3/13/13—Deceiving Yourself Over and Over Again

Today's Draw: Fool in the House of Snake from the Tarot of the Tattoo Age and my Deck of Lenormand Houses. Do you feel like you keep repeating the same cycles over and over in your life? Do you feel like you're being eaten alive by the hounds of hell? And are you just really tired of it?

Usually when we see The Fool, he's tripping happily along the path with his little dog nipping at his heels unaware of the leap he's about to make. But this Fool is different. He's clearly drug addled, confused and being ripped apart by wolves. Which happens to fit nicely with the House of Snake...the house of lies and deception. 

What this pair reminds me of is that vicious cycle we get into where we keep repeating the same frustrating patterns all the time. For example, you keep encountering jerks on your path to your goal. Or you keep getting bosses that don't respect you. Or you seem to have friends that are always running late. 

It seems like the cycle is THEIR problem. After all, it's not anything you're doing. They're being the jerks, the disrespectors, the inconsiderates. Right?

Well, um, no. This is where the House of Snake comes in. Because you're deceiving yourself. 

See, you're attracting these people into your life. You're allowing the behavior. They're mirroring SOMEthing back at you. It's possible your ability to clearly communicate your boundaries, needs and deal-breakers is even courting this kind of thing. 

Be gone by the time your late friend shows up a couple of times and she may start to be on time. Or lie to her about what time to meet you and see if that doesn't fix the problem. Or stop meeting her without another friend present and, when she does show up, tell her you were talking about her the entire time she was late..haha. Or just dump her disrespectful arse. You're not powerless over this stuff. Yet if you lament the presence of it continuing in your life without making any changes in your own behavior, you are playing victim to it. It's an ugly word nobody likes to cop to, but it's true. 

Problems don't exist outside of us. They exist within us. For every challenge that comes our way we have choices. How am I going to respond to this? Am I going to allow this to happen again? Is this acceptable? Should I just walk away right now? All of those are options. We don't have to respond the way we did last time this happened. In fact, we SHOULD respond differently, because that's the only way we can create change in the future. 

Listen, we all do it. I have a couple of things that keep coming back around to me. I do change my behavior and try different things. But it still keeps coming around. There's a lesson I'm not learning. And every time I whine about it, I know I'm playing the victim. After all, I'm the common denominator every time the issue occurs...haha. Any math buff will tell you that when you change the common denominator, you'll get a different solution. ;)

Some lessons happen fairly quickly and we stop the pattern in our life relatively painlessly. And some we shave away it slowly over a lifetime. I think these ones that keep coming back around in my life are like that. For me, they're about boundaries. And each time I make an adjustment, more respectful people enter my life. I'm learning those lessons in layers as I'm learning to respect myself. Turns out their disrespect for me mirrors my own. 

So if you wonder why you're always meeting jerks or people are always doing you wrong, its within your power to change it. It's probably a boundaries issue, but could also be a behavioral issue in that people get pissy with you when you get pissy with them, for example. And if you don't keep responding differently than you did last time to shave away at or change the cycle, then the problem's not with them at all. It's definitely with you. 

2/13/13—Making a Decision

Today's Draw: The Seeker (Fool) in the House of the Ring from the Gaian Tarot and the Deck of Lenormand Houses. Can't get started on a change you want to make? Or you start over and over again, only to fail? Want to know the secret of a new beginning?

This may be the first time I've ever used tarot just with my Deck of Lenormand Houses. If you don't know about my Deck of Lenormand Houses, you can purchase it on my blog. It's like the Deck of 1000 Spreads, but for Lenormand.

Anyway, yesterday we were talking about new starts and the advice was to know that it's ok to just start in a new direction because the universe is always guiding you. And today is about new beginnings, too.

For the better part of 26 years, I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. I was cool with that for the first 15 years or so, but during the last decade of smoking I tried to quit on a regular basis. I don't think I ever lasted more than three weeks. For all the people out there who advise others to "just quit", I promise you, it's not that easy.

