You Go High

This week I'll be using the Victorian Romantic Tarot, created by Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony with Magic Realist Press as publisher. I will also be drawing from Dreaming in Color: the Luman Deck, created and self-published by Mindy Hope Sommers. Today's draws are the Five of Swords and 'Breakthrough:'

Not all forms of abuse leave bruises.

~Danielle Steel 

          I wish bullying was something kids would grow out of, but as the current political stage shows, bullies don't have an age limit. I was angered to see the video of Catholic high school boys (who were in Washington, DC for an anti-abortion march) get in the face of a Native elder who was there with others to be a voice for the rights of indigenous peoples. Is this something their parents and school would be proud of? I would love to see these boys shipped off to live on a reservation for a month. Maybe a little understanding would grow in their tiny, undeveloped brains. My initial reaction to bullies is to push back, hard. But the Breakthrough card reminds me that this kind of action only feeds animosity and cruelty. Instead, I might take Michelle Obama's advice that she gave her girls (which the elder modeled beautifully): "We explain when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you do not stoop to their level. Our motto is when they go low, you go high." A wide perspective can make something that at first seems personal be reflected right back to the bully.

People who repeatedly attack your confidence and self-esteem are quite aware of your potential, even if you are not. ~Wayne Gerard Trotman