<center><H5>Literally the first thought of the day</H5></center>

So ... I've been mucking around today, trying to think of what to post next.  It's not like I don't have choices.  There's stuff going on in the sky.  I'm hip-deep in several new projects that create content suitable for here.  I have some comments from quite a while back I plan to respond to in posts.  (Hopefully.)

But today when I woke up, this creative crisis / stalemate we're all in (and trying to work through) was the first thought that arrived.  So, even though it's not a Tarot day ... I decided to ask the Tarot for some advice.  My plan was to work with a single card -- and the clear focus that kind of reading delivers.  But you know what they say about "the best laid plans."

I picked up the deck and three cards wanted to play.  (Nothing's ever just simple, is it?)  So here they are.  Three individual pieces of advice ... maybe.  A sequence of events ... maybe.  The ingredients that can help solve the puzzle.  As you read about them, consider what they say ... what they suggest ... to you.  (That's the Tarot's function.  To direct your mind to certain possibilities, to create a picture for you to interpret, to shake up your thinking -- especially when it gets stuck.)

I'm going to use one of the traditional Tarots for this one, because while some of the alternatives with their rich artistic renderings are gorgeous, this reading feels like we need to get back to basics.  (And you can see why some of the traditional Tarot art is far less appealing than others.)

Here's the layout.  (What a glorious reading!)

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**The Sun** card in the Tarot is associated with The Sun in Astrology -- so, no surprise there. Let me turn it upright so you can get a good look at it (and all the joy and exuberance its energies depict ... the image of the Inner Child, carried along on a symbol of power and majesty ... having a wonderful time -- in warm, revealing light of the sun.)

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In the Tarot it signifies all the vital, dynamic, nourishing energy that fuels your Essential Being.  It is *who you are* fundamentally and in no uncertain terms.  It asks you to reconnect with your authentic being -- and live that truth completely.  So ... to the best of your ability to describe it ... who are you?  Why are you here?  What do you want to accomplish with your wild-and-wonderful life?  (I need to write a more complete post about this.  Maybe that's my project for tonight.)

What is your purpose?  How can you express this?  What are the qualities you have that are specifically designed to help?  What would connect you to this undeniable joy of living?  How can you make *this* the central occupation of your life?

I know.  The card's reversed in the reading -- and while we can't completely blow that off, the presence of two *extraordinarily* positive cards does minimize the "negativity" of that orientation and suggest the card is actually saying something else other than the usual depressed, extinguished, "blighted energy" of the Sun Rx.  (And remember, there are 22 cards in the Tarot.  This one is #19 -- card #20 when you recall The Fool is Card #0.  We're working with a *very evolved, high-ranking, significant energy.)*

This is not a sick child who needs to be healed or a broken child who needs to be pieced back together.  This is a kid who's cooped up, who's "having a nap" -- in the words of @catweasel.  It may be a kid who's just waiting for his time in the spotlight -- his chance to show off with that *Hey, Ma!! Look at me!!* exuberance so associated with Leo -- the sign the Sun rules.  He's definitely alive and ready to perform.  (So that answers Schrodinger's dilemma.)

But he may need the right setting, the proper permissions (from you), adequate appreciation and encouragement and *enough trust in the situation to know that you're not going to trick him or shut him down the moment he starts doing his thing.*  (Again.)

This may be an Inner Child whose trust you need to regain, whose confidence needs your support and who knows that the assets he's being offered are *his to work with, for sure.*  If you tell him he has the freedom to live the life he needs to build, he has to know you're not lying.  (Because if you are he'll know it ... and that's not a good thing.  Lying to him is literally *lying to yourself* -- and that's no way to behave.)

Whatever "life agenda" is waiting for you to get around to it ... the waiting needs to be consigned to history.  It's time to pull out the stops, hit the road, *use all your resources and make the thing happen.*  This is not some little half-hearted effort or other "little deal" we're discussing.  It's time to claim your Authentic Being ... and work beside it, in partnership, with flat-out unconditional commitment.

Who is this Being -- this Inner Child all grown-up?  What is this work you're designed to accomplish?  What's the end you're aiming for?  How do you get there?  What's the first step?  What's the one after that?  What do you need to *begin this vital segment of your journey?*  If you can answer any or all of those questions ... this work has a starting point.  Lean in.

Nelson Mandela said something once to the effect that you serve no one's interests by playing small.  Believe it.

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**9 of Cups =** This is one of the most positive, uplifting cards in the deck.  It signifies happiness, fulfillment, self-confidence, pride, accomplishment, merits and trophies worth having.  (Look at this guy sitting in front of those gold cups!  He's got something / he's done something he is really *proud of.*  You can see it in his posture.  You can see it in his expression.  You can see it in his girth, for that matter.  Man, he's satisfied with what he's achieved.  Reach for that feeling.  What would put you in this place ... full of these feelings?)

That goal / that feeling / that proud-of-yourself satisfaction is what you need to reach for -- and work to create.  What would achieve this for you?  (And the answer is **not** "having a whole bunch of money.  Believe it or not, money is not an answer.  It's the result of something else, or a means to an end, or a symbol of confirmation.  In some ways it's basically a *side effect* of something more significant.  If you doubt that, look at the lives of people who sell their souls for money ... or who inherit money ... or who win a lot of money without effort.  Seriously, would you trade places with any of them?)  

Money is a tool.  Otherwise it's one of the most useless things on the planet.  You can't eat it.  You can't live in it.  It won't keep you comfortable.  The only thing you can do with money -- and have it fulfill its purpose -- is exchange it for things you *do want* -- such as some of the things I just mentioned.

If "money were the answer," we'd be looking at the 9 of Pentacles here.  But we're not.  We're reaching for happiness -- straight-out and honest.  Not something else.  Define happiness for yourself.  It will be different from the definition of anyone else on this planet.  Seriously.  Sit down and define happiness.

You will learn something.  (You'll also learn something about yourself -- and you could also learn some things you'd rather not know ... but that's one of the risks.)  When you think you've got a grip on that definition, what does it tell you?  It will also give you a starting point.  Where is that?

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**6 of Swords =** intellectual clarity.   Knowing what you know, owning what you know, living and acting by *truth* as it applies to you.  There are few finer support systems in existence for courage and confidence.  Align yourself with your thoughts and convictions.  Let go of anything you don't *know to be true, fair, just, positive, etc.*  Know that what you're doing is the right thing for you.  That kind of conviction makes you invincible.  (There is no power like that of an idea whose time has come.  It's time to admit, announce and live by yours.)

The past is the past.  The future is still yours.  This doesn't mean you won't face more challenges and hard choices.  But it does mean you'll be clear on what you're doing and why.  And that all by itself is a pretty darn wonderful gift.

So ... you and I have some self-analysis to accomplish, serious questions to answer, discoveries to make ... and maybe some decisions to act on that have been put-off ... or ignored ... or denied.  The one thing you need to be for sure now ... is honest.

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