Consider that the average smoker introduces the drug into their system every 15-30 minutes for YEARS. In about ten minutes after you quit, your brain wants the drug. And it pesters you until you get it. You are chemically, emotionally and physically addicted. That's why they say it's one of the hardest drugs to quit. It took me 10 years of trying, many of which were honest efforts borne of genuine desire to quit. It took me all those 10 years to finally learn the one secret that would save me.

Making a decision. A commitment. A promise to never smoke again.

All the other times I had it in my head that, if something really bad happened, I could have a cigarette. Or after a few years, I might be in the clear. Or if I found out I was dying. There was always an "if" that I would use to comfort myself with. And it was absolutely the wrong way to go because the second you leave a door even cracked to your addiction, it will come busting through.

When I finally made a decision to never smoke again—under no circumstance—you know what happened? Quitting was easy. I had every option open to me when I had a craving, except one. I could never smoke again. It was the decision...the commitment that made the difference.

In the past, I had made decisions to "try to quit" or "to quit". But I had never made an absolute decision to never smoke again. Consider the difference. I made a decision to quit. Which I did. Then I started back up again. It wasn't absolute. I said I'd quit and I did. But I never said "forever". Or "never again".

So what does that have to do with the Fool in the House of the Ring? Well, Ring is all about commitment. And the Fool is about new beginnings. So making a commitment to one option and not allowing other options to muddy the waters is a great way to make a new beginning. Want to leave your miserable man, but keep going back for more? Make a commitment to never go back again. Want to start in a new career direction? Make a commitment to never consider any other option again...or make a commitment to never let a Sunday pass without sending out a resume. Want to lose weight? Make a commitment to never overeat again. Or to never spend a week on your sofa without exercising. Whatever change you're trying to make, there is something you can commit to that will begin to chip away at the old behavior.

I know people don't like "never", but once the offending behavior is no longer an option, it won't call to you. That's what I learned from quitting smoking 10 years ago. It's not the quitting that's the hard part. It's the making the decision. It took me 10 years of quitting to finally make the decision to never smoke again. And it seems to be taking me as long with overeating.

The reason the decision or commitment is powerful is because we tend to honor those things. For me, once I make a decision, it's made. Other decisions can be made in the future as you hone your focus, but the original decision usually still stands.

So somewhere in our lives, there's a place where we can make a decision to "never" (fill in the blank). And maybe it's a baby step, like I will never watch HoneyBooBoo ever again just because I'm bored. A decision like that is a gateway decision for dealing with TV addiction...haha.

So think about it. What new way of being do you want to bring into your life? Yesterday asked us to take that leap, knowing we'll be guided (which is also what the Fool tells us, coinkadinkally). And today asks us to make a commitment to this new direction and never looking back. What will you decide?

12/20/12—Questioning Everything

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION: If you haven't liked my author page yet on Facebook, please do so at https://www.facebook.com/KTierneySadler?ref=hl. I share tarot tips on that page, these blogs, and it's also where you can keep up with the progress on my Deck of 1000 Spreads, now available for pre-order on Amazon and at http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738733395.

Today's Draw: The Fool: Percival from the Glastonbury Tarot. Are you someone who asks a lot of questions? Do you tend to keep your questioning on the surface, so as not to challenge or embarrass anyone? Or does your curiosity often lead you into potentially embarrassing rabbit holes?

Percival was one of King Arthur's knights. And he totally blew his first chance at securing the Holy Grail. Why? Because, even though he was curious about the goings on at a castle he was staying at, he didn't ask any questions that would satisfy his curiosity. He didn't want to be considered impolite. 

As you may have noticed, every Daily Draw starts with three questions. They're not always comfortable questions. A huge part of my job as a writer is asking questions and getting to the root of peoples' businesses. Sometimes I ask questions about things businesses don't want to talk about. But I need to know a company's strengths AND weaknesses in order to word things in such a way that it honestly presents the business in its best light. I can't do that effectively without knowing the whole story. 

