Maybe you should
A list of eight things, for your consideration
Maybe you should spend more time with trees.
They are ancient and arcane and interconnected. They remind us that life is a natural cycle of death and rebirth as old as the dawn of time. They encourage us to grow, not just as individuals but as a collective. They bring us back to our breath by enhancing the quality of air we consume. When planted in urban areas, they push back against the system, disrupting sidewalks with their roots, refusing to make themselves small, proclaiming to all who walk amongst them, to all who seek to fell them: we were here before you, and we will remain long after you’ve gone.
Maybe you should give yourself grace in the form of a shiny gold star.
Look at how well you’ve continued to function amidst a socioeconomic class war and a predatory, for-profit medical system, the ways in which you’ve regulated your nervous system and retained your humanity, the mutual aid you’ve both offered and received. In spite of everything, you are still looking for rainbows and listening to birdsong and delighting in the warmth of the sun upon your face. Your joy is an act of resistance. Your rest is doubly so.
Maybe you should scream in your car.
It’s a good place to break yourself open, to empty yourself out. Screaming can sometimes lead to crying, which is good, and other times it leads to a kind of peace that can only be known in the after math of such primal release.
Maybe you should close your eyes.
Unclench your jaw, lengthen your spine, pull your shoulders away from your ears and take long, slow breaths, in through the nose and out through the nose, while contemplating the miracle that you even exist in the first place, or the possibility that you may not even exist at all.
And isn’t there freedom in that? Some existential sense of surrender?
Maybe you should do nothing.
Just lie there. Be horizontal. Let your mind wander. Allow your brain to activate its Default Mode Network (DMN) as a way to deepen awareness and self reflection, stimulate creativity, and enhance problem solving without the incessant noise of the outside world. Daydreaming is not a crime, and doing “nothing” is a valuable pursuit.
Maybe you should put down your phone and read a book.
Even if you read one book per week you will still only finish a few thousand in your lifetime, which is only a fraction of a fraction of all of the books in existence. Books are magic and books are portals and what you’re looking for does not exist within the confines of an endless scroll. It’s far more likely that you’ll find it in ink and paper, in stories and spells.
Maybe you should wash and reuse that Ziplock bag.
Just because it’s “disposable” doesn’t mean it’s single use.
Maybe you should ask for help when it’s required, and accept it when it’s offered.
You might be surprised to find that most folks are eager and honored to be of service, that it fulfills an intrinsic human need, that we are hard wired for community, for connection. We’re all in this together, after all.
A little bit of everything,
Neghar
Maybe you should check out these links:
In honor of yesterday’s Taurus full moon, I had planned to share a spell from Invocations, along with some thoughts about the lunation. I didn’t get around to that and it’s a good thing, too, because I’d forgotten I’d already shared the spell with you on last year’s Taurus full moon. I’ve removed the paywall, so it’s now free to read. An offering from me to you.
Underneath the Same Big Sky: It’s my new book. Maybe you should buy it. If you like what you read here, you most certainly will enjoy these and other musings in book form, and it’s available for pre-order now.
My Patreon: For Tarot medicine every Monday, book club picks and discussions each month, and creative counseling, writing prompts, and Zoom co-creating sessions for artists of all modalities.
maybe you should know how awesome you are ♥️