When I was in therapy, my therapist introduced me to a deck of tarot cards created by James Wanless, PH.D, called Voyager Tarot. At the beginning of my group sessions, she passed the deck around the circle of the 10 of us. We each drew a card with the hope it would provide us some focus for our emotional work that session.
In my memoir Tornado Dreams, I speak to how I used these cards in the same manner in my personal life. I continue to do so to this day. In fact, just this morning I drew a card.
Very recently, I have been invited to appear on WTMJ 4’s Morning Blend on Thursday, May 16, between 9-10 a.m. to discuss my memoir. Yes, I am excited about this opportunity. And, yes, I am nervous. So, I drew a card, asking this question: What do I need to focus on to calm my nerves while preparing for this interview?
I shuffled the cards, set them on the floor, and cut the deck. I drew the top card. It was the Surfer card, Man of Cups. This card speaks to many things, but the one thing that spoke directly to me, in relationship to the question I asked was: Keep your emotions under control so that you do not lose your balance.
Talk about hitting me right between the eyes. I am so passionate about our human ability to change and grow and heal and rewrite our story. I believe it is within our ability to break cycles of dysfunction. If we can recognize how dysfunction has affected us; if we can own the behaviors that we do as a result of that dysfunction; then, we can change and overcome the unhealthy cycles we have inherited, creating for ourselves a better life where we can do more than simply survive, we can begin to thrive.
My passion can often cause me to lose my balance, and let’s be honest, blather on and on.
Now, with the help of this beautiful card, I have a place to put my focus as I prepare for this interview. Only good can come from that.
Constance Malloy 