The Sparkling New Opportunity

A few years ago, I began a creative project. I decided to try and create a small canvas for each of the seventy-two kabbalistic names of God, which could all eventually be hung together as one. For each, I tried to interpret the name visually, using gold paint and coloured sequins on black backgrounds. It was an idea I initially intended to take to an exhibition, but eventually pulled out of. I was thinking about the ones I had completed yesterday and how happy I had been with them at the time. I am now considering continuing with the idea again but in a fresh new way, which is why I have chosen today's pack - The 72 Names of God Meditation deck, published by The Kabbalah Centre. Each of the cards focuses on a different Hebrew name. Today's is the thirty-ninth - Resh Hey Ayin - interpreted as Diamond in the Rough.

Diamonds are a crystalline form of carbon. Pressure over millions of years transforms a chunk of coal into a precious jewel. As Yehuda Berg states in his book 'The 72 Names of God', 'all of life's problems can be transformed into sparkling opportunities'. The idea behind this card is that of our consciousness. When we remove negativity and try to think positively, we have a better chance of revealing the diamonds in life's many situations.

The last few days have been lovely; mainly down to the weather, which has been bright and hot. After a run yesterday morning, I walked to a craft store and then met my friend in the pub. Not wanting to drink alcohol, we sat in the pub's garden, drinking coffee and chatting for two or three hours. There were quite a lot of people there having lunch, with the rest of the world passing us all by on the busy main road. The sun has stayed for another day and I got up early this morning to go to work. The kids were really receptive again and we worked on their t-shirt designs over three lessons. I was pleased by how much effort they put in.

I think that today's card looks at my career. It asks me how I must respond to my worries about July, when my working in the two schools will end. If I choose to look at what I have achieved over the last few months as useful and valid experience for the future, then it will carry me forward into something else. You might see my forthcoming unemployment as an excuse to strike out and find something new and exciting. Isn't that what is meant by transforming a problem into a sparkling new opportunity?


Illustration from The 72 Names of God Meditation Cards by Hyun Min Lee