Today’s card reminds me that sometimes joy is hard to seek. It’s hard when you feel as if the world is dead-set against you ever breaking free of things. It’s hard when you feel as if no one truly cares about your forward progress.
So what do you do when you feel like the 8 of Swords? This card is from the Fradella Adventure Tarot. It’s a particular favorite of mine–this depiction. I was reading with it one day when it hit me.
She’s not a victim. She’s not on that wheel at someone else’s hand. No. She volunteered for that position. She trusted that the thrower would hit the target and not her.
But the important piece is…she put herself there. Look at her. She’s no simpering, weeping miss. She’s a strong confident woman who knows how to take what life throws her way. She knows it’s only a matter of time before she is free again.
She knows that even when someone is throwing blades at her, she is in charge.
Don’t let life win. Don’t give into the “it’s not fair” and “they are all mean to me” mode of thinking. Rise above that. You can’t control others. You can only control yourself. Don’t give them the pleasure of seeing you falter.
Keep. Seeking. Joy.
Here’s a great quote from Robert Louis Stevenson.
“…Find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all.”
To miss the joy is to miss all. Wow. That quote in one of my Oprah newsletters really swatted me hard. I’ll bet this woman strapped to the target knows where her joy resides.
It isn’t out there. It isn’t in the hands of the knife thrower.
It’s within her.
It’s within you.
Find out where joy resides, y’all. Pass it on.
9 of Blades, Fradella Adventure Tarot Deck & Book Set with Book(s), USGames, 2003