Building On the Past

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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PipSpeak Tarot's Le PapeThe @GlitterbyInk #JulyJoy25 Challenge
Celebration of Joy Prompt for July 18 : Confidence
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is Le Pape (the Hierophant card), which is traditionally a representation of traditions, spiritual guidance, long standing institutions, teachers and guides, and themes that deal with conformity and social norms.

Don’t take for granted the stuff that you know through past experience, no matter if these past experiences are yours or, as is more often the case, someone else’s.

It’s through listening and valuing our experiences and those of our elders and ancestors that we learn what doesn’t work, as well as what does, and even what might be improved on by building upon these past experiences.

Today’s message encourages us to look at those things that we are good at, and to examine their roots. Where did this knowledge come from? Who (or what) deserves our gratitude and thanks, when we consider how we developed this knowledge? Whose footsteps are we following in?

These things, experiences, and people need acknowledgment and respect for having paved the way forward for your own knowledge and skills. The card and prompt combo for today remind us to not discount them out of hand, but to instead include them into our personal narrative of confidence and success.

DECK USED:  PIPSPEAK TAROT

@LightningWildflower‘s July Tarot Challenge
Revere Prompts for July 16 – 18

Home & Garden Creatures Oracle ReadingWhat in my life deserves special attention and reverence?

Wandering Stones – Remember that mistakes happen for a reason and the bad things in life are something that you learn from. They have value. Each stumble and tumble that you go through is a building block upon how strong you are and the knowledge you hold. They are not random, nor are they the world picking on you. Instead, they are lessons in the development of who you are meant to be and who you want to become.

How can I include more ritual or intention in my day?

Krampus atop Instant Noodle Lung – Bake into your plan the consequences of those times when you take a break, instead of just allowing those consequences to roll up on you and take you by surprise or be something unexpected that needs rectifying.  Consider how your shrink encouraged you to specifically plan time for lazing and languishing rather than fitting it in where you can; you need to also specifically plan in time and leeway for shit to hit the fan when you choose to do something that you know is going have to repercussions.

What simple moments have hidden beauty?

Domestic Twigling atop Kitchen Brownie – Enjoy your food. Sometimes this can be difficult considering how much you eat and how much cooking you do… combined with the fact that you really don’t enjoy cooking all that much, even if it’s a good part of both your life and your spiritual practice. It’s no surprise that you sometimes become bored or burnt out in this area of your life. When things become boring? Start experimenting instead of slacking off. That’s where the fun lives.

Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Pansy Flower for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Black Spruce Tips to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: HOME AND GARDEN CREATURES DECK

Daily Self Kindness

I had a nice long soak in the tub today.

Gideon’s Challenge – Meditation and Mindfulness

The Buddha and Miss LunaMeditation and Mindfulness

Recently, someone asked me “How often do you meditate?”, and I had a hard time answering this question. The thing is that I do multiple types of meditation every day; but I don’t count them.

I pause multiple times a day to just slow breathe for a few minutes, and focus on those breaths. These breathing exercises are a coping mechanism, and help with my nerves and moments of anxiety. It is meditation, but I don’t count it as such.

I do grounding meditations before client readings. These help to ground and center me for the reading and put my head and energy into the right space. But, I don’t count them as meditation, even though that’s what they are.

I pause for moments of gratitude. I paused for moments of enjoyment from my senses and/or from my synesthesia. I don’t count these as meditation either, although they are in fact a brief mindfulness meditation.

What I count as a meditation is usually a 10 minute or longer stretch of mindfulness meditation and breathing exercise that’s done strictly for me and only for me. This is why we often see my posts saying that my meditation is skipped, even on days when I’ve actually done multiple meditations during the day.

The other types of meditation, I don’t think really count. Not that they don’t do their job or aren’t a type of meditation. I just don’t consider them to be time that was aside for that purpose and just for me.

So with this in mind, I ask to the question “How often do you meditate?” Do I answer multiple times a day? Or do I answer few times a week? I’m still not sure.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography