Magpie Mentality

From the Golden Tarot, the Nine of Coins; from the Yantra Deck, "Simplicity:"

          It took me a few minutes to figure out why Black would have included the ewe in her card, but then I realized it balanced out the falcon. The falcon represents the assertive, disciplined side of the will; the sheep is the gentle, receptive side. This woman didn't get her financial security through corporate take-overs or hoodwinking her business partners and clients. She took the softer, kinder way (as shown in Strength) of honest and humane hard work. She has been blessed by her efforts with good health and financial stability; now is the time to enjoy life instead of simply adding to her larder.
          The Yantra of Simplicity is paired with a quote from Ernest Hemingway: "The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without." We humans try to ignore the inevitability of change and impermanence by using a smokescreen of accumulated stuff. Who can worry about death with a stack of boxes from Amazon to open? Yet as my body ages and more friends and family members die, this approach no longer works very well as a distraction. Life is transitory as the Buddha's words imply in the Diamond Sutra:

So you should view this fleeting world -

A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,

A flash of lightening in a summer cloud,

A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.

I've got plenty of people, experiences and beauty to enjoy right under my nose. I have no need to chase after the next bright, shiny object that crosses my field of vision.