Choosing Your Moments

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #FebYOUary26 Moments & Memories Challenge
Prompt for February 4th
: Choice
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Starlit Gleaning Tarot - Four of Swords

Today’s draw is the Four of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of taking time to rest, recuperation after a trying time, and stillness for restoration and meditation on the events that have brought you to this place as well as where to go from here.

You have to make the choice to rest when you need it. There’s always going to be more stuff to do.

That’s the thing about being a workaholic, right? There’s always so much to do. Lists and lists of stuff to do. And that’s just the stuff that -needs- to get done. Then there’s the stuff you want to get done, the stuff you’d -like- to get done, and the stuff that you really don’t want to do but you should get done.

All of that… even before we get to the stuff that’s not even related to work. Stuff like food and fun, rest and enjoyment and relaxation.

The fact is, though? No one can “burn the candle at both ends” forever. We all need rest and recuperation, and the longer you put it off? The more time it’s going to take to recover.

The message in today’s Four of Swords and “choice” prompt is a reminder that just like going to the bathroom and putting food in our bodies, rest is important and can’t be put off forever. We either make time for it willingly, choosing when and where it happens so that we get what we need… or our bodies and minds will make that choice for us when it they break down due to neglect.

Better to choose to rest when you can rather than putting it off and having that choice taken from you. So make sure that you are practicing your right to choose, and give yourself the rest and recovery you need when you need it.

DECKS USED: STARLIT GLEANINGS TAROT STARRY EDITION

@ambitiouslyalexa’s February Journal Prompts
Prompt for February 4th
:

Tarot Reading with the Mindful Tarot and Reclaim Oracle Extended Edition

What I want to feel more connected to

Belonging, Five of Pentacles Rx, Change – You want to feel more comfortable asking for support when you need it.

Times when you need help from others invariably happen during moments of uncertainty caused by change. You don’t have to confront that uncertainty alone. Ask for help from others when you are feeling vulnerable, uncertain, or tapped out.

How to foster a stronger connection in this area

Control, The Fool, Sincerity – Let go of the control that you work so hard to hold onto, and be a little more free with that side of yourself that craves fun.

When you let go of control and decide to be a bit more reckless, you allow more authenticity of who you truly are hidden away inside to escape. This authenticity naturally draws people to you, and that draw is fostered by the fact that at these times when you release control you aren’t holding yourself apart from others as stringently.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Holy Leaf for fostering Strength, Endurance, and Boundaries
Scotch Pine Cone for Purging Negative Influences
Turtle Figurine for encouraging Slow and Steady Progress
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: MINDFUL TAROT AND RECLAIM ORACLE EXPANDED EDITION

#DiscordTarotholicsFeb2026 Challenge
Philosophical Prompt for February 4th
: Does love feel different to different people, or is it a universal emotion?

Tarot Reading with the Starlit Gleaning Tarot

Reading Summary – We relate to love through how we have experienced security and contentment in our past lives (Ten of Earth atop Anemesis). This secret knowledge (The High Priestess) is the driving force concerning how we experience love in the present (The Chariot flying off to the right/future).

Take Away – There are similarities because we are all human, but also differences… because we are all human.

These cards speak of past lives, but I think possibly it’s just as true that this answer could speak of our own pasts in -this- lifetime. We understand love through what we have experienced, whether it’s in past lives or in our current lifetime. Thus, it looks and feels different for everyone.

The answer here in these cards is that love is universal in that everyone can experience it, but -how- they experience it is subjective.

Other elements included in this reading:
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Bird Figurine for Fostering Hope, Positivity, and Renewal
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECKS USED: STARLIT GLEANINGS TAROT STARRY EDITION
Daily Self Kindness

I made J drive because I was tired and wanted to relax for a bit.

Gideon’s Challenge – Surprises

Cowgirls Rule - Women's Bathroom

Surprises

Sometimes when
you’ve gotta go
you’ve got to go
and it doesn’t matter
what sign
is on the door
as long as
you’re in there
alone
but that doesn’t
stop the
moment of laughter
when you first
step inside

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

What Remains Unseen

Today’s meditation was a ten minute long #DailyCalm session from the @Calm app.

