Big thanks for those who have already ordered the 2026 Zodiac Look-Ahead readings. 🔮 They will be available for a few more weeks but I do plan on taking time off for the holidays so I’ll likely close out orders by Christmas. ❄🎄 Just a heads up if you are planning on getting one this year. More info here.
Have you ever poured your heart into something—time, energy, all the good intentions—and it just…didn’t go anywhere?
Yeah. I feel you.
You show up. You’re honest and sincere and diligent. And the outcome? Nothing like what you thought you were cultivating. That kind of mismatch can feel like a gut punch. But it’s not the whole story. And it doesn’t have to be a bad ending.
Sometimes, underneath disappointment, there’s a weird little gift waiting to be unwrapped. So sayeth the cards.
Coming Up in the Cards
These beautiful, richly symbolic cards come from the Star Tarot Deck.
Outlook: Reversed Seven of Pentacles
This card points to long-term efforts that haven’t yielded what was expected. Maybe your intended outcome simply didn’t sprout, or the result was something completely different from what you planted. But that doesn’t mean the entire enterprise has been a failure. There are always other variables—timing, context, other people’s choices. None of this means you did it wrong.
Advice: The Wheel of Fortune
Look for the plot twist. What did this outcome give you that you wouldn’t have found otherwise? What did the journey reveal—even if the destination sucked? There may be an unexpected gift buried in there, wrapped in ugly paper and looking like trash. But don’t toss it just yet.
How This Looks in Real Life
For me: I turned my life inside out to make peace with my parents before they died. They’re taught to believe they won’t have to die, but I know better.
After a lifetime of being considered a follower of Satan—shunned by some family, feeling the sting of those years when my parents refused to say they loved me—I waded back into that trauma pool to help care for my father with dementia. While being seen as ‘worthy’ wasn’t the primary reason I did it—I’m capable of love, after all—I still somehow hoped to be seen for who I actually am: a kind, decent human being who’s shown nothing but respect despite knowing many of their beliefs (and certainly the organization they follow espousing the dictates) to be toxic and abusive.
Of course, it didn’t work out the way I hoped. Not only did most not want to hear about my feelings—often they didn’t even seem to register that I might have any feelings at all. But I did get a lot of pats on the head for doing what they wanted me to do. So basically a flashback to my childhood.
Still, I got something meaningful: clarity. I saw just how deep the programming runs. I uncovered pain I hadn’t realized was still there—false assumptions and fears so deeply programmed, I’d mistaken them for personality traits. I also gained the courage to stop protecting those sorry little shreds of connection I’d been preserving for years at the cost of my own authenticity. The trauma it brought back to the surface gave me the nudge I needed to resume focus on healing. Because healing isn’t an event—it’s a process.
So no, it didn’t work out the way I hoped—not that my hopes were all that realistic. But it did give me something worth having in its place. And while my story may be my own, I suspect the dynamics in play are not unique to me.
Now, for you:
What have you nurtured that didn’t grow the way you hoped? And what unexpected harvest might still be there—if you’re willing to look past the wrapping.
