Mermaid Cats Tarot

Day-to-Day Goodness

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was eleven minutes long, and what is the fifth installment of the introductory course for the balance app. The focus was again on the breath, and introduced the method of counting breaths in order to help with one’s focus.

Tarot of Plants and Less Anxiety Affirmation CardsToday’s draw is the Nine of Summer (Cups) /Strawberry, which is traditionally a representation of emotional satiation, comfort, and personal acknowledgement at having found your “happy place”.

I am a big fan of strawberries. Not in biting into them, as I like them mashed up.  It changes the flavor.  In fact, I enjoy strawberries nearly every day.  I add them to a smoothie made of probiotic yogurt, kefir, apple, and (occasionally) raspberries. This treat has changed (and massively improved) my digestive process, which used to involve a good deal of pain.  It’s also delicious and healthy… and oddly has nearly entirely circumvented what used to be a pretty constant craving for ice cream.

No matter what type of day I’m having, or what I have to do that day?  I always have my smoothy… and I always love it. Sometimes I mix it up with different fruits, like adding mango or pineapple or peaches, but I have this treat every single day with very few exceptions.

I share this, because today’s message is all about this.   It’s all about finding the things that make you happy.  The little things that bring joy to your life… and enjoying them.  It’s about not pushing them away for “another time” that might be more convenient, but rather incorporating them into your day-to-day in any small ways you can so that you can enjoy them even when you’re at your busiest or feeling overwhelmed, and in those times they can help lift you up and give you a bit of joy you otherwise would be without.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF PLANTS AND LESS ANXIETY AFFIRMATION CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2021 Challenge Prompt
Questions for July 26th and 27th

Mermaid Cats TarotAs an adult, where do I take myself too seriously?

All my worries and anxieties (Nine of Swords) concerning others and my perceived responsibilities to them (Queen of Pentacles). Too much time spent standing up and standing strong (Seven of Wands) instead of having fun (The Sun Rx).

These cards are essentially telling me I need to ease up on looking after others and just let my hair down, kick off my shoes, and have more fun.

How can I go about lightening up in these areas?

Let them fight their own battles (Five of Swords). Build better personal boundaries for myself and others (Nine of Wands).

Think more selfishly, and use this mentality to create better boundaries both for myself to follow, as well as for others and what they expect from me.

DECK USED: MERMAID CATS TAROT

Cosmic_Crow_Tarot’s #FreedomTarotChallenge Prompt
Questions for July 25th and 26th

Tarot of PlantsWhat am I most proud of?
Nine of Autumn (Pentacles) / Beet

How far I’ve come in life to pull myself out of the destitution and scarcity that I started in to the place of comfort that I now possess.

Although I am far from wealthy, I have done well for myself in dragging myself out of homelessness and near starvation, into a place of security and comfort. I’m proud of all that I’ve done to get to this place, and the strength it took to get here.

What do I need to take more pride in?
Ten of Spring (Wands) /Thistle and Seed of Summer (Cups) /Columbine

In moving away from the constant cycle of burnout and overwhelm that I was riding throughout the majority of my adult life, and choosing to begin exploring my emotions instead of closing them off and burying them.

Sometimes I wonder what in the world Gideon saw in me all those years ago that drew him in.  I was so closed off from my emotions, and working myself so hard. Pushing myself so hard that I had little time or patience for anything else, especially not anything that had to do with my own emotions.

DECK USED: THE TAROT OF PLANTS

Daily Self Kindness

I took some time today to make a new playlist on Spotify filled with smoky soft music that I enjoy listening to when I’m relaxing.

Morning Bonus Read – Emotional Arrow

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Emotional Arrow Tarot Spread - Mermaid Cats Tarot

Emotion Addressed In This Reading:  An Irrational Sense of Overwhelm

1. SOURCE: What prompted this emotion? What lies at the root of it?

Five of Cups – Feelings of never enough / never good enough. This isn’t about social issues, which is its own beast and separate from this.  This is about never feeling as if anything you do is enough.  Not enough work, not enough effort, not enough quality, not enough perfection.  It spurs from the echo of your parent’s voice in your head always telling you that “you can do better”.  Get an A on a test… “you could do better, your penmanship is poor”.  Get straight A’s in school… “you could do more, why aren’t you playing sports or doing extracurriculars?”  It was never enough… never good enough.  And somehow, it is an echo that has continued to push you forward, and beat you down, years and years after having left that environment and influence.

2. IMPACT: How is this emotion affecting me now? How is it riding me?

Eight of Wands – Push. Push. Push. Push.  That feeling of never enough and never good enough pushes you to always strive for more.  More output.  More perfection. Just… more.  It’s not enough to make beautiful jewelry, it has to be perfect. It’s not enough to sell enough that you’re working the majority of every day’s hours, sell more.  Do more.  Make more.  Be better.  Always… no matter how much or how well you’re already doing.

3. NAVIGATION: How can I better harness, navigate, and channel it?

Two of Wands – Pick a direction. ONE direction.  Pick a focus. ONE focus.  Stop trying to do so much at once, and splitting your attention and your energy in so many directions at once. You can’t be in two places at once, and you only have two hands.  Choose that direction, that focus, and leave the other stuff behind to possibly take up at another time.

4. MESSAGE: What is this emotion trying to tell me?

Knight of Swords – You’re pushing too hard and it’s taking you in the wrong direction (cat on the card is facing the past).  All of this drive comes from an ugly place in your past and you need to work on moving forward, not backward.  That includes recognizing and letting go of these influences that are not healthy and only perpetuate self abuse through impulsivity and misplaced determination.

5. TARGET: Best outcome/goal of working constructively with emotion.

King of Pentacles – Stability. Surety. Ownership. Resolving the issues surrounding this motion can allow you to find a more grounded and secure foundation in the present.  This foundation then will influence all aspects of your life from your work to your home life and your feelings of security, providing a more comfortable and self assured outlook on your current life as well as future plans.

6a. OVERKILL: How does this emotion mislead me?

Six of Wands – This emotion and the history behind it that pushes it on misleads you by causing you to look outside your self for validation that you’re doing enough. No one else’s opinion on this topic matters. Only yours.  You can’t earn the approval from those parents in your past, now that you’re in the present.  That time is gone and there’s no one to judge how you do, what you do, or how much you do… except you.

6b. OVERKILL: How might it take me too far?

Page of Cups Rx – Taken too far, you lose your connection to your inner curiosity and creativity. You become beaten down by these judgements and start to feel like giving up.  There is no more joy, and with no joy you begin to lose your sense of curiosity.  Without that sense of curiosity to spark your creativity, that too begins to flag and falter.

Side Note:  I spoke to my shrink about these issues yesterday and she suggested trying to compartmentalize my past from my present.  To help me in remembering that the past is the past, a different chapter in a book… read and left behind.  I am in a new chapter now than I was then.  In doing this, she suggests that it might help me in letting go of those feelings of “not enough / not good enough” as well as the feelings concerning fear of scarcity.

DECK USED:  MERMAID CATS TAROT