Deadline

Oh my, that word sounds so ominous! Dead… line, it almost sounds like “you will hang at dawn”. It is so final, just like there is nothing beyond. A deadline is a noun and according to Dictionary.com, there are three meanings to this formidable noun: “⁽¹⁾ the time by which something must be finished or submitted; the latest time for finishing something: a five o'clock deadline; ⁽²⁾ a line or limit that must not be passed; ⁽³⁾ (formerly) a boundary around a military prison beyond which a prisoner could not venture without risk of being shot by the guards.”

No wonder the term strikes fear in students, masses of office workers watching the clock, and writers. Missing that deadline could mean a failing grade, an angry boss, or a lost contract. Sometimes life interferes with the assigned deadlines, (a party, an emergency, an illness) but most times that won’t make a lick of difference to the person waiting for that finished product. “The dog ate my homework” just won’t work anymore. It’s truly anxiety producing.

As a creative sort, otherwise known as a freelance writer, I’ve learned the importance of deadlines. In all my years of professional writing I have truly only missed one deadline, I honestly can’t remember the reason why, but it certainly didn’t go well. Now creative people are not usually known for routine or well-controlled organization, but when it comes to a deadline, oh boy! In addition to my paid writing gigs I sometimes offer my services in a volunteer situation, and I treat these voluntary pacts the same way I do my business dealings, as professionally as I can muster.

This past week was a challenge on a voluntary gig. I had to wait for input from another individual who does not live by the golden rule of YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE DEADLINE. I am not sure what her business is but I do know that she controls her hours and her work output. So I finally got her input and set about to editing it and then placing it in the item that was due for publication just four days later. And I sent it (via email) to the next step, the person in charge of distribution — only that person, unbeknown to me, had a family event and was away for the weekend and so my finished work sat unattended. As the date of distribution came without any progress I do admit feeling some (minor) palpitations.

Now this was a challenge. I had no way of getting this item out to the people who were promised its receipt. What to do???? Well to make a probably boring long story short, I did manage to get the item posted on a substitute site and the item was emailed from another source a day late. I had posted an apology to those waiting for it and promised delivery as soon as possible. In the end it was no harm no foul, folks appreciated being kept in the loop as such. Within three days of the original deadline everything was back to normal and I got to breathe a sigh of relief.

Of course now I am sitting here wondering, just where did my once fun-loving, free-wheeling self go? And when did I become so rigid? I don’t want to have an anal personality! I am NOT reserved and meticulously neat. A long, long time ago a teenage boyfriend once dedicated the song Wild Thing to me and everyone agreed it fit. I’m fun-loving and wild and unpredictable… or so I thought.

Sigh, is this what it means to be a grownup?

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The Major Arcana in Life ~ #MondayBlogs

For anyone who has ever had a reading done with Tarot cards you know that each card carries a meaning, often changed if the card is laid upright or upside down; depending on the pattern that the cards fall in shows us how many answers are dependent on the things and people around us.

Aside from the suits Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands, the cards are also categorized into Minor and Major Arcana. Minor Arcana belong to the individual suits whereas the major arcana (I.e.: The Lovers; Judgement; The Hanged Man; The World; The Fool; and more [22 in total]) do not belong in the suits. While several of the minor arcana (8 of swords; 2 of cups; 5 of wands; and more [56 in total]) share similar meanings with the major set, the message is not as strong.

When reading the cards, the minor arcana indicate average day-to-day activities and influences. The major arcane on the other hand are more persistant, seems to carry more weight, and indicates that there are outside forces that factor into our lives and have significant bearing on the answer. The standard is when 4 or more major arcane show up in a reading then the result of the question often means that the outcome is not in the seeker’s control.

(*my mom used to read with a normal deck of playing cards and she was fairly accurate, however she always said the cards are not the final answer, only the most likely if everything continues on the same path. Most times you do have the power to alter the forecasted outcome)

But dang it gets frustrating when you life seems to all major arcane and we feel no control over our situation. There are times when we do everything “right” only to have those outside influences grab on. The person driving down the road, obeying all of the traffic signs and mileage, is struck by another car that is speeding and weaving – the outside influence was the OTHER driver – this situation may have been out of our control. Or how about when Mother Nature decides to flood our streets and we have water gushing into our homes, one would not be surprised to see several major arcane in the lay of the cards.

Truth is that even in the examples above we still retain some control (in the 1st we drove a car, in the 2^nd we decided to live in a low-lying flood prone area near a major waterway). It is always very wearisome when no matter how well we planned our actions, something unexpected happens to ruin the day. It doesn’t change the fact that this is the life we’ve been given and we have to decide to move on, to attempt to take back control of our lives. Things happen, sometimes they go wrong… and sometimes something better has been placed before us; we have to learn to recognize those moments and grab them while the opportunity exists.

Sometimes life is like that. We all know we’ve got to work “with the cards we’ve been dealt”, however it’s hard when we feel all that is being sent our way are major arcana. Never allow yourself to feel defeated and never give up. Garth Brooks sang a song called Unanswered Prayers and it serves as a good reminder that things don’t always go as planned and that could be a very good thing.

Just the other night at a hometown football game

My wife and I ran into my old high school flame

And as I introduced them the past came back to me

And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times

And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine

And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then

I'd never ask for anything again

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers