Could I interest you in everything?
Scorpio 3 & Sag 1 // 8 Offline Things
Last night was the last full moon before Yule! And today I felt the familiar chill of winter as I briskly ran into the store to pick up a prescription. Even my thick coat that goes down to my knees wasn’t enough to keep out the cold. My eyes watered and my cheeks burned. There is nothing quite like the biting wind of northwest Ohio. I hope you have a sweater on or a blanket around your shoulders as you read this, thanks for being here.
In the chaos of illness and holidays I missed the final decan1 of Scorpio season ending with the 7 of Cups. And it coincidentally landed on the same week that I was prepping for holiday gathering AND trying to participate in an annual drawing challenge on instagram. #FolkTaleWeek is one of my favorite internet hashtags and inspires me to create and share art and I love it. However… I do not love social media these days.
I’ve taken most social apps off my phone to limit how much time I waste on them, so I had to reload instagram to join the 7-day challenge. I immediately felt a shift in my head space as the week began. As
wrote about last week, “there comes a point where being online veers past the joy and connection marker and moves into existential crisis territory.” This happened almost immediately for me. The marker moved from sharing my art inspired by my favorite picture books (joy!) to carpet bombing (horror!) so fast it literally made my head spin.
I knew things were not going well when after some time spent online I felt myself getting nauseous and light headed in the pickup line at school. I had to take a walk around the block to ground myself before my kids came out. I deleted the app that afternoon and didn’t finish the challenge.
In my opinion, the 7 of Cups could be the card of the internet! 7 golden cups offer a spread of rich choices. Could I interest you in everything?2 Riches? Fame? Power! No?…how about a Dragon? Who hasn’t been dazzled by insta ads? By the incessant connection and inspiration? By enraged callouts? But take note, the traditional keywords of this card often have a hint of warning: Illusion, Choices, Wishful-Thinking. Who hasn’t bought into the illusion of it all… I’ll just stay connected to the important things, the loved ones who’ve moved away, my kids sports team, the most important news headlines, the sales for my favorite local bookstore. I’ll just have a little bit of everything. Wishful thinking?
I don’t need to go on and on about the perils of profit-driven, algorithm-controlled, addictive-by-design social media. We all know. We’ve all experienced it. And there are plenty of people who have written more extensively and eloquently about it. I just know that it’s not working for me anymore.
Sagittarius welcomes us into the energy of the 8 of Wands. 8 flying wands soar through the air and it’s often associated with swift travel and alignment - with outer goals or in most cases, our inner values.
And so, because some of my values are to spend way less time on the internet, to be more present to my one life, to model care for my own heart-mind to my children, to slow down and to just make more art… Here are 8 offline activities (wands!) that I have enjoyed over the last week and that I want to carry with me into this next season.
Making art // Doodling. Painting. Singing along to Christmas radio. Roll-out cookies and cinnamon ornaments. I don’t need instagram to MAKE THINGS.
The teen noodled around on the piano this week until they could play Little Women by ear and my heart grew 3 sizes.Reading aloud // we took down the Christmas decorations and our favorite bin to open is the one full of holiday books! I loved
‘s idea to to read a picture book every day which seems like the perfect anti-internet activity and it doubles as free holiday entertainment - no crowds, no cold weather, no screens, just cozy.Preserving lemons // All you need is a bag of lemons and kosher salt. I did this last year with Kelley Nikondeha and the lemons take exactly 4 weeks to complete (pickle? cure?) making it the perfect contemplative practice for advent. Pairs nicely with prayers and actions for peace.
Sending snail-mail // not holiday cards, just regular old snail mail to tell my people that I love them. These are the cards I’m sending this week.
Unsubscribing // I am like an unsubscribing machine. If a Black Friday deal came through my inbox I couldn’t hit that unsubscribe button fast enough. I’m like Oprah - you don’t get my email!! And YOU don’t get my email!3
Abandoning the clock // I have the bad habit of being the bedtime dictator and that makes bedtime super pleasant generally. So I have been practicing letting go of clock-time in the evening. We still have a basic routine, but I try to follow the energy of the house instead of a strict timeline. If we are playing a game and everyone is happy…we keep it rolling. If everyone is wired after school we go for a walk or I *let my kids teach me their dance choreography* which is basically just me NOT learning choreography and lots of laughing. If everyone is tired and it’s only 6pm…it’s pjs and reading in bed.
Chores // ok, this one is a reframe I’ve been working on for a while, but it’s been very concrete for me in the last few weeks. I’m trying to lean into the ways cleaning, cooking, folding, are embodied care tasks. Being online makes me feel scattered and unmoored, but being in my body folding clothes grounds me and connects me to the people I love. Chores are routine ways I can move my body and connect to the moment. They are small care tasks that have been erased by society, but are the foundation of everything.
Walking // last week at the peak of my insta-induced anxiety, I met a friend for a walk. It was cold but the sun was shining. We walked for an hour, for 3 miles, and talked about everything from hosting holidays to haircuts to our kids’ inability to do anything quietly. I told her afterwards that I think I need an hour-long walk everyday until Christmas.
As usual,
wrote beautifully this week about Winter and one thing she said was, “It’s as though some unseen hand has reached into the universe’s control panel and increased inertia, adding an extra drag to each new action. I am being pulled inwards, towards slowness and stillness.” My 8 wands are not swift in the traditional sense of this card - instead they are marked by increased inertia and a pulling towards presence. Let’s make some offline magic.
If you’re new here, I’m following the decans (10 degree shifts) through the zodiac this year. And each decan has a corresponding tarot card. We just finished the final 10 degrees through the sign of Scorpio (on November 22) and the sun entered Sagittarius. Each sign has a card (Sagittarius = the Temperance card) and each decan has a unique card too. You can really get in the weeds of it all, and I have only scratched the surface of all the correspondences and astrological rabbit trails. Please jump in the comments if you have any questions!
This song makes my head spin too. Bo Burnham’s ACCURACY.
To be clear, these were mainly retail subscriptions (not substack!) but honestly I’m such a fan of clearing digital clutter, you do what you gotta do.
I am definitely biased in favor of when in doubt, go for a walk.
"You don’t get my email!! And YOU don’t get my email!" Yes!