No Mr. Grumpyhead For Me!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well, at least tomorrow will be New Years -- hope everyone has a wonderful and safe time celebrating tonight!

My hands are still giving me problems, so I'm going to keep the typing  short this time -- heading back to the doctor's Thursday so I'm hopeful I'll start making progress again.

Have the setup to record Youtube readings almost done -- once I've got that set, I'll probably start mixing these email readings with Youtube readings just because it's so difficult to type right now.  Actually, typing isn't that hard -- it's typing and hitting the right keys that's difficult!

On to the reading -- two cards, first offers a starting point, second offers things to consider to best recognize the positive attributes of our starting point.

Our first card -- the Two of Wands.

This is probably a very good card to start off 2014 with -- this two is a card of preparation.  If we want to be successful and accomplish the goals we set, we have to be realitic.  we want to do the things necessary in order to be successful -- ie, we have to PREPARE!

This means defining our goals, understanding them, understanding the obstacles we may face, determining how to best overcome those obstacles, discovering what resources and skills we need, acquiring those resources and skills, etc, etc, etc.

Sounds like a long and complex process, right?  But -- if we want to optimize our chance for success -- it's an essential process.  We may want to jump straight to the "succeed in your goal" part, but if we skip the groundwork, we're not likely to achieve our goal.

Take the time to understand your goal and what is necessary to achieve that goal -- that's how you can best achieve that goal.

What does our second card have to say about this?  Oh no, it's the Four of Pentacles.

Not this guy again -- Mr. Grumpyhead!

This suggests someone who has missed a turn somewhere when he was defining his goals.  His goal became internal and distorted -- he neglected to consider the people around him and how his goals might affect those folks.  While he might achieve his goals -- he likely will not be satisfied with the results.

Remember that we're not isolated islands -- we're a social people.  Doesn't mean you should give up personal goals -- but does suggest you should consider how you can best enjoy those results with the people you care about.

This is one I could wax about for awhile, but my hands aren't cutting me much slack ... so I'm going to quit while I can!  I think you probably get the idea, anyway.

Once again, have a happy and safe New Years!  I'll see you again next week -- and maybe in a Youtube video next time!

Woodsong

Be Successful

Hi All!

I hope your holiday preps have gone well -- it always seems like there's more to do and less time to do it in every year.  We've had the Christmas cards sitting on the table for weeks -- but haven't had a chance to address and mail them yet.   I figure if we get 60% of what we had planned to do completed, we're doing good.

My hands are still a problem -- although typing is a tiny bit easier (not messing up every word -- more like every other word).  My handwriting is completely illegible now -- not that my scribbles were all that discernable before!

I know everyone's likely rushing to get ready, so I'll keep this one short.  Let's jump straight into this week's reading:

First card -- the Six of Wands.

This is a personal celebration card -- it suggests that when you've done well, it's okay to feel good about it.  Sounds kind of obvious, but our culture usually says you're supposed to be humble about personal accomplishments.  There's something to that -- you shouldn't be obnoxious about it .. but it's really okay to take personal pleasure in doing things well.

People don't always pat you on the back when you do well -- so when they do, it's okay to feel good about it.  Even if you don't the get the accolades, it's good to take an honest moment to tell yourself "I did good!"

The "extended" message of this card is "Yep, you did good today, so feel good about it.  BUT -- tomorrow's another day and you have to start over again!"

In this case, it's particularly appropriate -- because of our second card, the Three of Pentacles.

This Three suggests personal and professional competence -- doing a job well because you have the skills and attitude necessary to do so.  It suggests the personal pleasure you attain while  performing a job to the best of your ability.

What it's telling us here -- when preceded by the Six of Wands -- is that you shouldn't rest on your laurels.  Just because you succeeded yesterday doesn't mean that today's challenge is any easier or deserves less attention or effort.

Certainly, success in a sequence of challenges gives you confidence that you'll continue to be successful.   But, you must continue to put in the effort to attain that success every time!  Don't expect any free passes!

This really isn't a discouraging message -- you have the talent and aptitude to achieve success.  If you apply yourself, there's no reason you shouldn't expect to be successful.

The key phrase is "If you apply yourself"!  If you expect good results from less-than-your-best efforts, you're likely to be disappointed at some point.  You can do it -- so be the best and expect the best from yourself!

That's it for now -- hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas time!

Woodsong

Compromise

Hello!

Hope your week's begun well -- my oldest son is back from the Navy, so that's a mark on the good side!  On the other hand, I'm off to the dentist this afternoon, so that's a mark on the bad side!

Shouldn't be a bad visit, though.  All the tough (and painful) work was done a few weeks ago; this should just cap things off (literally!)

My keystriking and spelling is still off -- still can't feel with my hands - so please excuse any glitches I miss.  I'm messing up almost every word, so I think I'm catching most -- but I'm probably missing a few.

I think I finally have everything set up to do Youtube readings -- I'll let you know as soon as I post the first.

Let's jump into this week's reading -- first card offers a starting point; second card offers suggestions to consider that might help us  best use the first card.

Our first card is ... the Five of Wands.

