It’s Outside Time! Flash Design

A peak into my creative process!
I created this creature out of an Oracle card I pulled for myself.

I was feeling pretty low, as I was feeling a financial burden. That’s always been one of my biggest stress triggers. I hadn’t been able to work, and was already behind on rent. My daughter’s preschool called to tell me not only did my card just decline, but they forgot to inform me it declined the month prior. So I had to pay a large lump sum unexpectedly. I had already pulled from savings that week and just felt awful. I identified my emotions as stress, fear, and guilt. I drew a card to see where my focus need be at this time, from The Subtle Body Oracle Deck by Cyndi Dale.

I’ve been wanting to use this deck for a while now, but of course was waiting for a “perfect” time to come around to sit with the deck and really bond with it. Without hesitation, I grabbed the deck off the shelf and shuffled. I pulled a card that read: Fourth Chakra; Relationships and Healing. As I began to channel, I touched pen to paper to see what was going to emerge from spirit.

What I got wasn’t anything truly profound, and it was something I had already known, of course. But the reminder was everything for me in that moment. Being present with my loved ones is worth more than the number in my savings account. Having addressed the fact that much has been out of my control lately, I knew before I even shuffled the cards that I need to release these feelings of guilt. Money comes and goes, and the time you have with family and friends does not.

That perspective shift was really what I needed in that moment, and I wanted to create a creature who will remind me of that. With the hourglass and its hands both filled with sand, it shows that both are full yet also running out. It’s a cycle. Just as from death, life is reborn. As someone who works commission, time is money. When I’m not clocking the time of needle in skin, I’m not making money to support my family. And just because in that moment I may have been struggling to tattoo, doesn’t mean the money that is lost will not be regained.

Keep reminding yourself of your values. I’m grateful to have been able to even pay the bills at all. I need to let that handle itself. I can’t force the bills paid by killing myself physically when I’m suffering.

How do you measure your worth? Your success? Your time well spent? Thanks for the reminder, little guy.