Day 11 - Day of Rest

[Joan Marie]

Just 2 days remain in this seasonal reading exercise.
Everyone is invited to join in, to comment, to share in this.

Today's theme is:

11. Day of Rest: - Dec 30th
This card shows us how to walk our path in a relaxed and confident way....with the ability to deal with stressful situations in a philosophical, detached way.

Not a bad thing to get some perspective on, especially during the strangest of all weeks of the year. That in-between 2 big holidays limbo when everything seems to be on some kind of partial hold on everything.

A good time all in all to consider our temperament.

[Joan Marie]

Right away I think of siblings.
I come from a big family. It's a lot, it always has been.

We all learn so much about how we relate to the world from those early (and then on-going) interactions with siblings.
Detachment is a pretty vague concept when you live in a house with 8 people and there is only one bathroom.
You learn to become, uh, reactionary and to see others as adversaries and not as passengers in the same creaky boat. You tend to stake your claims. Later, when the battles for space and resources are no more, this can translate into having really fixed opinions, stubbornness. that kind of thing. A need to assert ones self.

The sun is making both of these guys sweat in the same way.
Remembering this is to see everyone's humanity.

I just recalled a line from a brilliant film from a few years ago called "Margaret"

A mature woman says to a very young, immature woman, "We are not all just characters in the fascinating story of your life."

Somehow that seems relevant to this.
The ego is what causes the stress, what forces the unhealthy attachments to ideas and points of view.

[Rachelcat]

XVIII. El sole
I got the sun, too! But no children. To be relaxed and confident, I should be receptive and grateful. The trees are gratefully receiving energy and life from the sun, which provides it with no strings attached. I’m thinking “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous,” which paradoxically seems to me to be a good argument for no “He” at all. The blessings of nature are for everyone, not just those morally worthy of them. But it’s good to be thankful for them anyway!

Another way to be relaxed and confident is to practice honesty and openness. Oh what a tangled web we weave. Dishonesty or even just hiding something can cause unnecessary worry and troubles. It’s so much easier and better in the long run to let it all hang out!

And cozy. Relaxed and confident are comfortable. I’m looking at all that warmth on the card wishing I were soaking it up right now!

Have a happy and restful day today, everyone!

[chiscotheque]

11. Day of Rest: - Dec 30th
This card shows us how to walk our path in a relaxed and confident way....with the ability to deal with stressful situations in a philosophical, detached way.

Card: 2 of COINS

Gee, I'm glad I didn't get The Sun card. COINS, of course, are in their own way miniature suns here on earth - money, after all, is what makes the world go around. Today's question is interesting in light of the last couple day's themes - tapping into the past and one's own inner child is all well and good, but adults get uptight and crusty for a reason. Earthly reality is demanding and unfair and can crush the spirit, so how to juggle staying lithe and alive with becoming a neurotic, authoritarian bore?

The 2/COINS upright song is Simple Twist of Fate from Dylan's landmark album, Blood on the Tracks. The song and album reflect a mature Dylan, who has managed to make his art both personal and universal. He was taking painting lessons at the time, while also breaking up with his wife and struggling with writer's block, and all these experiences actually helped rather than hindered his work. And looking at it the other way, his work helped him handle those experiences. Blood on the Tracks is unique in that Dylan recorded it in New York and, before releasing it, played it for his brother who told him not to release it, but rather to take some time, live with it, and reflect on it. Dylan did this and decided to re-record it, and that distance made for a more mature and measured work of art. This speaks to me, as I have a tendency to want to finish things and move on, perhaps before it's time. Simple Twist of Fate, with its backward-looking narrative, also implies that we need to be open to the unexpected, or things we don't ourselves see, even if that means taking a step back when we want to surge ahead.





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