Relief
An exhale
as knots loosen
and muscles
unnoticed
in their burn
ease up
into a sensation
of melting
as the news
comes
is good
and the tension
of bracing
for the worst
lets go
No Comparisons
Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the @Calm app.
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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 29th : A Lucky Find | #FMS_LUCKYFIND25
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Two of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of juggling responsibilities, work/life balance, and prioritization.
Your balance is not their balance, and their balance isn’t yours.
This falls back on that we can’t know what trials and tribulations others are going through. Their lives are different than ours, their experiences, lessons, and challenges are not ours. And, that’s all before taking into consideration that they are a completely different person than us with different emotions and reactions. (Not to mention they might be faking that they have things together far more than they really do.)
You can’t find your own balance when your eye isn’t even on the ball. If you’re too busy looking at how others are doing, you aren’t minding your own closely enough. Comparing your “balancing act” to another’s just doesn’t work, and when you try, you lose sight of your own balance and risk causing an even greater imbalance to occur.
Today’s card is a reminder to tend to your own balance in life, and stop comparing yourself and your abilities to everyone else’s. You’ll discover that balance is far easier to find and sustain if you focus on yourself and what you’re doing.
DECK USED: ABSURDO TAROT
@Lionharts #TheAugustTarot Leo Season Challenge
Ten of Wands – Responsibility Prompts for August 29th thru 31st
What weight can I release to focus my energy on what truly matters for my current journey?
Four of Wands and Salt – Remember that as long as your mortgage is being paid, everything else is going to work itself out. Make sure that you are prioritizing what is of greatest importance and will provide you the stability you need to confront each challenge that’s coming your way.
Where am I carrying more than I need to in my pursuit of growth?
Two of Wands and Cailleach – Your action plan is too convoluted and needs to be pared down. Consider something like collapsible lists so that you don’t have to see all the minute details when what you really need is a quick glance for reassurance. This way, you can make sure you don’t make it so complicated that it becomes its own stress instead of a stress reliever.
How can I move forward with clarity, purpose, and renewed strength?
King of Coins and Mourning – Being a leader and fostering stability for yourself and others requires adaptability. Adaptability requires letting things go that are aren’t serving you, so that you can bend instead of break when needed. Clinging onto the outdated and no longer useful causes these things to just get in your way so that you trip over them later.
Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Red Oak Leaf for Fostering Unconditional Love
Deodar Cedar Impression for Clarity and Spiritual Connection
Ammonite for a Sense of Stability During Times of Change
Rainforest Rhyolite for Facilitating Calm Transitions
Desert Rose for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECKS USED: EARTH MAGICK TAROT COLOR EDITION AND FOLKLORE ORACLE
I told J off for being a dick about the flat tire, because he was taking his frustration out on others.
Gideon’s Challenge – Resurrecting Hope
Resurrecting Hope
Sometimes
hopelessness
touches down
like a disease
spread through
momentary contact
and nothing
feels okay
until
a little note
catches your eye
and reminds you
to take a breath
and let muscles
relax
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Preparedness Is Important
Today’s meditation was a ten minute long self-directed session that was based on a video I watched last night on YouTube about Critical Thinking vs Collective Stupidity.
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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 28th : A Sign of Newness | #FMS_NEWNESS25
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Nine of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of boundaries, defensive maneuvers, and protection of what you hold dear.
If you don’t wear the battle scars, how do you know you were part of the battle?
At times of conflict and violence, we have a tendency to rally around our young and protect them from harm. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it leaves “the last man standing” as someone without the scars of battle and experience needed to defend and protect what’s left.
Isn’t it perhaps better to prepare them for that role? They aren’t too young or inexperienced to learn… Isn’t it more accurate to say that we just don’t want them to learn these horrible truths that they need to know? When it comes to survival, though, shouldn’t they know? Knowledge is power after all, so by having these difficult discussions and involving them in preparation and defence from the start, You empower them for when said knowledge and experience is needed instead of leaving them to fumble around in the dark.
This isn’t just true about violence and conflict either. It’s about discussions on death, divorce, and sex; it’s about teaching them how to cook and work and use critical thinking. We won’t be there to shield them forever, so don’t you think we should be teaching them?
Today’s message is a reminder that the best defence is a good offence. Get out ahead of upcoming trouble by empowering those that will come after us in the ways that truly matter. Leaving them in the dark helps no one.
DECK USED: QUIET REBEL TAROT
@Lionharts #TheAugustTarot Leo Season Challenge
Nine of Wands – Resilience Prompts for August 26th thru 28th
What inner strength have I cultivated through consistent effort?
Ace of Swords and Foam – You have managed to take ideas and strategy that was ephemeral, insubstantial, and still under development in your mind, and by writing it down and then working with it on paper, you’ve turned it into the first steps of an action plan.
Where am I being asked to hold steady and keep showing up?
Page of Pentacles and Seaweed – It’s hard to trust that you’re going to get anywhere in your endeavors when it feels like you’re being put on hold. Remember that it’s not stagnancy that you’re experiencing, just a much slower pace than you’re used to. Continue to take your time and surrender to the slower pace, for at this time that’s the key to your future success.
How can I move forward now with trust in the strength I have earned throughout my challenges?
Four of Swords and Sailor – Remember that even if things weren’t up in the air at the moment, it would still be a time of rest for you. That’s what this part of the year is about for your business. In this time of rest, you are preparing for a more strenuous time ahead. Don’t lose sight of that in the chaos of this current challenge.
