Unpacking

From the Dark Mansion Tarot, the Hermit; from Miss Mai's Victorian Oracle, Corset:

The older I get, the less I know. It's wonderful - it makes the world so spacious.

― Swami Chetanananda

When I was in my teens and twenties, I thought I knew everything and rarely listened to advice. Fast forward to being in my sixties, and I now realize just how little I know. But that realization means I'm more willing to listen and learn with an open mind. The Hermit is the same way; his wisdom is hard-won from the knocks of life (though with a few pleasures too). When he is frustrated at the world, he recognizes it is a signal that self-reflection and contemplation are needed. Progress can be made when he stops focusing so much on what needs to be changed in the world and concentrates on his attitude and what needs to be changed in him. Corset represents suppression, and in this case suggests something we try to hide when we present ourselves to others. But there's only so much that can be stuffed in before it starts leaking out. The Hermit invites us to take a timeout for some mental and emotional unpacking.

Not One or the Other

From the Dark Mansion Tarot, the Tower; from Miss Mai's Victorian Oracle, Corset:

To be fully alive, fully human and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

― Pema Chodron

It's not so much that the unexpected happens, it's just that we expect it not to. Both the cards today imply ways we try to get around the uncertainties inherent in life. The Tower is the way we try to distance ourselves from pain; we may see it from a distance and even pity others, but we strive to be untouched by it. The Corset squeezes and shapes what is natural into a preferred form, much like the judgmental thoughts we can have ("He shouldn't have smoked and should have exercised more.") that are designed to separate us from suffering. But the mental and emotional walls we use are a delusion - the nature of life is joy and adversity, not one or the other. In the words of Chodron, "To live is to be willing to die over and over again." We release what has already happened and choose to greet each day as new and fresh, with curiosity rather than fear.