The Hit List: Sincerely, Ben

If you’ve been following my blog, you may have been keeping up with my little Ben Franklin side project. For those not in the know, the last few months, I’ve been working through his “Thirteen Virtues”, one month at a time.

Ben would practice one a week but I don’t aspire to be as virtuous as him. I’m a bit rebellious that way. Plus, this gives me more time to work the virtue of the month extra hard.

I just finished Month Seven: Sincerity.

Here’s the gist:

Ben says this about Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

This one was a no-brainer for me because honesty is important to me. I may not always be tactful, but I’m sure sincere in my efforts to speak truthfully. I try to think carefully before I speak and have been a practitioner of “non-violent communication”, a practice of compassionate communication, that I learned through Marshall Rosenberg’s works.

That being said, even a sincere effort doesn’t always go over well. I had an incident a few days ago that left a bit of an uncomfortable vibe in the air between me and another person. I was as sincere as it gets but the person involved seemed miffed at my candor. Which made me feel bad.

Because I never want to hurt anyone, no matter even if I feel that they wronged me. It’s not my style.

I had to sit with that feeling and understand that with truth and sincerity, there will sometimes be discomfort. But that discomfort is better than the icky feeling of having to be a phony. Yeah, that. I guess sincerity isn’t as easy as I thought.

What I learned:

Even a sincere effort may feel funky. Be sincere anyways. You’ll feel better in the long run – and people will too because they know where they stand with you.

How I intend to carry this virtue forward into the rest of my life:

Keep on spitting truth, as kindly as can be.

Sincerity & Tarot – your affirmation for the month:

Truth sets everyone free.

What about you?

Is it time to bring more Sincerity into your life?

What would that look like? Where will you begin?

If you’d like to join me as I continue working through Ben Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues, please do! This month (April) I am exploring Justice. Nope, I’m not joining the police force or the Justice League (although I could rock those tights ‘n capes). I’m going to be trying to play fair and do my duty. Should be easy, right? We’ll see.

I hope you’re digging this little side project.

Here’s a quote from B-Franklin to round this out:

“Truth and sincerity have a certain distinguishing native lustre about them which cannot be perfectly counterfeited; they are like fire and flame, that cannot be painted.”

Indeed.

Other stuff:

I got a gorgeous shout out from Sas Petherick in her post Cultivating Intuition (And The Esoteric Guides In My Little Black Book).

Kanye West says that loads of musicians are Geminis. He may be on to something.

This cracked me up: comedian Celeste Barber recreates those celebrity Instagrams – so funny!

From the Met: Before Fortune-Telling: the History and Structure of Tarot Cards.

Great biz advice from Alexandra Franzen: Do something cool.

Yep – I’m also analyzing that Game of Thrones trailer. Looking for clues.

A My Little Pony spread? Yes, please. Enjoy this delightful spread from Tabitha Dial!

Great interview with tarot reader Carrie Mallon over at Two Sides Tarot. (Love this collaboration!)

Bust magazine did a great job of spelling out Everything You Needed to Know About Kesha’s Case.

Funny but true from Jack Of Wands: The 15 Most Commonly Asked Questions in Tarot.

Got writer’s block? Tarot Darling has a soulful spread to help you break out of that!

Photographs from Rio de Janeiro’s Pedra de Gavea: breathtaking and scary AF. Gotta have daredevil blood for that!

Famous witch Doreen Valiente as a friend of the Queen Mother and a “codebreaker.”

A brilliant post from The Dreaming Bat of how to use tarot as a charm. Try this out!

Rare hand-painted photos of Samurai. Those outfits are so cool! Look at the intricate details. Stunning.

Beautiful, whimsical, profound. That’s how I would describe everything that comes out of Paige Zaferiou’s mouth. Check this out: Surrender, My Spicy Shrimps.

Siobahn Rene is writing some stellar posts over at Little Red Tarot. Her latest: Light & Shadow – the hanged one.

Why didn’t my tarot reading come true? Hilary Parry has some thoughts about this.

Screw you, avocado pudding. Take chia pudding with you!

New at Drawing Within: Three Minor Arcanas that speak of intuition. Betcha didn’t think of these cards that way!

Jeanna Kadlec of Girlboss Woo shared some wisdom about branding your biz with me.

I also talked with author Chris Guillebeau about finding your calling. (His new book, Born for This, is a must read for entrepreneurs!)

Hot stuff: Amelia Quint and Gala Darling talk about radical self love by Sun sign in Feeling Myself.

I’m not a fan of bananas but I am a fan of these banana dolphins!

My homegirl Sasha Graham is now doing weekly Tarot readings for Marie Claire!

One of my favorite classes ever at a tarot conference was the one where Dr. Elinor Greenberg taught us to make oracle cards. I wrote a post on How to Create Your Own Oracle Cards for The Girl Who Knows.

I met one of my heroes this week: psychic Laura Day. She’s so down to earth! Loved her vibe! Check out her book The Circle. It’s one of my all time faves.

I am a sucker for planners. Doing everything in my power not to buy this one. Gorgeous!

Thinking about getting this for my Six Second Tarot videos: Twone Folding Portable Lightbox Studio.

What I’m Grateful For:

Coupons

Soufflées

Stacks of books

Mail that arrives on time

Red pens

Steakhouses

The joy and promise of a new day

Soundtrack for 4/16/16: The Community of Hope by PJ Harvey