So I'm a questioner from way back. Of course, I do my best to not be rude or invasive, but that doesn't mean I can't still ask the question. I owe my questioning nature to three things:

• Teachers who encouraged us to ask question by reassuring us there were no stupid questions.
• Stumbling upon the notion of "if you want something, ask for it." I was always afraid to ask for what I wanted until I tried. It's amazing how simple a solution it is! :D
• My own natural intellectual curiosity. I don't know what came first...my career or the curiosity...but the two have worked together in tandem and I think now my "minimum amount of information needed to get rid of me" may be higher than the average joe's.  

I have a pretty good BS meter, too. It sometimes doesn't kick in until after we're done talking, but when things don't add up, I feel it throughout my body. I'm not a good person to talk to if you want to be a victim or be in denial because I will hone in on the "truth" fairly quickly. I've had more than one person tell me that when they want someone to feel sorry for them, they call someone else. And when they want to hear the truth, they call me. All of that comes from the questioning, curious nature inside me. 

I say all of this because we often think of The Fool as being the guy who leaps before he looks and trusts the universe will guide him safely down. But he's also the guy who starts out on the journey of self awareness and awareness of the world around him that is the major arcana of the tarot. He is on a journey of discovery. Discovery requires curiosity. And curiosity relies on questions. 

There was a time, like Percival, that I held back on the questions out of some sort of anxiety. But that time is long past and I feel comfortable now. Like anything else, sometimes the timing will be off or someone will take offense. Those times teach you. You get a feel for how and how far to question someone. You get a sense for who might open up a little and who just has too many walls up. And you learn to respect others in pursuit of your curiosity. But even so you're still going to have times when you cringe because you stepped in a poo of your own making. 

When it comes down to asking an impolite question about something you feel a need to know about vs. not asking the question because you might be considered impolite, though, I'd go for the former every time. The only regrets I have about questions are regrets about the ones I never asked. 

11/20/12—Finding Your Eternity

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Art of Life Tarot. Do you think it's wise to "launch yourself on every wave"? How many times can you say you've consciously been in touch with "your eternal self"? Have you ever had a totally deep or meaningful thought as you're drifting off to sleep, only to forget it upon waking? And, bonus question, did you actually remember it on waking and, if so, what was the thought?

About a week or so ago, I had a thought as I was drifting off to sleep...or maybe I was dreaming...but I remember thinking, "OMG, the next time I draw the Fool card, I've got to talk about THAT. We've never talked about THAT before and it's the key to EVERYTHING!"

Well, we're not going to talk about that today. Because I can't remember what it was....haha. And I can't tell you how many times I've tried to recall what it is. It's been EATING at me. It's like dreaming about the meaning of your life or the reason why we're all here and not being able to remember. Gah!!!

So whatever it was that I thought or dreamed of, it's not what we're going to talk about today. But the funny thing is that this Fool card comes with a quote from Henry David Thoreau that is pretty close to delivering one of those deep life secrets we're all searching for: 

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."

We talk a lot about being fully present in the moment on this blog. That's what living in the present is about...living in this moment. Not a moment that happened five minutes from now, not one that may happen five years from now, but being absorbed fully in this precise moment—a moment without a past or present, a moment where you're not distracted by anything else, a moment that contains only now and the million possibilities that exist within it. 

These are the moments where you lose all sense of time and space...you're impervious to mundane demands...you're totally in the flow. In this moment, you don't have to pay bills, go to the doctor, lose 20 lbs, etc. You're not held to a pattern from the past or obligations in the future. All of that is for other moments. In this moment you and life are exactly right as they should be. 

