Surroundings Tarot
Iris Seaton | September 8, 2022
This week’s queries: How can I feel at home in my surroundings? What can I do to settle in during a period of change? What can I do to feel “normal” again?
Consider these prompts, then choose a number 1 to 3 that you feel most drawn to. Then scroll down to find the card associated with your number.
Simply hover your mouse over the card to read.
1
The Sun
If you chose this card, consider the following:
In a literal sense, get some sunlight! Explore your surroundings when you can, even if you feel most comfortable alone in your room. Push yourself to enjoy the outdoors in whatever way is most accessible to you. Whether you benefit most from scaling mountains or taking a nap in the grass, you can always find a way to connect with the world around you. Do your homework at an outdoor table, eat your lunch on the lawn, take a lap around your building if you’re feeling restless. Don’t feel concerned with whether you’re the ‘outdoorsy type.’ Being with nature will lift your mood and give you room to breathe. Your identity will never be compromised by time in nature.
At the risk of sounding overly obvious, find simple joy wherever you can. Not every source of happiness needs to be seen as deeply meaningful or profound. We can tend to neglect the value of pure, fleeting joy that you can often rely on no matter how difficult things get. Watch a video that always makes you laugh, play a game that you could play for hours, listen to your favorite song to belt at the top of your lungs. No matter how brief these moments are, the afterglow of allowing yourself to be absorbed in something that feels like home is worthy of your time. Let what breaks you have be filled with simple pleasures.
Try not to get pulled into a cycle of clinging to negative emotions out of fear. When you feel as though you don’t belong, it can be paradoxically frightening when you suddenly do feel like you belong. If you feel comfort or joy unexpectedly, lean into it. You deserve breaks from feeling stress and disconnection. Depression, anxiety and other discomforts of change are not instantly invalidated just because you are also capable of feeling happiness. Your negative experiences will always be just as valid as your positive ones; neither cancels the other out entirely. Try not to be suspicious of positive experiences. Don’t feel as though you have to hide or subdue moments of comfort and happiness for fear of being invalidated. Don’t feel pressure to be seen as ‘cured’ of struggles you may be facing when you’re enjoying a particular moment. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself if the moment fades; you deserve comfort and you will have it again.
2
Princess (Page) of Pentacles
If you chose this card, consider the following:
Always acknowledge and respect any discomfort you feel with change — but take some time to focus as best you can on what is to come in a positive light! The difficulties of change occur when you are moving towards something. Even when it is uncomfortable, the discomfort stems from the beginning of your journey! To help look forward comfortably, reflect too on past experiences with life changes. Remind yourself as often as you can that you have always acclimated to new situations before. You’re here, aren’t you? You made it through the last change you underwent and you’re going to make it through this one. Consider times when you may have felt anxious or out of place in the past. Remember how you worked through these feelings and that regardless of the pain you felt at the time, it faded into a sense of belonging in one way or another. You belong.
Don’t neglect self care and mindfulness of your needs when attempting to acclimate to a new situation. It can be tempting or even instinctual to focus exclusively outward during a period of change. You may feel the urgent need to be attentive only to your surroundings, duties and plans. These things are important, but they don’t work unless you take time to get to know yourself just as well as you’re getting to know your surroundings. As things around you change, your sense of self changes too. As you grow, stay open to learning new things about yourself and how you function best. Allow yourself to be excited for the person you’re becoming rather than fearful or resistant. Self care, mindfulness and introspection are all tools that work towards feeling at home in your surroundings and in your own body. You cannot give full attention to your physical surroundings and expectations if you are not also respecting your feelings and thoughts.
Observe the processes of the physical world around you! Enjoy the coming of fall — the cooling of the air, the changing colors of the mountains, all of the living things that thrive during autumn emerging. Allow yourself to feel connected to the earth as you are able; the minds and bodies of every living thing change with the elements. Your mind and body are no different.
3
Ten of Pentacles
If you chose this card, consider the following:
Embrace creature comforts! Maybe it’s time to pay more attention to utilizing things that have comforted you in the past. Change your bedding, wear that article of clothing that feels like home or make a cup of your favorite tea. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using possessions and physical means to ground yourself. Purely mental processes — mindfulness, introspection and therapeutic practices — are excellent ways to find balance, but don’t be afraid to curl up and get physically comfortable when things feel overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Consider whether you are using all of the resources that are available to you. There is almost always something you could be using to make things easier for yourself, no matter what you are looking to change. Look into available resources that apply to specific feelings or problems you are experiencing. Find comforting or therapeutic books at the library, speak to a counselor, find the comfort food you need at the campus food pantry. Broaden your view, search for help in places that you wouldn’t usually consider. Drop what is no longer working for you, break habits that no longer have a helpful place in your life. There are almost certainly things you are not yet utilizing that could be helpful. You won’t know until you try!
Practice radical positivity as much as you possibly can. It can sometimes be difficult to find any positives at all when you’re feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from your surroundings. But whenever you can, consider what you do have in your life. These things are different for everyone, but always present: a pet, a loved one, a precious belonging, an event you’re looking forward to. Everyone possesses something that will always be there. Lean on that something when you feel too heavy to stand on your own. As well as that which you know you can rely on, remember to consider the positive effects of whatever you’re going through, no matter how minute they may be. Life experiences that you later draw on are often painful while they are happening. Try to allow yourself to withdraw from feeling bitter and disillusioned if you are experiencing these emotions. Finding balance requires a degree of pushing yourself to remember the old adage of the silver lining. Even if you cannot feel joy or excitement over these inherent positives, remind yourself that they do exist and will likely prove valuable in the future in one way or another.