And There You Are
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Hello Friends, This week, I’m thinking about where we end up. One day, you’re a cheerful turtle, spouting water for kiddos in the summer heat. The next, it's rainy autumn, the kids are older, and you’re left on the sidewalk, hoping some other family picks you up and takes you home. Or, one day, you’re twenty years old, living with four friends, trying to figure out your life, and the next, you’re heading toward seventy and wondering what happened to your knees. Now, I doubt anyone reading this is a turtle water spout, and who knows how old you are and what your life condition is, but we all have to face change, don’t we? Including this changing world, as we reel from the realities of climate change, war, economic uncertainty, and all the rest. There is a lot that feels out of our control, as if we were the toy turtle left on the sidewalk. But other things? We have still have choices we can make on the daily. Every day, we can choose to show up to our varied conditions and find ways to help, ways to create, ways to care for ourselves and others. We don’t have to mourn the way things were, and we don’t have to settle for the way things are. We don’t have to just end up somewhere, as if we have no will or choice. What helps me remember my power to choose? As usual, that's the small actions: Each day, I choose to write something new. Every day, I take a walk and notice something interesting or beautiful. Every week, I find a way to offer help. Sure, I get angry at the way the world is, but I also revel in the beauty of it. Both of those are choices as well. How about you? Have you just ended up somewhere? What are you choosing right now? What helps you remember to choose? What is getting you through these times? Best wishes — Thorn News:There's a new installment of Magic, Creativity, and Life up on your favorite podcast outlet or my YouTube channel. It's with Tarot reader Rashunda Tramble. For the month of October, 50% of proceeds from ThornCoyleBooks will go to hurricane relief. That includes my oracle deck and ebooks.
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, The world is often filled with noise. What helps you listen? It took me many years to learn to listen deeply, instead of trying to anticipate. Trying to anticipate was my child-self’s way of keeping safe. Not that it always helped. Not when violent outbursts were random. But I tried anyway, baking that pattern into my body and mind. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t giving others a chance to really express themselves. I didn’t give myself a chance to express myself on a deeper...
Hello friends, This week, I am at the Between the Worlds/Sacred Space joint conference, gathered with hundreds of people who believe that magic is possible in a troubled world. It’s an important reminder, especially when so many of us feel stuck just providing for our basic needs, or the needs of our families. It is also an important reminder for those of us engaged in community service, protection, and care. Magic helps me pay attention to what is important to me. It helps me manifest what I...
Hello friends, I’ve been angry since childhood. Therefore, I think a lot about love. Seem strange? Like a contradiction? Not so much. My anger has always been rooted in a sense of injustice, on scales both minuscule and large. And that sense of injustice comes from love. When we create from love, we change. When we fight injustice because we love, we change. We change ourselves and each other, and over time, we change the course of things. This morning, a friend sent a bell hooks quote, from...