Nora Sullivan Horner

Hello loves! I hope these past couple of weeks haven’t been too stressful and that all your midterms have wrapped up! (Crossing my fingers for you all!) Here’s the vibe check for the next two weeks, November 6 to November 20. You know the drill: overall theme, main challenge and advice to overcome and thrive. Now, take a minute to close your eyes, become mindful of your breathing and sit comfortably in this moment. Read on when you feel calm and relaxed. Good? Great.

For the overall theme, I drew the Five of Wands. F. So, the fives represent tension, hardship and chaos. In short, they do not pass the vibe check. But this big red stop sign also gives us occasion to pause, reflect and reassess. In a word, do we pass the vibe check? The fives invite us to ask questions such as: Where am I in my life right now? How am I feeling? Where am I going? And am I headed in the direction I want? Specifically, you may be feeling disorganized and burnt out—not just with work, but your overall energy levels. Finishing midterms feels like a wonderful breath of fresh air—but you also realize how badly you’ve needed to take that breath, how thinly you were being stretched. It’s kind of like if you’re running a marathon (I could never, but that’s beside the point), only once you cross the finish line does the exhaustion really hit you. Up until that point you were just running, running, running with one goal in mind, and now that it’s passed, you refocus and become aware of everything else in your life. Including your fatigue. So, take a minute. Check in with yourself and your energy resources. Are they high? Low? What could you do to raise them? How have you been spending your energy? And would you change anything? Even though it’s hard feeling so depleted, you are also in a receptive, fresh state where you can rebuild yourself better and with intention.

For the main challenge I drew the King of Wands (check out my October 23 article to read up on my thoughts about the hierarchy/gendering of court cards and what they represent. Again, in The Wild Unknown deck, the Kings are renamed the Fathers). The Fathers have to do with mastery, understanding and acting with wisdom gained through lived experience. This card makes perfect sense as the challenge: right now, when we are feeling depleted, it’s especially challenging for us to act with laser-like focus, with 100 percent energy and commitment and drive, with a sense of control, passion and “I-got-this-sh*t” mentality. So, what to do? Well, take time to recharge your batteries and open your mind to the opportunities where you can act with passion and intention. It’s like that Mother Teresa quote, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” So find those small things in your life—getting coffee with a friend, working for 25 minutes and then taking a five-minute break Pomodoro style, FaceTiming an old friend—and do that with great love. You will feel better.

And so now we come to the advice. I pulled the Three of Swords. This is one of the more iconic Tarot cards, I think because it is literally iconic. An icon is “a sign (such as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning”; you can’t get much more iconic than a heart with three swords sticking through it while rain pours down. Again, F. The threes have to do with synergy, with expansion, with building on what has already been established: the first steps of materialization. What does that mean in the case of the Three of Swords? The first real pangs of heartbreak. Whatever is weighing down your heart, feel that, accept that, hold that pain with tenderness and kindness—whatever frustrations you’ve been bearing, whatever stress you’ve been under, whatever sadness you’ve been feeling—hold that with tenderness. Show compassion to yourself. You’ve been through an intense period. Maybe because of work, but maybe because, oh, I don’t know, it’s halfway through a semester at a very rigorous college, getting into the swing of things, balancing sleep, nutrition, exercise (lol no), friends, family, academics and, you know, the little old American elections, among other things. I talk a lot about being burnt out, but remember, you do not have to have a “reason” to feel how you feel. You do not have to have survived three tests, two papers and 48 hours of lectures to be able to say you’re tired. What you are experiencing, however you are experiencing it, is valid. Take time to honor that, spend time with it, practice compassion. Treat yourself as you would a good friend in your position. Be gentle with yourself; if you don’t think you can stay up all night working, you don’t have to. If you don’t think you have the social battery to go to a hang out, you don’t have to. If you don’t think you can go to that early morning practice or overnight trip, you don’t have to. And that’s okay, and you’re okay, too.

As my mom often tells me: “Just feel your feelings. Don’t feel feelings about your feelings.” That is, if you’re exhausted, just feel exhausted; don’t pile on guilt, anger or anxiety on top of that. My mom always says, “Invite those feelings in for tea, tell them they are loved, that you accept them, and like a guest, they will eventually go.” It can be hard, but that’s what self-compassion is: telling the parts of you that are struggling that you love them, that you accept them, that they’re okay.

So, in review: Right now, you may be feeling a little (or a lottle) exhausted. It’s hard right now to be “on top of your game.” And that’s okay. You need to make space for those feelings, and eventually, they will go.

I’m sending much love and much strength.

Talk soon <3

Nora