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Learning the Tarot: The Fool
Choose your own adventure Life is full of journeys. Mini—and sometimes major—adventures that we find ourselves in. New jobs. Friendships. Vacations. Learning Mandarin. Training for a marathon. Finding the perfect local cheeseburger. Learning to love yourself more. Starting a business. Starting a family. Starting therapy. You get the idea. Tarot talks to us about our lives through the journeys that we’re on. The goal is to use the cards to look at our behaviors, actions, reactions (etc) from multiple perspectives. Our instincts will help us determine what exactly the cards are talking to us about, so practicing the tarot also helps us build and strengthen our relationships with ourselves. In…
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Learning The Tarot
Add art and ritual to your self-care practice Have you ever wanted to learn tarot? It’s a wonderful way to focus on the different aspects of your life from a perspective you otherwise might not have considered. I like to think of it as a form of guided meditation. It’s a truly lovely self-care practice that allows you to put yourself first in a mindful and positive way with the goal being one of creating a more fulfilling life for ourselves. The cards present you with ideas and ask you to see how these ideas may fit into your life. They ask us to look at the areas of our…
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45 Fat and Feeling Good
Birds flying high You know how I feel Sun in the sky You know how I feel Breeze driftin’ on by You know how I feel It’s a new dawn It’s a new day It’s a new life For me I’ve made the decision to become unstoppable. For as long as I can remember, other people’s opinions have mattered to me. If I make the cut, I won’t have stage fright. If I pass this audition, I’ll have the confidence. If someone publishes me, I’ll be able to handle the negative critics. Always needing some kind of validation before I’ll truly believe that I deserve to be doing whatever it…
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Don’t Eat Peter’s Tomatoes
A Tale of Love and Merlot He walked in looking like George Clooney and smelling like George Costanza. He was a smorgas-George. She closed her eyes and gripped the stem of her wine glass. Then again, she was a total Betty. Bettie Page, Betty White and Betty Rubble but maybe Georgie-boy liked older women. She was certainly about to find out. He approached her table right away, her blue-black hair and navy and white sailor dress giving her away immediately. His smile seemed genuine as his eyes took in his dinner partner. “I’m hoping you’re Wendy?” His voice was mellow and smooth, his complexion buttery soft. She had a tough…
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Disney Mornings Playlist
Hakuna Your Mornings Do you have a secret desire to be a mermaid? Do you like to hold up your pet(s) and pretend they’re a cub destined for greatness? Does a perfect day for you include pirates, hitchhiking ghosts, churros and fireworks? Honey, are you a bit of a nostalgia whore? Yes! Same. What I am not, though, is a morning person and sometimes I need a little help to get me moving. Ugh. I lied. It’s all the time. All the time I need a help to get me moving. So I figured, why not get help from the music and memories that have been helping me since I…
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Dearest
A Letter to Myself Dearest, How does one start a letter like this? With an apology? No. I’m fairly certain that isn’t what I’m supposed to do. Maybe, in fact, the opposite. Maybe, that’s been the real trouble all along. Taking responsibility for something that wasn’t my doing. And maybe when we spend our energy blaming ourselves for things that weren’t our fault, we miss taking the blame for the things that are. Or maybe that’s just me playing The Blame Game, again. Now this, of course, is where we both imagine a set from a 1970s game show, like a Match Game or a Password. Lots of big, round…
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I Just Want to be Okay
Mental Health and Me “I’m fine.” This is my mantra. It’s become almost a joke between my husband and I. The louder I say it, the less likely it’s true. The fact of the matter is, I just want to be okay. I’ve been with my therapist now for a couple of years and she’s been incredibly helpful. I have a psychiatrist and I take medication. I’m not embarrassed by it. I used to be. I really wish that I thought I was cool for being on it—for caring about myself enough to say “fuck the stigma!” and to put my own health and well-being first but I don’t. This…
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Reparations
Juice and Cookies She stared at the envelope, her eyes going in and out of focus. She knew what was inside; knew what the letter said. She’d seen them before. Saw her own, saw her husband’s, both of which were locked up safe here at home. It had been suggested they keep them in a safe deposit box at the bank but that was simply laughable. To leave one’s identity at the hands of someone else was a mistake few in her position ever made. Not after so many weren’t given a choice. She flipped the envelope over and stared at the official seal, ran her fingers over it before…
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I Kneel to Stand
Kneel to Stand Right and wrong. Love and hate. Respect and intolerance. Make a choice. Speak despite fear. Take a stand. I stand with Nike. I stand with Kap. Black Lives Matter.
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Dealing with PTSD
This blog post isn’t for everyone and it isn’t for attention. The sole purpose of this blog is to reach anyone else who may be going through something similar and could benefit from knowing that they aren’t alone in this fight of theirs. I’ve been reliving a childhood trauma on a pretty consistent basis for a few months now. I’ve never properly dealt with this happening, having been encouraged at an early age to not talk about it. And before this, my conscious mind could handle burying my memory for about a decade at a time. Every ten years or so, I’d remember what happened and spiral a bit out…
