Balancing Barefoot

From the Cosmic Tarot, the Two of Pentacles:

On a beach, a young man balances barefoot inside an infinity symbol. He seeks a way to maintain stability while dealing with his obligations and responsibilities - an ongoing task for all of us. His choice of being shoeless emphasizes the need to be grounded in the "now," and one efficient way to do that is by being aware of the senses and signals of the body. I went to a seminar years ago where the speaker had us stick our arms straight out to our sides, while a partner tried to push down on our wrist (non-dominant side) with two fingers. We resisted, and the partners had to push quite hard to get our arms down. But then she had us make up outrageous tales (lies) about ourselves and express them aloud. When our partners tried the experiment again, they found it quite easy to push our arms down. The body is an excellent barometer for how well we keep our lives in balance - so much so that even when we try to deceive ourselves, it responds in kind.

From the L'Oeil de Lotus comes the card "Detachment:"

In this painting, a rope is about to slip off a mooring bollard, allowing the boat to which it's attached to float free. Detachment allows us to disengage our emotions so we aren't manipulated by them. We don't allow their actions or attitude to affect us; in other words, our happiness isn't attached to whether they are content. How do I personally do this? I attempt to keep my hands out of the other person's affairs. When I start obsessing about how they are feeling (and what I can do to make them "better"), I distract my mind with something else. It definitely is a balancing act to stay compassionate while refusing to get tangled up in that rope. I wish it were as easy as that explanation I just gave.