My initial reaction to these cards is that my message from the Tarot is that I need to spend some time finding ways to reconnect with that side of me that still has a child-like sense of whimsy and fun.  Sometimes it is so easy to get bogged down in the day to day responsibilities and obligations in life that I lose sight of the simple joys such as seeing a bear walking across my backyard at 2AM (which happened a little over a week ago), and watching the leaves change color and fall.  Even reconnecting with friends brings a lightness and joy to my heart that I didn’t realize I was missing.

Last week I was able to spend two days reconnecting with friends.  We had wonderful times (well I had wonderful times – I can’t vouch for what they felt).  I got to see a rather quirky, short play with one and had dinner at a fabulously funky cafe in the East Village (one of the last lingering remnants of what the East Village used to be before gentrification struck).  One day I met a friend for lunch at Le Pain Quotidien – a place which always makes me feel marvelously continental.

I also visited some of the few brick & mortar bookstores in the area.  They are dying breed and I want to try to keep them open as long as possible.  I always love The Strand – both for the challenge of finding books there and because I stumble across books I have never heard of before.  I stopped at Barnes & Noble on Union Square but it has become obvious that I am no longer their target demographic.  It seems as though their Nook is gaining space and their children’s section has been expanded but their cookbook section is smaller and I couldn’t bear to visit their Pagan/New Age section.  That has been depressingly limited for some time.  When I realized the entire second floor is being transformed into Kiddie Land I was both happy and horrified.  I think it’s wonderful that B&N are trying to attract children while they are young (presumably with the hope that they will stay customers as adults) but why the second floor?  You can’t avoid passing it who wants to hear hoards of screaming kids while looking at books (and trust me – no matter how much they are told to quiet down, kids get restless and fidgety after a while).  It seems to me that putting the children’s section on the top floor – where they won’t negatively impact other patrons, makes more sense.  Then again I realize I’m becoming more curmudgeonly as I get older.

Anyway, I think my message is that I need to stop and watch the bears sometimes.  I need to have fun, play like a child and let myself laugh, remember and smile.  There are days when that’s not such as easy thing to do but those are probably the days when it’s the most important.