Misha Hoo's Blog - Posts Tagged "destruction"

“I had a dream that I was riding my bicycle across Australia,” she said as she looked at me seriously. I nodded, remembering a crazy Israeli friend who had done just that. Then came the question, “Do you think I should sell my car and get a bike?”

When her youngest daughter decided to move out of home unexpectedly, this woman’s whole life changed. She quit her job, sold off most of her belongings, packed the car and headed for the coast. A rewarding journey of valuable solo time and volunteering at festivals emerged as she surrendered to the unknown, guided by intuition and good fortune. Now it seemed that wasn’t enough as her dreams prompted her to downsize further. It didn’t surprise me at all when the Destruction card was the first one she picked out of the deck.

Brave are those who answer the call for change. It takes courage to give up certain structures which have made us feel secure and we often rely on our jobs, houses or relationships to provide that structure. However every structure that supports us will eventually become limiting as we outgrow it and then we need to expand, renovate or sometimes break down the structure completely in order to build something new. We can see then that Destruction is not a negative quality but rather the power to deconstruct, to disassemble, to pull apart in order to rebuild anew.

I often see people going through these significant changes at puberty, just before 30 and at midlife, however they can happen to us at any time throughout our lives. The midlife change has perhaps received the most bad press, often being misnamed ‘midlife crisis’ and yes indeed it may feel like a crisis as we look around and wonder what has happened to our childhood dreams, our grand plans or our waistline…

Life rarely happens exactly the way we want it and sometimes we get caught on a rollercoaster of work and responsibilities, becoming so busy that we have little time to reflect. When we do stop and look within, we may find that we are unhappy with our accomplishments, disillusioned with life or we might feel misunderstood and resentful of the ones we love the most. The purpose of all this angst however, is to make us reassess our values, to take a good hard look at where we are now and then decide what comes next.

Whilst this process can happen quickly, it certainly need not happen thoughtlessly. Feeling cramped in a relationship or lifestyle is a poor excuse to heartlessly ditch it and set off in pursuit of something more fun. In order to grow we need to honour our responsibilities and consider deeply any changes which will significantly affect those close to us. However there are times in our lives when we feel the pull of change, when life is asking us to move on, when we know that we have done enough, contributed enough and it is time for something new. It is when we become stagnant that our souls will call for change and it is that call, that whisper in our ear, that pull on our heartstrings that we need to listen to.

Sometimes our lives get deconstructed for us, like the man I did a reading for last week. His house had been demolished by fire, all of his possessions were gone and he was left with literally just the clothes on his back. He had no further need for spring cleaning. He was philosophical in nature and whilst he admitted to feeling sad over losing photographs and personal items which held sentimental value, he mostly felt as if a big burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Without the attachment of all his possessions and with a sizeable insurance pay-out, he headed for the airport, ready to take that long vacation he had been meaning to find time for.

The more in tune we are with the cycles of our lives, the more freely we can flow with the changes. Are you in a period of laying foundations, building or breaking down structures? Is it time to consolidate, or time to deconstruct? Where are expectations, attachments or fixed beliefs limiting your growth?

For questions and tips about reading Tarot ~ Ask The Hoo