There’s been a lot going on over here (more on that below), but I’m back in the game! I’ve had this post in draft form for a couple weeks now, which means some of these updates are kind of old, but here we are. Hope you’re all doing well!
In case you missed it, I announced in my recent anniversary post that Pockets of Joy is going paid! If you’re already a free subscriber, you should see an option to upgrade to paid. Paid subscribers will have exclusive access to a tarot reading with each post, with other bonuses coming soon!
In full transparency, going paid is bringing up a lot of internal stuff. I asked myself a lot of questions before making this decision: Will I feel more pressure or obligation? Will it still be fun? Will anyone even want to pay for what I offer? If they do, will they feel like they’re getting their money’s worth? Even with all these questions, I had to put myself out there. Otherwise I’d always be wondering what would have happened if I had been braver. I finally stopped asking, “Why me?” and thought, “Why not me?” Sharing just in case you needed a reframe to do that thing you’ve been wondering about. :)
I’m currently nursing a strained arm/shoulder with a pinched nerve, which is my first significant injury in a long time. I signed up for a barre class membership thinking that this was going to be a fun new way to move my body. Then I pushed it too hard at my second class, which was supposedly their slower-paced, restorative format. Apparently I really need to pace myself until I get my flexibility back. It’s a hard lesson to listen to my body and not my ego that wants to keep up with the set pace. I was on medication and will be starting physical therapy, so I’m definitely being nudged in a different direction for the time being. A couple weeks later, the pain is significantly reduced, but I still have numbness in a couple of my fingers.
We just got back from our belated anniversary trip in Napa Valley last week, and it was amazing! Thankfully my injury gradually got better throughout the week, so I wasn’t in too much pain while I was there. I highly recommend going around this time of year, because not being there during the busy season made our trip so laid-back. I will do a full recap post on our itinerary, our experience, and what I learned from all my research if people are interested!
After we got back from our Napa trip, we got to celebrate the wedding of our friends Esha and Aashish. They had a court house wedding followed by pictures and an intimate dinner with family and close friends. It was so lovely to celebrate them as they begin this new chapter!
If you remember from my previous post, I was researching Dyson AirWrap dupes and had settled on one to try. It didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, and trying to return it was quite the saga. I emailed customer service about a return/refund. They didn’t respond to my emails for almost 2 weeks, and I legit thought I had been scammed. I discovered a Reddit thread where other people had similar experiences, and it turns out that they had outsourced their customer service, and the company they hired was completely ignoring their customers. I was finally able to get my issue resolved after emailing the freaking CEO. Soooo yeah. I’m not going to drag them through the mud because it seems like they’re doing their best to make things right, but it was definitely a lesson learned. Research the product, the company, check Reddit, their return policy, all the things.
After that experience, I finally caved and bought the Dyson AirWrap during the Sephora sale using my friend’s 20% Rouge discount, which made it more affordable. I tried hers and fell in love with how easy it was to use, how soft my hair felt, and of course the beautiful teal color. :) I’ll report back once I’ve had more time to experiment. My styling capabilities are currently a bit limited thanks to my injury, but I’m hoping to be back in full force soon.
While doing research on airwrap tools and tutorials on TikTok, I was influenced to buy this thermal round brush by Wavytalk. I’m still perfecting the technique, but so far I love the results! It’s a great way to get a blowout look if you don’t have a lot of time or if you don’t want to drop the money on a Dyson or other comparable tool.
As I was deep in my research rabbit hole of hair styling tips on YouTube, I found a channel called Blowout Professor. He shares practical tips for maintaining healthy hair using as few products as possible. My hair routine is already pretty minimal, since I literally just use shampoo and conditioner most days and touch up with dry shampoo as needed. However, I learned some interesting tips to get your style to last longer, wash hair a little less often, and prevent the issues I have with oily roots and dry ends. His “Trinity Routine” is shampoo + conditioner, a leave-in conditioner spray, and a hair oil for your ends to seal in moisture and prevent damage. Those are the basics, but of course there are other styling products depending on how you style your hair. One tip he shared to keep hair from getting messed up at night is to use a scrunchie or spiral hair tie (like the old school telephone cords) to tie your hair up in a loose bun. I tried this with my hair, and I found it works really well. It even helps to create some loose waves if I didn’t have time to properly style my hair before bed. I’m excited to try his other tips and see how they work for my hair.
