2/23/13-2/24/13—Assessing Your Career

Weekend Reading: Seven of Pentacles from The Deck of the Bastard in the Career position from the Deck of 1000 Spreads. The Seven of Pentacles signifies a time of assessment and reaping rewards. You've worked hard to build you career. Are you seeing the rewards of that? Is it still what you want to do? Could it be time for a change? These are just a few of the questions this combo wants you to think about this weekend. Too often we go to work and live for our weekend and we continue in that cycle endlessly without ever asking ourselves, "is this what I want? And if not, what am I willing to do about it?" Just those two questions alone can change everything. Or nothing. It all depends on your answers. The Seven of Pentacles in your career position is prompting you to take that conscious look and see where you stand. 

12/6/12—Putting In Your Time

Today's Draw Classic*: Eight of Nature from the Tarot of the Origins. What have you always wanted that you've never managed to get? Why do you think you don't have it? And what would you be willing to do to get it?

The Eight of Nature equates to the Eight of Wands. In the Tarot of the Origins, the Eight of Wands speaks of the spirit of trees and slowness. 

Many believe the largest organism on earth is a tree. Not a Redwood or a Sequoia, but an Aspen. See, what seems to be an entire grove of Aspens is really just one organism, derived from the same original seedling, with new shoots/trees popping up over time. A single tree in the colony may live up to 150 years. But the root system...the colony itself...is thought to live tens of thousands of years. The largest of the Aspens, named Pando, is located in Utah, covers over 100 acres and weighs 6000 tons. It's rumored be anywhere from 80,000 to a million years old. To put that in perspective, homo sapiens existed only in Africa 80,000 years ago. And that Aspen is AT LEAST 80,000 years old. It beat man to  Utah by at least 30,000 years.

The Aspen teaches us that building something big, strong and enduring takes time. The amenities of our modern world have done us a disservice in that they condition us to expect immediate results. They make us impatient. And so when we try to build a career or a relationship or change in life, we decide that we've "failed" or that "it's not working" before we've given it a fair chance. Of course, giving something a fair chance shouldn't be confused with sticking with a losing proposition until it drags you into the ground. But our dreams, the things we hunger for, deserve to be built slowly on a foundation as firm as the Aspen's. 

Every once in a while I'll come across someone who spends their life in regret because they tried many things and failed each time. Or I'll meet someone who is looking for a quick answer in their life. Or someone will look at my cushy job and say they wish they could do what I do. But if they were honest, all those people would really be saying, "I'm not willing to do what it takes to have that thing I want." 

I remember in the early years of my career I was an administrative person in the creative department of an advertising agency, helping the copywriters I wanted to be.... for three years. Then I worked in horrific retail jobs writing headlines like "SALE 29.99 No-Iron Slacks" for four years. Then I finally got a job doing what I wanted to do in an advertising agency. Over the first 10 years of my career I cultivated contacts and a portfolio, ultimately going into business myself. The difference between me and all the other people who wanted to do what I wanted to do but never made it, is that I never gave up. Many writers had much easier paths than I did. I didn't get those breaks. In many cases, I just wasn't as talented as they were, frankly. But I never gave up. I wanted it that much.

The difference between you and the people who have what you want is that they were willing to do something you're not willing to do to get it. Sometimes that means taking a lower paying job. Putting up with awful working conditions. Working for years without advancement. Making sacrifices of time, family, relationships or other things of value. Or simply putting in your time and paying your dues. 

Anytime I see myself looking over the fence at someone with a more sparkling career or relationship or whatever, I can't bring myself to be jealous. I can't tell myself that they're just lucky or they had different opportunities or anything like that. Because the truth is that they were willing to do what it took to get it. And so far I haven't been. We really can't blame our regrets about things like this on anything other than ourselves, imo. I know that sounds harsh, but it was seven years before I got the job I went into business to get. Seven very poorly paid years working way below my capability and talent level. It never once occurred to me to give up. 

The good news is that, if you're reading this, you're probably not too old to go after that thing you still want. I'm going after a new dream and I'm 49. I know it will take years to build. I'm willing to put in that time and make that effort. But this isn't just about careers. I've been working on my psychic development for 25 years. Same with my spiritual development and personal growth. I'm still working on all that and will be until the day I die, because I want to be the best, most authentic person I can be. I want to do my soul proud. 

