A Wild Life Tarot ~ Weekly Newsletter 7.30.24
Express your most authentic self...
Hey, friends! Happy Tarot Tuesday! I hope you’re still soaking up some summer sunshine, basking in the warm glow of Leo Szn energy, practicing your cartwheels in the living room while cheering on our GOAT Simone Biles, & showing up for these national organizing calls to elect Kamala <3 What a week…
The newsletter has your Card for the Collective & weekly affirmation, of course. Also- an introduction to my new writing project~ A Different Kind of 40. Next week, I’ll have yet another project announcement for you, so stay tuned. If you aren’t already a subscriber, sign up so you don’t miss out on any weekly readings, tarot treats, or new announcements! If you’re already a free subscriber, you should upgrade to paid this week if you want a sweet discount on a 1:1 reading with me! It’s LAST CALL for the Mid Year Check-in Tarot Sesh, & paid subscribers have access to a 50% off discount & exclusive VIP time slots! Nice…
If you want to work with me directly: It’s LAST CALL for the Mid Year Check-in Tarot Sesh! I created this for me, but it’s also for you, too. Do you remember what your goals & plans were back at the beginning of 2024? A LOT has happened since then. If you could use an empowering safe space to check back in, reassess your goals, reflect on your progress, & realign with the path forward- I would very much love to pull your cards for you, so you can feel excellent about whatever you want to accomplish before New Year’s Eve. We’re barely half way through this year, but we’re about to be balls deep in election year stress, the school year is already here or right around the corner, & the holiday season starts right after election day- no matter the results. Things are about to get much more busy & distracting, so use this summer time wisely to make a sustainable plan for how you want to navigate the back half of 2024. Whether you want to grow your biz, take better care of your health, prioritize more time for rest or creativity, or surrender to a transformative life change- I’ve got you. Let’s unpack it together. I’ll guide you through the whole process. Big reflection check-ins are super helpful & necessary- but also easy to avoid, & sometimes overwhelming to go through alone. Howevs- doing it through tarot work makes it feel cool, & fun, & empowering! If you know you want to embrace a fresh start, meet your goals, & manifest your desires- let’s hang out & chat while channeling some tarot magic! Here’s a quick description of the reading:
“This Mid Year Check-in Tarot Sesh is to help you reflect on your goals, celebrate your progress, move through your blocks, & realign with the path forward… Life is always full of surprises & distractions. Things don't always go the way we expect them to. Shit happens. Adulting is exhausting. We stay committed to our stubborn habits & routines, & true change can feel like a monumental task. Our priorities shift due to our circumstances, & so do our plans. Our goals & dreams change & evolve. Even when we stick to our goals like glue, we might conquer them & then find ourselves still searching for something more. We reach success, & then ask "what's next?" No matter where you land on the spectrum of growth & progress, this reading is centered around helping you clarify how you want to FEEL by the end of this year. During this tarot reading, we'll take our time to explore what your updated goals & desires really are. We'll figure out what blocks & challenges are holding you back from manifesting what you want. We'll chat about a practical plan that will get you where you want to go, & we'll determine the next right step you need to take to make some progress in the right direction.”
If this reading sounds like a good fit for you right now, follow your intuition & book a session so I can pull cards for you! Get more info & book a time to meet with me below. PAID SUBSCRIBERS: Scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter for your special link for 50% off this reading & additional exclusive time slots <3 Thanks for supporting the newsletter!
Okie doke, we’ve got the New Moon in Leo AND Mercury Rx starting on Sunday, so get ready for it by following the stellar advice in your collective tarot reading. Enjoy!
FOR YOUR WEEK AHEAD ~ July 30th to Aug 5th
Card for the Collective: The World
Notes: It’s weird how we can feel a collective attraction to big events that affect us all, but we still feel disconnected. This week’s message is for you if you’ve been feeling a lack of meaningful connection with others, & especially if you’ve been feeling disconnected from your true self & a sense of inner peace…
Recent events have created awareness around how we are all small parts of a greater whole. The dramatic shifts in the US election cycle have caused us to come together & rally behind Kamala as she’s taken center stage as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Zoom has been tweaking the tech so hundreds of thousands of voters & volunteers can gather together on national organizing calls. We’ve been caught up in the swirl of excitement & momentum, but are we truly feeling connected to each other in a way that touches our personal lives? Similarly, the Olympics have been dominating our screens & drawing our attention towards how we’re all part of a global community, but devoted to our own separate national families. We see ourselves in the context of the greater whole, but somehow- it doesn’t provide a very fulfilling feeling of deep connection & purpose. We are mostly observers & consumers. Watching things play out on the global stage can almost serve as a distraction from something we feel like we almost have- but not quite…
The World card traditionally represents connection, contentment, completion, inner peace, & a sense of being whole. It’s the very last card in the deck, & I think of it as an arrival of sorts. Reaching the end of a long & dramatic journey, & the final destination is the feeling of “enoughness.” You are good, just as you are.
