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The Wild Unknown was my very first tarot deck. It’s seen me through a lot. When I shuffle it, it feels like communing with an old friend. As a collector of decks I don’t necessarily have strong relationships to all of the decks that I own. But this one… this one is a homie. ♥

A poem from the archives that I had re-saved to my camera roll for one reason or another, and am now revisiting again, particularly for the sentiment in that last slide as I ponder the fluidity of identity and the development of self as a creative process. 🪺

Is it weird that I just miss posting aesthetically pleasing pictures of my cards lol // Instagram used to feel like such a different landscape even just a few years ago. I've been craving a return to my writing practices, and to a regular way of sharing my reflections, but creating content feels like a many-headed monster lately - so much noise and distraction coming from all sides. The systems I've built for myself to establish regular creating & publishing are shaky in this new world. & the things I have to say feel like they matter less and less. But as always, I am continually compelled to express and create, and I think part of the journey is learning to trust that there's a purpose to that. Maybe not one I can immediately see the results of, or one that looks the exact shape of my expectations. But regardless, a purpose arisen from the sheer love of doing a thing - which makes it more than good enough to keep going.

Two years ago I started a photography/design/poetry/? project titled "postcards from the labyrinth" that then morphed into something I was experimenting with for #The100DayProject this year, which then morphed back into the original expression of Postcards. And I realized it was something that belonged more to this space of contemplation and reflection than to my visual art space (@agatheringofshapes, for those curious). Anywho, here we are. Onward.

The #TWUArchetypes deck by @the_wild_unknown is one of my very favorites. 🖤

You are watered by the storms you’ve weathered. You are lifted by the winds and you dance. You sing. You journey and return. You are pulsing, a complex system intertwining, yet a still and simple thing of nature. You are many things and many ways at many times and many places, and always through it all you are witness. There is nothing more precious you can be than that which you are.

i’ve been pulling this card (the sun) so often. it’s fitting for the arrival of spring and all the sparks of renewal that come with it. but it’s also coming through in a different way than the typical strong archetype that brings ultimate clarity & truth & joy. it’s something a little more subtle - like when the weather is warming up but there’s still a slightly chilly breeze in the air. we shed layers to bask in the rising warmth - but not all at once. layer by layer. preparing for the fullness of new life blossoming into being. awakening to something different about to unfold. something better than the last iteration in some way. something bright & promising & foundational. something sustainable that we might not quite be used to, but that we are willing to grow into over time because we sense its longevity & potential for expansion into a brighter, bolder aliveness.

a tanka from 2019. patience — that word keeps following me around lately. it has never really been my strong suit. trying to shift my relationship to it for good… though i get impatient with that process, too. 🫠

Trust the process. A forever mantra.

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I keep wanting to share more of my tarot practice but holding back because I don’t have a clear enough idea about how to do it. I have many side projects going on, lots on my plate at work, and friends & family to connect with. Part of me thinks it’s a waste of precious time to post about tarot when I could be making progress on other, bigger goals. A lot of the time I don’t even have anything in particular to say about the cards. Quite often they are simply objects of meditation for me: I contemplate them, I read the guidebook passages, I admire the artwork, I move on with my day. The ritual itself is a daily anchor for me, even if it doesn’t produce any outward results. But something is telling me to just show up to the sharing process (again) and see what happens. So here I am, doing the thing. I don’t know how far I’ll get, but writing this, right here, today, is far enough.

9.22.21