I drew three cards: The Five of Pentacles, The Knight of Pentacles and The Three of Rods. Then I carefully read their descriptions. I looked at the three cards again and re-read the descriptions, but I could not figure out a way to spin them together into a tale. Probably because they were sitting too close to the now. I stared at them, long and hard and asked myself “where’s the story here?” The cards rang with a truth. You see, The Five of Pentacles represents the spiritual warmth of comfort to those in financial or physical need, like a blanket wrapping around you protecting you from the cold. Her opposite side is disorder and chaos and ruin. I feel like many of us are barely keeping ourselves wrapped up in that blanket. All it takes is for that blanket to slip from one shoulder or pulled free of one toe for us to feel the disorder, chaos and ruin.

The Knight of Pentacles, well, he’s a hard worker and he’s responsible. He has skills to get a job done, but he can also be idle and careless. He can become motionless, stagnant. I am the Knight of Pentacles flipping back and forth between hard working and stagnation. I’ve made some careless mistakes, like not anticipating the amount of coffee I would need every day. The regular old drip coffee maker is no match for a fancy espresso machine. I can’t even say that the hot mug of joe I drink every morning these days is comparable to the Americano with a shot of espresso that I would drink at the office. I might as well compare apples to oranges. They’re both a fruit. That’s the only thing they have in common. Idleness comes over me and I struggle to shake it. I was used to getting up and standing at my desk or walking the building. Now I pace through a 750 square feet of space while my dog follows me around carrying one of her stuffed animals.

That brings us to The Three of Rods, who offers great spiritual strength to someone contemplating what lies ahead. The reverse of The Three of Rods confuses me. It is “the end of trials, disappointment and trouble. I find that I want both of those things. I want the strength to contemplate but I also want all the trouble to be over and done with. Except this can be true for any time period in life. We get through this moment, only to be faced with a different set of trials, something else that must be contemplated. It’s just one big loop-d-loop. The Three of Rods is always with us whether we draw the card or not. It does not go unnoticed by me that the descriptions for two out of those three cards contains the word “spiritual”. Comforting our spirit. Strengthening our spirit.

I intended to mine these cards for creativity. So the story goes like this.

There was a great plague that swept over the land. It forced people to stay at home and venture out very rarely for food. A decree was issued that people must stay at least six feet apart. Families and friends became separated by this invisible germ wall. Working from home and homeschooling became the thing everyone did as opposed to the few who already had this life. To say that it was a great shock and struggle for many, is an understatement, but the people found ways to interact with each other. They colored uplifting messages with chalk on the sidewalks for those passing by, at the appropriate distance of course. They placed stuffed animals in windows for little kids to spot while they were out on their daily walks. They cheered out their windows for the hospital workers, who worked tirelessly to aid those stricken with this plague. The people found ways to see and visit with each other with a magical window called Zoom. There were many Zoom meetings, happy hours and birthdays. While they found some comfort in these things, they also worked hard at stopping the spread of the plague. They wore masks, washed hands, sanitized counter tops and mail and they maintained their distance from each other. All of that hard work started to pay off and little by little the doctors saw fewer patients. Then one day, they saw zero patients. The land was declared to be free of the plague and the people all went back to the way things were before.

The story the cards told was one I’ve already heard dozens of times. It is a story of overcoming trials and tribulations. I have told so many different versions of this story that I have lost count. But some stories are worth reading over and over again, especially on those days that just drag on and on and you don’t see an end in sight. Some times you need to remind yourself that there is an end to this loop. It just might be too far out at the moment for me to see it clearly, but if I put on my glasses, I can just make it out in the horizon.