Friday, February 22, 2013
2/23/13-2/24/13—Assessing Your Career
Thursday, February 21, 2013
2/22/13—Finding Beauty Within
Today's Draw: Crow Woman (Justice) from the Mythical Goddess tarot in the position of What to Take From the Past from the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Are you thinking more and more about getting older? What have you noticed has spelled the difference between you now and you 20 years ago? And if you're in your later 50s, 60s or 70s, what difference have you noticed in your life since turning 50?
In a few weeks I'm going to turn 50. Everyone my age is doing it, if they haven't already. It's all the rage these days.
This isn't something that normally bothers me...aging. It's just a number. But when it's a big round number...like half a hundred...you get to thinking. In my spirit, I'm still girlish...forever 29. Visibly I don't know how old I look, but it's young enough that it shocks people when I tell them how old I am. But physically speaking I'm sure I feel 65. Or 70. It's fair to say I've been a bad steward of my body and and excellent steward of my spirit. The rest is just genetics.
So with 50 looming and an aged goddess staring at me in Crow Woman in a position like "What to Take From the Past", well...I'm back to thinking about 50 again. And Crow Woman has some wisdom for me...for us, the members of the high school Class of '81, many of whom bless me by reading this blog on a regular basis.
She comes to tell us we've evened out over the years. We're not so full of drama and histrionics. We can see situations more objectively. We're less attached to things. We're more adept at honoring our boundaries. We're also less likely to compromise our truth.
Somewhere out there there's a 30 year old reading this and thinking "pathetic old dogs, searching in the dark for reasons to be glad they're living in wrinkled, graying bodies"...haha. That's ok. I thought that when I was your age, too. I thought, "hey, I get to be 30 and all those things you say." But I can see now where I was wrong.
It's a sad irony of life that, just as our bodies and looks begin to deteriorate, we finally discover that "inner beauty" people have been talking about all along. I thought I knew it at 30, but now I can see what a child I was, still at 30. I thought I knew it at 40, but now I can see how full of fear I was at 40. I suppose when I'm 60 I'll laugh at how naive I was at 50. But more and more as 50 draws near, I'm beginning to appreciate the stability and confidence I have now. And I expect only to blossom and grow as my gray hairs become more prevalent.
As someone who has actively been on a path of personal growth and spiritual discovery for more than half my life, I can look back astounded at all the progress I've made. The things that used to clutter my head no longer do. The things that used to define me as a person no longer do. Some of the people and situations that I embraced then would not stand a chance in my life today...and I'm sure there are some things I rejected back then that I might have more of a propensity for today.
From a spiritual standpoint, this whole aging thing is beginning to make sense in ways it never has before. It's like we spend a good 30-some years developing fears, neuroses and insecurities, only to first, reach a point of stasis, then begin to overcome and slough the scars of our youth in our later years. It's hard to appreciate something you've always possessed. But if it's something you've earned, it becomes a precious gift. In the first half of life I earned my neuroses, only to earn my way out of them in the last half. All of it, a gift.
So, as I pack my baggage for a new decade, I bring all of it with me, really. Because before any scale reaches balance, it tips first to one side, then another. If we are to be balanced out, we need the weight of both ends of our life opposing each other. There's something deep in my core that tells me I'm right on schedule to be 50 and experience some of the best years of my life...maybe not in looks or physical wellbeing, but inside. Where, it turns out, it really does count.
This isn't something that normally bothers me...aging. It's just a number. But when it's a big round number...like half a hundred...you get to thinking. In my spirit, I'm still girlish...forever 29. Visibly I don't know how old I look, but it's young enough that it shocks people when I tell them how old I am. But physically speaking I'm sure I feel 65. Or 70. It's fair to say I've been a bad steward of my body and and excellent steward of my spirit. The rest is just genetics.
So with 50 looming and an aged goddess staring at me in Crow Woman in a position like "What to Take From the Past", well...I'm back to thinking about 50 again. And Crow Woman has some wisdom for me...for us, the members of the high school Class of '81, many of whom bless me by reading this blog on a regular basis.
She comes to tell us we've evened out over the years. We're not so full of drama and histrionics. We can see situations more objectively. We're less attached to things. We're more adept at honoring our boundaries. We're also less likely to compromise our truth.
