2/1/13—Living With Surety

Today's Draw: High Priestess in the Attitudes and Thoughts position from the Crystal Visions Tarot and the Deck of 1000 Spreads. What things do you do with absolute surety? And what everyday things tend to make you hesitate or even freeze up? How sharp is your "knowing" in so far as what you're capable of?

Before we even start in on today's reading, Barbara Moore blogged about my Deck of 1000 Spreads on the Llewellyn site today. If you want to read, visit http://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2013/01/1000-spreads/

OK. Now on to why you're REALLY here. Since the Attitudes and Thoughts position is usually in relation to some stated topic of a reading, today we're going to consider it as a recommend way we approach life in general. And that recommendation comes from the High Priestess, the queen chick of intuition, deeper meaning, magick and unseen energies. The ankh on her staff speaks of eternal life. 

The High Priestess need only think of something and it's there. And as for what is unseen in this world, her eye see beyond the veil. She is, in many ways, pure instinct and trust, wrapped in a blanket of absolute knowing. 

I like that I got this card because it lets me talk about the squirrels that live in my tree. They never cease to amaze me with their athletic feats. Tonight as I was watching this one guy fly surely through the air between tree limbs, only to scurry up to the telephone wire, then along the wires that run throughout my neighborhood—what I call the Squirrel Superhighway—I wondered, "what if we were so sure?" 

These little guys run at breakneck speed along a wire that's akin to a balance beam for us. And they think nothing of it. They think nothing of leaping off the top of a house and into a tree six feet away. They just leap, fully attuned to their physical capabilities, the workings of geometry and the laws of physics. 

Longtime readers will know that I watch these guys from birth through adulthood. Sure, they see other squirrels do it. And some of them are more timid than others. But when the time comes to do it, they just do it. Then they never think of it ever again. In my human mind, I see that they're risking their lives every time they do it. One false step and they fall 20 feet into the waiting mouths of my pooches...if they live to be eaten alive, that is. But none of this ever seems to be on their minds as they scurry along impossibly narrow wires, branches and fence tops. 

So I was watching him and thinking, "what if we lived our lives so surely and confidently?" I'm the fraidy cat that can't manage any sort of incline without inching down it, lest I slip. But I wonder what our antics in our cars must look like to squirrels? The way we weave in and out of traffic with nary an accident? So there are things we do just as daring, but I'm not sure I see the level of trust and "knowing"in us as in other animals. And I wonder, "what if?" Would we all live very short lives, ending in flames of glory? Or would we accomplish far more than we know we're capable of? What do you think?

11/6/12—Defining Your Mission in Life

Today's Draw: The Nine of Pentacles from the Crystal Visions Tarot. How much of what/who you are today was visualized long ago? How much of what you are came as a surprise development? And how does it all come together to help define your mission in life?


The Nine of Pentacles usually pictures a woman and speaks of someone who is self-sufficient and appreciates the finer things in life. The lwb for this deck says she has tamed the wild part of her (thus, the tiger) and has built the life she visualized for herself. 

This got me thinking about what I've visualized for myself over the years. Even as a little girl, I never wanted to be married. And I always wanted to be around dogs. At first I wanted to be a veterinarian, but as a grew older and my talents made themselves known, my desires moved more toward a career in the arts, first as an actress, then as an advertising copywriter. 

So today, I'm a single doggie mom who writes advertising for a living. I remember when I was young, passions and interests would come and go. The same is true of me as an adult. I cook, sew, do stained glass, craft, create and pursue all manner of artistic endeavors. But only writing has stuck with me as an ongoing passion that permeates my life. I can't imagine doing anything else. I believe I would be terribly unhappy earning a living any other way. In fact I was so unhappy the first three years of my professional life doing other things in advertising agencies, that I found a way to freelance and build a portfolio in my off hours. 

But as I was thinking about all the stuff I visualized that came true in my life...my writing, the dogs, the singledom...I also thought about stuff that happened in my life that I never saw coming. 

For example, I never saw myself being self-employed, though my early foray into freelancing (along with my rabid independence) should have been a clue. And I also NEVER saw myself becoming a spiritual writer or a tarotist. And now those things are essential parts of my life. Heck, growing up I was not only "shielded" from religion, I considered myself an atheist. Now I embrace all gods. And I didn't even know what tarot was growing up. 

In retrospect, of course, I can see how it makes sense...introspective, day-dreamy girl and all. But the whole spirituality thing wasn't something I ever visualized for myself. It just happened. And the "just happening" part of it has entirely reshaped my life and everything in it. I could still be a copywriter and doggie mommy without it, but it has opened a new path for visualization that I know will serve the second half of my professional life well. 