This week, take some time to pull yourself away from the media & focus inward- which is perfect for the New Moon phase we’re entering into on Sunday. Can you tap into a feeling of safety, self worth, & “enoughness” right now, as you already are, in this life chapter? In this moment? Can you access a sense of calm, inner peace, & contentment? We are raised to value a certain kind of success & notoriety. We were often taught as kids that the greatest thing you could ever achieve is becoming the President of the United States, or a gold medal Olympian, among other titles that would cause you & everyone else to believe you’re the best in the whole wide world. We are taught to believe that reaching this level of success, or GOAT status, provides a certain kind of enviable FEELING. People aspire to be the best, so they can feel the best. But what we’ve learned is that the presidency actually ages you quite dramatically, & many Olympians struggle with significant mental health issues, all due to the massive pressure to perform perfectly & the incredibly high levels of productivity you have to commit to in order to reach that level of dominance & power. I don’t know about you, but all that hard work, sacrifice, & stress sounds like something leading away from self acceptance, contentment, & inner peace- not towards it. Don’t get me wrong- these are important roles within society, but they aren’t necessarily in alignment with health, happiness, & self liberation.
You do not have to rule the world, be the best of the best at anything, or be insanely productive, successful, or celebrated in the global spotlight in order to be & FEEL seen, loved, valued, & powerful.
Leo Season is well underway, & we experience the New Moon in Leo this upcoming Sunday. Leo Szn is all about our connection to our most authentic selves. It’s about being seen as our true selves, taking up space, & allowing ourselves to be highly visible. It’s about creating from an authentic place, & sharing our unique magic with the world- with pride & confidence. It’s about letting our hearts be known, & sharing our core values, our desires, & our dreams with the world- with enthusiasm & optimistic expectation. It’s about being a beacon of light, a symbol of strength, & an inspiration to others who also aspire to be the truest version of themselves- & to be celebrated for it.
As the New Moon creates a dark & cozy environment for inner work & self-reflection, explore what it means for you, personally, to embody & express your “most authentic self.” If you could win a gold medal, or be elected President, for being your most authentic self- what would that look like, be like, & feel like for you? Not by pushing, or performing, or changing, but by being who you really are naturally- with ease, joy, confidence, & pride? By expressing your own inner magic that can’t be faked? Who are you when you don’t feel the need to perform a certain exaggeration of your most appealing qualities in order to gain acceptance, accolades, or access to power? What if your best path to both success & inner peace is simply embracing your truest, realest self? Are you proud of who you are? Do you love that deep & honest version of you? Do you believe that authentic core part of you is already powerful, & worthy, & good? Do you let the world see that side of yourself? What might happen if you let yourself step into the spotlight without any masks? Do you believe you would be celebrated as a beautiful human? As an inspiration? I do. I believe in that deeply good & honest & complete & whole & beautiful & real part of you.
Mercury Rx is also starting this Sunday. I’ll share more notes about it in next week’s collective reading, but here’s a quick & helpful reminder- Mercury is the planet of communication, so things get frazzled, lost in translation, & misunderstood when this planetary body is appearing to move backwards (when it’s retrograde). In the context of our work this week- you can avoid moments of miscommunication that creates disconnection & anxiety by expressing your most authentic needs, desires, ideas, beliefs, & feelings in a clear, confident, & direct way.
Your tarot homework this week is to take some intentional time for self-reflection. To unplug from the outside world, & to explore your inner truth. To ask the questions above to connect with your most authentic self. I believe the real path to feeling a deep & meaningful connection, to yourself & others, is to allow yourself to be rooted in that feeling of contentment, completion, wholeness, & “enoughness.” Tapping into that feeling will bring inner peace. Bringing your authentic self to your work out in the world, your relationships with others, your connection to everyone else in your local & global communities- that will also help the greater whole. Sounds cheesy, but self acceptance, self love, & feeling safe & connected to our true selves is just as good a strategy for world peace as anything else…
Affirmation: “Expressing my most authentic self is my path to inner peace.”
In my own efforts to express my most authentic self, I’m launching my new writing project through the newsletter this week- the following is the introduction to A Different Kind of 40. I envision this project becoming a series of essays, journal entries shared out loud, on how I’ve been feeling about turning 40 & realizing that I’m living life… differently. For better or worse. I deeply hope the thoughts & feelings I share with you create an opportunity for connection & community, so please- comment, send me a message, & let me know how it’s resonating with you & if you find any of it relatable or offensive or both <3 It is a series of love letters & little explorations, & I hope you decide to be a part of this journey with me. Thank you for your gentle support, your thoughtful notes, your open-mindedness, & your generosity through genuine connection.