Other elements included in this reading:
Bind Rune on Cedar for a Protected Home
Dried Lavender Bundle for Calming and Comfort
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Aragonite for Truth and Understanding
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: THE GARDEN OF ENCHANTED CREATURES TAROT AND THE SEASHELL ORACLE
@empressofthenightslight Roll the Tarot August Challenge
Roll : 2 Prompt : What do I need to know today?
Reading Summary: You’re worried about the fate of your business (Begin Again). These worries are neither surprising or an over reaction to what’s going on right now (Blessed Unrest).
It’s in this worry you will find the path forward, as it will keep you on your toes so that you can adapt and change course quickly instead of being one step behind (Safe Passage).
Take Away: Keep moving. Even as the going is slow, and your anxieties are trying to push you into reacting by taking action.
Instead, focus on the things you already have to do instead of making more work for yourself. Use the energy generated by your anxiety to your advantage instead of allowing it to freeze you up in fear.
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Petrified Wood D20 Die for Making Solid Choices
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: WILD CHORUS ORACLE
I went to authorities for assistance instead of dealing with things on my own.
Gideon’s Challenge – Fragmented
Fragmented
Jigsaw puzzles
are supposed
to fit together
each piece
falling into place
until
it becomes whole
and the
full picture
visible.
Today
my brain
is not so uniform
as all that
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Finding the Positive for August 25 – 27
August 25 – Mental Health Card of the Day
Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyTrip sessions in the @Calm app.
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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 25th : Something Starting With 8 | #FMS_825
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Two of Coins, which is traditionally a representation of juggling responsibilities, work/life balance, and prioritization.
[Note: The Eight of Cups was not a draw, but rather it was the first “8” card come to in the deck for the “Something Starting with 8” prompt.]
OK, let’s be clear. Nothing starts with eight. Even the Eight of Cups (or any 8 in the tarot); far more went on well before we ever get to the eight. This is true in just about anything (with the possible exception of the birth of octuplets).
Beginnings are births, and what comes after are lessons, trials, obstacles, imbalances, and experience; which eventually leads you to Eight.
You can’t get there without experience, and a massive part of that experience is all about balance. After all, you don’t just decide to walk away from something you’re invested in (which is what the Eight of Cups is all about) without having gone through some sort of imbalance that has built up to the point where the endeavor is no longer worth your while.
Today’s message asks us to examine those imbalances; before walking away if you can… or after if you need that distance to see things more clearly. In examining what has caused our reaction to bail on something that at one time was important to us, we can learn more about ourselves and how to possibly foster a better balance in future endeavors.
DECK USED: TAROT DE JACQUES VIEVILLE EDITIONS SIVILIXI FRANCE
August 26 – Mental Health Card of the Day
Today’s meditation was a ten minute self-directed session based upon the affirmation “You deserve the best. The foggiest of cemetery strolls. The silkiest coffin lining. The most haunted of castles. The fiercest of hellhounds. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re just a recluse the townsfolk tell stories about – you are an immortal countess with a horrifying secret.”
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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 26th : The Last Photo I Took | #FMS_LASTPHOTO25
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Justice card, which is traditionally a representation of balance, cause and effect, repercussions and consequences, give and take, and can often indicate the law or legal system.
If you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s what happens when you stop doing the things that you love. You lose them. (This includes riding a bike by the way. That skill is not universally, retained, regardless of the saying to the contrary. Take it from someone who had to do the relearning.)
Sometimes, I’ve let go of hobbies and the skills associated with them with the knowledge and acceptance that if I pick them back up later, I’ll have to relearn them. It happens. I do a lot of creative exploration and you just can’t keep up on all of them all the time.
One in particular that this is not the case for, though, is photography. My treasured SLR camera gathers dust more often than not these days; not out of a lack of interest or an intent to let it go… but due to the lure of convenience. My cellphone, after all, is already on my person and has a very good camera. As good as my SLR with a macro or telephoto lens? No. But a hell of a lot lighter and more convenient.
And… as this convenience, seduces, I fumble a bit more with the SLR; my skills with it becoming less adept as I sacrifice quality again and again for the convenience that the camera on my cellphone provides.
I’m not sure I’m happy with the trade-off.
Today’s message is a reminder that you get what you give. If you’re not willing to put in the extra work and put up with a little inconvenience, don’t be surprised when your skills grow rusty and quality starts to decline.
DECK USED: A GRIEVING TAROT AND SINISTER AFFIRMATIONS CARDS
August 27 – Mental Health Card of the Day
Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the @Calm app.
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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 27th : A Colour That Calms Me | #FMS_CALMCOLOUR25
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Four of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of one’s passionate love for the security and welcoming energies of home. This often translates into themes that have to do with homecoming, celebrating home and stability, as well as relaxation in comfortable spaces.
No. It’s not yellow! (ref: today’s “color that calms me” prompt). A “color” that calms me is home. Not just the home that provides a roof over my head, though, but the people that color my life with moments of joy. The trees that stand tall and the fallen nurse logs that I am welcomed by each time I step out into nature.
Speaking of…. when I travelled across the US back in my trusty (now gone) Jeep, there was one thing that stood out to me the most in every place I visited as determining how comfortable and “at home” I felt in each location.
It was how much wild green the locations had. Not the manicured lawns and landscaped gardens, but the wild green of forests and ferns and towering trees. I found that in the places without these wild green spaces, I never truly felt comfortable… comforted… or at home.
Today’s message (and the wild mental ride that got us here) is a reminder that “home” is not your house (although it could be). It’s a feeling of comfort, safety, and belonging. It’s those places and people for which you are the missing piece of the puzzle, and when you slip into place it’s a perfect fit worth celebrating.
Twisting the Leaf 