6/19/13—Learning Lessons the Hard Way

ATTN: Tomorrow's Daily Draw will be one of those "special" posts I do for the blog group I'm a member of. So those of you accustomed to reading tomorrow's post the night before, I will be posting Friday's post at 1am Eastern on Friday (rather than at 8pm on Thursday)

Today's Draw Classic*: Three of Swords in the Lesson position from the Legacy of the Divine by Ciro Marchetti and the Deck of 1000 Spreads by me. When you think on the big lessons in your life, do you remember more of the ones you learned through pain more profoundly? Or do you remember more of the lessons you learned through happy moments more profoundly? Is there something you can learn from that?

It's interesting that this combo came up, because I've been thinking lately about the lessons we learn from heartbreak. If you can't tell by the tarot card (and the spectacular way my spread card makes the fractured heart on the cheek pop) that's what this card is about. 

I often debate the value of the lessons we learn from loss vs. the value of the lessons we learn through victory. I will never misspell the word "committee" ever again because it caused me to lose a spelling bee in third grade. I cried just like the girl in the picture there. 

Looking back over my life, the most valuable lessons I've learned have been the tough ones. That doesn't mean we don't learn from the good stuff because we do. Doing something right the first time reinforces that behavior or system and so you repeat it to success time and time again. But when that's the case, it just becomes the way you do it....a repeatable process that ends in success. Not so much a lesson you've learned, but something you figured out on your own. 

But when you learn something the hard way, it becomes somehow more meaningful, more profound. We define it more like a lesson than just a "way". It seems like the higher the price, the more meaningful the lesson, the less likely we are to screw with that particular thing again. Some lessons we just have to learn that way, whether through our own obstinance, lack of awareness or whatever. 

Can you think of a lesson you learned in the past that you didn't need to learn? Can you think of a painful experience you've ever had that didn't bring lessons? I can't. Pain seems to write on us in ways that both knock us to our knees in tears and then, after time, to our knees in gratitude. It is both toxin and tonic. It poisons and purifies. 

The universe never brings us something in error. If we're experiencing pain, it's needed on our path. If we're on a winning streak, it's needed on our path. Everything is brought to us in love, as a means to lift us higher. That's sometimes hard to see in the moment, but always visible in retrospect. The hardest lesson of all—the one that causes the most self-inflicted pain—is to learn is to trust in that. 

*From 3/22/13

3/23/13-3/24/13—Running Like Hell from Girl Scouts

Weekend Reading: Page of Pentacles in the What to Avoid position from Legacy of the Divine and the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Because I'm in charge here, I'm going to ignore what the Page of Pentacles really stands for and go with my first gut instinct about this pair. What to Avoid? Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts and their cheery, little, sugar-pushing faces. Their little green skirts. And their badge encrusted sashes. And their high fat, high carb, high calorie Thin Mints and Samoas. And Do Si Dos. Don't forget the Do Si Dos! When you see them moving your way, cross the street. No....release the hounds! Show them who's the boss of YOU!

Whatever temptation crosses your path this weekend, do yourself a favor and avoid it. It might come shamelessly enrobed in coconut and caramel. Or it might be more subtle, like an attitude or behavior you promised yourself you'd stop, but is nonetheless tempting you back into the cycle. Whatever it is for you, think before you act. Is that a trap you really want to fall into after all your hard work?

3/22/13—Learning Lessons the Hard Way

Today's Draw: Three of Swords in the Lesson position from the Legacy of the Divine by Ciro Marchetti and the Deck of 1000 Spreads by me. When you think on the big lessons in your life, do you remember more of the ones you learned through pain more profoundly? Or do you remember more of the lessons you learned through happy moments more profoundly? Is there something you can learn from that?

It's interesting that this combo came up, because I've been thinking lately about the lessons we learn from heartbreak. If you can't tell by the tarot card (and the spectacular way my spread card makes the fractured heart on the cheek pop) that's what this card is about. 

I often debate the value of the lessons we learn from loss vs. the value of the lessons we learn through victory. I will never misspell the word "committee" ever again because it caused me to lose a spelling bee in third grade. I cried just like the girl in the picture there. 

