Everyone is Sensitive Right Now

Anyone who spends any time in an online tarot community knows to be careful about what they say. Tarotists are extremely sensitive.

Recently, a person new to the online tarot community commented on this, saying she had never seen a group of people so easily offended. Many folks offered explanations as to why tarotists might in fact be more sensitive and easy to offend than members of other communities might.

At the time, I questioned the assertion that my tarot community would be more easily offended than, say, my drum community or my music community, for instance. 

Recently, listening to some talk shows on my local radio station, I got the fuel I needed for my argument. On a show about music, a guest proclaimed that no community was more sensitive or easily offended than the community of musicians and their fans.

The following show was about the recent Festival de Cannes 2015. Within the first fifteen minutes of the show, the guest was telling us that the film community was the most sensitive and easily offended community of all.

In each case, each person made clear that they had been members of other communities in the past, and so they knew that no community was as thin-skinned as their current community is.

Meanwhile, the  daily news is full of people all over the world who are offended about something or other, and ready to kill and die over it.

Clearly, the problem is not limited to one community, one fan base, or even one country. Right now, the whole world is easily offended.

On explanation could be astrological. Between June of 2012 and March of 2015, there were seven Uranus-Pluto squares. The last series of Uranus-Pluto squares happened between 1932 and 1934. Then, we saw the Great Depression and the beginning of the Holocaust.

Even a non-astrologer like me can understand how Uranus, with its energy of individual exploration and expression could conflict with Pluto, the planet of subconscious forces, transformation and power.

Heavenly events do not create world events. What happens on Earth is mirrored in the heavens. These events are reflected in each one of us. Right now, each of us may feel more defensive and more sensitive than usual. Each one of us may feel the urgent need to express our unique viewpoints.

Soon, a shift will occur and we will all have an easier time getting along, and forgiving each other. Until then, we would all be wise to remember the second of Don Miguel Ruiz’ “Four Agreements”, “Don’t take anything personally”.

The Joy of a Hand-Written Letter

Woman Reading a Letter  circa 1664-1666, artist Gabriel Metsu, painting and representative photo public domain, currently on display National Gallery of Ireland.

Today I had an experience that has become unique. I received a letter in the mail. This was not a form letter nor a card, nor an email.

This was two pages neatly hand-written on lined paper, and mailed in an envelope with a stamp.

There was a time we all communicated this way over the miles. Now we have email, text, Skype and social media.

It’s probably obvious that the person who wrote the letter was over eighty years old. The last time I received such a great letter, it was from my late grandmother.

I always hated writing letters, and certainly don’t miss having to. But this lovely missive, filled with news, musings and ideas, made me long for a time when we all knew how to express ourselves this eloquently on paper, and took the time to do it.

I’ll treasure this letter. Who knows when I’ll receive another?

On the other hand, as much as I enjoyed the letter, I’m planning on acknowledging it with a phone call. As much as I love the concept of hand-written letters, I’m not going to try to start a retro-fad.  I wish someone would, though.

My New Ukulele

There’s an exciting new trend sweeping the nation. Have you noticed, over the past few years, more ukuleles around you?

In 2011, the New York Times said the ukulele craze had reached a “saturation point.” That’s when Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam released his solo album, “Ukulele Songs.”

Vedder isn’t the only musician to help spread the fame of the ukulele. The uke may owe much of its current favor to a track recorded in 1988 by Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a medley of Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Over the next two decades, that track was featured in numerous movie and television soundtracks, including one of my favorite movies, “Fifty First Dates.”

Here in my community, we have a “Ukulele Orchestra.” That’s not as odd as it sounds. There are countless uke groups, classes and meetups throughout the country.

I play a little guitar. I mean, I play a normal-sized guitar, but only a little bit. I could have gone the easy way and bought a baritone ukulele, which has the same fingering as guitar.  I decided that learning different chord shapes would make me a better musician, so I got a tenor ukulele.

I’m finding that playing uke is a lot different than guitar, but in many ways, easier. Soon, I’ll be joining the uke orchestra for our first meeting of the season. What will it be like to play ukulele with ten or more other people? I can’t help but think it will be silly, and that’s the point.

