13 April 2021
Context
Today I say goodbye to my sister and nephew, and I’m feeling merry-go-sorry at their departure. Their departure made me realise there are times I enjoy waiting.
I’m amazed over 100 blogs to have published! It’s weird to have arbitrary milestones. Have you ever wondered why we (personkind) feel the need to put milestones in place? It’s also amazing how milestones are associated with superstitions or are the basis of superstitions. For instance, the number thirteen associates with good or bad luck depending on your location in the world. Could it be the early marketing of baker’s, when they went: buy 12 get one free!?
Feeling Merry-Go-Sorry
It was a day for goodbyes, as my final two houseguests left for the airport to depart. For those of you curious about whether I ended up watching Married at First Sight (MAFS TV show) after my sister left – I got too busy. Also, I figured that now that I knew the characters, my sister could fill me in on the weekend. With catch-up TV being available, there’s the chance that I could watch it on the weekend too.
While it’s merry-go-sorry to drop off people at the airport who would you like to have live closer to hand, I love the airport. Yes, there’s overpriced food. Yes, it can get crowded. But, ultimately, for me, it’s a place of relaxation and excitement rolled up into one. The peace comes after having dropped off the luggage in bag drop, passed through security, grabbed a drink and/ or something to eat and then it’s waiting.
Waiting at the Airport is Peaceful
This type of waiting I can do. Not always being patient because any kind of waiting equalled wasting precious moments in your life, but airport waiting has developed into its preciousness. These moments come from the lack of demand to do anything except simply exist. It’s letting go of anything that needs doing at home because the moment for doing it has passed.
It means waiting for the incoming flight to arrive and the relevant preparations to ready the flight for the following passengers; again, there are no demands on your time except to sit in readiness for the journey. So this gap of an hour or hour and a half where you’re waiting for the plane is all yours; there are absolutely no demands.
In that hour or so, you are free to do whatever you want; call friends, family, sit and read, listen to a podcast, listen to the radio, take your time sipping your beverage of choice, do crosswords, or even play some Pokémon Go, which was the case today. Of course, playing Pokémon Go wouldn’t be my first choice, but I was with my nephew, and the game piqued my curiosity. There was a little bit of dabbling when the game first came out, but when my husband showed it to me, I was probably enjoying apricating on the beach☀️.
The same sense of peace happens at the train, bus or ferry stations, too but to a lesser extent since the waiting time isn’t mandatory like at the airport.
My Sister's turn for Merry-Go-Sorry
Now the disadvantage of being at the airport with someone other than yourself. Like, say, someone less concerned with timeframes than you, and they tend to ignore signs or prompts to head to the departure lounge (like me). All that relaxation goes down the gurgler (that’s Australian for “drain”).
For instance, if you were to split off from your sister with her son and your sister says something like, “meet you there,”. If you were the type of person conscious of time, you’d instantly recognise that “meet you there” meant “meet you at the boarding gate”. On the other hand, if you’re oblivious of time, you think you have time to grab Krispy Kreme for your departing nephew and sister as a departure gift. And only THEN you go to the gate! You’d wind up stressing the people with you.
Then again, neglecting or forgetting the time has the advantage of getting your adrenaline going when you realise you’re running late. It also leaves a lasting imprint on your sister and nephew 😉. Let’s put it this way; my sister is unlikely to let me forget.
So you see, my sister’s merry-go-sorry is happy for her to be on the plane away from the stressful airport and sister combination . But being sad to leave me even with the challenges I throw her way constantly.
Adrenaline and Stress
Although I maintain if your identity hasn’t been made public, and you’re not the last person on the flight – we weren’t last, and names were safe – you’re not actually late. Besides, how could I know that only ten people wanted to go to the same destination with a COVID threat looming?! Oh, okay. There were a few more than ten people, but the passengers boarded the flight quickly, and the flight only announced when we (nephew and I) were already halfway to the gate.
If it’s any consolation for those of you who are feeling merry-go-sorry for my sister, I ended up ceding my doughnut to my sister. There was no time to search my handbag for a way to separate mine from hers 🍩.
When we go to the boarding queue, of course, some passengers were still sorting out their seating arrangements, and others were still walking to the gate, but since my sister was stressing, it was best not to push her.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Analysis
Carry Over Cards
It’s simple today. No carry over cards.
Cross of Merry-Go-Sorry
The Now position has Innocence influenced by Integration crowned by the Goal card of Maturity. Innocence and wisdom are the two traits embodied in the Innocence card. I’m associating the Innocence card to enjoying my time at the airport with my sister and nephew. It was precious. The Integration card is the connectivity and the quality time together, blending Pokémon Go with a meal and time.
The blend of excitement and calm at the airport comes from the experience gained from travelling for projects. Of course, this is not always the case, but today the experience or Maturity sits comfortably with me and with the Goal.
In the Distant Past is the card of Friendliness. Maturity and Innocence resulted from past relationships with the friendly people at the airport. The airport embodies Aloneness. The Aloneness card also reflects the state I am left in after the last of the guests has departed. Again, Aloneness does not mean lonely.
The plane’s departure meets the criteria for Future Energy to read as Completion. The journey that started with the excitement of seeing family again after 18 months has come to an end.
Base
While I’m sad at the departure getting them to the airport promptly, I feel it is a success. And look! It’s the Success card in the Feelings/ Immediate Future position.
Others’ Views has the card of Flowering. Flowering is the card of opening up and sharing a little more of yourself with others. Strangely, I’m going to link this view to one of me watching MAFS with my sister.
At one time, I would have ranted and carried on about it being a “silly show”, but now I’ve accepted it and can enjoy it. It’s like going to the same movie with different friends; it’s not about the film, it’s about the friends.
Hopes & Fears has the card of Morality. Morality is about doing the right thing I hope today I did the right thing in ducking off to Krispy Kreme and fearing that it caused more tension than it needed to if I’d simply left it alone (fear).
Finally, the Outcome position has the card of Politics. This card had me stumped. It is the card of duality and merry-go-sorry is also about the duality.
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
Dent, Susie (6 Apr 2021), Word of the Day, Merry-go-sorry, Twitter. Miss Dent writes: it’s a 16th century word for a mixture of joy and sorrow, or the continual shift between the two.
