Tag: Tarot

Posted on by Life is Surreal in musings, social media, Tarot

Hi, friends. Remember in an previous post when I mentioned that we were heading into Mercury Retrograde? No shit, right? Let me tell you that yesterday was a day! I won’t go into details, but it was seriously out of whack. So this morning to prepare myself, I pulled the cards and asked: What should I be aware of today? And what should I do to handle it? For the spread I used Fifth Spirit Tarot.

I’m not going to share what I saw for myself because believe it or not, it’s not really something I want out there. But I can tell you that those freakin’ cards were right on as usual. Feel free to share your interpretation!

LET’S try to be social

About an hour ago, my husband asked me if anyone uses SnapChat anymore. I don’t know, do they? I tried it for a week or so when it first launched, and I did it entirely for the filters, which I got bored of rather quickly. They were pretty cool, but my attention span is pretty short. And why would I want something I post to disappear in a few hours? Okay, I can think of a few reasons, but overall, not so much.

But then again, I still mostly use Facebook, which is a good indication of my age group. I occasionally post on Instagram, the frequency being another indication of my age group.

And that got me thinking about social media platforms.

I miss LiveJournal. I just looked it up to see if it still exists, and it does! Who knew! It was because of this platform and MySpace (yeah, I said it), that I got to know so many people in New Haven and on the goth scene. Of course, there was also a club called Flux and some very strong drinks poured by a wonderful bartender named Michael.

Remember the MySpace top 10? How many arguments did that cause? I can think of one very large one in my house.

For work, among other things, I’m a social media manager so I have taken certification classes and seminars and know quite a bit about it. Except TikTok. I mean, I can use it and I can run ads on it pretty successfully, but I cannot for the life of me figure out its algorithm. I only have a work account and I’m pretty much the only person who uses it so I have to wonder why (Why?!) some of the videos show up in my “For you” feed. Like this. And also like this. As I was scrolling to find examples, I came across one of those videos that you have to check the comments to understand what’s going on. All I’ll say is that it featured a fisherman taking caviar out of a very dead, yet not entirely still, fish. Now I have to go watch a ton of cat videos to get that out of my head. I’m not going to share it here, you’re welcome.

That’s the “For You” on my work account. We’re an esoteric book publisher.

I also use Twitter, I mean X, for work, but it’s kind of a cesspit. Even though I clearly love outbound links for SEO purposes, I’m not going to link this platform. I mean, why bother? The work accounts I follow are great, but some of the others, not so much. I am trying to remember when it launched–was it so confusing to use? I feel like the notification feature is a complete mess and sometimes I can’t even find the original post that the commentors are commenting on. Is it me?

I heard they had to take down the huge flashing X they put atop HQ because it gave people seizures. Need I say more?

*Note I did fact check that last statement and really it was a permit issue and not a seizure issue, and I guess that pretty much sums up the whole X debacle as well.

Maybe someday I’ll try Threads. You?

once upon a time there was no internet

And we walked to school in the snow uphill both ways without shoes.

The previous sentence isn’t true, although I did grow up in upstate New York where no one, at least at that time, had ever heard of a snow day.

Anyhow, I was reminded of the power of the internet and social media today during a discussion (on social media) about Rudy Guiliani of all people. I had shared a photo of a signed copy of the book he wrote. It literally says, “To Gia,” but I didn’t get it myself. That said, I thought it was an awesome gift. You can look up the book if you want, but there’s no need to give it any additional attention here.

Now, I know the Rudy of the last few years, but I also remember how he became a figurehead after 9/11, and I thought he did a really great job. I couldn’t understand what happened. And then, in the comments under the photo, I leaned a whole lot more about past Rudy that makes today’s Rudy a natural progression.

This isn’t about Rudy though, it’s about me not realizing these things were going on behind the scenes. I can definitely chalk some of it up to being self-absorbed in my teens and twenties (in the depressed, not vain way, although there was probably some of the latter too) and also privilege. But even back then I was pretty socially conscious. But I really think most of it was not having access to social media and all the sources now available online. Of course, American Online launched about that time and it offered all sorts of chat rooms, but did anyone use it for anything else? If you even had internet. For real, think about it–how limited was the information we had daily access to back then, for better or for worse. These weren’t the kinds of things you could look up in that set of encyclopedias your parents bought one by one from the supermarket.

I think I should step away from the keyboard now. Thank you for sticking with me to this point. May the happenings of Mercury Retrograde be in your favor.

I feel compelled to tell you

I did indeed spend way too much time obsessing about a hotel for Saturday after cancelling my room and actually found and booked one for $262 total. In Hell’s Kitchen no less–which is very different than the Hell’s Kitchen when I lived in the city, as is most of NYC.

Dancing in the Uncomfortable Zone

Posted on by Life is Surreal in musings

For those of you who have been following along and already know that I can’t do anything outside of my comfort zone without overthinking, overplanning, and just neurotically obsessing (and for those of you who know now), I’m cancelling my Pod 51 hotel room (which I rebooked for $28 less and will re-cancel). I figured out that I would have to work about 18 hours at the festival to just cover the hotel and sure I can do it, but I’m cheap, I mean frugal, and since I probably won’t be working that many hours, I would essentially be paying to work. I am going for the experience and not the money, but paying to work is just kind of stupid (insert my mother’s “I told you so”). If I want to pay that kind of money, I’ll just buy a 1-day ticket and not work at all. More on why I am not doing that below.

Final decision: work all day Saturday, take the train home, repeat on Sunday. Sleep all day Monday.

I summed that up nicely in one sentence, but it took many more sentences for me to finally decide on the final-ish plan. Shout out to the friends who endured that with me and also to you all for sticking with this blog.