Launching yourself on every wave is not far off from what we spoke of yesterday in our Being Your Own Hero essay. You grab life as it comes to you, rather than allowing it to grab you and steer your way. Surfers wait for the perfect wave to come. This is asking you to taste of every opportunity that comes your way. Eat the full smorgasbord of life. 

But the last bit of the quote is perhaps the juiciest. Find your eternity in each moment. See, that's the whole POINT of living in the moment. Because when you're in the moment, you're in the groove with the all of what is, you're in union with god and grace. You're walking through life hand-in-hand with your eternal self. Your divine self. Even if, in this moment, you're being arrested. Or insulted. You can be in the moment with it...find your eternity in that moment. 

Imagine, just for a minute, that you KNEW you were an eternal being. Knew it in every cell within your body. How would that change the frustrating or annoying situation you had earlier today? If you knew that nothing could destroy you, nothing could cut you short or cheat you out of anything. If you had the perspective of your soul or higher self, rather than just the perspective of your current incarnation?

On the one hand, we probably need the "deadline" of having, say, 80 years to work on our life's lessons, whatever they may be. Because if we knew we really had eternity to solve all those issues, we might take this lifetime off. But understanding the big ball of eternal grace that each of us is, could be game changing in our lives...in the way we deal with ourselves and others. And it all begins with putting ourselves in the one state that is truly eternal, this very moment. 

What do you see in the Fool's quote?

10/26/12—Standing at the Precipice

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Halloween Tarot by Kipling West. What kind of "risk" causes you anxiety, but you take it anyway? What kind of risk scares you so much you just can never bring yourself to it? And, for extra credit, do you have any phobias?

As we know from the recent Hello Kitty post, there are exceptions to my "no cute tarots" and "no cats allowed" rules. And while I don't consider Kipling's art to break those rules egregiously, she DID create a cat deck. And this Halloween deck is pretty cute. And it's got lots of cats in it. So I guess what it comes down to is that I'm just a Kipling West fan, following her ouiji board designs and other art, too. Beneath all the cute is a lot of irreverent, dirty minded thought. And I like that in an artist. 

So, anyway, with Halloween coming up next week, I thought I'd break out the most famous, best-selling and most popular Halloween deck of all. And, yes, there are others. At least one other specifically themed for Halloween (yet NOT A SINGLE DOG DECK!!!), then a bunch of vampire, zombie and other dark-themed decks. Kipling's deck is so popular that it transcends Halloween, though. It's been reprinted numerous times and, in fact, one of my students uses it as her main deck. 

The Fool is about taking risks and jumping off into the unknown. This got me thinking about this weekend. I'm dressing as a gypsy and doing readings at a party again. I hate dressing in costume. And while I like to read, I go in and out of wanting to do it professionally. But the part that pokes at me the most is being around people. 

This will surprise some because I come across as a total extrovert. But I'm not. Every time I have to be "on" in a crowd produces anxiety for me. Again, I don't think you'd ever know it, because I seem all confident and whatnot. And I've been teaching, for example, long enough that that particular scenario doesn't usually get me going. But sometimes it does. And I do it anyway. And I end up really enjoying it, just like I'm really going to enjoy this party. The people hosting it seem great. 

But being a "people person" is something I had to force myself to learn. I remember the biggest leap into the unknown regarding that was when I was starting out as a freelancer. I forced myself to go to networking events so I could spread my name around a little and meet others. I usually did something awkward, like interrupt a conversation to introduce myself. But those outings ultimately taught me that I could hold my own with the extroverts of the world. 

Then I could come home and crawl back into my hidey hole, deprive myself of light and feel normal again. Like a mushroom. 

So that's just one of the buttons this weekend is pushing. They didn't hire a mushroom. Dressing in costume is another. And there are other anxiety-provoking aspects, too. But here's what I know about this situation in particular—all the anxiety comes in the anticipation of it. The second I'm there, I'll be a veritable factory of glee and psychic readiness. I probably won't even want to leave. This is one of those leaps that, though it makes me nervous, I can handle. 

