I am a Human Systems Strategist: I diagnose the pattern and co-create alignment, whether that's one person or a whole culture. Justice & Joy in your inbox every Friday! 📥
Temperance (not avoidance) 💥
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Hey Reader, Last week's email felt intense looking back at it, and this week I want to talk about something quieter: temperance. How I've been tempering what I'm building next, and a lot more of the behind-the-scenes than usual. Turns out, I really stepped into my Temperance energy by being honest with my kid about my need and why it was important to do so. The details are less important than the lesson that parenting is reminding me of the countless opportunities to temper all the elemental wisdom I hold regarding emotions (cups), thoughts (blades), actions (fire), body (pentacles), and spirit (ether). The synchronicity of it all is that I pulled this card on Tuesday… Wisdom from the Guidebook 📖This card indicates that you are in the process of harmonizing, balancing and blending the elements of your personality.
… At this point in time you have a strong desire to establish your own truths from information you have collected over the years, and then to test them by further experience. This process of verifying our truths is the act of "tempering which is an essential ingredient to the motion of combining elements, and temperance is the alchemy of mixing ingredients to obtain an effect.
Intentional Justice Prompt: What truths in your life need tempering? Lightening in a Bottle ⚡️I keep coming back to an exchange over on LinkedIn: It’s me. 🫣 😕What I keep coming back to is that there are so many ways to explore systems change, and I've given myself the gift of multiple experiences. It's worked for me, and it keeps working. I'm potentially expanding my facilitation lane in a way I hadn't expected. And I'm finishing this damn book, with a clarity I didn't have before: your hardest experiences really can become the gift you give others. Here's a piece of the behind-the-scenes in a group chat: Two friends reminding me that I am a saint as it relates to my parenting situation. Received 😫 😬 😅 Part of me wanted to just say thank you. Yes, I am handling this with grace, compassion, generosity, even through deep betrayal and ongoing harm. But here's what I actually want from my parallel parent: be honest and take responsibility for your mistakes and let's repair harm to figure out how to move forward without avoiding communication. Oh, and don't be an asshole. That's it. That's the whole ask. And, I also know that’s not possible, no matter how much I want it to be true. ❤️🩹 It’s with this radical truth that I share the joy and justice of it all… Freedom FridayI’m writing this message under a cabana in the Oakland Hills after an invigorating swim. A creative artist date with my friends this afternoon. My kid's playing her first volleyball game at 3:30 pm for her middle school team. Jaylin made the gold team. This phase of life is a lot of driving, especially when you're not in the neighborhood anymore and everything costs more than it used to. Bills are paid, food's in the fridge, I've got a beer waiting for tonight's Valkyries playoff game. This morning's sanctuary gave me the freedom I needed before my afternoon picked up speed… Throw into the mix that we experienced a split week—the end of the month and the end of the quarter, so I encourage you to take time this weekend to come home to yourself. Personally, I've spent this week really reflecting on what worked, what surprised me, what stayed strong. I'll share more of that in the weeks to come. As I wrap this week’s message, here’s an affirmation I'm holding onto and I send as a prayer to us all… May we use the elemental medicine (fire, water, air, earth, and wind) to temper the process of listening to our intuition. ❤️🔥🌬️Rooted in love. Blooming in liberation. 🌻 |
Justice & Joy from the Laptop of Mama J Love 🫶🏽
I am a Human Systems Strategist: I diagnose the pattern and co-create alignment, whether that's one person or a whole culture. Justice & Joy in your inbox every Friday! 📥
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