4 of pentacles vs 9 of Cups

I'm finding I'm explaining these 2 cards,  the 4 of pentacles and the 9 of cups,  again and again to people lately. I really feel we are living in a world exploiting our feelings of not enoughness,  feeding our dissatisfactions, wanting our envy.

I came across this anecdote:  At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have … the knowledge that I have enough."

And it seems to me that the super rich right now have no idea what enough looks like.  And the world of instagram and trad wives and holidays abroad are all about needing more, exploiting the feeling of the 4 of pentacles,  where our financial needs and wants hang over us. We feel tight for money,  tight for time,  tight. 

And what we want,  what we should all be striving for is the 9 of cups,  the card I call the fat and happy card,  where you don't have everything,  but you have that most special of all things,  enough.  You are content with what you have.  There may be a cup or two missing,  but you don't let that spoil the cups that you have.  You let yourself have joy with what comes your way,  and let yourself be rich in the ways of Joseph Heller,  and know that you have enough.

That's my blessing to all of us,  may we know the value of what we have,  and let us feel contentment. 

Keeping yourself well

In these difficult times,  it's easy to get agitated and upset.  I've found myself feeling claustrophobic. My own irritation/anxiety levels were rising and deep breathing and chocolate were not enough to bring them down.   I've put on 4 pounds in two weeks.  Always a bad sign!

So I've made a more concerted effort to connect with friends,  both of us drinking coffee and chatting over zoom or skype or facetime.  So many options! 

My gym closed two weeks ago today and I hadn't done any exercise other than walk the dog since then.  I always say in my readings that feelings are energy,  and if you are angry or irritated or worried,  that's also energy.  If you can't defuse it at the source (you can't always shout at your boss/mother/lover/financial worries/ pandemic) you should still try to get rid of it.  I suggest high energy exercise - kick boxing,  running,  zumba.  I can't kick box or run to save my life (or my knees) but I can dance.

So today I went through the internet and found that to create a good zumba class is no simple matter.   There were lots of them that just didn't work for me - too hard,  too easy,  too complicated,  didn't like the music. It's easy to give up.   But after half an hour and a few missteps,  I found a great zumba teacher that I really liked - Ines Araonos.   



So this morning is already better.  I'm sweaty and bouncy and can feel that irritated edgy feeling relax .   I think tomorrow I'll do a barre class.