Looks like a little tussle -- contention, strife, struggle.  Pretty much what we've all got going on every day.  This sort of engagement can be fulfilling and exciting -- but it can also be frustrating and discouraging.  All depends on how we take it in.

Most of all, we have to be sure not to make it "personal" -- this sort of struggle isn't a value judgement of ourselves -- it's just being realistic.  If we go down the "everyone is always working against me" road, that's a losing path.  We want to avoid it.

What might we consider to help us best approach this card?  Let's look  at our second draw ... the Five of Cups.

This card reminds us that we should not focus on things we may not gain -- but instead focus on those things we do acquire.  It's kind of a "count your blessings", but it's a little stronger than that.  It's close to the Rolling Stone's "You can't always get what you want -- but you may find you get what you need!"

When we put these together, I start thinking compromise and priorities.  Maybe we can't achieve everything we wanted -- so let's make sure we at least gain the most important things.  Maybe we can bargain and trade-off in order to do so?  Maybe we can "lose" some battles in order to ensure we win the one's that really matter to us. 
Is it realistic to say "I want everything"?  Maybe not -- but I think it's okay to go in using that as a starting point  --  as long as you realize it's probably not likely to work out that way.  Refine your goals so that you know and understand which pieces are going to be most important to you -- and focus on what you can do to attain those goals.

Hope it goes well for you -- I'll be back later with more!

Woodsong

Recover -- Don't Hide!

Hello All!

Hope you've had a good week so far -- it's warming up a tiny bit here in Houston, but is expected to get really cold in about a week.  'Course, it'll probably be 80 degrees the week after that -- winter in South Texas!

I've been working on a really tough project at work - all the pieces finally came together this week and the darn thing finally worked!  Big sigh of relief from over here.

On the downside -- I have a Tarot booth every spring at a Renaissance Festival near Austin (Sherwood Forest Faire).  It's located at the "top" of a ring of shops on a hillside.

Two years ago, one of the retail shops in the ring and a food seller moved in.  Many of the shops in the ring were clothing sellers and they complained about the food smells and grease getting into the garments they sold.  The food seller is a nice guy -- but putting a food booth right next to clothing shops wasn't really a good idea.

The next year, he put up a bunch of picnic tables in front of his booth.  Worked for him -- but for the rest of us, it was the same as putting up a wall.  People could no longer walk "around" the ring -- they'd hit the mass of people sitting at the picnic tables and would then walk away.  End result is that our foot traffic dropped by nearly 90%!

More complaints -- the food seller decided to move and the fair management said he'd be replaced by another retail vendor.

But -- just found out the faire is replacing him with ... a bar!  Now, we can look forward to stale beer and cigarette smells and liquored up crowds still breaking the traffic flow.  I'm tring to see an upside -- it will draw crowds, but they're not the type of crowds to browse and buy, they're the type that'll sit and drink.

Not too excited about it -- will see what we can make of it, but am considering relocating as well.

BTW -- the bar owner is going to be ... the Faire managers!  So ... no hope of talking them out of it.

On to the weekend reading!

Our first card is -- the Four of Pentacles.

If you've been reading these posts for a while, you may remember that I promised a young couple that I would always call this card "Mr. Grumpyhead" when it came up -- so, meet Mr. Grumpyhead!

Mr. Grumpyhead is someone who has walled himself away.  He's thinking "I don't need anyone, I can keep to myself and be happy".  If we look at his dour expression, we can see just how happy he is.  He's not noticing any of the joyous things in the world around him ... his mind is completely closed off.

There's quite a lot wrong with this card -- but one thing that strikes me is that he's static -- he's not changing or growing ... and he doesn't even realize it.  He's missing out on so much; if he would just open his eyes and his heart, he'd see so many opportunities he could be joining.

What do we do?  Let's look at our second card -- the Four of Swords.

This card suggests taking a step back and taking a break -- resting, relaxing, recharging.  Once we're refreshed, we'll likely see things in a different manner.

Going back to Mr. Grumpyhead, we might ask how someone gets like that in the first place.  I'm thinking if someone's had a bad experience -- they might close themselves off to feel safer and less vunerable.

If we instead used the Four of Swords to recover from a bad experience, we'd find ourselves more prepared to move forward rather than just sitting still.  When we relax and recover, we build our strengths back up again -- and let the boo-boo's heal.

So - when you run into rough spots, take the time to recover and heal -- don't make the mistake of walling yourself away!

Make sense?  Hope it's something to think about!

Have a great weekend -- I'll see you again next week!

Woodsong

Change It Up!

Greetings!

Sorry to be late this week -- I had Monday off (recovering from Dickens) and had to play catchup yesterday.

Dickens was ... well, it was COLD!!!!  Attendance was only 30% of normal -- the cold and winds kept the crowds away.  We did okay, but was really, really glad when it was over and we could go and stay somewhere warm for a day or so.

For those who don't know, Galveston has a historic downtown area called "the Strand".  First weekend in December, they do a Victorian-themed street festival called "Dickens-on-the-Strand"; the streets are closed off and many street vendors put up vending booths (including our own "Tarot by Woodsong" booth!). 

Tarot by Woodsong at Dickens-on-the-Strand!