Looking back over my life, the most valuable lessons I've learned have been the tough ones. That doesn't mean we don't learn from the good stuff because we do. Doing something right the first time reinforces that behavior or system and so you repeat it to success time and time again. But when that's the case, it just becomes the way you do it....a repeatable process that ends in success. Not so much a lesson you've learned, but something you figured out on your own. 

But when you learn something the hard way, it becomes somehow more meaningful, more profound. We define it more like a lesson than just a "way". It seems like the higher the price, the more meaningful the lesson, the less likely we are to screw with that particular thing again. Some lessons we just have to learn that way, whether through our own obstinance, lack of awareness or whatever. 

Can you think of a lesson you learned in the past that you didn't need to learn? Can you think of a painful experience you've ever had that didn't bring lessons? I can't. Pain seems to write on us in ways that both knock us to our knees in tears and then, after time, to our knees in gratitude. It is both toxin and tonic. It poisons and purifies. 

The universe never brings us something in error. If we're experiencing pain, it's needed on our path. If we're on a winning streak, it's needed on our path. Everything is brought to us in love, as a means to lift us higher. That's sometimes hard to see in the moment, but always visible in retrospect. The hardest lesson of all—the one that causes the most self-inflicted pain—is to learn is to trust in that. 

1/16/12—Finding Hope Within

Today's Draw: The Star from the Legacy of the Divine tarot. When things are bad, where do you find hope? Is hope something within your command or is it a gift from God? And what's the difference between you and the most distant of stars?

The Star is a card that signals hope, especially in hard times. As you can see from the rubble in the background, the city has been destroyed. The card just before this in the tarot is The Tower, a tower that has crumbled. So something in our lives has been beaten down to its very foundation and The Star comes along to say "all hope is not lost". Whatever has happened in your life, happens for a reason. The destruction or damage was necessary for you to rebuild on a stronger foundation. Getting this card is a sign of better times ahead.

Today, however, this card reminds me of what my favorite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson says—"we are stardust". OK. Not original. But what he means when he says that is that the universe is made up of elements and atoms and energy, just like we are. And the iron that courses through your veins is the exact same iron that hits the earth as a meteor. Here it is in his own words:

“The atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago. For this reason, we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust.”

The cool thing about NDGT (as his fans call him), is that his mind is as blown by this as yours is. He's a leading astrophysicist. He's not some metaphysical guru and, in fact, like most scientists, does not even believe in God.  And this blows his mind, too. He doesn't say this because it sounds nice or because he thinks it's what humanity wants to hear. He's the Director of the Hayden Planetarium and host of NOVA ScienceNOW on PBS. He says it because it's a scientific fact.

We are walking, talking stardust. Each of us is a museum of earthly and universal elements. Even if you believe we end at the outer edge of our skin, there is no line between us and all there is. Our breath continues past the skin, skin cells, waste. As NDGT says, "we are in the universe and the universe is in us." We are incredibly small and incredibly large at the same time. And if you don't believe NDGT, maybe you'll believe CSNY:

We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

I really love the thought behind those lyrics, because I think we get so caught up in our "king of the jungle" ego here on earth that we forget we are no greater than anything else that exists. It's all stardust. And we think we're the smartest and fittest, but on whose scale? Earlier versions of man had respect for the earth and its critters. They didn't have the wisdom NDGT has, but they sensed it within them. They had to. They lived and died by nature.

Anyway, relating this back to the card, there is nothing outside of you the inside of you can't handle, manage or transcend. Hope—and the magic it brings and the change it promises—is not something that exists outside of you. It is within you right now. Sometimes we get caught up in our dramas and forget this. We see situations as worse than they are. Or we see them realistically, but feel "there is no hope in sight". But there is always hope.

And there is always a solution. Which is not to say that the solution will land you where you were before the problem came along. But there is always something that can return you to peace, whether it's something outside of you or something inside you, like a thought. When it comes down to it, that's where all the problem is anyway, right? In the mind? Because even if we have a physical issue or an issue with a loved one, it's all dependent on the way you choose to think of it.

So what it comes down to is this...the next time you're waiting for hope to come along and bless you, remember there is nothing outside of you that you can't find within. It was in there all along just waiting for you to claim it.