1/15/13—Focusing on What's Present

Today's Draw: Four of Cups from the Victorian Romantic. Does it feel like something's missing in your life? Is it something you can't quite pin down? What if the key to that feeling was found not in what's missing, but what's present in your life?

We had this exact card just a few months ago. At that time, I challenged you to ask yourself some pretty tough questions about your life. If you're curious, the post was posted on 10/17/12, but dated 10/18. I won't repeat any of that here, as I have another take on the card. 

To begin with, this card from this deck is one of my favorite cards. The gentleman is surrounded by lovely ladies, he's at a party, yet something is missing. Sometimes this is a card indicating boredom, but more often than not it's about dissatisfaction. 

I'm sure all of us feel like "something's missing" at some time or another. We might even feel that way frequently. It can indicate a whole bunch of things covered in the post from last October. But one thing I think it also covers is our connection to spirit...or our connection to whatever we were before we came here. 

It's hard to be a human. We come here and we're disconnected from that part of us that is divine. Some believe that, as a race, we once knew, but forgot. But it's like there's something hardwired in us that knows we're so much greater than our everyday lives suggest...and we just can't seem to grasp it long enough to make it last. We see glimpses of it through "coincidence" and "miracles" and "spiritual epiphanies". But those are passing moments and we're left, once again, with our humanness. 

I was talking just today with someone about being human. I debate sometimes about whether we're here to just be human and have this experience with no pressure placed on it. Or whether we're here to raise ourselves up as humans so that one day the whole race may fuse with our collective divinity. Or some such notion. So maybe we're here to be schlumps. Or maybe we're here to find our divinity. Or maybe we're just here. 

Anyway, today when I saw this card, I thought the man had lost connection to his own divinity...and to the larger God around him. And the advice I had for him is this—gratitude. Look at all the abundance around him. But he can't be happy within it. Because he's not grateful for it. He's not grateful for his health, his good looks, his friends, his opportunities. If he were, it would be hard to stand in the midst of all of that missing something. He's focusing on what he doesn't have instead of what he does. 

We're all allowed moments of that. If we're in mourning over some loss, it's completely understandable. But there are times we feel this way when we have no good excuse. And the answer is gratitude. Our higher, divine selves understand the power of gratitude, but it's something we often forget as humans. So the next time you feel like something's missing in your life, consider that the only thing that's missing is your gratitude for all you do have. 

9/21/12—Romancing Your Relationships

Today's Draw: The Knight of Cups from the Lenormand Tarot. When was the last time you told a friend, partner or colleague something you really appreciate about them? When was the last time someone did that for you? Are you keeping the "romance" alive in your relationships?

The Knight of Cups is the tarot's romantic...the one who rides in on his white horse and sweeps you off his feet. 

This week is about relationships and so the way I'm going to interpret this one is fairly quick (this week has been exhausting!). Here it goes: Say something nice to someone you care about. 

Really. Think about it. When do you tell a friend how much you appreciate them or how neat they are? Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget to just "romance" our friends. Or our mate. Or our children. Sure we do stuff and assume they know we appreciate them, but how often do you say something like, "the way you xyz'd the other day really meant a lot to me"? When do you single out the LITTLE things?

And I'm also not talking about saying "I love you." That's one of those automatic things that rolls off the lips. No, I'm talking about noticing one of the many little things they do every day to support the relationship. Or pointing out something they did without thinking—because that's who they are—that made a difference to you. 

The funny thing is that I did this twice today before I ever pulled this card. I told one friend, who is also a colleague, how frickin' awesome she is and how much I respect her as a professional and not just as a friend. And I thanked another person today for something they did without even thinking...something that was profoundly meaningful to me. It was one of those things that I could have so easily let pass—to her it was nothing. But then she never would have known what a difference she makes in the lives of others. 

Somewhere in your world someone has done something to pick you up when you were down. Or maybe it's something that they just do because they're them. Give them the gift of letting them know. Out loud. Let them see on your face how much they mean to you. And if you're on the receiving en, don't just brush it off. Take it in and hold it precious, because it is.

3/5/12—Making a Big Ball of Gratitude

Today's Draw: Seven of Cups from the Infinite Visions Tarot. Do you feel vaguely dissatisfied, even though there's nothing in particular going wrong? Do you find yourself looking outside yourself for things to make you happy? Are you happy with what you have?

This is always an interesting card to me. It's a card of being blessed with too many options and so, as a result, you're overwhelmed. Or you don't make a decision. Or maybe you're not jazzed by any of them. 

In a way, we're all always blessed with too many options. We tend to see things in black and white...this or that...but the truth is, there are almost always countless more options available to us. Maybe we can't see them. Maybe we're not thinking imaginatively enough. Maybe we don't want to see them. But they're there. 

