4 February 2021
Dentists Context
Today I tried something different. Rushing off to see the dentists for a dental appointment at 8:00 am didn’t give me the time I needed to lay out the cards. So, I did a quick shuffle, followed by a fan spread, picked out ten cards, put them in a pile still facing down. This method meant even by the end of the day; I didn’t know what the cards were.
In a way, it’s pretty liberating. Although I do not usually read the cards first thing in the morning, I see them and get a first impression. Cards such as Laziness and Postponement tend to attract my attention then. Then I focus on these throughout the day. Even if I don’t want them to influence my day, they still do.
By selecting the cards and not viewing them, I experience the day without any influence whatsoever. It also makes it quite exciting to see what they’ll reveal after the day has happened. It also means I can write my day’s context more like a diary.
Dentists. What is there to say about dentists? Most people I know find them okay. Oh, alright, most people hate dentists and see them as necessary evils. For instance, my husband hasn’t visited the dentist in six years! That’s how much he likes them.
By the way, the husband’s teeth are fine, and apart from a clean from the hygienist, he has nothing to worry about. As for me, I visit every year or couple of years – these days – and my teeth are …. okay. But, even though I floss and brush two to three times a day with the recommended “toothpaste”, I needed to have a small filling. It turns out the hole was on my “lazy” brushing side. It’s the side that I pay less attention to because I usually don’t have to worry about fillings on that side. That laziness has now paid off in the wrong way. It looks like I will need to “brush up” on that side. (See what I did there? “Brush up” for better brushing! Oh, okay. It’s not that funny!).
After Dentist, The Laser Clinic
Then I had another appointment at the third-largest shopping centre in Australia, Chermside. When I rang the clinic, I tried to find out where their location was to reduce my kneeling scooter time in the centre. The young girl might have been new because she simply described the “big shops” with lots of real estate, which didn’t help that much. Nonetheless, I was closer than parking at the complete opposite end; it was a small win – even if my knee and thigh didn’t work anymore.
That consultation went well, but there isn’t much the clinic could do until my cast came off. This cast is becoming a nuisance. It was only yesterday that I was complaining it had been a very long four weeks. I was then kindly reminded only 16 days had passed – just over two weeks! Really? Argh.
At work, I found out that I had not progressed something into release state before I left for vacation leave on 24 Dec 2020. Bad Michaela. It’s such a terrible thing. Fortunately, the profession I work in does not hinge on this decision for a life-threatening situation.
A girl at work has her birthday tomorrow, and I’m hoping to surprise her with scones, clotted cream and jam. Failing being able to access these ingredients, I’ll simply make some chocolate brownies with raspberries. Of course, I’ll need to get permission from my caregiver, husband to do this – after all, I’ve been on my feet quite a bit today.
Okay. Now for the exciting reveal of the cards, what will they be? Let’s take a look.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Dentists Analysis
Position 1 - Fighting
The first card today is Fighting. Looking at the statistics, this is the first time the card has made an appearance. So, it’s been 35 days since this particular card. Grrr…
Yesterday, I talked about the Control card triggering insecurities and how one of those insecurities is because I have FOMO (fear of missing out). Fighting is about when one of those, something like FOMO in this case, has gone to the fire alert status. The image on the card is about a person who is so tense that the slightest provocation will tip his alert status into an uncontrolled explosion.
The thing is, it’s of my own doing. The person who has triggered me has done nothing deliberately against me. I’ve been away on recreation leave and sick leave for about six weeks, and life goes on. It doesn’t wait for me to show up. Ironically and amazingly, issues that someone could have actioned while I was away do tend to wait for me to show up to resolve them even six weeks on when they were urgent at the time. Go figure!
Where was I? This person in my life has probably just been looking out for themselves like most of us do. Any damage toward me is purely unintentional, and I’m simply collateral for which they have no responsibility.
The Fighting card was triggered by the dental visit when the dentist commented that my tooth cavity could be from poor diet and inadequate brushing. I held my response long enough for the poor brushing comment to sink in and register. I noted the word and quickly asked myself whether “this could be true”. The honest response was I am a poor brusher on that side. Trigger diffused. Phew!
