Today's poetic words

I read this online,  these are not my words.  There was a thread on infidelity and someone wrote this:

May truth find you gently. May clarity reach you before confusion does. May your heart be protected from deception, and your dignity remain untouched by what was never yours to carry. And may whatever is revealed lead you not to pain, but to freedom, strength, and deeper self-respect.

Isn't that beautiful?  I wish it so,  especially on something as painful as infidelity. 

Eye of the Storm

When my life is going particularly crazy I say - it's my life as a telenovela,  in this week's segment they had to raise the ratings - so in the past month,  having never called an ambulance in my life,  I accompanied 2 family members to the hospital.  (one was clearly not sufficient drama)

Then last night my son wakes me from sleep to tell me he had a car accident.  So I'm wide awake and we sort things out.  This morning I am calling all these unfamiliar numbers for insurance and tow trucks. 

Then I get a call from an unfamiliar number and a voice recording says it's my credit card.  I've had 2 unusual expenditures on my account, one for $1000 on itunes and one for $1200 on another gift card.  If I want it go authorize it,  I should press 1,  but if I want to cancel it press 2.  So of course I press 2.  Then it tells me to go on hold,  and plays very pleasant classical music.  Then a man comes on the phone to discuss my credit card.  And suddenly I say,  I'm not comfortable doing this on the phone,  I'm going to go into my bank and talk to them.  And he says,  but you called me.  And I say,  no,  you called me.  And I hung up  and checked my bank account.  No such expenditures had been made.  It was a sophisticated scam.  

I was so frazzled by my family in hospital,  my son in an accident and then this phone call.  It would have been so easy to go with it.  I'm so grateful that I was able to just stop and think.  I actually initially did believe it was real,  but I have such distrust of technology,  that I needed to speak to a real person,  in a real storefront bank.  

So I'm slightly hysterical but so grateful that my son is fine and so is my bank security! I also feel that bad things come in threes (complete superstition,  I know, but it feels true) and that I've broken my current terrible run with not falling for this phone scam. 

Raising children into today's world

I just had a deeply concerning reading for a woman whose child is addicted to youtube kids videos.  I had never seen such videos (they sound benign on the face of it,  kids playing with toys,  kids opening toys)

And then,  the very next day,  I see this article in the New York Times - When a Child's Life Becomes the Family Business.  It was like it was explaining the other side of the reading. 

I do think many of us are too connected to our phones (and I'm in there with the 'us'.)   And I know kids can be annoying and irritating and demanding,  and giving them access to a youtube station by kids and for kids can feel like a safe fix.  But everyone's brains are developing in this scenario and kids watching other kids getting avalanches of toys can make them feel a) less than and b) want more and more. 

So my suggestions are to go slow and limit screen access, encourage real world connections, and talk to your kids.  Get them to help with cooking - a real world activity with the benefits of creating dinner! I know this takes energy, and the kids themselves may fight you on this,  but if we give them good enough alternatives,  then the fighting eases.  Also if none of this works,  please do some research and go and see a professional!  

I don't think there is a simple answer. Even my son says he is grateful he isn't 12 today.  The world is complex and changing more than we realize and we have to tread carefully...  

Finding new work

Did a reading for a woman who had drastically changed jobs (from high end finance to working in an art gallery,) only to discover that the new job did not suit her at all. 

Would she find better work?

She drew the Knight of Swords / Chariot  / 3 of pentacles

Right now she is angry, and riding with that anger but not going in the direction she wants.  However,  if she just lets her intellect guide her, and pull those opposing horses in the right direction,  she will get to creative and harmonious work.

I do love how the cards answer her question.  

Often when we take a risk,  we expect it to pay off immediately.  But the transition from high finance job to art gallery sales was too big a leap.  Also,  she focused on the word art,  but the job focused on the word sales,  and she found that she loves art but hates selling.   

So that's her Knight of swords,  she felt almost duped by the decision she had made.   However the Chariot is a card of strength of will,  where she pulls her will on her future and then she gets to what she wants.  The three of pentacles is an excellent outcome card around the area of work/career. 

We were both pleased by the outcome and I look forward to seeing how it all went,  when she comes for her next reading. 

(The readings are all real, and the cards drawn are all true,  but I change some identifying details to make sure that everyone's privacy is respected.) 

Nine of Cups

New York is a city that invites you to always want more and also,  to make you feel that you never have enough.   It's across all financial stratas.  You want a great bag,  your friend has two.   You want a great holiday,  all your friends are going to Italy or Iceland (didn't pick those at random,  literally everyone I know in New York has been to either and some to both.)  You want a Picasso,  your friend has a Picasso and a better summer house.

This leads us to the 9 of cups.  This card is not about about wealth,  but about contentment.  It's a real gift to be happy with what you've got.  The 9 of cups shows a plumpish man,  sitting with so many cups behind him,  happy with this stash.  He's not mourning some missing cup (though,  of course,  there may always be a missing cup)  But instead he feels the fullness of having enough.

In these social media times,  it's so easy to feel that you don't have enough!  I invite you to meditate on the many beautiful versions of the 9 of cups that are out there,  and give yourself the very real gift of contentment.  Be aware of where your wealth lies, and let yourself feel gratitude for that. 

Is Meritocracy a trap?

2024's new year's resolution was to read/view something interesting and new to me at least once a month,  and just think about it for a while.  Since then I've been putting up all sorts of weird pieces about cultural phenomena that I am reading about. 

This year,  2026,  I'm going to keep this going,  as I enjoyed the many conversations I had both with clients and friends about my reading adventures. 

Starting here with the idea of a meritocracy.  Raising a child in NYC,  meritocracy is a topic close to many a parents' heart. Middle school selection/choice,  high school and then omg,  College selection.  You could talk for months about it!  And all sorts of weird quirks came out, as parents stressed about getting their children the best leg up. 

Here's a really interesting conversation between Eliza Filby and Daniel Markovits about what is happening to the middle class as the wealthy get much wealthier and everyone else does not... They are articulating thoughts I've had myself and gave me a lot of clarity.  I also fell down a rabbit hole and listened to even more interviews with Daniel Markovits,  who is a genuinely interesting thinker. 

Just Give me a Sign

Poor woman.  She came to me for a reading,  and the cards just hated the man she had recently started dating exclusively.  She drew The Devil,  Judgment reversed,  10 of swords. 

So we spoke for a long time about him and her feelings and how she wants it to work.  The cards were really clear,  and they did not see it working. 

And just before we ended,  she said to me that her friends don't like him and her therapist doesn't like him but she wanted to speak to a psychic,  and now I didn't like him (I don't know him! I just told her what the cards told me.)  She feels we are all being unsupportive and she is going to keep seeing him,  anyways. 

I felt like I was watching Steve Martin,  the The Man with Two Brains

She's getting all the signs,  she just doesn't want to hear them! I finally told her to come back in 6 months,  and we'll see where she is from there.  I know she is going to be disappointed in him,  but me knowing,  and her believing are two different things...