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. 

Best Easter Bonnets

These are all from the New York Times -  New York doing what it does best,  doing something completely over the top and giving us something to smile about... 

Happy Easter,  Hope yours was full of Chocolate and rabbits and good times... 

New York Dreams

A client told me recently that she had read somewhere that there is a recurring dream that many New Yorkers have.  Can you guess what it is? 

 

It’s about closet space. 

The second she told me, I laughed,  it’s true… more closet space is something we all dream about here!

Magic of the Magician

After every reading, I write the cards you drew on a post card, so you can remember them and, if you wish,  you can look them up on this blog or elsewhere to explore them further. 

I did a reading recently where the girl brought last readings postcard with her.   She asked about her relationship and drew the Magician:- her boyfriend is a magician, a bit slippery but with some magic,  some sleight of hand and some misdirection, voila, he call pull the rabbit out of the hat. It’s a great card for someone wanting to succeed in New York. 

And then I glanced at her old card,  and saw that last September, she had drawn exactly the same card about him. 

That’s why I love the cards,  he was the magician then, he’s still the magician now,  it’s way beyond chance that she should keep drawing the same card to describe him…  (and she agreed with the description,  ‘it’s very him’ ) 

Finding Success in Hardship

There’s a facebook page I love,  called Humans of New York, random shots of New Yorkers and a sentence or two. The sentences are often surprisingly profound. 

One showed a pleasant middle aged woman, who had this to say:

"I'm trying to help my kids find their way."
"What's the most difficult part of that?"
"Letting them fail."

by Akvamarinka

Hardships as much as successes make us who were are and some of the qualities we love most about ourselves grow from dreams that didn’t happen and then what we did next… 

One of the commentators said: Though none of us would ever wish it for our children, a little hardship is not a bad thing. Teaches resilience and dispels entitlement.

by Abagail Ekhert

The other reality is that hardship, in one form or another, comes to all of us. If we first find it at 40, it feels much worse than having swum through it at 25.  Hardships, disappointments, small failures help build resilience, determination and self-knowledge.  Too much hardship can break us, that’s true, but the right amount of hardship can make us…  

And I’ll end with the excellent Michael Jordan quote: “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

 

So when hardship comes, remember it comes to all of us and it can be fertile soil indeed!