On the other side of the fence, I had someone recently remind me that if I had put the effort into finding a gentleman companion that I put into the five million little side projects that I always have going on in my life, I'd also have a successful love life. If I focused on weight loss the way I focus on these blogs every day, I'd be four sizes smaller. If I put the effort into caring for my home that I put into Facebook, I'd have a spotless home. But I don't. And there's nothing to blame outside of myself for that. I accept that.

Although you wouldn't know it by looking at an individual shoot, its leaves quaking vulnerably in the wind, the Aspen puts out a complex network of roots and shoots, breaking ground here and there until one day it's the largest, most enduring single organism on the planet. This is how we build anything worth having, imo. So if you have what you want in life—whether it's your family, your friends, your self development or your career—recognize all the work it took to build and be proud of that. And if you're still working toward something truly worth having, persist. If you're willing to do what it takes to get it, you will.

*Today's entry is a reprise of the one posted on 7/13/11. This is actually the second time I've re-read and repeated this post. I like it that much. :D

7/13/11—Putting In Your Time

Today's Draw Classic*: Eight of Nature from the Tarot of the Origins. What have you always wanted that you've never managed to get? Why do you think you don't have it? And what would you be willing to do to get it?

The Eight of Nature equates to the Eight of Wands. In the Tarot of the Origins, the Eight of Wands speaks of the spirit of trees and slowness. 

Many believe the largest organism on earth is a tree. Not a Redwood or a Sequoia, but an Aspen. See, what seems to be an entire grove of Aspens is really just one organism, derived from the same original seedling, with new shoots/trees popping up over time. A single tree in the colony may live up to 150 years. But the root system...the colony itself...is thought to live tens of thousands of years. The largest of the Aspens, named Pando, is located in Utah, covers over 100 acres and weighs 6000 tons. It's rumored be anywhere from 80,000 to a million years old. To put that in perspective, homo sapiens existed only in Africa 80,000 years ago. And that Aspen is AT LEAST 80,000 years old. It beat man to Utah by at least 30,000 years.

The Aspen teaches us that building something big, strong and enduring takes time. The amenities of our modern world have done us a disservice in that they condition us to expect immediate results. They make us impatient. And so when we try to build a career or a relationship or change in life, we decide that we've "failed" or that "it's not working" before we've given it a fair chance. Of course, giving something a fair chance shouldn't be confused with sticking with a losing proposition until it drags you into the ground. But our dreams, the things we hunger for, deserve to be built slowly on a foundation as firm as the Aspen's. 

Every once in a while I'll come across someone who spends their life in regret because they tried many things and failed each time. Or I'll meet someone who is looking for a quick answer in their life. Or someone will look at my cushy job and say they wish they could do what I do. But if they were honest, all those people would really be saying, "I'm not willing to do what it takes to have that thing I want." 

I remember in the early years of my career I was an administrative person in the creative department of an advertising agency, helping the copywriters I wanted to be.... for three years. Then I worked in horrific retail jobs writing headlines like "SALE 29.99 No-Iron Slacks" for four years. Then I finally got a job doing what I wanted to do in an advertising agency. Over the first 10 years of my career I cultivated contacts and a portfolio, ultimately going into business myself. The difference between me and all the other people who wanted to do what I wanted to do but never made it, is that I never gave up. Many writers had much easier paths than I did. I didn't get those breaks. In many cases, I just wasn't as talented as they were, frankly. But I never gave up. I wanted it that much.

The difference between you and the people who have what you want is that they were willing to do something you're not willing to do to get it. Sometimes that means taking a lower paying job. Putting up with awful working conditions. Working for years without advancement. Making sacrifices of time, family, relationships or other things of value. Or simply putting in your time and paying your dues. 

Anytime I see myself looking over the fence at someone with a more sparkling career or relationship or whatever, I can't bring myself to be jealous. I can't tell myself that they're just lucky or they had different opportunities or anything like that. Because the truth is that they were willing to do what it took to get it. And so far I haven't been. We really can't blame our regrets about things like this on anything other than ourselves, imo. I know that sounds harsh, but it was seven years before I got the job I went into business to get. Seven very poorly paid years working way below my capability and talent level. It never once occurred to me to give up. 

The good news is that, if you're reading this, you're probably not too old to go after that thing you still want. I'm going after a new dream and I'm 48. I know it will take years to build. I'm willing to put in that time and make that effort. But this isn't just about careers. I've been working on my psychic development for 25 years. Same with my spiritual development and personal growth. I'm still working on all that and will be until the day I die, because I want to be the best, most authentic person I can be. I want to do my soul proud. 