Positions 2, 3 & 4 – Patience, The Outsider & Abundance
The best way to resolve issues like this is to apply Patience. Patience is the second card and in the Influencer position. Unfortunately, Patience is part of the reason the Fighting card appeared. While waiting, conspiracy thoughts emerged, and without knowing their causes, tension built, and the Fighting card is the response.
While the card of The Outsider appears in the Goal position, it doesn’t mean I wish to be an outsider. The picture is about feeling like an outsider and wanting to be on the inside – classic FOMO. The Outsider also shows that the feeling of exclusion is self-inflicted because if you look more closely at the gate, you’ll discover that it is unlocked. It’s simply a matter of adequately assessing the situation.
The Distant Past position has the fourth card of Abundance. Another reason Fighting can make an appearance is in a contrasting situation to a time where you were at a high point. The contrast between an Abundance of attention and returning to the mundane accentuates the “missing” part of “missing out”. It makes sense, right?
Positions 5 & 6 – Flowering & Slowing Down
So much so that Flowering in the Recent Past position has a similar energy to the card of Abundance, suggesting that positivity had surrounded me or my situation for some time before I left on leave, then coming back to the everyday normal exacerbates the insecurity. Here the Flowering card is about some personal growth courtesy of the broken ankle.
There are many things the broken ankle has already taught me, but it is also giving me a reality check. The reality check is that I can’t be everywhere and do everything. While the broken ankle is a physical symbol of not participating in some activities, it’s also a metaphor for not participating in non-physical activities.
Flowering can also refer to learning how to use the mobility kneeling scooter better. It can even mean reaching out to the laser clinic for advice, which didn’t seem scary once explained.
I was Slowing Down after rushing to the dentist and then to the laser clinic. It was good to take a little bit of time before I needed to go back to work after lunch. It helped me restore my energy and focus. It was an appropriate card to have in the Future Energy position.
Positions 7, 8 & 9 – Healing, The Lovers & Celebration
Feelings are the seventh position, and the card is Healing. It’s all I seem to be doing at the moment, Healing. Slowing Down is necessary for Healing to occur, especially after being in the Fighting alert status. Not sure there is much more to say on the topic of healing at this point in this reading. However, I have lots to say on emotional and mental healing.
Other People’s Views, position eight, is that of The Lovers. The Lovers is about connecting with your inner self and looking composed, and understanding your ebb and flow. There could be a perception that my husband and I work well together as a team. We do, and it’s lovely for this to be the perception.
Hopes and fears have the card of Celebration. When it came to today, I feared that I would need to manage to get home from the laser clinic on my own, either by Uber or taxi. The fear of getting to the door with a backpack, opening the screen door, holding the crutches while on the kneeling walker, then unlocking the door, then trying to get the crutches into position to get up the one step we have into the house, all without falling. I can barely manage to get off the chair onto the crutches without feeling like I’m about to fall.
I hoped that the timing of the morning’s events went in my favour and my husband would be able to drop me off at home and get me into the house before he went to work. That would be something for me to celebrate. (Side note: Luckily for me, that turned out to be the case! Yay!).
Position 10 – The Miser
Finally, position ten which is the Outcome position, has the card of The Miser. When I go to the dentist, I go into miser mode. There’s a part of me with some childish mistrust of dentists when it comes to charging for their services. Perhaps it’s the cost for a 15-minute consult in which time they can fill a tooth and get more money for a shorter time.
Look, I know they have years of study and probably live the poor life at university eating two-minute noodles, and they deserve to charge for their services. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it. After all, the dentist is a business like everything other business and needs money to stay operational to hire good staff. It’s just that sometimes it feels like it’s more than my perceived poor dental hygiene. Then again, there’s the side of me that knows that’s precisely the reason I’m a bit miserly.
I’m simply angry at myself for not rigorously disciplining myself to clean my teeth more thoroughly, and it’s merely easier to project my frustration onto the dentist. Forking out extra funds to fix a cavity only seems to make The Miser in me worse.
Until tomorrow.
References
Largest Shopping Centres in Australia
Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7