…
A Different Kind of 40 ~ A Lil Intro Essay ~ 7.30.24
Hi. I’m Maddie. I don’t really know how to start this new writing project, so I’m going with the most obvious thing- which is an introduction of sorts.
I turned 40 exactly three weeks ago. I didn’t freak out about it. Honestly, I’m not exactly sure if most millennials are hitting a midlife crisis when they reach their 40s or not. It seems like most people my age treat it like what we call a “nothingburger.” NBD. Whatevs. Not even a big party for most. Maybe a Facebook post about feeling “old” & how they spent the day with their kids, like usual. I remember when my mom celebrated her 40th bday. I was twelve or so years old. Her friends threw her a party at a neighbor’s house. I remember seeing a photo of her wearing a big button that said “over the hill.” I never hear people using that term anymore. Though, statistically, this appears to be true. According to a quick & lazy AI assisted Google search just now- as of February 2024, the average life expectancy of millennials is 79 years. So, maybe my life is already half over. I’m trying to figure out how I personally feel about this. Like I said, I’m not freaking out. I don’t feel super hyped about it, but I am looking forward to it. I’m proud of most of the life choices I’ve made thus far. I feel healthy. I don’t have any major regrets. I feel confident that I’m headed in the right direction. I still value learning & growing. My dreams aren’t dead; they just keep evolving. I’m sure that’s a good sign. I believe my 40s will be a great chapter for expansion & courage. I’m not sure if I believe this fully, but I hope that I will finally get my shit together & rise to the occasion of actually building my dreams, my legacy, & the projects I’ve been thinking about for years that will do so much good in the world. I hope I will be brave enough to follow the good advice I give to others- about going to therapy, & “getting out of my own way” as they say, & owning my self worth, & doing the scary steps that will lead me towards more activism & impact. I hope I make more money, & surrender to love, & embody my purpose with far less fear & resistance. I know I can do it. I’m just trying to figure out the “how.”
I don’t think the majority of people set aside intentional time to think about things like this when they turn 40. But I am. Maybe the classic midlife crisis typically settles in a little later- because that reflection part got skipped. Maybe it feels like a “crisis” because it seems to creep up out of nowhere, like a slow burn. Like putting your hand on a cold coil on an electric stove & then turning it up to a 7 & just sitting there, noticing a little heat, & then a little pain, until it becomes unbearable. But instead of a stove, it’s a metal bar you’re holding onto suspended high above the ground- & the metal bar is your daily life. At some point, you have to let go. Maybe it’s like that. I’m trying to figure out, before the burn settles in, what I should be letting go of…
In any case-
That’s kind of what this project is about. In part, this series of essays is centered on self-reflection & how I feel about being 40. But also- it’s about how I feel different than most people my age. At least, I assume my life is very different from most. Unusual. Abnormal. Weird, even. To some, perhaps aspirational. I want to write about it because it feels important to me. I want to try & wrap my head around it. Figure out what the fuck I’m doing, since I don’t seem to be doing what the other adults are doing. But I think that’s a good thing- at least for me. I want to share this writing project with you all, instead of keeping it safely tucked inside a private journal where it likely belongs, because I think it’ll be genuinely helpful. It’ll be helpful for me- to feel connected to other people who offer their own insights. It’ll help me gain some clarity, & celebrate myself, & seek out good advice from other midlife comrades. & it’ll be helpful to other people because maybe you are also living a weirdo midlife lifestyle & feel kinda alone about it. Or maybe you don’t love the “normal” way you’re navigating your life choices & this will give you some permission to explore other options &, again, feel less alone as you do so. Or maybe you’ll gain some perspective & realize you love your normal life after seeing some of the parts of mine that appear to be a bit of a trash fire at the moment. Who knows. At the end of the day, I just felt like writing. I just feel like being seen. & I this is what’s been on my mind for quite some time. & I’m guessing I’m not alone in all this.
So, welcome to A Different Kind of 40. A writing project about turning 40 & feeling like I’m living life… differently. For better or worse.
I hope you get something illuminating & useful out of this, & I hope it helps you feel connected to others in an important way. Thanks for reading.
If you want to share your thoughts, ideas, or feels with me- leave a comment or send me a message. I’d love to know how you felt about your life when you turned 40, if you’re an elder of mine. Or what kinds of topics you’d love to read about through this project. You can look forward to thoughts on being a “childless cat lady” in the near future, since that’s suddenly trendy. (Except I chose chickens instead of cats. Different, I know).
The next “episode” I’m writing is on “accidental slow living”- coming to your inboxes sooooon! Subscribe to make sure you get it! & don’t forget to upgrade to paid if you want access to the 50% discount & exclusive bonus scheduling slots for the Mid Year Check-in Tarot Sesh! Your link to book your reading is below.
Enjoy the New Moon in Leo, don’t stress the Mercury Rx, do your tarot homework, & let your truest self shine <3 You’ve got this & I’ve got you.
xoxo Maddie
