Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Ten of Sticks β€” Tarot of the Absurd

Upright: hard work, great achievement, burden of responsibility, stress

 

The man in the image has harvested a crop that he has worked hard to grow. His goal has been achieved, but his responsibility has not lessened. The bounteous harvest is no easier to carry than the fields were to work. Lest he lose everything he has invested, he needs to move on to the next part of business and sell his ware. Unfortunately, there are not enough people to help him market the load. There is, perhaps, a more efficient way to accomplish his task than to do it all himself. Unfortunately, although he was quite inspired to create a boon of goods, he remains quite uninspired as to how to lighten his load. There are two main ways to go about it: (1) drop some (2) ask for help. Hopefully he does not turn full-face and make someone else do all the work.

 

*Β Β  *Β Β  *

 

When I lived in Fairbanks, AK, I biked everywhere, year-round. When I went shopping, I carried groceries home on my back. One time, I bought a bunch of groceries, loaded my bike, and then decided to check out what was on sale at the craft store. They were selling mis-measured picture frames for five and ten bucks each. So I bought a bunch of very fancy frames. Quite a few, really. Some were very very large.

 

Thus, my backpack was over-loaded with groceries, I had about eight picture frames tied to the outside of the bag, and I had a dozen eggs strapped to the top of the bike rack. I started to bike home through the snow. Only ten miles to go! I could do it. I knew I could. There was no doubt in my mind that I could do it. I’d carried heavier. I’d biked through deeper snow. I could do it.

 

Of course, I didn’t have to. There was nothing to prove to anyone. Not even to myself. I called a cab. It felt real good, calling that cab.

2 Responses

  1. cassandra022 says:

    i dont drive and so have found myself in similar situations more than once. because i’m stubborn it usually ends with me slowly, tiredly dragging everything home. i should probably keep the just calling a cab message in mind ;]

  2. Jessica says:

    Yeah, I’m just like that, too, which is why the one time I called a cab really sticks out in my mind. It just felt amazingly good to lighten my load. Probably if I’d done it a lot it would cease to feel as good. I guess that would mean I was no longer carrying 10 sticks. I guess at this point I would have actually achieved less and then I’d’ve had to carry my sticks again for a long time in order to appreciate lightening the load. Maybe that’s the balance?

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