The uke is a happy, silly, instrument. We could use more happy and silly in the world right now.

I got my uke from Compass Music in Madeira Beach. The owner, Chris Rooney, is a fabulous musician with a soft spot for ukuleles. He helped me narrow down my uke choices by playing old rock songs on each one for me. I have yet to be able to make the uke I chose, a Kala, create any of the sounds he made it make, but I’m hopeful for the future.
Before he put my new uke in its case, he played me one more song on it, accompanying himself with a kazoo. I snapped a picture. You have to love a guy who can play a kazoo with class.

I think the ukulele trend is a good thing for America. Ukuleles are inexpensive, easy to learn and fun to play. Playing music is creative, meditative and social.

My father played ukulele. I remember him in his church pulpit, leading the congregation in old hymns with his uke. At the time, he made me cringe. Now, it’s a sweet memory. Perhaps I can make my kids cringe, too.

I’ve learned a few chords, and am working out the strumming. We’ll see what happens next.

Harness the Power of Words

“This heat is killing me.”

It’s June 2^nd, and summer weather is in full swing here in Florida. I love summer in Florida, but it is hot. My friends, stuck here because of jobs and spouses, wish they could be snowbirds and complain from May to October.

I don’t mind it when my friends complain about the weather, or anything else. But I mind very much when those complaints use exaggerations that invoke death, dismemberment and suffering.

Saying that the heat is killing you won’t actually make you die. The power of words is not such that if you simply speak, an action will occur. Since that doesn’t happen, we learn not to be careful about the energy we invoke.

Affirming over and over that something you can’t control is actually killing you does hurt you, each and every time you do it. It hurts you in two ways.

First, it gives something you can’t control more power over you than it really has.

Second, it surrounds you with negativity.

I get tired of people who avoid negative energy at all costs. Basically, if you live on the planet you will deal with some negative stuff.

But why create more negativity then you need to?

The heat is not killing you.

You won’t die if you don’t get the exact thing you want.

You won’t kill someone you love if they disappoint you.

A part of your body that aches is also not killing you.

We can harness the power of words for healing and empowerment. Why use it to do the opposite?

The Blame Game

When addressing problems large or small, there is a difference between finding a cause and finding fault. Finding a cause helps us fix a problem. Finding fault distracts us so we can't fix the problem.

It seems to be human nature that, when a problem is discovered, the first thing we want to know is "Whose fault is this and how can we punish them?" Sometimes we might have better outcomes if we focus more on solutions and less on casting blame.

I wonder what evolutionary goal we are serving when we are more interested in blame and punishment than knowledge and solutions.

There seems to be something in our nature that divides us. It’s us against them, the good guys versus the bad guys. The truth is, there is more that we have in common than there is that divides us.

Our need to play the Blame Game, and our need to divide the world into good and bad, us and them, doesn’t seem to be serving us.

It doesn’t serve us in our personal lives, and it doesn’t serve us on a global level.

What if we worried less about punishing people, and more about healing people?

What if we assumed that the majority of people with whom we disagree aren’t inherently evil?

What if we came to understand that life is just life? Sometimes things happen and it’s not anyone’s fault.

What if we learned to forgive our own mistakes, and the mistakes of others?

Now, more than ever before, we, as individuals and as communities, have the opportunity to practice conscious evolution. We can pick a path and grow in that direction. What might happen if we chose to grow away from blame and punishment and grow toward healing and acceptance?

A New Trend in Television

When I first started this Dark Forest blog for my non-tarot musings I was going through my “Glee” phase.

I haven’t had cable TV or even broadcast TV in almost twenty years. I really do think TV is basically a terrible drug. But there have been some shows over the years I have liked. I watch them on Hulu, Amazon and Netflix, at my convenience.

Recently, I’ve noticed something new afoot on my dependable entertainment websites.

Now, they have original programming!

That’s right. There are now original series that you can only watch on Hulu, on Netflix and on Amazon.