We had a pretty decent spot -- just inside a busy entrance.  We were the only booth on our side of the street, though (others were across the street). 

Funny thing was that the big cruise ships docked about three blocks away just down the same street.  These huge ships blocked much of the wind when they were there -- but when they left in the afternoon, the 35 MPH freezing winds hit us full force!

Planning ways we can heat the booth (and keep the heat in) for next year!

Let's jump into this week's reading before I get too distracted!

We'll pull two cards -- first offers a topic to consider, second offers tips to help us thing about the first.

Our first card is ... the Eight of Wands.

This is a card suggesting movement -- or "change".  This disturbs a lot of people because change ... well, change might be scary.  Many folks don't like change -- even if they don't like where they are, they dislike change even more!

Why dislike change -- well, because things might be worse.  This is true -- but things might also be a heck of a lot better, too!  That's the part we need to focus on.  If we're not changing -- if we keep doing the same things the same way for the same reasons -- then we're not growing.  The whole idea of this life journey we're all on is to grow and improve ourselves ... so we really need to keep an open mind about change.

Why?  Well, let's look at our second card ... the Wheel of Fortune.

The Wheel reminds us that sometimes we're on the top of the world -- and other times we may feel like the world is on top of us.  It's a cycle -- if you're on top, don't get too complacent, because your fortunes may fall.  If you're on the bottom, don't get too discouraged because things may improve.

The real message about the Wheel is that if you take an active hand, you can extend your time on the top or hasten your rise from the bottom.  Don't sit back and let events dictate things -- take an active hand to guide your fortunes.

And how do we do this?  Well, not by doing the same things the same way for the same reasons -- we do it by introducing and accepting "change".  Look for good things you can do to improve your fortune -- and look for bad things you can stop doing that are hindering our advancement.  Find the changes that will help you the most and set them in place!

That's about it for now -- my fingers are still numb from the weekend!  I'll see you again soon -- and have a great week!

Woodsong

Decisions, Decisions ...

Hi!

Hope everyone had a wonderful week last week -- for many of us, it was a Thanksgiving holiday.  For my family, that means great food, great naps, football, and the movies.

We saw "Catching Fire" on Thursday -- really enjoyed it!  I didn't see the Hunger Games, but have read all the books.  The movie was pretty faithful to the book, so had no trouble following it.  I don't get out to the movies all that often, so this was a very pleasant time.

My older son's getting out of the Navy this month.  He had 30 days of leave accrued -- but Navy rules say that he can't take them all at once -- so he came home for two weeks, then is flying back for a week, then is taking the rest of his leave while he's being discharged.  It's been nice to have him home -- in fact, both sons will soon be out of the Navy  (youngest already is).  It was a good experience for both of them and really helped point them in the right direction.

Went and did the nerve test for my hand problems (if I'd have known how much it was going to hurt, I might not have done it) -- they found  some pretty severe nerve damage in both arms.  Haven't talked about the next step yet, but will probably opt for the surgery.

I'd usually be more "talkative", but typing is kind of difficult (well, typing is actually fairly easy.  Hitting the right keys is pretty difficult!) right now, so will be kind of brief.  My apologies; hope to make up for it after my hands are working again.

Almost done -- "Dickens on the Strand" is this weekend in Galveston!  I'll be down there doing tarot readings -- if you're there, come by and say "Hi"! (look for the green-and-red booth -- I think I'm in location 716)

Okay -- time for the reading!  We'll draw two cards -- the first offers something for us to think about, the second suggests things we might consider when doing so.

Our first card is ... The Two of Swords.

The Two of Swords is a decision card.  It suggests times when we're faced with having to make a decision about something -- likely a difficult decision.  What most of us do when facing a weighty decision  is to "stall" -- we're not sure what to choose, so we put it off and don't do anything.  We might say "I'll think more about it tomorrow" or "I'll decide later", but what we're really doing is stalling.

The thing about stalling is that it in itself is a decision -- by not choosing anything, we're committing ourselves to a course of action.  We're having to do whatever it is that happens when we don't choose our own course!

In my mind, it's always better to make your own choices rather than have them be made for you. 

What's the worst that can happen?  You might make a poor decision?  So what if you do?  You just correct it, change your mind, backtrack, solve the problems ... and learn from your decision so you can make a better choice next time!

What do we have to help us make our decision?  Let's look at our next card -- the Nine of Pentacles.

This is a card of comfortable affluence.  This is a person who's made wised decisions based on their personal financial and physical welfare and is enjoying the results of these wise decisions.

What this suggests is that we really take into consideration how our decisions may affect our personal fiscal well-being.  Rather than just going on "gut-feeling", maybe we should run some numbers to see what makes the most sense.  Having issues with the old car and want a new one?  What will is cost per year to maintain the old one?  Will it be more than the payments (plus maintenance) for the new one?  Should you spend a bonus on spiffing up your wardrobe -- or pay off a credit card  instead? 

What will aid you most in the long run?  Sometimes the "wise" decision isn't the "fun" one -- take a little time to try and identify  what makes the most sense.

And that's it for now!  Have a great week -- I'll try to catch you again before "Dickens"!

Woodsong