It's OK to CLEAN away the PAST

Once again, I receive the Sacred Bough. It offers up decisions to be made and paths which can be taken. There is something positive in this card, because at it's very least, it inspires potential and the possibility of movement. For someone who's life often feels stagnant and stuck, I seem to find myself at these crossroads pretty regularly. I often feel like the losing contestant in life's grand game of Snakes and Ladders, as I consistently slide back to the same old place, time and again. This card asks me to consider the pathways well.

So with the Sacred Bough before me, I lean on The Teen Oracle, asking it for that bit more advice. What direction do I choose o'youthful one, so fresh behind the ears?

What I like about The Teen Oracle is it's directness; not unlike many teenagers, I suppose. The deck passes me some spray detergent and suggests I get cleaning. I think that since the card holds hands with the Past it suggests that I need to move on and start afresh. I woke up this morning feeling anxious about jobs I had left years ago and wondering if I should have stayed in them. Now deep down, I know that I shouldn't, but it doesn't stop me from comparing myself to those who would have and did. I imagine this is my ego taking a swipe. It is no wonder that I find myself in the same position so often, when I chain myself to the problems of the past. As a duo, the Clean and Past cards suggest I wipe away what is holding me back with a nice dollop of bleach and look to the future (the spray literally points at the third card). The OK card couldn't be any more obvious. With a brash thumbs up, it tells me that this is the move (or pathway) to take.

I started looking through the job ads, and with each one, I began to feel disheartened. It seems so long since I have been in the design game, so maybe that is the first area I need to clean away. I really enjoyed the months of teaching last year, but there seems little to no opportunities for that kind of creative work out there at the moment. I know I am not the only one looking without results. I considered getting my GCSE in Maths last year, so I could train to be a qualified art teacher, but what with the move and all else that was going on, the time frame for getting it all ready was too small and I was buckling under the pressure I'd put on myself. I thought I would apply this year instead, which means looking into studying for my Maths equivalency test now. Is this what these cards are telling me to do? To brush away all that didn't suit in the past and go for a whole new career? I stand at the Sacred Bough and contemplate which road to take.


Illustrations from The Well Worn Path by Mickie Mueller and The Teen Oracle by Cinnamon Crow Dixon.