Some Best Practices for Life: Part 1: Suit by Suit

An old post from my drafts folder. If you’d like me to write part 2 about the majors, please comment and let me know.

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Have you heard of best practices? In industry, they’re the practices that are most efficient and produce optimal results.

I’ve been thinking about what my best practices are for life, though. I tend to think in terms of what practices will keep my life peaceful, orderly, and sane. But at the same time, I also like to have the ability to pivot if needed. Unplanned things happen.

Here are a few of my best practices. I know they are basic. And this is not a comprehensive list! But think about what yours are, and maybe draw some cards. What best practices do you associate with which tarot cards?

Pentacles: The mechanics of care

Look before you leap. Be safe and secure and help others around you to be, too. Plan to take care of yourself and others. Much of this comes down to paying attention and knowing what’s going on in your world.

• Track your finances.
• Track your time.
• Keep your overhead low.
• Rent, don’t own. (My best practice might not be yours, and that’s okay.)
• Pay attention to the weather.
• Pay attention to the news (sorry!).
• Have some cash with you to give to people who ask for help on the street.
• When driving, observe following distance. (Yes, I said it.)
• Try not to multitask.

  

Cups: Connecting with others and restoring spirit

Know when to flow. Know when to be still. Know when to connect.

• Speak from the heart.
• Act from the heart.
• Be present. For yourself and for others. Listen.
• Be responsive.
• Trust yourself.
• Clean up after yourself.
• Look out for the people around you. Watch their back for them.
• 
While you’re regretting spilling the cups, grab a towel and clean up. (This is a case when you can multitask!)

Wands: Fighting for what’s right

Don’t burn out. Stay on target and at the right time, go for broke.

• Sleep at night (or sometime!).
• Meditate.
• Eat food. Include green leafy vegetables.
• Drink water (blood is made of water, and your ability to be motivated about the goals that you believe in passionately depends on water too.)
• Clean up after yourself even if you live alone. Because the clutter will mess with your clarity of mind and focus.
• But also: nourish your creative self with what it needs. Even when that feels frivolous or like something you don’t have time for.
• Be curious. This moment is an adventure you have never met before.

Swords: Piercing the veil of uncertainty

Make clear distinctions. Use logic. Think things through. Discern. Analyze and assess.

• Be critical of your own logic. Be humble. Hear out the people who disagree with you. If you can’t do that, how are you going to build community? Hear them out and speak in such a way that they can hear you, too.
• Keep learning new things.
• Experiment. Be a scientist in your own world. Even if that means you have to be your own guinea pig with some of your best practices.
• Use your words skillfully. Be aware that words can cut. If you’re not able to use them safely, then maybe be quiet for awhile.
• Meditate. Don’t cut your brain all to pieces with your thoughts. Thoughts are often words and words can cut (see above).
• Have a sense of humor. Especially about the stuff that isn’t funny. That’s when you’ll need humor the most!
• Get to the point.

Pivoting

Expect the unexpected. Plan on it.

• Have a bus pass with money on it (if you can).
• Keep your phone charged.
• Keep your outside glasses in your purse. (Okay, that one’s mostly for me, but maybe it will help some of you too.)
• Save all your files in two different places. (The Internet is like an old t-shirt that might survive another wash, but it’s operating on a wish and a prayer at this point.)
• Have paper maps. (When Google Maps stops working, don’t say I didn’t warn you).
• Sure, have a go bag, but also be prepared to travel light if you possibly can.

Larger principles

Be kind to everyone you meet. Treat people like you are delighted to spend time with them. You should do this anyway, but it will make a difference in all the little ways, and will help reduce your obstacles in life. And your feigned delight will probably become real when they respond in kind.

Tell the truth. Again, you should do this anyway, but it will help you to not fuck up your life to the point where you need to pivot a lot. Because when you lie, it unravels things. And it’s not just about major things: Telling the truth can mean, stop avoiding conflict. It can also mean, ask when you need help. “I’m fine, everything’s fine” is often a lie.

Clean up after yourself. Because when you come back later, you’ll be glad you did. (But a little truth telling will help you not to have to do as much of this! See above.)

Pay attention. Soak in awareness of your internal and external environment. As I once heard Camelia Elias say on a podcast, “at least be able to read the goddamn landscape!” This is a safety skill and also a skill that will smooth your path.

Set boundaries. Enforce them. There’s a piece of this that is also, stop avoiding conflict.

Respect your elders. Sometimes they are wrong, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be patient. A lot of radically wrong people are also surprisingly young, so, there’s that as well.

Have faith. It will be okay or it will not.

And a social justice thing for you to think about with the Hierophant: This is a card of keys and gatekeeping. Be aware of when you’re gatekeeping and when you’re benefitting from having gates opened for you that may not be open to others. More on this when/if I write part 2!

(Yes, this post begins and ends in the middle. So sue me! 🙂)