Somewhere out there there's a 30 year old reading this and thinking "pathetic old dogs, searching in the dark for reasons to be glad they're living in wrinkled, graying bodies"...haha. That's ok. I thought that when I was your age, too. I thought, "hey, I get to be 30 and all those things you say." But I can see now where I was wrong.
It's a sad irony of life that, just as our bodies and looks begin to deteriorate, we finally discover that "inner beauty" people have been talking about all along. I thought I knew it at 30, but now I can see what a child I was, still at 30. I thought I knew it at 40, but now I can see how full of fear I was at 40. I suppose when I'm 60 I'll laugh at how naive I was at 50. But more and more as 50 draws near, I'm beginning to appreciate the stability and confidence I have now. And I expect only to blossom and grow as my gray hairs become more prevalent.
As someone who has actively been on a path of personal growth and spiritual discovery for more than half my life, I can look back astounded at all the progress I've made. The things that used to clutter my head no longer do. The things that used to define me as a person no longer do. Some of the people and situations that I embraced then would not stand a chance in my life today...and I'm sure there are some things I rejected back then that I might have more of a propensity for today.
From a spiritual standpoint, this whole aging thing is beginning to make sense in ways it never has before. It's like we spend a good 30-some years developing fears, neuroses and insecurities, only to first, reach a point of stasis, then begin to overcome and slough the scars of our youth in our later years. It's hard to appreciate something you've always possessed. But if it's something you've earned, it becomes a precious gift. In the first half of life I earned my neuroses, only to earn my way out of them in the last half. All of it, a gift.
So, as I pack my baggage for a new decade, I bring all of it with me, really. Because before any scale reaches balance, it tips first to one side, then another. If we are to be balanced out, we need the weight of both ends of our life opposing each other. There's something deep in my core that tells me I'm right on schedule to be 50 and experience some of the best years of my life...maybe not in looks or physical wellbeing, but inside. Where, it turns out, it really does count.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
2/21/13—Doing What You Love
Today's Draw Classic*: The Nine of Wands from the Silver Era Tarot. Are you frustrated because there's a snag in your plans? Do you feel like it's a sign to jump ship? Or are you determined to see things through?
The Nine of Wands is a card of the determined, but road weary, warrior. Along the path of our plans, we've had victories and setbacks and here we are near the end, determined to move on, but wary of how many more setbacks we can manage.
I think one of the hardest things about pursing a new course is staying motivated when things don't go our way…when we get that rejection letter or a promising prospect drops out of sight. Personally I believe that if you feel you're swimming upstream all the time, that it's time to get out. That the universe doesn't make things that hard for us.
But there are two codicils to that. One is that there's a HUGE gray area between smooth sailing and swimming upstream. And it's sometimes very difficult to determine where you are in all of that. And the second codicil is that your attitude plays a role. Some people see every bump in the road as a gaping pothole, while others barely notice. So it's difficult to be objective when you're talking about something that means a lot to you.
But here's a solution that kicks any bump or pothole in the arse—only do what you love and only do it for the love of it. That doesn't mean you won't be disappointed, but it does mean you'll always have a payoff. Sure, it's hard when you're hoping to turn this love into a career and you don't end up making money off it. But make money off something else. When you take something you love and make your satisfaction dependent on its ability to perform financially, then you've essentially transformed it into a chore. You've choked the joy out of it.
Many people love to write, for example. I'm one of them, of course. And for the past 25 years I've carved a nice life out of my writing. I had the gift of knowing what I wanted to do long before college and being naïve enough to pursue it as if I could make money out of it. For the first couple of years of my career in advertising, I didn't even write. I worked as a support person in a creative department. I received many rejections during that time and when I finally did get a job as a writer, it was a sucky job…haha.
I was 7 years into my career before I got a writing job in an advertising agency. I was underpaid every step of the way. And at the ten-year mark of my career, I was feeling the love sucked out of my love by the spinnings of corporate wheels, so I made a radical decision to become a freelancer. Not for money. But because I loved this career so much and wasn't getting what I wanted from it. I expected, actually, to take a pay cut. But that wasn't the case. It took me 10 years of hard work to get to a "good place" in my career. And I can say, looking back, it didn't feel like 10 years and even though I suffered many rejections and inequities during that time, I was never daunted. Most people who, after a decade in a career, were still just scraping to get by would give up. It never occurred to me. And all the stumbling blocks led me to my true calling as a consultant.
