Happy Tuesday! I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat (and my husband has been sick since Christmas Eve). Ugh. I sound like Bea Arthur. Look at the advantages of digital tarot... you get your insight without a side of nasty germs. Lucky you!
Can I tell you just how in love I am with the decks I chose above? The Housewives Tarot is straight out of the 1950s. It's an old-ass deck from 2004 (their website uses - or tries to use - Flash! Hullo nostalgia!) - if you'd like to see a video review (not by me), there's one on Youtube. The other deck to the right is The Pulp Tarot deck and is designed like Pulp Fiction covers. Both are still loosely based on the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck.
Anyway, so the X of Wands. Traditionally, this is the card of burden. The figures in the cards above are all struggling to carry their bundles, and interpretations of this card are fairly straightforward.
Message of the Day: When we think of the X of Wands as a card of burden, it's usually about doing too much: taking on too many responsibilities, an overwhelming calendar, even emotional burdens (particularly with kids or aging parents). Sometimes shit gets heavy and trying to take even another step, much less another burden, seems painful or impossible. And when we start to hold too many "wands", eventually some are going to get dropped.
Sometimes this is inevitable. Typically we have a support structure who can help share responsibilities and shoulder the burden. But sometimes we don't, or sometimes that support structure isn't reliable, or worse, we feel obligated to take on the burden of care or extra work to make sure the project succeeds. I mean, someone's gotta do it, right?
So how do we protect ourselves from burnout, or better - how do we shield ourselves from that feeling of obligation?
First: you need to identify and set your own personal boundaries. If you are willing to take on more, people will happily load you up with their shit - without a doubt. Learn to say no and be ok with it. And then be proud of yourself for maintaining that boundary. Maybe you'll piss someone off. Oh, well. Shit happens.
Second: be open about your own needs and your own need for support. It's more than ok to ask for help. And it's totally ok for calling someone out if they aren't stepping up and doing their part. There is no "I" in "Get your ass off the couch and help me."
Third: Prioritize. How many of these responsibilities that you have MUST be done? Drop the little things and focus on the immediate needs. For example - Christmas. Sure, it's great to see people unwrap a gift. But how much time does it save to throw that shit in a gift bag and move on? If you have the time - great. If not, it's not remotely worth stressing over.
Fourth: Welcome your technology overlords. There are plenty of apps out there than can help you manage your life - perhaps most importantly, a shared email address and a shared calendar. There are free and paid options out there that do this. Here at home, we have a shared family email address for anything school, bill, home, or health-related. Then we also use iCalendar so we can all see what's happening with the family so we can schedule accordingly.
Just remember: if you're stressed out all the time because you are overwhelmed by responsibility - it's time to take a load off and re-evaluate.
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