Present Path Tarot
Navigate to your best life
It Takes a Village
A wonderful message in the I-Ching is #45: Gathering Together.
The deck I have displays a river that represents all the different tendrils of skills coming together to build something.
One of the greater challenges of this era seems to be how much we are each individually required to be decently good at doing nearly all the things ourselves.
As I watch my parents get older, I see how much they need to rely on community around them, when they have often played the role of support for others.
As a small business owner, it has been a humbling experience to acknowledge what I’m just not that good at.
A few weeks ago I sat with an old friend of mine, Gray Ayer, who is a web developer and small business digital marketing consultant.
After only a simple question, he quickly saw how many tools I was missing for SEO analysis purposes and set me up. He helped me understand what a website can do in ways I had not considered.
It opened my mind to realize how much more I need other people to grow as a business.
Then I injured my knee while dancing as a leprechaun on Tuesday. I was very grateful for the support of my ex, Christopher at the Acupuncture Center of Portland, who gave me a last-minute session the next day. He was able to comfort me that it was most likely a less serious issue than I feared.
When I think about it, it’s easy to remember all the little things that friends have done to support me in my well-being and my business.
We have moved so far away from the village. It’s up to us to bring it back, one collaboration at at a time.
Today, the activity is to write down three things that you feel overwhelmed by.
Then write down one or two people who can help you with each.
If you don’t have someone in your community who can do it for free, consider who’s worth paying and what you can afford for this level of support. Consider what you offer with those who might be willing to do a time-for-time trade.
When I was first building this business, I listened to an entrepreneur who pointed out that the first thing you ask for help in is cleaning. It takes a lot of time and there’s usually a lot of skilled people out there who can do it for a reasonable rate.
Sometimes the cost is also worth the trade-off for how much better quality you get. I could not have done what Gray offered support in. I didn’t even know those tools existed.
As I get older, I like the idea of building a chosen family community. Who in my community can help me manage paperwork and bureaucracy when health crisis happens? Who in my community is the best emotional support? Who loves to cook? Who likes making spreadsheets? What can I offer in similar or unique skills?
I realize that we need a diverse community of skills to grow old together with.
Get other ears tuned into the guidance you need to receive and reciprocate the same in a Tarot Together session where you split the hour.
Feel at a loss of how to get support? Start with the direction offered in a personal tarot reading.
Develop your own skills in the cards during a tarot reading lesson with me.
Enhance your village’s collective experience when you hire a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers.
Stop, Collaborate and Listen,
Jenna Lynne Roberts