Tag: walking
-
The curiosity spiral
as creatives we travel ever inward, following the curiosity spiral via gentle intuitive nudges and vulnerable action…asking ourselves: what if it’s worth the risk? And: what if I keep experimenting? -
The Tarot Diaries: four of wands
Sunday, September 28, 2025
I’m happy to report my birthday was an ordinary day. The whole week was jam packed with different activities that kept me rather busy. I felt myself reaching for my phone a lot. When I get busy with daily minutiae, my body longs to escape. I want pretty pictures and art to aspire to. I want inspirational quotes and photos of other people’s highlight reel.
When I look at the four of wands this morning, I see the gate of the four staffs as a threshold. I see the celebration invites us into presence. It reminds us that the moment, the here and now of it, is the true threshold we are constantly standing at. If we decide to stay engage, if we push back against the impulse to pick up our phone and escape, if we decide to reclaim our attention, it is a threshold we can walk through again and again.
Daily rituals are good anchor points throughout the day for this. My altar practice, where I clean two cups to refill with water offerings, where I read my artist’s prayer, where I read from my daily readers, and I remind myself that everything is sacred…this is a pivotal anchor for me.
As some may know, I am currently working through The Artist’s Way, closing out week 5. Morning pages are also a daily ritual. Making coffee is a morning ritual. Making my nightly tea before I sit down in the evening is a ritual. All of these things pull me back. Filling the kettle. Preparing the coffee grounds, or the tea bags. Filling the cup with steaming water. Adding the honey, the coconut milk, stirring. If I can be there, in my mind, in that moment….I have crossed the threshold to presence and am reminded that this, too, is something to celebrate.
A collage done on an index card. It includes an image transfer of a woman’s back shoulders and head, she wears an ornate pearl necklace. Beneath this, two images stand out: colorful flowers behind a black and white circle, and a black and white anchor. There is red thread stitching throughout the piece, mostly in rows of four. This collage was done meditating on the four of wands.
Collage and stitching are two methods that help me to re-enter my body. This was made on Saturday after my morning pages. I found the process to be very therapeutic. I kept the four of wands card upright on my desk, following my desires intuitively for how I wanted this to turn out. Another collage I did Tuesday while meditating on the card is below.
This is a collage done on an index card. There are markings on the card, which show through the vaguely see-through image transfer on the bottom. The image is of two geese (honestly a guess) which to me symbolize the two celebrating within the card. The top portion of the collage is divided into sections, primarily black and white…except a portion between which has four vertical lines in red and outlined in black. This piece was done while meditating on the four of wands.
This piece, which I technically completed first, was done right after my first entry on this card on Tuesday. I can feel the undertone of anxiety when looking at it, but it also gives me little sparks of hope. Perhaps that is the whole point. Our practices bring us back to presence and help us feel a sense of hope again. Hope is a feeling we all should strive for during these times.
In honor of reclaiming my attention, I am trying to spend less time scrolling social media (especially while outside) or even listening to audiobooks or podcasts. It is difficult for me to admit that sometimes these distractions help me to complete tasks I have always felt resistance to.
Being outside is often an invitation to observe for me. Observation has taught me so much over the last few years living in the country. I believe this is a blue jay feather, a bird that has come to have some spiritual significance to me. I left it on the ground, as that’s where it decided to land, but did snap a photo. I was standing on the steps of our patio while the dog walked through the backyard, and I looked down for this little gift…a wink from god, the universe, happenstance, whatever. It made me smile. Gratitude swelled in my chest. That is easily a reason to celebrate.
So, I try to find balance. I see balance in the four of wands as well. We can make space for practice but also acknowledge that sometimes, at the end of a hard day, listening to a podcast while doing the dishes may be warranted. I want to think less in the way of all or nothing. I’d prefer to remember that everyday is a spectrum of our experience. Yes, we can choose our attitude and approach to life, but also circumstances can and do SUCK sometimes. Repressing the emotions that come up in these instances is not helpful. It will inspire our nervous systems to shut down, or distance themselves from the situation.
No, we can give ourself grace. We can ask for grace from god (insert whatever higher being or spiritual belief you have here — I believe all are valid). We can celebrate how far we’ve come when we allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity, then we stand up, dust ourselves off, and move on to the next thing.
There is always a next thing, another moment, a new threshold. It builds itself as we step forward. We can choose our perspective in these moments. It can be pessimistic, realistic, it can be the perspective that whatever waits on the other side is worth celebrating simply because that moment is there. And that is a miracle.
Shop my Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/starmothpress
Sign up for my newsletter: https://starmoth.substack.com
-
Reclaim your attention
My attention during my morning walk went to large butteries and daydreaming of coffee because tired. 😴 Reclaim your attention -
This project is a weekly walk with an individual tarot card. I will analyze the card. I will connect it with personal anecdotes. I will make art that represents the card. I will try to embody the spirit of the card (or allow its’ spirit to embody me). I will look at the days of that week to see how the chosen card shows up in my day to day life. It will be a practice of getting to know myself, getting reacquainted with the tarot, and coming back into my life. Tune in for status reports daily-ish, or get the full week’s work in a delivered newsletter.
This weeks card is strength This morning I pulled the tarot card strength, which is card 8 of the major arcana. At first glance, I see the figure attempt to open the lion’s mouth. This is done in a tender way, but also forceful. It makes me think of walking my dog. She is constantly trying to eat things I don’t know that she should eat. I am consistently trying to open her mouth to spit out a bug or a plant I haven’t identified, or a piece of garbage left on the street.
Ultimately, this practice of walking our dog, who we got a year and a half ago, has been the natural force to get my feet moving and my eyes open. Admittedly, I am still on my phone more than I would like, sometimes while walking her. Even if I tuck the phone away, I still struggle when I think of walking without music or an audiobook or podcast. But, since about midsummer, this has changed.
Walking has turned into a meditation. It’s an act of presence. I have paid more attention to my surroundings. I have paid more attention to nature. I have learned a lot about my environment. I have met more people. I have written poems. I have gotten downloads for creative project ideas. I have felt…in flow.
This comes back to strength because it brings me back to myself. Much like the infinity symbol above the person’s head in the card, I am reminded of forever returning. The daily minutiae used to be the bane of my existence…now it is an act of worship. I still struggle to pick up a dishcloth everyday. Laundry remains in the washer too long. But I am gentler. I am a buoy that gently rocks back and forth, back and forth. I may stray from the practices that help to keep me aligned with my body, my values, my soul…but I find my way back, each time a little bit quicker.
It also makes me think of the forever-ness of living this creative life. What does it look like to start a project, to walk away without berating yourself or feeling like a failure, only to return when the time is right? There is often artwork I share because the art of sharing is an instant gratification I LOVE. I make things, and immediately want to show them to every person I know. This includes you, dear internet friend. I want to show you too. Strength is holding some projects back, tenderly, forcefully. It is knowing that some things require incubation. Not everything must be birthed immediately.
I am learning this in my art practice. I will often tune in with a medium, work in it, and end up unfinished and unsatisfied with the end result. BUT…but…but, when I let it simmer. When I let the magic bake into it completely and then return to it? Usually it takes new shape, and ends up as something whole. I’m thinking this is what will be required of me as I continue writing. Some things are perfect for that immediate satisfaction. There are other projects, the big, scary projects I have been avoiding because of “insert favorite excuse here” that require patience.
I think strength and patience are perhaps sisters. Or at least cousins.
Starmoth Press 