Anyhow, after making my decision to cancel but before I actually did it, I thought I’d see what the cards said.

I asked: What is my current situation and what should I do? I used the Midnight City Tarot because it seemed appropriate.

Interpretation: The first card is telling me that I shouldn’t spend the money on the hotel room especially since we are having our electrical panel replaced this weekend (owning a home sucks), and there are a whole lot of other things I want to spend it on that are more fun than renting a bed and bathroom for about 7 hours during which I would mostly be asleep. The second is telling me not to go forward with my hotel plans and instead, get this, to take the train home. I mean there’s literally a train station in the image.

Thanks again, universe, for your voice of logic and cheapness.

This whole thing is kind of weird because usually I’ll take any opportunity to go to New York. I’d love to spend a night and/or stay forever.

And I’ve worked at festivals and events before (see flyers below I dug up yesterday along with a whole lot of memories, good and bad, while going through the boxes our flooded basement ruined–remember what I said about being a homeowner). I actually prefer to work than just attend. I get bored and sleepy really easily if I’m just hanging out. No offense to the friends I go with, you are super awesome to be around, I’m just really tired.

This one, though, is way out of my comfort zone because I’ll be alone and also coming home pretty late on the train. And I have no idea what to wear! I mean, seriously, what do I wear? To make it more uncomfortable, I’m not really familiar with the scene, other than my Spotify lists, which I do listen to all the time. Yeah it’s an EDM festival. If you smell smoke, it’s just my goth card on fire in the corner.

But I am going and am very thankful to the friend who shared the opportunity with me. I’m still going to overthink and overplan, and if you think I’m not going to keep looking for that perfect hotel deal, you’re clearly not paying attention.

So tell me, what are some of the things you’ve done outside of your comfort zone?

What did you do to calm your anxiety?

How did it work out?

I want to know for real. That said, if it kind of sucked, maybe hold off on telling me until Monday.

I read something that said, “Life begins where you’re comfort zone ends,” and I think we can all agree that whoever wrote that is an idiot.

Oh hi, Mercury Retrograde

Posted on by Life is Surreal in musings, Tarot

I figured that if I were going to get back to blogging, a Tarot spread for the start of Mercury Retrograde would be a good place to begin. Of course, that means I should have a greater understanding of what Mercury Retrograde is, especially because I now work for an occult book publisher (yay back in publishing and in a genre so perfect for me!). But if I’m being honest here–and I am mostly always honest in my blogging for better or for worse–I don’t get astrology at all. It’s entirely too complicated for me. I do know, however, that Mercury Retrograde can be bad.

(Note: If you’d like to learn more about this retrograde astrological event, check out this article on Today.com by our friend Lisa Stardust.)

So as I try to revisit my Tarot practice, which I’ve been slacking on for about 30 years (see, honesty), I’m taking you with me. Are you excited? Here we go.

Spread: Mercury Retrograde by Owl and Bones Tarot
Deck: Not So Mystical Tarot by Jenn (who I credit totally for getting me back into the practice after taking her class, which you should all take)

*Note, if you happen to follow me on Instagram and you look at my grid, you’ll see that the photo directly below the post featuring the above photos is also of The Tower. Because of course it is.

Card 1: What could you rethink?

The Tower: How I think: Everything is terrible! It’s absolute chaos! It is the worst possible scenario of all the things that can ever happen! Anxiety is my brand.

Card 2: What could you redo?

5 of Swords: How I respond to certain situations that will not be mentioned here: Self-pity, worried about what others think, jumping to conclusions, taking my ball and going home because my feelings are hurt over something that really (or usually) is only in my head

Card 3: What could you reconnect with?

5 of Pentacles: The part of myself that refuses to be a drama queen or martyr, my confidence, self-esteem, my energy (I mean this quite literally, I’m always exhausted.)

Card 4: What could be reevaluated?

8 of Cups: The way I spend my free time and also the way I get mad at myself when I just want to watch tv or play games

First I ask again, why do the cards always give me the same type of message? I see you, universe, I do, but surely you have other things to tell me. (We’ll discuss synchronicities at a later time–insert shameless plug for book, which features an entire chapter on that very topic.)

Now my takeaway: I need to stop panicking over pretty much everything and stop feeling sorry for myself for not doing the things I want to do. Don’t get me wrong, self, lying around playing Bingo and Toon Blast is a great way to relax, but maybe do a little more of some other things. Write, skate, knit, do more deadlifts (although not until your neck injury is fully healed) . . . maybe even finish painting your bathroom (did you hear that, Mom?). Something.

That seems to be an appropriate message going into Retrograde. And to be fair to myself, I have kind of already started. Look, I’m blogging!

Oh and don’t you worry. There will be plenty of blogs moving forward filled with panic and self-pity and just general angst. I mean, have you met me? Have you read the book? (Doh!)

Did I just age myself with a Homer Simpson reference even though it’s a really good reference? Am I going to age myself over and over again? Wait until I start talking about my arthritis and my CPAP machine.

But hey, feel free to tell me all about what ails you as well. I am at that age where aches and pains are the subject of many of my conversations–with other people as well as myself. And angst for all! (Not that I wish it on you, but if you don’t have any, tell me how you do it!)

Did I mention I have a computer pen now so I can actually draw for you too?! How lucky are you! Maybe one day I’ll show you my drawing of an alien abduction, which I drew during a really boring meeting years ago, that my very best friend framed and hung on her wall. It’s still there decades later. I love her. But not just for that.

Welcome aboard, friends, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Oh and by the way, I am a Leo.