How can we be more like The Empress?
Specifically, the empress relaxing in the nine of pentacles (photo above). Even if this is your first time seeing a tarot card, you can agree the visual embodies serenity, a certain type of poise that can be viewed as appreciative.
The meaning behind the card states, "Look at all that I have manifested and created!"*
Now what do I mean, "How can we be more like The Empress?". For me, it is a reminder to pause in the midst of the day to day. To take a moment to remind yourself how far you have come. I recently realized that I am currently living the life I have been working towards. What a realization..I was so caught up in the "what's next" mindset that I didn't even recognize that I was actually living the life I dreamed of living. I AM IN IT RIGHT NOW.
The journey always feels longer than you want it to be, so by the time you get 'there' you are already looking to the next thing. My mind is always checking off a to-do list, taking count of how everybody around me is doing, is there anything I can do to be helpful, am I doing enough, am I enough...
I am currently living one of my 'simple days', as I like to call them. I didn't set any expectations for the day or what I wanted to achieve besides making my coffee and sitting in the garden. These are the days I yearn for when I am sitting at my desk for most of the day, in and out of meetings.
Even still, as soon as I sit to relax with my cup of coffee outside, that inner voice whispers, "is this all you are going to do today?"
It is easy for that inner voice to hit a nerve because there is always something to be done.
Now, the difference between today and maybe a few months ago, I know just how important these days are. Days like this touch every other day in the year. Simply by giving you the opportunity to do or be however you want, with no expectations. It gives you the room to pause and reflect and look forward. It gives you the time to check in with yourself to see how YOU are doing.
My 'simple days' look different each time. Sometimes it is like hitting a wall and I realize how much I need to do nothing. Sometimes, by providing myself with "mind space", I spend the day writing down all of the ideas that must have been simmering in the background. These days could be filled with doing something creative to not using my brain at all and just simply being.
It is an interesting exercise to see how you end up spending your time. It may surprise you on what calls out to you. Today, I ended up getting inspired to write this newsletter...with no expectations.
with a little help from my reMarkable notebook that helps me to disconnect and just write
How can we be more like The Empress? I am currently working on that, but I do know it starts with giving yourself the time and space to pause, to remember, to reflect on how far you have come.
You may be IN IT right now and not even realize it.
Now back to sipping my coffee in the garden. Until next week.
*Excerpt from "How to Read Tarot. A Modern Guide" by Jessica Wiggan
