The Sky is Falling?

This week I'll be using the Anna K. Tarot created by Anna Klaffinger.  Today's draw is the Ten of Wands:

This is the Voice of Doom speaking! Special bulletin! Flash! The sky is falling! A piece of it just hit you on the head! Now be calm. Don't get panicky. Run for your life! ~ Foxy Loxy in Chicken Little

Some people like to stay busy because they enjoy having a project to work on, while others like to distract themselves by having something to do that will keep them from thinking about other stuff.  But then there are others whose sense of self-worth is tied up in "doing" for other people, regardless of whether it is a sane choice or not.  Inevitably they wind up like the man in the image above, completely overwhelmed with everything on their plate, asking "Why do people expect so much of me?"  Of course the answer is simple - he can't say "no."  This card reminds me that people-pleasing is a subtle form of manipulation, it's not something I do for other people.  And if I don't want to feel like the sky is falling, I need to know my limits and learn to be honest about them with others.

The other deck I'll be using this week is the Green Man Tree Oracle, created by John Matthews and Will Worthington.  Today's draw is "Hazel:"

Seek wisdom in the depths.

With the availability of colleges, libraries, and the internet, knowledge is easy to come by.  But wisdom isn't something than can be bought or borrowed - it comes from the rough and tumble world of experience.  The few glimpses I've had of it are usually when I find myself in situations like the guy above in the Ten of Wands.  I've hit bottom, my ego has (finally) stepped out of the way, and my mind opens to a lesson in life.  But to truly be defined as wisdom means I don't have to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, expecting different results.