November is typically a cold and dreary month here in upstate New York, but this year it feels like summer. My son has been playing with water pistols outside in his bare feet, roses are blooming, and yesterday evening I watched a dragonfly zoom after a cloud of mosquitoes. It isn’t normal, it is scary, and I’m enjoying every second of it. The warmer days mean I’m spending more time outside — reading, writing, working in the garden, and daydreaming. My mind has been preoccupied with lots of thoughts — some fun and imaginative, some a bit anxious.
Lately, perhaps because I recently recommended a book called Sacred Contracts to a friend, I’ve been thinking about my purpose and whether I am living the life I agreed to.
As usual, whenever I can’t get a clear picture of my path, I turn to my tarot cards. I’ve been reading tarot for over twenty years, and though I don’t struggle with interpreting the cards when I read for clients, sometimes the picture is hazy when I read for myself. Such was the case with this reading. My question was about my sacred contract and what steps I can take to ensure I’m living the life I agreed to.
I started off by drawing three cards, and oh my goodness! Drawing three court cards in a row is something I had never done before. I drew two more cards as clarifiers and what do you know, two more court cards showed up! I mean, what are the chances?
Court cards usually, but don’t always, refer to actual people. When I drew the first three cards, I started to read them as actions I needed to take, especially as this was what my question dealt with. But, when I drew two more court cards, I knew this reading is all about PEOPLE.
Our purpose in life will vary from person to person, but I determined long ago that my main purpose is to help others to see the beauty and magic in the world. There’s a myriad of ways to go about this of course, and I have attempted many different tactics over the years.
With the realization that I had been neglecting my Substack Newsletter, along with the message from this tarot reading, I decided I wanted to share a list of things that have stirred my heartstrings lately in the hopes that you will be encouraged to do the same.
MY LIST OF HEART FLUTTERING THINGS
Texts from a dear friend I’ve known since I was fifteen years young and recently reconnected with.
Roses in bloom in November.
Receiving surprise gifts and letters from friends from around the world and feeling so very blessed.
Planting tulips and thinking of a character from a lovely picture book, Miss Rumphius.
Completing a ritual in honor of my dad.
Connecting with a crow, my spirit animal.
Baking all the apple deserts as I hum songs.
Knitting a baby blanket for my son’s cousin’s baby and the joy of returning to this craft after years of neglect.
Receiving joyous news about a friend.
Celebrating a friend’s birthday from afar. Thinking of her and sending love.
Trick-or-treating with my son on Halloween and how magical it was, how warm the air was, how kind and merry everyone was.
Stopping to smell the roses in bloom.
Noticing baby garlic mustard, violet leaves, and lungwort so out of season but so very welcome.
The enjoyment I’m getting from reading the book for Girls in White Dresses Book Club.
Seeing a dragonfly hover over my head.
Being outside in my bare feet in November.
Watching sunsets, sunrises, and glorious shower of leaves dancing with the wind.
Feeling so much affection for the chickens, pig, and cats who share our home. Spending time outside in the sun with them.
Sweet moments with my son who is growing up faster than I’d like but is turning into a kind, considerate, empathetic individual who brings joy to everyone around him.
Feeling so artistically inspired these days in spite of setbacks and burdens. Making progress in my projects.
I hope you take the time to appreciate little moments of joy. Feel free to share some in the comments if you’d like.
Before I go, I have a few announcements.
First of all, I have created several really lovely journals that are available through Amazon. If you look for Wishing Tree Journals, you should be able to find them. Here’s a link to one of them. These college-ruled notebooks are perfect for poetic, romantic souls. Most of them include prompts to inspire you to write poetry, create art, or for creative writing. They’d make wonderful Christmas/Yule/Winter Holidays gifts.
Second, two of my poems are in this anthology by Querencia Press that published on Halloween.
Third, the book of fairy tale poetry I collaborated on with amazing, talented women poets is now available for preorder! It publishes next year, on February 1. It should be available on Amazon pretty soon, but for now you can preorder through other venues if you’d like.
And last of all, my poetry books Spinning Hair into Gold and True North are out in the world. I’d really appreciate it if you could take the time to leave a review on Amazon if you haven’t already. Reviews are really important for indie authors. Thank you so much!
I hope you are all having a beautiful start to the week. Thank you for being here.
Your letter contains important thoughts, Caitlin. Congratulations on your projects! Your journals sound magical.
P.S. And I'm sure you're fulfilling your purpose.
As always, a wonderful and thought-provoking post. Made me think of all the little things that touched my heart this past week and reminded me to feel thankful for many many things that I've been so blessed with. If your Sacred Contract is to help others to see the beauty and magic in this world, then I'm pretty confident you're succeeding amazingly.