Recently I’ve been learning about the difference between tropical and sidereal astrology. In short, the tropical system is typically used in Western astrology, and divides the signs based on the seasonal cycles of the Northern Hemisphere and the equinoxes, which remains steady. Sidereal astrology, primarily used in India, takes into account the earth’s “wobble,” or precession of the equinoxes, so the signs change as the constellations shift position a little bit every year from our perspective on earth. Out of curiosity, I looked up my sidereal birth chart and found that I’m a Scorpio Sun, Libra Moon, and Leo Rising. In the tropical zodiac I’m a Sagittarius Sun, Scorpio Moon, and Virgo Rising. I still feel like my tropical chart resonates more, but I’ll occasionally read the horoscopes for my sidereal sun/rising signs to get a different perspective. :)
Finished Reading: Crescent City House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. Not gonna lie, this one took me a long time to get through. It started out really slow, but once I got to know the characters and got more invested in their stories, I was able to keep going by reading a little bit every night. I feel like the last 20-30% of the book is where it got really good and made me want to continue reading the series. After devouring the ACOTAR series, this was definitely a change of pace, but I’m still intrigued enough to keep going.
Currently Reading: Here I go again with multiple books in progress!
~The Inner Tarot by Kate Van Horn: As someone who learned from Kate, I knew this book would be amazing even before I read it. I’ve always loved her grounded, compassionate view of the cards as a reflection of our stories and a tool to develop and trust our intuition. I can confidently say this is everything I could want in a tarot book. Whether you’re into tarot or not, this book is deeply relatable and helpful. It has personal stories, channeled writing, and journal prompts or somatic practices to embody the lessons in each card. Highly recommend!
~Crescent City House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas: My friend told me that this book is much better than the first, and so far I’ve found that to be true. I’m definitely intrigued!Funny content idea: Bryan reads the tarot! One day Bryan came into my office, went to my tarot cabinet, picked up a deck of cards, and provided his commentary. He knows next to nothing about tarot, so his readings are really amusing. :) I thought it would be a riot to have an Instagram reel series with some of his interpretations. What do you think? Would you want to see this?
Paid subscribers will see a tarot/oracle reading below. If you’d like to check it out, you can upgrade starting at $5/month. If not, I’d appreciate you taking the time to share this newsletter with anyone you think would enjoy it. Until next time!
Edited 5/31/2024: I decided to discontinue paywalled content for now, so the paywall has been removed so this tarot/oracle reading can be viewed by everyone. You can still upgrade to a paid subscription if you choose to financially support my writing.
Tarot/Oracle Reading
This week, I pulled The Great Gathering (Caption: It’s all coming together. Intuitive hits. Soul tribe.) from the Work Your Light Oracle and Page of Wands from the Fountain Tarot.
The message that I get with these cards together is connecting the dots and following your joy, nurturing the relationships that honor who you are now and who you’re becoming. The Page of Wands embodies curiosity and openness to new perspectives. Perhaps a loved one tells you, “Have you ever thought about pursuing this? You’d be really good at it.” Moments like this could be a catalyst to see your gifts in a new way and explore them further. It could also be new connections, or something that sparks your interest and leads you down an unexpected path. There’s a playful energy here, and in my experience, that is often how intuition comes through. When you see or hear something and think, “Oooh, that sounds like fun!” or “I’d love to get to know this person and see where it leads,” that’s Page of Wands energy. You might not be able to see how it all comes together right away, but following the thread and making the next move will reveal more information. You know that saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”? That’s the vibe here. A phrase that comes to mind is “active surrender.” This seems like an oxymoron, but it’s an invitation to take the next step that feels right, but surrender the outcome and see what unfolds. It’s a reminder that even if things don’t work out exactly the way we thought they would, there may be a greater purpose being fulfilled or a lesson to be learned. Have faith that things are working out for your highest good.