When I see this particular Seven of Cups, however, it always conjures certain images in my head. To me, this woman's got everything she could ever want. She's got this amazing river vista. The sun is preparing a beautiful sunset for her. She's in a great dress, curled in a comfy chair. There are plenty of liquids to keep her hydrated. There's a footstool to help ensure her comfort. And about three nostrils away from her nose, there's a beautiful, fragrant lily in bloom. Yet she has her back turned to the beautiful view and looks bored, if not completely disenchanted. 

There are two things in particular I could talk about with the mood of this card. One is gratitude. She doesn't seem to be grateful for what she has. She's surrounded by riches but she's almost disdainful of it. The second thing it makes me think of is when you buy stuff and there's that rush from buying, but then when you get everything home, you realize it doesn't make you happy. Sure, there's that thrill from buying, but you're looking for happiness outside of yourself...where happiness can't be found. 

What it all really comes down to is the first point, however—a need for gratitude. I can't say enough about maintaining a regular practice of gratitude. Not only does gratitude gift you with total abundance from the universe (because the universe gives you more of what you focus on and if you focus on gratitude, you get more to be grateful for), but gratitude also helps you see really how much you have to be grateful for. 

It's like the snowball effect in that the more you're grateful, the more fulfilled you feel and more new gratitude rolls in. This one practice alone can entirely change your life. The idea is to find five things to be grateful for each day. So what are your five things today?

Mine are: 

1. I taught a tarot class today and it went really well. 
2. On the way home, I got a great idea for another class to teach. 
3. I enjoyed nature and my back deck this morning over a wonderful cup of coffee. 
4. My little girl, Magick Moonbeam, counts one thing more important than food, treats and walkies in her life—me. And she has no problem making that clear. 
5. I have a sister visiting town next weekend and she wanted to swing by and see my brother, who is ill. Well they decided to theme the evening around my birthday. So I'll be spending my birthday with my family. And cake. :)

2/17/12-2/19/12—Celebrating Your Abundance

Weekend Reading: Ten of Pentacles from the Victorian Romantic Tarot. The Ten of Pentacles is all about abundance. And if the 1% can teach us anything, it's that abundance breeds abundance. So this weekend, focus on what you have. Better yet, give gratitude for what you have. And while you're at it, give gratitude for what you want as if you already have it! The couple may not have bought anything from the produce vendor, but he knows someone will want apples today. And if someone doesn't want apples, he's got beets and cauliflower and cabbage—all the staples of life. So he's happy as a clam knowing that opportunity is just another passerby away. Chances are, you've got all the staples of life, too. Celebrate that and the opportunity that's on its way. And otherwise rest easy this weekend knowing the universe provides!

1/17/12—Remembering Gratitude

Today's Draw: Nine of Swords from the Art Postcard Tarot by Marcia McCord. Has some thought gotten hold of you to the point that it's haunting you? Do you feel vulnerable right now? Have you used the resources at your command to return yourself to center?

Although this card can be about disillusionment and denial, I more frequently connect it to those thoughts that keep you up at night. Maybe they're worries. Or some obsessive drama that plays over in your mind. Or maybe you're telling someone off in your mind. 

I've been doing this a lot lately. And when I get like this, it's a good signal that I'm feeling vulnerable. Things that would normally bounce right off me, penetrate instead. I don't always realize it right off, but it's also a signal that I've left something open energetically, so negative thinking that was looking for a way in, found its way in. 

There was a time in my life that I would stay up obsessing over stuff every night. Stuff like "did I remember to lock the door when I left the office?" "Why did I say XYZ to So-And-So?" And spontaneously remembering things that I should probably write down, but would have to turn the light on in order to do so. 

Right now it's about a job I'm working on with clients I can't seem to do anything right for. And it has brought me right back to times when I was younger that I was afraid of getting in trouble...or got in trouble for something I didn't do. It's a fear-based, diminishing mindset that I'm no longer used to living in. And I feel like the last couple months of stress, overloaded calendars and decisions I've made for my future have sort of weakened my emotional immune system. I'm not in my comfort zone, so I'm feeling all discombobulated. And I hate that I'm doing this to myself, because I've had some really good "wins" in the last couple of months, too, and have chosen to focus on the ooky stuff instead.

Yesterday we talked about how hope is always available to us, and my Facebook friend, P.C.,  commented that gratitude was the path to hope. That's so true, isn't it? Gratitude is a sure path back to hope, grace, faith and all the beacons of light within our higher selves. As much as some of us practice this stuff, sometimes we nonetheless have to be reminded. In the past week, I've gotten two such reminders. One was to protect myself energetically...something I'm usually cognizant of. (And by this, I just mean to imagine the protective white light of God surrounding you.) And earlier today, gratitude. 

So if any of you are out there and feeling a little off your game...or worried...or obsessive about something that happened in your life, remember those two techniques to guide you back to your faith and strength. Feelings need to be felt. There is nothing wrong with being sad or whatever. But when you feel it so much you it starts seeming like you're captive in its clutches, it's time to find a way back to center. And one good place to start is gratitude.