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The @GlitterbyInk #FebYOUary26 Moments & Memories Challenge
Prompt for February 3rd
: Longing
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Cottage Magic Tarot's Eight of Swords

Today’s draw is the Eight of Swords (Quills), which is traditionally a representation of willful ignorance, self-imposed restrictions, turning a blind eye (especially when it can be harmful to self), and entertaining a victim mentality.

When I was little and my father was cruel to me, there were many times when I would run away to hide somewhere and cry afterward. During these moments of crying, I would hug myself and repeat the phrase “I want to go home” again and again.

This is a curious phrase, as I was home. I was in the only home I’d ever known being treated the only way I knew to be treated. And yet the phrase came back each time this happened. “I want to go home.”

I still don’t know what I was referring to when I said these words. I am blind to the understanding of where this “home” actually is, and when I focus on this phrase now, I still feel that sense of intense longing for… I don’t know what.

The thing is, in my adult life now, I have a home that is safe and comfortable, and I have people who fulfill that sense of “home” for me as well. My partner, my closest friend, my twin sister. And yet, that longing persists.

The message in today’s Eight of Swords card and “longing” prompt asks us about what we’re not seeing. Are we refusing to see these things that remain hidden from us, or is it just that we have not found the path forward to self-discovery we need as yet?

Today’s message encourages self-discovery. It asks us to look within ourselves to figure out what it is we’re missing; what it is we long for deep inside. After all, we can’t begin the journey towards fulfilling that longing until we identify it in the first place.

DECKS USED: COTTAGE MAGIC TAROT

@de_tarotjuf’s Love Is All We Need Challenge
#detarotjuffebruaritarotchallenge
Prompt for February 3rd

Tarot Reading with the Tarot of the Little Prince and The Little Prince Letterpress Bookmark Set

What is an important lesson I’ve learned from a previous relationship/friendship?

Honeymoon Phase, Knight of Pentacles, All the Stars – Just because everyone has their good side or positive qualities doesn’t make them a good fit for you. It’s really easy, at the beginning of a friendship or relationship, to only see the good side of people. That’s why it’s important to go slow when getting to know someone and deciding if they are your friend or not.

Whether or not they are a good fit for you can’t be decided in the first few days or weeks (or even months, sometimes). It takes time to get past that surface level presentation and see their negative qualities for what they truly are, and to then decide whether or not those negative qualities are something that fit with you, your path, and your values.

Other elements included in this reading:
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECKS USED: TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE LITTLE PRINCE LETTERPRESS BOOKMARK SET

@ambitiouslyalexa’s February Journal Prompts
Prompt for February 3rd
: One way I’ve grown without noticing

Tarot Reading with the Cottage Magic Tarot

Reading Summary – You have become far more nurturing and grounded (Queen of Biscuits) when it comes to emotional upheaval (Eight of Teacups Rx) in your life. You pause to listen and try to understand instead of just flying off the handle and walking away from your emotions (Queen of Teacups atop Eight of Teacups Rx). This has created a greater sense of stability for you (Queen of Pentacles and Eight of Biscuits bracketing either side of the emotions/teacups within), furthering your skills in working with your emotions as well as your emotional intelligence (Queen of Teacups and Eight of Biscuits).

Take Away – Your efforts to learn about and work with your emotions are not going unrewarded. You are just not noticing how much you’ve grown because you are distracted by the fact that you are actually experiencing your emotions instead of hiding from them and burying them.

This distraction can often make it hard for you to see how you’re doing on this path, but here we see that you are doing well and advancing, even if it doesn’t always feel like it due to the emotions involved.

Other elements included in this reading:
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Foraged Silver Maple Key for Bouncing Back to Thrive
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: COTTAGE MAGIC TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

I pushed myself to meditate today even though I wasn’t really feeling it.