And I don't mean to say that everything we are today had to have been visualized in adolescence or whatever. It's just that I never visualized the spirituality stuff coming into my life—AT ALL. There didn't even seem to be a basis for it the way I was raised. It was a complete surprise development. And now it has sparked a whole new set of visualizations. And it has also changed something so deep in me that I would characterize it as changing my DNA. It feels like, outside of my creativity, intelligence level and sense of humor, I'm almost unrecognizable in relation to who I was when I first started visualizing a life. 

Even my hair color and eye color are different...haha. Honestly. I went from blond as a teen to auburn blond in my 20s/30s and now I'm more brownish. And my eyes changed from blue to green when I was about 30. 

So all of this makes me wonder. I define my mission in life as "healing people with my words". But part of the means to do that came from something I never visualized for myself—the spirituality. And part of it came from something I pretty much always knew was ingrained in me—the writing. If it's why I came here, why didn't I see it sooner? And if a surprise development was the missing link to having/finding purpose in my life, what might still be hiding itself within you?

1/23/12—Becoming an Expert

Today's Draw: Eight of Pentacles from the Crystal Visions. What are you an expert at? Who decides whether you're an expert or not? And is it possible you're selling yourself short in some area of expertise?

The Eight of Pentacles is about the apprentice...and often the late-in-life apprentice or second-time-around apprentice. Hard work, perseverance and attention to detail are required to master a new skill, so our weaver woman focuses on her work, regardless of what else may call to her. 

I don't feel like writing this blog today. And I don't have to. But for some yet-to-be-revealed-to-me reason, I've made a commitment to doing it. Until I'm done. Whenever that is. In the meantime, this exercise helps me practice my craft and refine my voice. It helps me build an audience. It helps me practice my tarot and intuitive skills. And it delivers a seemingly unlimited supply of encouragement from people like you. :)

This past weekend, my "new Saturday entry" debuted and I got such wonderful feedback. As I said before, I want to make a book full of those and will be using some of the ones I post here to send to publishers in a proposal.

I've been writing professionally for 25 years, but the kind of writing I do here is different from the "Sale! $59.99 Sansabelt Pants!" kind of writing I'm used to. For one thing, I use a lot less exclamation marks. For another, in more than a year of writing these entries, not a one of you has tried to edit my work. (Though "Sansabelt Pants Sale! $59.99!" certainly would be an inspired suggestion on your part.)

Awesome Woolen  iPod Pouch—Closed

There are times we tend to discount our skill or expertise. An engineer who's been honing their artistic skills for years might say their art "is just a hobby." An accountant who can fix anything mechanical might claim "awww, it's just something I picked up as a kid." A nurse who knits caps for patients might feel "I'm just trying to help out."

There are a few different ways to measure whether or not you're an expert at something. One is the 10,000 hour (or 10-years at about 20 hours a week of focused practice) rule made famous by Malcolm Gladwell. If you've been doing something that long, you can consider yourself an expert. Why? Because everyone else does.

Another way to define expertise is "continual, focused practice over time." No year limits. You just do it for a long time and declare yourself an expert. And this last part is key...there is no special dinner held when you become an expert...no cake in your office's kitchen...no speech or crown, no passing of the baton. It happens without fanfare or notice. It's a role you step into of your own accord.

Why is this important? Because you're probably selling yourself short on your skills and abilities. I've been reading tarot for 25 years, but a year ago I did not classify myself as an expert. I did not consider myself worthy of, say, writing a book on it. Or teaching classes. Or doing it professionally. The difference in the amount of actual, hands-on tarot experience I had last year and what I have this year is insignificant. The difference in the amount of confidence I have now, however, is paramount. The confidence is what made me take those steps to write and teach, not some outside source telling me it was time.

Awesome Woolen  iPod Pouch—Open

People are so afraid they'll be labeled "conceited" if they consider themselves an expert at anything. And really that just means less competition for those of us who are willing to step into our expert underpants...haha. Those of us who plan to get rich off our expertise NEED people like you to buy our stuff and look up to us. So it's cool if you'd rather stay humble. :D

My personal definition of being an expert is when you start realizing that the experts aren't saying anything you don't already know...and that they're not saying stuff you DO know. That's when you know it's time to share your voice with the world. Or at least claim your expert badge. Even if you've just got the first part of the equation, you're "expert enough". I mean, if they're expert enough and they've got nothing on you, then what else could you be?

Today I can say I'm an expert writer. I'm an expert in advertising, marketing and copywriting. I'm an expert in tarot. In dog rearing. And I'm an expert in the area of spiritual thought and personal growth. The last one was a little hard for me to claim because of my own insecurities. But I'm claiming it. I certainly meet the 10,000 hour quota in all areas mentioned. Soon I'll get my badge in making hand-sewn woolen pouches, too. Once that happens, expect to see me on Oprah.

So what are your areas of expertise? And what areas are you developing now?