Career Guidance from the CardsWritten by Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D.
As a career consultant, I meet people who feel they are standing at a fork in road, seeking guidance on whether to turn right or left. Accept this job offer? Resign from a frustrating job? Return to school? "I know answer is within me," they say, "but how do I gain access to my inner wisdom?" Besides journaling and meditating, I often turn to tarot cards, using a simple, single-card method. As you shuffle a deck, ask your question. Avoid yes/no questions, encouraging phrases like, "What will happen if I …" Or just, "Give me an impression of outcome X." Pull a single card. Often image will speak to you immediately. You'll have a sense that your intuition has been personified in this single card. For instance, Marie had just completed interviews with two companies. She was also considering a return to graduate school for a new career altogether. Marie drew "Death" for both of her corporate options. She realizes that this card can signify a rebirth. However, as soon as Marie saw those cards, she felt her intuition was confirmed: "I sensed rejection all through interview." For her third option, a new career, Marie drew Five of Cups. Typically Five of Cups means "regret." Marie was confused: would she regret decision to return to school? However, I suggested, this card might signify regret from not choosing this option. It could mean that she needed time to mourn her corporate career. Alternatively, it could mean that she would regret decision initially, but would feel differently later. I urged Marie to live with decision and card a little longer, gather more information, and use meditation and journaling to enhance her intuition. And, I suggested, she could draw another card later. In my own life, I have found that a two-card sequence corresponds loosely to a temporal sequence. Alas, cards do not yield information about length of each sequence, but you know there's hope ahead.
| | The Art of Conscious LivingWritten by Yvonne Chiarelli, PdD
Mindfulness is an ancient Buddhist practice that has profound relevance for today. It is relevant because mindfulness is a practice of being consciously awake, experiencing fullness of present moment, and living in harmony with yourself and world. The practice of mindfulness allows you to cultivate an appreciation for experiencing your life as you are living it. One of its effects is an increased ability to see extraordinary in mundane. Mindfulness has to do with being in touch and seeing what is so.Practicing mindfulness is simple but not easy. Mindfulness is paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in present moment, and nonjudgmentally. It requires a mental discipline to wake up in each moment, and to keep waking up for each oncoming moment. This kind of extraordinary quality of attention requires effort. It requires such effort because you are almost programmed to forget, or you succumb to unawareness, or wish to become deliberately unaware. The use of medicants of all kinds is prevalent in our culture ranging from drugs, over busi-ness, TV watching, and other activities that tend to narrow our attention. The power of mindfulness is in its practice and everyday applications. Applying mindfulness as a strategy can have significant positive outcomes on job. How many times have you wasted time because you forgot to take something with you? How many times did you respond just a bit inappropriately because you weren't fully listening? Did you actually experience your lunch? How many times did that tiny forgotten detail cause more effort than necessary?
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