Hi, Subscribers. This blog uses the power of Play to guide our daily lives. Play can help you grow personally and professionally and helps to power up your creativity, problem-solving skills, and overall well-being. Let’s set ourselves up for success and inspiration and remember to find joy in every step of our development.
It’s time for an accountability check-in. A huge win was people seeing their hidden creativity after reading last week’s blog. I’ve been waking up the same time every day for a week despite the temptation to sleep in on the weekends. The result is that I am feeling more rested and I successfully took a nap and went on to have a good night’s sleep. I did a much better job with my boundaries this week which helped with the rest. Though I attended an incredible gallery opening where I got to speak with the artists, I am slacking on creating my own art. Though I did launch my Graphy store. The highlight of the week had to be spending quality time with my sister. We are both discovering who we are and I’m excited about the journey.
My friend Cat Dean shared her Wheel of the Year in the Sapphire Community and Imbolc started yesterday. From what I gather, it’s similar to planning your garden. What seeds do you want to plant? This week’s question from from Tiana from wayfindertarot.com and the cards are Tiffany Toland’Scott’s Ancient Wisdom Oracle Cards. Let’s use this coming week as a time to plan for the goals we want to achieve. Picture descriptions are at the end.
“What should I be planting and growing?” It’s time to take a good, hard look in the mirror. What do I see? Am I happy with my current situation? I am uncertain if the character is mean to represent Snow White or the Wicked Stepmother. I’m leaning to Stepmother because of all the mirrors and the potentially poisoned apples in the corner. My sister and I had a powerful discussion about doing what is true to ourselves or what we have been socialized to believe we should be doing. Should I be planting the popular and respectable plants? Or should my garden be untamed. When you are planting seeds, you need to consider the soil. What can grow? My kid and I got a marigold mini garden kit on a whim and planted them yesterday. The kit contained the growing medium, but we need to ensure a sunny spot. Scattering seeds in the hope of some of them growing doesn’t seem like a long-term plan for success. What are you doing to prepare the soil? What seeds have you planted in the past? Did they grow or is it time to consider newer seeds. Are the apples poisoned?
“What was sleeping within me?” I’ve had Death come up in many of my past blog posts. Looking in the mirror, I know that something needs to change. The woman in the picture looks perfectly comfortable sitting on the skull. I have changed over time. My kid asked me to take a color profile test for a class project. In the past, I was a strong Blue/Gold – someone who is nurturing, a helper, and a rule follower and being Analytical (Green) was my weakest trait. This time around Green (Analytical) was my strongest trait and Orange had also crept up. Orange is a creative risk-taker. Gold was my lowest. Are you seeing your true self in the mirror or the you of the past? Have you changed? Do you think you need to change? What is your essence undefined by work or relationships?
“What is now stirring within me?” Even though I know that there is no growth in a comfort zone, I realize that I am still living in the past. I think self-sabotage is what is stirring within to keep me trapped in old habits and patterns. The light has gone out in the skull and it is much smaller and being held in the lady’s hand. It’s important to understand our subconscious motivations. When you prepare the soil in a garden, you need to weed it and clear out the rocks. Sometimes you have to add a layer of topsoil because the old soil doesn’t support growth. When you begin working out, you experience the discomfort of sore muscles. This is when it is critical to continue your exercise. Once you get comfortable, you need to change or increase your fitness routine in order to continuing growing. In gardening, you must rotate your crops to renew the soil. If you plant the same thing over and over, the nutrients become depleted.
“What is being blocked?” Fear and lack thinking block growth. Our marigold seeds are planted close to the surface. Some seeds having a more treacherous journey to find the sun. Butterflies need to rest in their cocoons and allow their wings to dry before they emerge. What is the story you are telling yourself? “I can’t change. This isn’t going to work. I’ve tried so many times and nothing happened.” Hope won’t do it alone. A vision without action is a dream. The branches and the trees surrounding this fairy seem barren, but she is lit from a light within. Our mindset is often the biggest obstacle to our success. Sticking with the planting metaphor, everything has its season. You don’t want to plant something that needs a lot of water in the dry season, or something that needs a lot of sun during the winter when the days are shorter. What are the weeds that you need to pluck?
Finally, “What will emerge come spring?” The mermaid is holding a flower. I don’t know how long the fragile blossom can last underwater. Perhaps the Little Mermaid embraced her true self and gave up the legs while holding on to one last vestige from her time on earth. The card is reversed which can either mean an area of struggle or a lesson learned. For me, I don’t like networking or putting myself out there. Yet this maybe what I need to transform. The cards seem pretty stacked against this transformation. Maybe I need to plant my seeds quietly and nurture them until their season. Maybe it is not the time for planting but for preparing the soil. I had a few plants that I had in the wrong environment. One was near death. I moved them to a shady spot under an oak tree and they are now thriving. The Little Mermaid struggled on dry land, but under the sea, she is glowing and I think of the fish as her guides. As you plan for the week ahead consider what is working well, what needs to be weeded, and what new seeds should you consider? This week, I’m going to work on learning the capabilities of my newest tool, Graphy. What about you? Namaste
If you want to incorporate more play to help you deal with the heavy things, my current offerings are listed on my Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/thingstothinkabout. I also encourage you to share your experiences and strategies with the community. Your voice matters, and your journey can inspire others.
Picture Descriptions: Five cards on a green herringbone background. Three in a vertical column with two on either side of the center card slightly turned out. All the cards have a picture with a title in white text on top and a short phrase on the bottom. Bottom card is CROSSROADS reversed. The phrase is PAUSE AND REFLECT. There is a pale woman wearing a long one shouldered burgundy and black gown holding a mirror. She is surrounded by various mirrors all of which reflect a ghostly face. There is a swirly mist and also filigree branches in the background. There is also a pulsing red light from a hive like structure and a basket of red apples in the corner. Middle left is DEATH with the phrase TRANSFORMATION. A blonde woman wearing a scanty red gown and short translucent red wings sits on a skull with glowing red eyes. Middle right is THE UNDERWORLD reversed with the phrase DARKNESS AND TRIALS. There is a winged brunette with black wings holding a skull and looking over her shoulder. Center card is GROWTH reversed with the phrase HOPE. There is a kneeling brunette with her hands intertwined in the hair on top of her head. She wears a pale pink gown and has short pink and gold tipped butterfly wings. She sits in a nest of branches with skeletal trees in the background. Top card is BODY reversed with the phrase EXTROVERSION. There is a tanned mermaid with dark hair swimming underneath the water accompanied by three goldfish and the sun streams down at her through the water covering her with a golden light.