The point is that if it were ever about money, I wouldn't be where I am today. I'd be working, possibly as an account executive or a marketing director and writing as a hobby. Or maybe I'd be bitter about the sucky writer on my team and take it out on them by editing their work heavily…haha. But the point is, if I had judged my career based on what it was paying off in dollars, I never would have made it through that first 10 years. And there were times in that 10 years that I was strictly limited by my budget, having no discretionary income to speak of at all. But it didn't matter because I loved what I did.
Things born of love, nurtured in love and cared for with love give love in return. And there's meaning to the saying "love conquers all" in this situation, too. I won't say that everyone can make a living do what they love because I don't know that to be true. But I do know that you can always do what you love. And you can always make a living elsewhere. But if you do what you love for any reason other than love, you will lose that love.
*Taken from a post originally written on 5/11/11
Labels:
Nine of Wands,
Silver Era Tarot
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
2/20/13—Finding the Answer Within the Question
Today's Draw: The Seven of Air from the Book of Shadows As Above in the Answer position from the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Is there a question turning around in your mind? What do you suspect the answer to that question is? Is is possible the answer lies within the question itself?
So I pull a card in the answer position, right? And I'm thinking (as I do every night), "Interesting. Now how the heck am I going to work with this card combo?" So I go into the book for inspiration (and also because this deck doesn't align with traditional card meanings) and the book meaning for the Seven of Air is "your answer lies within your question."
I don't make this shizz up.
*shaking head because tarot really is THAT freaking cool*
But what does that MEAN...the answer lies within your question?
Well, if you look at the card, you'll see a yin/yang symbol. Yin is the feminine and yang is the masculine and within each side, you'll see the seed of the opposite side. Within every opposing force is the seed of its opposite. Every love contains a seed of hate. Every truth holds the essence of a lie. And within every question, you can find the beginnings of an answer.
Sometimes this is obvious, right? Someone will say, "Do I want get all dressed up and go to a sweaty crowded bar, or do I just want to sit comfortably at home in my jammies with a glass of wine?" We all know what the person wants to do by the way they asked the question.
Or maybe someone says, "I wonder if moving would give a new perspective on life?" Well, why ask the question at all if you don't think it will? Or maybe you say, "Do I want French or Italian for dinner tonight?" Well, either would probably work. Otherwise you wouldn't be asking the question.
Those are all easy ones. Life has much harder questions to ask. And sometimes people go to tarot readers to ask them. We can give you an answer, but that doesn't mean it's fated to happen. If you don't like the prospect of your future, change your present. There's a seed of the future in every present, too.
But the interesting thing is that people often ask us questions they pretty much already know the answers to. I recently overheard a conversation between someone I read and a friend of theirs. The friend asked how it went and my client said, "she pretty much just confirmed what I was already thinking." But you wouldn't have known she had any clue as to the answer when she asked the question. She seemed to be genuinely unsure of which option she was going to choose. Sometimes it takes someone to tell us the answer to realize we'd known it all along.
So think about the question that's turning around in your head today. Do you kinda think you know the answer, but suspect it's too colored by hope or fear to be relevant? Well, first, if you suspect it's too colored by anything, it probably is. Now try to step outside of that and look at the question again. Do you think you know the answer?
Just like with anything, you could screw it all up—or save yourself from it—tomorrow if you just change what you're doing. But assuming things stay pretty much the same from here on in, chances are your suspicions about what will happen, will.
What do YOU think it means to say "within every question lies an answer", and do you think it rings true?
I don't make this shizz up.
*shaking head because tarot really is THAT freaking cool*
But what does that MEAN...the answer lies within your question?
Well, if you look at the card, you'll see a yin/yang symbol. Yin is the feminine and yang is the masculine and within each side, you'll see the seed of the opposite side. Within every opposing force is the seed of its opposite. Every love contains a seed of hate. Every truth holds the essence of a lie. And within every question, you can find the beginnings of an answer.
Sometimes this is obvious, right? Someone will say, "Do I want get all dressed up and go to a sweaty crowded bar, or do I just want to sit comfortably at home in my jammies with a glass of wine?" We all know what the person wants to do by the way they asked the question.
