Today's Tarot: Nine of Swords (First rule, be careful with yourself)

I'll be honest. It's not the most pleasant of cards. It talks about stress, worry, potential illness, and general malaise. It doesn't mean that your day is going to be like that. It does however mean that you need to be on the lookout for those kinds of distressing feelings and situations. And then, you need to kick their asses into next Tuesday.

Unless you are physically ill in some way, the rest is all negotiable and navigate-able. The key here is to refrain from sabotaging your own balance.

Did you wake up in the middle of the night worried about something you couldn't control? Did you have trouble falling asleep in the first place? I tend to have troubles with the former. I fall asleep fine, but I wake up in the middle of the night and then my brain turns on and then I start thinking about all the details to which I need to see and then I start to worry at them like my cat Kimba does to rubberbands he finds on the floor (believe me, we try to keep them from him and he's a master at opening drawers and getting at them). And then, sleep bids me a teasing adieu and I'm up at 3am wondering how they hell I'll be ready to present to kids or write my book or see my clients or take my hike by the time it's actually time to get up and start my day.

Argh and Grrr and many other words to that effect.

What I'm trying to do is to put it in perspective. The swords are the suit of thought, reason, and deliberation. The nine is the extreme where you try to see all facets and then beat yourself up when you can't. It's the woulda coulda shoulda card in the deck and given half a chance, it will kick your butt.

So what do you do? Distract it. Take the worry and give it something nice to smell (a whiff of vanilla extract does wonders for me). Or, get up, put on your favorite dance music (I tend toward "Walkin' on Sunshine" or "When I Think of You" but I'm old school) and go crazy.

Take a break from your worries and concerns. You won't miss anything. You'll still have the list when you come. But, you will likely come back with a slightly different perspective and hopefully, it won't all feel quite so daunting anymore.

Last but not least, take care of yourself and those for whom you are responsible. At its core, the nine of  swords brings some reason for concern. If it's all internal, I encourage you to utilize the above to deal with it. If any of it is external, remember, there are only so many things you can control. Sometimes, you just have to deal with consequences in the best way you know how. And the best way will always be one where you approach your challenges from a peaceful vanilla-scented, walkin' on sunshine perspective.

Stay safe, but not too safe.

Today's cards: Nine of Swords, Page of Rods, Eight of Cups. Oy. Be careful out there, today. The Nine of Swords promises lots of time to wring your hands (though you don't have to). The Page of Rods says you might need to do some fast talking to get you what you want today (though you ought to do just fine. Just speak from your passions and all will be well). But, the Eight of Cups reminds us everything is funneling into exactly where we need to be. Now. Here. Today.

One of my favorite quotes is: "Everything that happens, happens exactly as it should because that's the way it happens." I wish I knew how to cite it but I just don't remember where I read it. Regardless, it's really true today. Even if crappy stuff goes down, remember, it's all leading you somewhere. Whether you have lessons to learn, or conversations to have, or arduous things to do, it's all going where you need to go. Eventually. Stay safe, but not too safe.

With love.

It's time to clean house!

Today's cards: Nine of Rods, Eight of Cups, Two of Swords.

Even though I am about to go hike a few miles with the dog, really today is about what I need to do on the inside. It's time to Go Within. Oh and it's not just about your internal monologue and kicking its butt to  release some negative self-talk patterns, although that's certainly in here. It is also about making your space conducive to new stuff coming in. Sometimes, we stagnate. We stagnate in our jobs, in our relationships, in our minds, and in our homes.

Looking at it like a feng shui practitioner might, we have stagnant or blocked Chi in our spaces. So, instead of energy being able to flow into and out of our lives, it gets stuck somewhere along the road. So, we want a healthy, constant flow of that energy moving through our lives. The trick here, though, is that we don't want it to come in or leave too quickly. We want a building of energy, a vitality to be generated and present as we move through the bulk of our days. We also want an ebb when it is time to relax and wind down toward nighttime.

We don't want it to blow through us like a tornado, because then, it will just leave destruction in its path. Do you feel like that happens to you sometimes? Does it feel like you're always exhausted and you're constantly running from one crisis to the next? Are there too many stimuli coming at you at all times? Again, looking at it from a feng shui practitioner's perspective, you might need to slow the energy in your space down a bit. You might strategically place a couple of stones in your space. Get a small quartz crystal or even just a rock you find that you like and put it somewhere near the middle of your living space. Rocks have been known as calming influences for a long time. Where do you think worry stones came from?

So, let's learn from people far wiser than us. Let's put a few things in our homes/work spaces that let us find the eye within the storm.

And, last but certainly not least, make your space your own and make it clean. Recycle, give away, or toss that which you no longer need. Let your space be for what is now, and not what was, and also not what might be. Today is where we are and that's what we need to deal with.

Remember, worry doesn't fix tomorrow's troubles; it just saps today of its joy. You'll get there with or without worrying about whatever it is that has you in knots. Make your space your own. Make it clean, and you will have clarity and calm.

It's never as bad as it seems inside your head

Today's cards are: Nine of Swords, Two of Rods, and the Sun! Yep, I put an exclamation point at the end of the Sun(!) because it's just that kind of card and something needs to be done about that Nine of Swords.  That Nine of Swords squats inside your head and heart like a miasma. The worry you have doesn't help anything. It doesn't allow you to deal with the dramas and stresses of your life any better. In fact, it takes your focus away from being able to do what you need to do because you're too busy worrying about what you need to do to actually do it well. Here's a paraphrase of a quote that many have said better than I can. It is: "Worry doesn't solve tomorrow's problems; it saps today's joy." Truer words were never written (except perhaps 2+2=4). Really, that fear, that worry, that anxiety, they aren't at all helpful to you in getting anything accomplished. They just take energy away from you so you have less to devote to the very things you are worried about.

And here's the thing: the other two cards in today's draw? They are fabulous! The Two of Rods tells us that the world is ours. We can be bold. We can be original. We can grab life in our hands and fly. And the Sun gives us all the energy and childlike joy to do it.

So, whatever it is that has you worried, today, see if you can release it out into the universe. Stand outside and if it's at all breezy out there, let your anxiety blow away on the wind. Seriously, go outside. Take a break. Stand under the sun. Close your eyes. Take a minute away from all the other stuff going on around you. Whatever hectic pace everyone else has right now, doesn't have to impact you. Stand still and breathe deeply. Listen to the sounds around you. Let them flow over you. Notice and appreciate your feet on the ground. Feel the sun on your face. Come to a place of stillness, and the cares will dissipate.

Oh, you'll still have stuff to do. You'll still need to make plans and carry them out, but worry, that energy vampire, won't make you feel like you're crawling through molasses as you get it all done.