Something like singing in public, however...that would horrify me. So I feel like I should probably do it again before I die. It's not like I haven't done it before. I was in all the musicals and talent shows in high schools and took voice all through college. I even sang in my brother's wedding, but it's one of those things that just makes me back away from the precipice. I think we need things that bring us to that limit. And I think we sometimes need to force ourselves to leap. Only then can we discover what lies beyond. 

7/30/12—Leaping Into the Unknown

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Nigel Jackson tarot. When was the last time you did something a little reckless? In general, how safe are the risks you take? Would you welcome more zing in your life?

Everybody wants more zing in their lives, right? The trouble is, zing isn't something that comes looking for you. You have to look for it. Sure, a drop or two of zing might hit you at random from time to time. And if that's OK with you then, by all means, wait for zing to find you.

But there's growing underground movement of Zing Seekers for whom the occasional splash of zing just isn't enough. They take personal responsibility for their zingitude and actively seek deep pools of zing to roll around in. And I'm one of those seekers. So I declare this week's theme to be "Qualities to Cultivate to Get More Zing Out of Life." Or "Zing Week" as we homeys call it.

So the first card in Zing Week is the Fool. This dude is basically drunk on the stuff. See his droopy-eyed look? And the electric glow around his head? And the donkey-eared hat? It would be easy to mistake him for a simpleton...a literal fool who's about to step off the side of a cliff because he's walking around focused on some silly daydream instead of watching where he's going.

But he doesn't care what you think. Nor does he lack focus. Sure, he's innocent and a little naïve. In fact, his foolish, innocent nature is his greatest strength. It's the strength that makes him makes him smarter and more courageous than most of the rest of us on most days. Because he has total trust and faith that, when he walks off the side of the cliff, he will fall in the very spot he's meant to fall in to create change in his life. 

The certain death he's just two steps away from is the death of the old Fool that wasn't making him happy anymore. At the same time, he's also two steps away from freedom from that existence and the joy and infinite possibility that come with it. And he knows it. That's the difference between him and us. He knows there's zing in throwing caution to the wind. And so he takes those steps without hesitation, when you or I may hesitate for years at the precipice between now and the rest of our lives.

Literally, in the tarot, the Fool is on a journey and on the other side of this leap is an education...spiritual lessons and growth. So another thing he knows that we may not is that there is no way to lose, no way to fail, no way to do it wrong. That's why he has no fear. Everything is lessons. Everything is part of the journey he signed on for.

So, say you've decided to quit your job as an attorney and start all over again as a baker. That's a big leap. And the road may not go smoothly. But with each bump, you learn a lesson that makes the road ahead a little smoother. Maybe the road will veer a little. Maybe you'll start to bake less and manage bakers more. Maybe you'll write a cookbook. Or host a TV show about baking. Maybe you'll end up with a cake conglomerate that plays a part in a whole cake revolution. Who knows?

Where you end up may not be where you imagined when you first took the leap. But maybe it's exactly where you're supposed to be. People who live in the DC area may recognize this "fool's story" as that of Warren Brown, owner of Cake Love. If you get a chance, read his story here and here. The dude just loved to bake. So he lept.

The world is also full of stories of dudes that never lept. Those stories usually end like this...."And he died a grumpy old man." :D The world is also full of stories of people who lept and didn't end up as successful as Warren Brown. But even if their intention never manifested, they usually don't regret having tried.

Having made a big leap myself before (when I quit my job to freelance) I can say that my life has never had more zing than it did back then. I wasn't scared at all. In fact, I've never felt more powerful and alive. But a leap doesn't have to be that huge. Maybe you trade in an old hobby for a new one. Or convert your car to run on French fry oil. Or cut off your hair and dye it purple.

Whatever it is, a leap draws a line in the sand between yesterday and today. Where yesterday was a known quantity, today is not. Where yesterday was safe, today is not. And where yesterday was just another day, today is not. Today has zing.