Or maybe someone says, "I wonder if moving would give a new perspective on life?" Well, why ask the question at all if you don't think it will? Or maybe you say, "Do I want French or Italian for dinner tonight?" Well, either would probably work. Otherwise you wouldn't be asking the question.
Those are all easy ones. Life has much harder questions to ask. And sometimes people go to tarot readers to ask them. We can give you an answer, but that doesn't mean it's fated to happen. If you don't like the prospect of your future, change your present. There's a seed of the future in every present, too.
But the interesting thing is that people often ask us questions they pretty much already know the answers to. I recently overheard a conversation between someone I read and a friend of theirs. The friend asked how it went and my client said, "she pretty much just confirmed what I was already thinking." But you wouldn't have known she had any clue as to the answer when she asked the question. She seemed to be genuinely unsure of which option she was going to choose. Sometimes it takes someone to tell us the answer to realize we'd known it all along.
So think about the question that's turning around in your head today. Do you kinda think you know the answer, but suspect it's too colored by hope or fear to be relevant? Well, first, if you suspect it's too colored by anything, it probably is. Now try to step outside of that and look at the question again. Do you think you know the answer?
Just like with anything, you could screw it all up—or save yourself from it—tomorrow if you just change what you're doing. But assuming things stay pretty much the same from here on in, chances are your suspicions about what will happen, will.
What do YOU think it means to say "within every question lies an answer", and do you think it rings true?
Labels:
Answer,
As Above,
Book of Shadows Tarot,
Deck of 1000 Spreads,
Question
Monday, February 18, 2013
2/19/12—Perching on the Front Stoop of Life
Today's Draw: Knight of Bows from a trimmed Wildwood Tarot in the What to Avoid position from the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Do you spend too much time one on aspect of your life to the detriment of other parts of your being? If you died tomorrow, would there be any regrets about it? What undiscovered gem of life might be standing right in front of you, waiting for you to shift your focus?
Today's draw is one of the reasons I don't like to reversals. For the uninitiated, reversals are cards that, when you turn them over, end up upside down. And many people read those as roughly the opposite of a card's meaning. But I don't read reversals, primarily because I believe the position the card lands in can create the same outcome.
So, for example, today's card of the Fox is about stealth and cunning, playfulness and determination. None of those are things we would want to avoid. So reading the card in context of its spread position, you'd look at the shadow side of that card, like being opportunistic, manipulative, childish and ruthless.
Shadow sides come from too much of a good thing. Leadership is a good thing. But when you go all leadership on people's arses, it's called megalomania. Not a good thing.
Another way of looking at it is how the book for this deck spelled out the downside of this card—"Determination leads to success, but often at a great personal cost."
I'll cop to being one of those women who focus too much on career...to the detriment of my personal life. I even ended up turning one of my personal life hobbies into a second career so I could work even harder...haha. Mind you, I'm not complaining and I won't use the word "regret". I enjoy the things I do. And because I'm at home when I do all of them, my dogs never feel lonely or neglected, as far as getting their needs for attention and sustenance met.
But there are so many things that fall by the wayside because I'm now attending to two different careers. I don't get out as often. I don't exercise often. I don't spend enough time with friends. And most of my friends are the same way, so they don't have time to spend with me. So while I don't regret it...my life is full...I could nonetheless find a healthier balance.
I see a lot of this around me. Women who devote all of their time to their children and husband and spend no time developing their own personal relationship with self. People who dive so deeply into their relationships that they have no friends. Certainly we shouldn't neglect the things we need to attend to in our lives. But having friendships, personal interests and a personal life are also among those things we shouldn't neglect.
Anytime we pour so much of ourselves into one thing or another, we put ourselves at risk. If we lose that one thing that identifies us, then who are we? But beyond that, we're cheating ourselves out of part of life we came here to experience. Having just one or two aspects of ourselves supporting the entirety of a life is a precarious foundation to build on. It's simple principle of engineering.
That said, I enjoy my life. Especially now, because a lot of things are coming to a successful conclusion. But I think we all have to ask ourselves, if we died tomorrow or a year from now, is there something we'd wish we'd had more of in our lives? I wouldn't have any MAJOR regrets, but I can see where I'd be a little wistful about things I could have done more often or had more of in my life.
