Not Wasted

From the Tarot of the Crone, the Ten of Cups; from the Transforming Dragons deck, Fliquito:

 Joy isn’t something we have to find. Joy is who we are if we’re not preoccupied with something else. 

—Charlotte Joko Beck

The expansiveness of the human heart is limitless if we understand that its ability does not rest in outer things. When we come to this realization, we see that love and kindness are not finite resources that must be reserved for special people or situations. Not only can our cup stay full, but we will have plenty to share. Yet we can easily waste it all through self-reference and other habitual patterns. Fliquito represents falsehoods - in this case, those we tell ourselves. He tells us that what we offer others should be returned or else it is wasted. Yet as Aesop reminds us, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Even if the other rejects our gift, if we hold no expectations, we can still be blessed by what we offered. In fact, such a response can help our compassion grow if we understand the pain at the root of their reaction.

Up Against a Brick Wall

From the Tarot of the Crone, Death; from the Transforming Dragons deck, Fliquito:

This is the End

There is nowhere else to go

Something has to change

And that something is you.

~ Ellen Lorenzi-Prince 

          The bare-bones truth is that people and things will never change to suit our circumstances. If we want things to be different, we have to change. Sometimes we put off that change until it literally almost puts us in the grave. Humans are a stubborn lot. Yet the red groin in this Death card signifies an opportunity for rebirthing ourselves if we'll take it. Do we realize how quickly time is slipping away? Fliquito is associated with dishonesty which comes in many forms. Deception may come in the form of denial, omission or using a partial truth to cover up a larger deceit. We hide the truth from ourselves as much as from others. Change only begins with awareness and acceptance - an honest appraisal of ourselves and our situation.

Growth and comfort do not coexist.

~Ginni Rometty