So the first suggestion for bringing more zing into your life is to shake things up a bit. Make a leap. Face a fear. Follow a dream. And jump right into the arms of the thing that scares you most...the unknown.

6/7/12—Leaving Bag End

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Hobbit Tarot. Are you ready for a sudden change? What is holding you back from creating something new in your life? And when you truly examine your answer to that, is it even a valid excuse?

Have you ever been suddenly struck with a motivation to change? One day you're your normal self and the next day you're headed in a direction that never really occurred to you before? I have. In one way or another I feel like I've done it many times. 

My most notable example is probably becoming a self-employed writer. I had always worked for others before. I had never really considered being a freelancer before. But within three weeks of having that thought for the first time, I was one. And that includes the research I put in and my two weeks notice. Once I had the actual thought, it was pretty much immediate that I knew I was going to do it. And it's not like that's a small change, either. I had nothing really to fall back on. It was succeed or die. But something in me knew I'd succeed.

Bilbo Baggins is in the same situation in the Hobbit. One day he's happy living in Bag End and the next he leaves on an adventure he could have never imagined the day before. It's not like he doesn't have his doubts. But he does it anyway. It's as if he can't NOT do it. Something within him tells him it's the right thing to do. And as his journey progresses, he finds that life was preparing him for this all along. 

Sometimes life hands us these sudden happenings. But it's important to note that we can make these sudden changes for ourselves. Life hands us that opportunity once a second for every minute of the day. 

We've talked a bit about manifestation this week and one of the keys to that is watching our thoughts and words. Everything from self berating words to negative thoughts can get in between us and the things we want. 

One of the neat tricks I've learned to combat that is from a spiritual teacher named Iyanla Van Sant. She suggests you get in the habit of merely injecting "until today" into your thoughts. So "I suck at math" becomes, "Until today, I sucked at math." And "I feel like nobody loves me" becomes "until today, I felt like nobody loved me."

Each "today"...each minute...each second...brings the possibility for sudden change that can make those statements true. In fact, many of these statements are usually feelings based on our baggage and have no real basis in fact. Maybe you don't suck at math, you just suck at Geometry. And the feeling of being unloved is just a feeling. Like we talked about a couple of days ago just changing your thoughts can change your life. And "until today" is one of the tools you now have in your arsenal. 

Another tool is examining your excuses for why you can't change. Are they really valid? A lawyer who wants to become a landscape architect may say "I can't do that because I have children to support and I won't earn as much." First, some landscape architects do earn as much. And second, what are you teaching your children by staying in a job that doesn't fulfill you for the sake money? You could probably stand to downsize your life anyway. And you can't convincingly tell your children to pursue their passions in life if you don't have the balls to do it yourself. There's always another side to the argument. So look for that other side and see how valid your excuses are in that different light.

Until today, Bilbo was an ordinary hobbit, comfortable in Bag End, doing and thinking the same things, day after day. He could never be a hero because he was a little bumbling and, besides, he was past his prime. Then his excuses fell away, he had a new thought and a side of him that had gone underutilized all his life came to the fore. And he became a hero. His world became bigger. And his life became bigger. 

It all started by having a different thought. Then it took a leap of faith. Then it took on a life of its own. 

That's how change happens. One of the gifts of life is that there are no wrong turns. Everything path leads to a lesson. And every moment contains the potential for a new thought that can change things again. In this way, we live in an endless stream of magic and creation. What will that inspire in you?

4/11/12—Preparing for Takeoff

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Rohrig Tarot. Are you working your arse off on some goal right now? Do you feel like you're in a critical place where you need to keep your eye on every little thing, lest something go wrong? Has it ever occurred to you that you may actually be undermining your goals by putting forth so much effort?

You probably don't spend a lot of time considering the physical force of "lift". Normally, neither do I, but that has changed lately. 