Gideon’s Challenge – The Awakening

The Awakening

Minuscule
delicate blooms
clustered
in the thousands
or perhaps millions
create a sea
of undulating color
as the breeze
skims over
prickly leaves
and kiss the tips
of tiny flowers
one by one

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Prioritizing Authenticity

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #FebYOUary26 Moments & Memories Challenge
Prompt for February 2nd
: Innocence
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Jane Austen Tarot - The Hermit

Today’s draw is The Hermit card, which is traditionally a representation of solitude, self reflection and introspection, alone time, and inner guidance.

This card depicts Mr. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice reading in his study, a room that is uniquely his from the furnishings to the books, all the way down to the smallest of details. It is his retreat and his sanctuary, and no other’s tastes or opinions hold sway here.

This card begs the question… Why are you allowing other people’s judgments to be the deciding factor on how you feel about yourself?

Like Mr. Bennett study is an expression of himself, and thus where he feels most comfortable, it’s important to have a place where you are just yourself and feel comfortable. The very best place for this is within yourself.

Too often we try to mold ourselves into what others expect from us, and what makes us uniquely us becomes something to be ashamed of or lost along the way. It’s naïve to believe that everyone else knows you better than you know yourself, or knows what is right for you more than you yourself do.

The message in today’s Hermit card and “innocence” prompt is a reminder that it’s okay to listen to other people’s opinions, but authenticity to yourself needs to be prioritized over bending to what others expect of you or expect you to be.

Sometimes this means that you need to spend some alone time with yourself and do some self reflection and self exploration to “find yourself” again. Especially if you’ve been conforming to other people’s expectations for far too long.

DECK USED: JANE AUSTEN TAROT 2026

@ambitiouslyalexa’s February Journal Prompts
Prompt for February 2nd

Oracle Reading with the Oracles des Animaux Guérisseurs

What feels tender for me right now

Le Colibri – You’re struggling right now to see the positive aspects of things and focus on the little things that make you happiest. Caught any sort of “haze”, you struggle to see the joy in every day with clarity of mind.

This is because you have retreated, putting yourself in a precarious position in the process. You are starving yourself of the love and affection that could nourish you back to a healthy balance.

What can I do to help support myself and this tenderness?

Le Scorpion – Remember that (for you) isolating yourself is not a boundary, but rather a method of self neglect and an unhealthy way to try and protect yourself from unpleasant experiences.

Instead of holding yourself apart, reach out to those that you love and trust to help you through your darker moments when you struggle with your emotions.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Purple Heather Sprigs for Independence and Luck
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECKS USED: ORACLE DES ANIMAUX GUÉRISSEIRS

#DiscordTarotholicsFeb2026 Challenge
Prompts for February 2nd and 3rd

Tarot Reading with the Jane Austen Tarot and Tiny Teacup Pocket Oracle

How can you connect to the theme of hygge in your life at this time?

Six of Coins and Yes – Don’t back away from opportunities you are being given to spend time with others that care about you, nor refuse the gifts that they offer. Remember that you are an introvert in the process of trying to learn to be more of an extrovert with your loved ones. Saying yes more often when they choose to include you in things, as well as when they try to include themselves in things that you usually do alone, will help you in becoming more comfortable with this endeavor.

Where would it be wise to practice the mindset of gluggaveður in your life?

Wheel of Fortune and Quite Likely – When things turn upside down. It’s okay to step back and observe instead of inserting yourself in the middle of things.

The cycles of life include both ups and downs. It’s okay to be cautious during these moments of transition and uncertainty during changes and shifts. Instead of diving in to try and fix things, step back and observe, and wait for the opportunity for something new to present itself.

Other elements included in this reading:
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Agate Stone for Slowing Down and Finding Balance
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: JANE AUSTEN TAROT 2026 AND TINY TEACUP POCKET ORACLE
Daily Self Kindness

I splurged on sushi tonight for a bit of a treat.

Gideon’s Challenge – The Trap

Wood Craft Artwork

The Trap

Caught
dumbstruck
and fascinated
as gaze is
drawn in
and the mind
clears
and the world
disappears
for a few moments
before a touch
on the shoulder
bring reality
back into focus

Photo © ZenStatePhotography