6 of Pentacles Rx, The Moon: Tired of Pretending Not to Notice

“What does this have to do with low carb?”

I cringed, hard. I have a sizable low carb Facebook page. I’m jumping through the algorithmic hoops, trying to get my posts seen, earn tiny bonuses, basically making good use of this asset I’ve been building since 2009 and following the official advice for what the platform wants to see.

So I’m posting kitten videos. Facebook wants original videos. We have seriously adorable ferals in the neighborhood. I’m doing the best I can here.

I wrote a response to her complaint yesterday, spending the energy it takes to remain neutral and facts-based. Setting boundaries, being clear, honest and respectful. But also laying down the core idea: if what I do doesn’t work for you, best to move on.

But it never really felt right to me. Some of the ick of being criticized stuck. And it’s not the only similar situation I’ve had in the past few days.

Each time, the thing being asked of me was some form of generosity — credit, patience, or even the benefit of the doubt — for folks who weren’t offering me the same. But the bigger ask was the one I was making of myself: pretending not to notice.

I’m so, so tired of pretending not to notice. And this is exactly what the cards wanted to talk about.

In the Cards

Kingdom of Heaven Tarot pictured here, in all its photorealistic glory.

Outlook: Six of Pentacles Reversed

Expect a potential lack of generosity. Are you being asked – or more likely, asking yourself – to give time, energy or resources you don’t really have to spare?

This is coming across like a lack of both credit and understanding about other people’s needs, situation or feelings. It’s assuming the worst, or at least not assuming the best. You may be feeling pulled, pushed, or criticized by people who have no idea what you actually put out. Moreover, they may not really be seeing you at all. They might be perfectly happy interacting with a cardboard cutout of their projections with your face slapped on top.

So be mindful of that dynamic, both incoming and (potentially) outgoing. Charity is not freely offered and there may be assumptions that are not only stingy, but utterly untrue.

Advice: The Moon

The Moon as advice always feels slippery to me. Sort of the nature of the beast, I guess. She’s generally less about concrete, outward gestures and more about mystery, magic, and all the feelings running underneath.

So look inward. To your own reality, your secrets, what actually feels true inside. We are not obligated to explain, endorse, or justify our life to every random onlooker — and we shouldn’t be waiting for them to do that for us, either.

On that bothersome comment, I ended up deleting the whole thing the next day. I hid the original criticism and left it to sit in obscurity. The effort to self-justify was only ever costing me. And it felt better. That was how I took the focus back home.

So we’re being nudged to acknowledge our own issues, sure. But at the end of the day, we need to work our own magic. It’s not our job to extract charity from onlookers. It’s our job to be real with ourselves.

Your Turn

Where are you being asked for resources, tangible or not — time, energy, patience, credit — you don’t actually have to give? Where do you feel others interacting with you uncharitably, or catch yourself doing the same? See if you can pull the focus off the onlookers and back home, to your own magic. What’s really important here?