Lift is the force that opposes the weight of an airplane so that, instead of succumbing to gravity, the plane stays in the air. The velocity and aerodynamics of the lifted object also play key roles in making lift happen. (Hopefully I got that right, because I have an oddly high concentration of pilot friends and I will hear about it if I'm wrong.)  ;)

Anyway, the idea of lift has come to me a few times over the last couple of days. In the abstract sense, lift is what happens when you "let go and let God". It's what happens when you're the "wind beneath my wings." Or when "Jesus takes the wheel." And it's also what happens when The Fool leaps into the unknown and trusts the universe to guide him safely to his destination. 

Lift is a universal force in physics. So, when you've got all the right elements working for you, it's always going to work. Anywhere in the universe. Anytime you start talking spiritually, however, there is a leap that needs to be taken to cover the chasm between fact and belief. Metaphysics or New Age thought posits that there are laws of the universe that also dictate the way the higher power's energy moves through our lives. Physicists often take issue with the way physical laws are applied to spirituality. They are scientists and they deal with fact and not faith. The leap between the two means nothing to them, because it can't be proven.

Traditional fool image

 

 

In addition, as much as I am a metaphysical believer, I acknowledge that we make things sound like fact that are often just belief, in the same way any religion does. For example, the Law of Attraction (like attracts like) isn't a scientific law. It's not a proven fact. There is no "Law of Attraction" in physics. You can google it all you want and find page upon page of entries of people saying it's a physical law. But none of those pages will be hosted by MIT or Cal Berkely or NASA or any other group that deals with actual physics. Because it's not a law of physics. If there was a scientific LAW that like attracted like, then magnets wouldn't repel each other, we wouldn't have the saying "opposites attract" and a positively charged ion wouldn't attract a negatively charged ion. It's not an absolute that like attracts like. Therefore it cannot be a law in the scientific sense. 

I say this, because a lot of what people call "quantum physics proving spiritual belief" is a misunderstanding or bending of quantum physics. I believe in metaphysical theory and have been studying/practicing for over 20 years. But it's not proven scientific fact as it's presented and I believe it's dangerous that people believe so. It's just as theoretical as Moses walking on water—something many will swear actually happened, yet it can't be proven. All we have is hearsay. So it's not a fact. It's a belief. I just want to get this out because I feel that if people are going to believe in this way, they should at least know the difference between physics and metaphysics...between scientifically proven laws and theory. Metaphysics is not science. It's a theoretical belief that tries to explain the unexplainable using information (often naively) extrapolated from scientific fact. It is not scientific fact itself. Which doesn't mean it's not true or real. It just means it hasn't yet been proven.

That said, I'm all about the "like attracts like". I've seen it happen a million times in my life. It absolutely works for me. I also feel energy working around me that can't be captured by scientific devices. I've spoken to people who are dead and people who may have never walked the earth and exist only in the spirit realm. We can attribute something like spirit energy to scientific laws of thermodynamics that say that energy (and EVERYTHING is energy) can neither be created, nor destroyed. It can only change forms. That is scientific fact. But it doesn't mean the energy of a human becomes a ghost when it changes forms. As much as I believe it to be true, it's not a fact. 

So I think it's clear now what I mean that there is a leap between fact and spirituality. At least as things exist today. And so I'm making a leap with this whole physical force of lift that I began talking about. And the leap I'm making is this—in tarot, the Fool jumps off the side of a mountain on a journey of self-knowledge, in complete faith that he is protected by the universe. And somehow he lands softly in exactly the place he needs to land to learn his next lesson. 

This whole idea of lift...of leaping and letting the universe cradle me to where I want to go...is showing up everywhere for me lately in messages like, "let spirit steer your vessel", "trust that the universe has got your back", and "the more you align with your purpose, the higher you'll soar." All beautiful messages, and ones that make you want to melt into the arms of your higher power. But seeing as how we're all control freaks, so hard to do. 

