The King of Wands Has Some High Expectations
I find it can be helpful, when studying the tarot court cards to relate the energy of each of these court cards to a particular feeling, situation, or person in my life. This practice brings the card to life for me, and helps me commit the essence of the card meaning into my memory. Today, I’m feeling a strong resonance with the King of Wands...reversed. This King is a visionary, an entrepreneur and a creative force. He is full of inspiration, enthusiasm, projects, plans, ideas, goals, and activities. He takes on all of this creativity with a knowledge of responsibility and also his own capability. This King is a go-getter and loves to follow through on his goals. Look at the image on the left here, this King looks like he is about to jump up from his throne and get shit done. He knows exactly where he is going, is super efficient at completely his tasks, and moves fluidly on to the next project without hesitation or doubt.
Like I said, most of the time I feel more in touch with my inner King of Wands reversed. This is an energy of overwhelm and disappointment, that I've set far too high of expectations for myself and I'm a huge let down. Why can't I create all the things that I imagine and am passionate about creating? Why can't I meet my goals and follow through on my plans? The King of Wands reversed is the best at looking down his nose at setbacks and failures and making you feel bad about yourself. What is the point of that though!? It makes me anxious, hasty or lazy, impulsive or hesitant. There are so many things to do next, so I can even focus to decide on the best course of action.
Let's face it, we all have way too much going on. It's like the Cult of Busy is taking over our society and if you're not constantly DOING, as the King of Wands so easily embodies, then you are incomplete and wasting your life. It's feels as though you are required to schedule more things than you can possible accomplish in order to ever feel accomplished, but then you can't get to that feeling accomplishment because you've set impossible goals. So where does that leave us? Let down and disappointed in ourselves, which generally puts us even farther from our goals because we have to spend time feeling bad and wallowing now!
I'm determined to get out of this King of Wands reversed mindset. One of the things I do to feel accomplished is to make a short To Do List every day, instead of the incredibly long life goals list that can be to daunting to even look at, let alone tackle. On my daily short list I will pick one or two big goals for the day off the master list, and then write a bunch of small goals then I get to feel great about when I cross them off. For example, I have 4 tasks that I can knock out in a half hour each day that make me feel like I've done some serious work on my To Do List and I'm a super busy and amazingly capable person. All within half an hour! Look at me crossing things off my list like a champ! Here are my 4 items for this moon cycle:
- Plank Challenge- I'm doing this with a friend, so each day I spend a few minutes doing this tough exercise which makes me feel like a total badass afterwards, even if it I have to take breaks. Then I have a friend who congratulates me every time I do it!
- Spanish Practice- I'm going on a trip to South America next month, so I want to refresh my Spanish skillz. I downloaded an app called DuoLingo and every day I do a couple of lessons on my phone to help me feel prepared and smart.
- Daily Draw- I like to draw a tarot card for myself each morning and journal about what I feel it means for my day ahead. I love spending time with tarot every day so this is exciting and fun for me, plus it's built-in studying to become a better reader and I get documentation of my life and my process I can look back on later.
- Yoga or Stretching- Doing 10 minutes of yoga moves and/or stretching once a day makes me feel super accomplished. I mean, who doesn't want to be flexible and breathe? This is a bit more my speed than meditating, but generally I try to think of nothing but my breathe and body movements during this time. I use an app for this too, called Sworkit, to guide me through the movements without thought.
What are one to four things you could do each day that would make you feel like you really kicked ass at your day? This is working within the system, trying to tweek our modern lives just a tad to get in a flow with our busy culture. How can you find ways of doing out in the world that that sit well with you. Hone in on your goals and intentions and prioritize those things over the noise of daily life.
The alternative is to just reject that cult of busy. Look at your list of goals and ask yourself if you really want those things, or if you feel pressured or required to do them. If you feel a sense of disinterest, dread, or unnecessary obligation to do things that aren't right for you, just cross those right off the list now. Being busy is not necessary for a healthy and happy life. The King of Wands does not sit easily upon his throne of constant action and doing things. He is jumpy and intense and always focused outwards. You can take time to just be, to not do anything at all, and see how that space you create calms you and prepares you to take on your challenges and goals with a steady mind, body and soul.