On the other side of the fence, I had someone recently remind me that if I had put the effort into finding a gentleman companion that I put into the five million little side projects that I always have going on in my life, I'd also have a successful love life. If I focused on weight loss the way I focus on these blogs every day, I'd be four sizes smaller. If I put the effort into caring for my home that I put into Facebook, I'd have a spotless home. But I don't. And there's nothing to blame outside of myself for that. I accept that.

Although you wouldn't know it by looking at an individual shoot, its leaves quaking vulnerably in the wind, the Aspen puts out a complex network of roots and shoots, breaking ground here and there until one day it's the largest, most enduring single organism on the planet. This is how we build anything worth having, imo. So if you have what you want in life—whether it's your family, your friends, your self development or your career—recognize all the work it took to build and be proud of that. And if you're still working toward something truly worth having, persist. If you're willing to do what it takes to get it, you will.

*Today's entry is a reprise of the one posted on 7/13/11. 

1/11/12—Aligining Your Spirituality With Your Work

Today's Draw: Nine of Pentacles from the Shadowscapes Tarot. Are your spiritual and material beliefs aligned? Do you see your job as something you do in service to a particular community? Do you treat others the same way at work as you would treat them at church?

The Nine of Pentacles is traditionally about prosperity and security. It's about the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. But this particular Nine of Pentacles puts a little different twist on that. It's about working and earning in integrity with your beliefs. 

As you probably know by now, I work in advertising. I'm the person that writes the words that, hopefully, convince you to buy. A lot of people have negative views about advertising and probably about my job in particular. My father was one of those people. Raised during the depression, he was suspicious of snake oil dealers and the false claims people feel are made in advertising. 

That said, I've never encountered anyone suggesting that you should bend the truth in my entire career. And I've never written words I didn't believe to be true about the product or service in question. Only once did I ever come upon a situation that made me feel skeevy and we were able to resolve it to the liking of everyone involved. 

Doing what I do, I get to talk to a lot of company owners, inventors and company presidents. Without exception, these are people who have a passion for what they do and truly believe in what they have to offer. People are out there are on a mission and I get to help them achieve it.

But aligning your beliefs with your spirituality is about more than passion. It's about honesty and integrity and what's fair. So the question then becomes, "are you the same person at work that you'd be at church?" I imagine a lot of people compartmentalize their "lives" and justify different tactics in different places. But you're either in integrity to your beliefs or not.

As I move toward a second career as an author, my spirituality *is* my career. And with that comes a lot of responsibility that I'm not taking lightly. If you look at the woman in the card, she's a musician, but her instrument is as much a part of nature as her soul is. There is no separation between her earth-focused spirituality and her work. She doesn't slip into the "love of money" trap. She doesn't treat those around her with disrespect. In fact, she doesn't work, she serves. 

All of us serve in one way or another. The question is, are you cognizant of it? Do you approach your job in a way of service? And do you treat it and others as though God were watching...as though God were who you were serving? I'm sure some of you out there are thinking, "what do you want, lady, it's just a job!" To that I would say, "so I take it your answer is a no?"

Last week I took people to task about other facets of maintaining your spiritual integrity. And this is another one of those posts where we have to at least ask ourselves if our spirituality encompasses and informs our entire life, or is just for showy talks by the fireplace. This isn't about needing to change jobs, it's about needing to change the way you walk on a 9-5 basis. 

I didn't always see my job as service. Someone else opened my eyes to that notion many years ago. And seeing it as service completely changed the way I approach it. Yeah, sometimes it makes bitchy or whiny. My spirituality isn't as mature in my job as it is by the fireplace, but it's there and the way I run my business and my business partnerships is very much aligned with my beliefs. In those moments I'm not in alignment, I'm very aware of it and use it as an opportunity to see where I can do better.

So just noodle this. That's all I'm saying. I will say that if you can do that one thing...see your work as service...it will change the way you feel about your job and the way you approach others. And before anyone says, "yeah, but you don't know this beyotch I have to work with", keep in mind your spiritual integrity is not dependent on anyone but you. The way you respond is a choice. Sure it's hard. And it's also easy, because the roadmap is laid out before you. You always know the right thing to do.