Even just tonight, I was sitting on my front stoop watching the sunset and seeing the neighborhood happen. I'd only done that once before and that was just last week. All these years and I never experienced life from a perch on the front stoop! It made me sad that something so in-my-face had been overlooked for so many years. What might you not be seeing for all your determination in life?
So, for example, today's card of the Fox is about stealth and cunning, playfulness and determination. None of those are things we would want to avoid. So reading the card in context of its spread position, you'd look at the shadow side of that card, like being opportunistic, manipulative, childish and ruthless.
Shadow sides come from too much of a good thing. Leadership is a good thing. But when you go all leadership on people's arses, it's called megalomania. Not a good thing.
Another way of looking at it is how the book for this deck spelled out the downside of this card—"Determination leads to success, but often at a great personal cost."
I'll cop to being one of those women who focus too much on career...to the detriment of my personal life. I even ended up turning one of my personal life hobbies into a second career so I could work even harder...haha. Mind you, I'm not complaining and I won't use the word "regret". I enjoy the things I do. And because I'm at home when I do all of them, my dogs never feel lonely or neglected, as far as getting their needs for attention and sustenance met.
But there are so many things that fall by the wayside because I'm now attending to two different careers. I don't get out as often. I don't exercise often. I don't spend enough time with friends. And most of my friends are the same way, so they don't have time to spend with me. So while I don't regret it...my life is full...I could nonetheless find a healthier balance.
I see a lot of this around me. Women who devote all of their time to their children and husband and spend no time developing their own personal relationship with self. People who dive so deeply into their relationships that they have no friends. Certainly we shouldn't neglect the things we need to attend to in our lives. But having friendships, personal interests and a personal life are also among those things we shouldn't neglect.
Anytime we pour so much of ourselves into one thing or another, we put ourselves at risk. If we lose that one thing that identifies us, then who are we? But beyond that, we're cheating ourselves out of part of life we came here to experience. Having just one or two aspects of ourselves supporting the entirety of a life is a precarious foundation to build on. It's simple principle of engineering.
That said, I enjoy my life. Especially now, because a lot of things are coming to a successful conclusion. But I think we all have to ask ourselves, if we died tomorrow or a year from now, is there something we'd wish we'd had more of in our lives? I wouldn't have any MAJOR regrets, but I can see where I'd be a little wistful about things I could have done more often or had more of in my life.
Even just tonight, I was sitting on my front stoop watching the sunset and seeing the neighborhood happen. I'd only done that once before and that was just last week. All these years and I never experienced life from a perch on the front stoop! It made me sad that something so in-my-face had been overlooked for so many years. What might you not be seeing for all your determination in life?
Sunday, February 17, 2013
2/18/13—Possessing The Unique Qualifications
Today's Draw: Five of Stones in the Clarification position from the Greenwood Tarot and the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Are you facing a time of challenge or uncertainty right now in your life? What kind of challenges have you faced in the past that apply to your current one? Is it possible life has already uniquely qualified you to handle what lies ahead?
First off, welcome to the new look for the Daily Draw. I re-skinned the blog to work better with my new Deck of 1000 Spreads site, which I'm still building. For the random folks who may access this site by manually typing in the web address or searching for it on Google, please know you can now type in www.tierneysadler.com to get here, if that's easier for you. Or just do what you've always done. And if you have me bookmarked, you don't need to change anything.
As you can see, I've had an industrious last couple of days. :)
Finally, if any of you were waiting to order your Deck of 1000 Spreads until it was released, it's been released! You can order from Amazon or, if you want a signed edition, message me with your address so I can figure shipping and I'll invoice you. Amazon has better prices on both the kit and shipping, however. They just don't have RARE signed editions...haha. AND if you already have the deck, please put a review up on Amazon or send pics of your spreads to me to put up on the deck's Facebook page and on 1000spreads.com.
If you're reading this on my personal Facebook page, no new look for you! And if you want to know where to find all these sites I'm talking about, just go to tierneysadler.com, find this post and all the links will be embedded in the post.
