Muddy Reading

From the Idiosyncradeck Tarot, the Moon; from the Mixed Emotions Cards, Vulnerable:

Suspicion comes out of the unrenewed mind; discernment comes out of the renewed spirit.

―Joyce Meyer

"Don't make any major decisions for a year" is advice often heard in the rooms of recovery. It usually takes that long for the brain to recover and come back online so that we see and understand reality clearly. The Moon suggests a pause as well, either because we are physically exhausted, emotionally drained, or currently in the middle of drama or chaos. Vulnerable suggests we are unprotected because of a lack of discernment. We're not processing information and facts accurately at the moment, and should heed Lao Tzu's question: "Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?"

Another Day Completed

From the Idiosyncradeck, the World; from the Mixed Emotions deck, Vulnerable:

The sun is setting as a day is coming to completion. Did I learn something new today? Did I do something purposeful? Was I kind and compassionate toward others? Whatever my answer, if I have the chance to enjoy another morning, I can try again. 'Vulnerable' suggest being at the mercy of someone or something. Such an experience can leave me with a desire to stay in bed with the covers pulled over my head in an effort to protect myself. Yet when I suffer, it is only when I offer tenderness and openness to myself that I can appreciate and understand the rest of the world. As Pema Chodron explained, a heart without armor "is a heart that is willing to be touched by pain and remain present." Sounds like compassion to me.

Rock Bottom

From the Spirit Within Tarot, the Tower; from the Answer Deck, Vulnerable:

You can't build a great building on a weak foundation. 

~Gordon B. Hinckley

          We can become very myopic when we fear something, and so we find a thing or person that we think will protect us from it. The safeguard we choose becomes the bricks and cement of the tower we build. It might be education, a relationship, a career, religion, therapy or a certain mindset. But pinning all of our hopes on this one thing creates an imbalanced foundation for our lives; time changes everything, even that tower of protection we worked so hard to build. When it crumbles, it doesn't mean our choice was wrong, just our expectation of it. The Vulnerable card, however, alerts us to a danger when we find ourselves flattened by a turn of life. We may seek out the first 'sure cure' we can find and buy,  be it a prayer cloth, a magical quartz crystal, or the advice of someone who can talk to angels. Yet this behavior is simply a way to rebuild our wall; we'd do better to use what happened as a way to expand our perspective and awareness. In the words of J.K. Rowling, "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

Perhaps....

From the Spirit Within Tarot, the Five of Cups; from the Answer Deck, Vulnerable:

Emotions are symptoms of a person’s engagement with life. ~  Michael Schreiner 

          I grew up with a stepfather who allowed anger, but would not tolerate sadness and tears (they were seen as a sign of weakness). Other friends grew up in homes where anger was completely unacceptable (bad) and sadness was considered a side of compassion. Most people are taught that 'happy' is the state we should be in all the time. Yet as Schreiner says in the quote above, all emotions are a normal part of life, and each eventually ebbs over time. Yet the Vulnerable card shows what happens when we lose all perspective and self-identify with the emotion. We disengage from life and imagine we have no control over anything. Schreiner suggests that such a reaction is "an unconscious form of rebellion" because what we want doesn't sync up with reality. We suffer because we push back at life as it is, yet the bridge of acceptance continues to wait in the distance whispering, "Perhaps there is a better way."