Even more amazing, some of these shows are really good and really popular. Some of them feature talent you already know, like John Goodman on Alpha House.

I am particularly enjoying “Deadbeat” on Hulu. It’s the story of a pot-smoking ne’er-do-well who happens to be a talented psychic medium and a lousy businessman. He has a crush on a famous TV psychic whom, he discovers, is a fraud. I always enjoy an arch-nemesis and romantic interest rolled into one. The TV psychic has an assistant who is played by Lucy Devito, the talented daughter of Danny and Rhea.

This show, like many others of these new, original series, is fresh, funny and unexpected.

There is something about TV series that are produced independently of the traditional networks that makes me really happy. The fact that the shows are truly worth watching isn’t bad, either.

One Commitment for Kindness

I like to write about trends here on my Dark Forest Blog. I think, too, that when we write about trends we are actually promoting them, maybe even making them trendier.

What happens when a trend is actually a shift? Is it possible for a trend to make a permanent shift in the consciousness of the planet? Of course it is!

Recently a tarot colleague, Theresa Reed, started “The Kindness Hustle.” Inspired by that, another tarot colleague, Donnaleigh de LaRose, made a video, “Random Acts of Tarot Kindness.” I used that video as the basis for the “Kindness” of my webcast, “Christiana’s Psychic Café.”

So what happens now?

Now I am going to make a personal commitment to kindness in my own life, by committing to do one thing. Maybe others would like to jump on the kindness bandwagon and do the same thing.

What one thing will you do or change to be more kind?

Here’s mine.

I am going to be more kind by being more patient.

I will be patient when dealing with customer service people who aren’t serving me well. I will learn to firmly and politely ask for what I need without being impatient.

I will cut people some slack. If they didn’t get my order right it’s not the end of the world. I’ll ask them to correct it, but I will do it nicely, and with good humor.

Especially when I am busy, stressed and tired, I will strive to be patient and polite.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a perimenopausal redheaded Scorpio. Patience is not my strong suit.

This is only one commitment for kindness, but it’s a tough one for me.

What’s your one commitment for kindness?

Stupid isn't Cute

We all make grammatical errors and spelling errors, especially when we are posting on social media or texting on our phones. Sometimes our communications are not erroneous at all; Twitter's 140 character limit and typing with our thumbs have legitimized the use of single-character substitutions for words - "U" for "you," "B" for "be" and so forth.

Honest mistakes (and I do make my share) and text and Twitter abbreviations are not the source of my ire today. The source of my ire is the concept that pop spellings are cute.

Today I drove by a restaurant with signs advertising "Shakez, Wrapz and Saladz." I can guarantee you the next time I want salads I will get them elsewhere. If you are not smart enough to spell the word "salads" I certainly don't trust you to be smart enough to make one.

Near my friend's house is a daycare that markets itself as a place for kids to learn and grow as part of their daycare experience. Its name is "Kidz Academy." I am overwhelmed by the many possible snarky comments I could make about that bit of irony.

Our nation's passion for "respelling" made national news last February when a Methuen, Massachusetts school menu item, "Krispy Krunchy Chicken," "KK Chicken" for short, was further misspelled as "KKK Chicken" on the menu sent home to parents.

In the furor that followed one smart student stated the obvious. If the school had chosen to spell the words "crispy" and "crunchy" correctly, there would never have been a problem. That a school doesn't value proper spelling is more than agonizing, and more than ironic. It's downright scary.

Somehow, Americans have decided that misspelled words and poor grammar are cute. So much so, in fact, that we create internet memes with pictures of adorable animals saying sassy things that are always misspelled and grammatically incorrect. My friend Natasha is quite sure that if cats could speak they would do so carefully and correctly, perhaps with a slight British accent. I agree.

We live in mysterious and confusing times. We aren't exactly sure how women get pregnant or whether dinosaurs co-existed with humans.  We wonder if homosexuality causes devastating weather. We worry about the safety of airplane windows that don't open.

During such disturbing times it might be a mistake to propagate the idea that it is cute to be stupid.

Oh, sorry, I meant to say "stoopid." That would have made it cuter, right?