Yeesh! Thank god I don't yap about crap like that every day, huh? :D
On to today's draw! The Clarification position represents a card you choose so you can gain more information about a card that is puzzling you. So I think what the Greenwood is saying to us today is, "Just to be clear, you're strong enough and you have the capacity to protect yourself and survive whatever life hands you."
That's what our traumas and challenges teach us...how strong we are, whether it be mentally, emotionally or physically. We're very clear on that soon after someone close to us dies, for example. Or after we reach the other side of a messy divorce. Or survive cancer. Or a physical attack. We manage to make it through. But the more time and distance we put between ourself and our trauma, the more fear starts creeping in once again and we forget what we're capable of.
It's not just unpleasant things that we learn we can survive, either. There are everyday things. Like I think about the mental and emotional discipline I've acquired from being self employed and having a rollercoaster income, punctuated by two recessions in the past 15 years. It's not just about money management. It's about time management. And mental management—managing your thoughts and fears. It's also about spiritual management and trusting in the universe.
Generally, the older we get, the more of these lessons in inner strength we amass. I imagine there are a lot of moms out there who can remember a time when they were pregnant for the first time and afraid they'd fail as a mother. But then you did all right, didn't you? I can still remember what it was like to start a new job..."what if I can't cut it?" But I always managed.
If you think back on all the traumas, heartbreaks and triumphs of your lifetime, you'll understand what you're capable of and you might never doubt yourself again. Maybe you haven't faced this EXACT challenge before, but somewhere along the line you've built the skills it takes to finesse what's in front of you. But, we never see that for ourselves, do we? That, my friends, is why God invented the blog. :D
So that's something to think about as you move through this week. What have you had the inner strength to muddle through thus far in your life? And how do those "unique qualifications" prepare you for whatever you're facing moving forward? Chances are good you're comfortably overqualified to face the challenges are causing you anxiety today.
As you can see, I've had an industrious last couple of days. :)
Finally, if any of you were waiting to order your Deck of 1000 Spreads until it was released, it's been released! You can order from Amazon or, if you want a signed edition, message me with your address so I can figure shipping and I'll invoice you. Amazon has better prices on both the kit and shipping, however. They just don't have RARE signed editions...haha. AND if you already have the deck, please put a review up on Amazon or send pics of your spreads to me to put up on the deck's Facebook page and on 1000spreads.com.
If you're reading this on my personal Facebook page, no new look for you! And if you want to know where to find all these sites I'm talking about, just go to tierneysadler.com, find this post and all the links will be embedded in the post.
Yeesh! Thank god I don't yap about crap like that every day, huh? :D
On to today's draw! The Clarification position represents a card you choose so you can gain more information about a card that is puzzling you. So I think what the Greenwood is saying to us today is, "Just to be clear, you're strong enough and you have the capacity to protect yourself and survive whatever life hands you."
That's what our traumas and challenges teach us...how strong we are, whether it be mentally, emotionally or physically. We're very clear on that soon after someone close to us dies, for example. Or after we reach the other side of a messy divorce. Or survive cancer. Or a physical attack. We manage to make it through. But the more time and distance we put between ourself and our trauma, the more fear starts creeping in once again and we forget what we're capable of.
It's not just unpleasant things that we learn we can survive, either. There are everyday things. Like I think about the mental and emotional discipline I've acquired from being self employed and having a rollercoaster income, punctuated by two recessions in the past 15 years. It's not just about money management. It's about time management. And mental management—managing your thoughts and fears. It's also about spiritual management and trusting in the universe.
Generally, the older we get, the more of these lessons in inner strength we amass. I imagine there are a lot of moms out there who can remember a time when they were pregnant for the first time and afraid they'd fail as a mother. But then you did all right, didn't you? I can still remember what it was like to start a new job..."what if I can't cut it?" But I always managed.
If you think back on all the traumas, heartbreaks and triumphs of your lifetime, you'll understand what you're capable of and you might never doubt yourself again. Maybe you haven't faced this EXACT challenge before, but somewhere along the line you've built the skills it takes to finesse what's in front of you. But, we never see that for ourselves, do we? That, my friends, is why God invented the blog. :D
So that's something to think about as you move through this week. What have you had the inner strength to muddle through thus far in your life? And how do those "unique qualifications" prepare you for whatever you're facing moving forward? Chances are good you're comfortably overqualified to face the challenges are causing you anxiety today.
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