Like with the airplane, we need to symbolically loosen our grip enough to lay prostrate before the higher power—this is the aerodynamic form we need to take advantage of lift. Next we need to put forth enough effort to take off and achieve altitude. Then we just need to allow gravity to support us from below and lift to keep us soaring, putting forth effort now and then as needed to keep momentum/velocity going. Just like with the plane, most of your energy will be used taking your first steps toward your goal. From there forward, the universe has got your back. Though, again, not a scientific law, this is what Deepak Chopra calls the Law of Least Effort. If you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off, it's a sign you're not allowing the universe to do its job.

Mike Dooley says it another way. He says our job is defining the "what" and God's job is defining the "how". I love that, because it's not only saying it's as simple as placing an order, but there's a hidden gem in there. When you're running around trying to figure out HOW to make things happen—or trying to dictate how things will happen—you're not letting the universe do its job (does the plane micromanage the universe on how to create lift? Or does it just trust and utilize the natural force?) And when you're not grateful for the WAY the universe is delivering on your order—because it's not the way you imagined it happening or because things are looking worse before they looks better—then you're basically telling the all powerful that you know better than they do. You're effectively canceling your order. 

So that's what I've been thinking about lift lately. Lord, these entries get long! I just feel I have so much to share sometimes. I had an amazing session with an energy healer today and the whole idea of lift was driven home to me in ways that spoke directly to the core of what is going on in my life, why I'm feeling so restless and what I need to do to continue forth on my journey. Maybe that story will come out another day. But what does the spiritual concept of "lift" mean to you? Do you feel like you're soaring higher lately? Or does "lift" make you realize you're working too hard and not letting the universe work for you?

If you're on Facebook, you can go to http://thedailytarotdraw.blogspot.com/ for links to information on some of the the metaphysical theories and scientific laws discussed in this essay.

3/15/12—Letting the Plan Find You

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Tarot of the Animal Lords. Are you the kind of person who likes to have everything planned and predictable? Are you looking for change, but don't where to start? And do you even know where you're going?

So I already know from some of the responses I've gotten this week that a number of people are "welcoming" changes in their lives, either by choice or circumstance. And the Fool comes to tell us how to do that. His message is simple—just start moving.

When I have to go someplace new, the first thing I do is Mapquest it. Then I'll print out a series of maps at various magnifications. Then, after studying the maps, I'll write my chosen set of directions on one of the pieces of paper. I'll staple all items into a packet that then gets placed in my purse, lest I forget. And when all of that is done, I'll enter the address into my GPS...haha. Overkill? Yes. My dad was a navigator in the Air Force, so the obsession is genetic. At least that's what I tell myself so I feel less pathetic. 

But that's not how the Fool operates. In fact, he can't operate that way. He doesn't even know where he's going! But one thing he knows for sure it that he will never get there if he doesn't get started immediately. So he just blindly goes and trusts that where he ends up will be where he's meant to be. And if he doesn't like that place, that's ok too. He doesn't have to stay.

There are times in our lives when we clearly know where we're going. So we devise a plan and start moving in our desired direction. Knowing what you want and having a goal seems to be the most "socially correct" way of getting to Point B. We're taught all our lives to be "goal-oriented" and a "go-getter". 

But the course of life doesn't always work that way. Thank god! Because when we're so focused on a certain goal, we're usually only considering a narrow set of possible outcomes. We've decided what we want our outcome to be and, therefore, work to achieve that and only that. But when we walk the path of The Fool, who knows what miracles might be lurking around the bend?

I've said it before and will say it again—the universe has a much bigger dream for you than you have for yourself. The go-getter will likely achieve the dream they have for themselves and little more. But it takes The Fool to be open enough to achieve the bigger dream that the universe has for them. So if you're currently in a situation where you know you need a change, but just don't know what it is, don't wait until you have a plan before you begin. Set out today, follow the wind and let the plan find you.