Fading Blooms
Crows feet come
and wrinkles show
how odd to see
what no one knows
“you look under 20”
they say to me
Yet in the mirror
I know what I see.
Little hints of age
creeping in
Good thing getting old
isn’t a sin.
writing activity
Weekly Creativity Prompt – Three Themes
From your deck of choice, select one card for each of the themes listed below:
1) A Wander in the Autumn Woods
2) Guidance from the Past
3) The Beginning of the End
Post the cards you chose here, and share with us how you made the connections that you did with the prompts above.
A Wander in the Autumn Woods
The Hermit
When I need time alone, it is to the woods that I go. When I need to allow silence and stillness to wash over me, it is to the woods I go. When there is restlessness and chaos in my heart? It is to the woods I go. Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is a real thing, and even when I do not hike, I will wander in the woods, taking in the scents and the sounds and the flavor of the air. I will lie on the forest floor and soak in the sense of moisture and life. I will seek out the stillness and cool wet of the rainforest, and it will be a balm upon my soul. The Hermit seeks this peace and inner reflection, he seeks solitude and silence to delve inward and explore his soul. I seek the same in the woods.
Guidance from the Past
The Hanged Man
Just the other day I did a reading where the Hanged Man came up along with the Six of Cups, and I was asked from these cards to reframe how I relate to my spirit guides, and to acknowledge that these guides have been with me all of my life. Some of them among the living in my past, others always in the ethereal. The thing is? They’ve always been there though, and they have always tried to guide me the best that they could. This shift in perspective helps me in understanding that even our guides are fallible, but they are doing the best they can… just as I am. New realizations like this and changes in perspective are what the Hanged Man is all about.
The Beginning of the End
The Devil
As someone with a highly addictive personality, anything that brings me enjoyment or pleasure has the risk of becoming an addiction. This isn’t limited just to drugs but also different foods, hobbies and activities, behavior that wins praise or admiration, purchasing things that bring me pleasure such as books and decks, bringing home plants to nurse back to health. All of these things are innocuous on their own, but through pleasure and temptation can be allowed to turn the tables and become harmful… even disastrous, if not kept in check. You become a prisoner of your own making, and a slave to those things that you allow to take over. This is the pattern of behavior that the Devil card is all about.
DECK USED: HALLOWEEN EPHEMERA CARDS
Gideon’s Challenge
Cladonia Macilenta
Tiny and delicate
oh so sweet
fructose lichen
watch your feet
a little growth
on a fallen
tree stump
bright red apothecia
catches the eye
but only for those
seeking the sight.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Gideon’s Challenge
Together Time
So odd
that sitting on a lap
seems like
such a childish thing
and yet
with you
it is not childish
at all
but rather
feels like
coming home.
I love you so much. I’ve missed you so much.
Yours always.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Gideon’s Challenge
Aren’t You Home Yet?
Every day
that you’ve been gone
has been a day
of dips and turns
and
topsy turvy
tumbles.
Only you can
set my world back
right side up.
I miss you so much. You are not at all the only one that struggles when vacation time comes. I just usually hide it so much better than I have this time around.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Gideon’s Challenge
Engrossed Moments
Anther and filament
so delicately sweet
Petals
a whisper
light as a feather
and filled with color.
Sepal bits beneath
tight buds… and
and for a moment
you lose yourself
in a trillion flutters
from the smallest breeze.
Sometimes… you just need to find something to lose yourself in for a bit.
Today is one of those days.
