works.
The book also said that conservatives or traditionalists are always suspicious of anything that disrupts the power of conformity. That got me thinking of some people in my life. I'm not a huge conformist. In fact, I tend to question the things that are considered the norm. Some things make sense. Some don't.
One of those things that doesn't make sense to me is signing a contract saying you'll spend the rest of your life with another person (aka marriage). I believe that people come into and out of our lives for a reason and to meet someone and say "I like you today, so I shall sign a contract saying I'll spend the rest of my life with you. And if I change my mind, I will gladly meet up with you in a court of law and give half of everything I own to you."
Just doesn't make sense to me. And I remember that people always told me that when I met the right person, I'd change my mind and want to sign that contract and tie myself forever to someone I may or may not like 10 years from now. They also said I'd change my mind about wanting to have children. I have about three eggs left and they're all in the scratch and dent bin. I doubt that's ever gonna happen either. But there are some people out there that don't see these things as options. Either you do them and are accepted. Or there are concerned whispers, saddened sighs or rumors of homosexuality uttered behind your back.
It's not like I have to be single and childless to buck conformity, though. There's the whole psychic thing. My unstructured entrepreneurial lifestyle. My undefined spirituality. You name it, all the way down to my colorful house. I tend to make die-hard conformists itch. But that's ok, I guess. I'm not terribly impressed by them, either. ;)
I feel very strongly that we shouldn't just accept things because "that's the way they're done". Marriage, for example, works very well for some people. But I feel like people shouldn't get married just because that's what people in their 20s or 30s do when they're in love. I feel like people should always question their beliefs and practices before they set them in stone, whether it's getting married, having children, pursuing their spirituality, managing their career or anything. Sometimes convention works for people. Sometimes being unconventional works. But if you just blindly do, how do you know what works for you?
So, what widely held practice or belief do you question? How do you buck conformity, or do you?
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