A friend recently came over to share her burgeoning love of Tarot.
I’ve never had strong feelings about Tarot, one way or the other. I’ve always associated it with fortune telling which for some reason seemed like a bad idea for how my brain works.
Still, as she shared with me what brought her to Tarot, I found myself curious. These days, many use Tarot cards as a tool to explore their inner selves in new and creative ways.
And I love new and creative tools.
Do you ever try to figure out an issue and just feel like your mind falls into the same grooves?
First, you think ‘A,’ then ‘B,’ and soon you’re at ‘C’ - the same solution you always come to - and it’s a repetitive one. This is when I love to use exercises that help me view the issue from a totally different angle.
Over the past week, tarot cards have been a fun tool to use, so I thought I’d do a little playful experiment. I pulled some cards for the work we do as communications and design experts.
I used a three-card spread relating to self, situation, and opportunities. The explanations come from tarot.com. And the first question I asked was:
“What is being asked of me, in this moment, as someone using the tool of communication to advance social change?”
The card that appeared for “Self” was the Page of Wands.
Explanation: “This card is normally a trigger of courage. It should make you overcome the personal discouragements and move forward boldly to launch your ideas in the real world.”
My interpretation: In general, I’m fairly risk-averse, but when I think of what I wish most for my clients, it is that they embrace innovation and explore with courage and vibrancy what they could say.
Life is moving at an ever-faster pace, and I believe that we must fearlessly declare what is true and real in order to connect with people. Boldness in communications means cutting through the niceties to get to clarity.
Ask yourself, what is one place that you could dial up the boldness in your messaging?
Onto card #2: the situation. For that, I pulled the Seven of Cups.
Tarot.com: “The Seven of Cups guarantees that A LOT of opportunities are available for you.”
What I’m hearing here is the overwhelming variety communications channels: email newsletters, websites, podcasts, the ever-emerging-and-retreating social media platforms, printed reports, interactive mini-sites, banner ads, postcards… whew!
Some organizations try to do everything and spread themselves too thin, while others rely heavily on old-fashioned methods like direct mail. There’s no one right answer, but ideally you ask yourself (at least, annually) which channels need attention and which need to be rethought.
Now, good questions to ask are, what comes up when you think about which communication channels you’re using? Are you focused on the right place? Is there some area that needs more attention?
And, finally, the third card: the opportunity. Here I received the Queen of Wands.
Tarot.com: “The Queen of Wands is both challenging and encouraging and is set on getting things done and achieving goals.”
To me, this card speaks about the balance of power and emotion. The queen is charming and creative, but also accomplishes a lot of practicalities. This is the real beauty of our work together.
There is so much time and energy put into making changes in real, physical ways, whether it’s providing direct services or working to make legislative changes that improve everyone’s lives. As communicators, we can tell these powerful stories and make them both engaging and fun. It can be challenging, but worth it.
Food for thought: How can you tap into your emotions and enthusiasm when you think about the work you are communicating?
And there it is. I hope you enjoyed my thought experiment. I’d love to hear if this sparked anything for you.
Was it too “woo-woo” for you? Or are you into this kind of thing? If so, let me know how you think I did.
By the way, I pulled these awesome images from various tarot decks, which are super creative in and of themselves.