No matter how much you prepare, no matter how much you know, we are all subject to the whims of fate; the Wheel of Fortune turns, sometimes in our favor, sometimes not.
The Fool has learned and advanced. We are halfway around the Major Arcana now. He has learned many lessons: life is better lived in moderation, with a sense of balance between the spiritual and the material. He has learned that hard work and determination can get him far.
What he must learn now is that life is unpredictable; sometimes things just happen. We don't deserve them. We didn't make them happen by not being a good person. Sometimes the Wheel of Fortune does not turn in our favor. What we must do is adapt and evolve.
We cannot stay the exact same person if we want to survive in this new environment.
As an artist, I always think of myself as someone who is constantly in contact with their emotions. I approach my art as a sort of spiritual journey.
I want to understand my place the world. I want to understand the meaning of it all, but at the same time I do not want to be spoon fed truth. I need to learn. Learning is my journey. The journey, not the destination, is the entire point of a spiritual quest.
Yet, I've been taking a class in online marketing because the world of art markets and festivals can be unpredictable: sometimes the weather does not cooperate, sometimes the people who like my work just aren't there. I'm hoping to learn about online marketing and how to find my market.
One of the exercises in the class was to reflect on why we are artists. Why did we choose this path?
I was stuck, so stuck. I couldn't formulate why I was an artist.
Our class material suggested we approach our artist's story in the same way as the hero's journey unfolds: a call to action, finding our mentor, overcoming obstacles, coming back with new knowledge. In other words, our class required that we follow the Fool's Journey.
I spent the better part of two weeks trying to formulate my artist's story, completely blank and blocked. Fortunately, my boyfriend walked me through the process and I've been able to go back and articulate things that I knew but couldn't seem to say on a deeper and more thorough way.
I have to evolve. I have to learn how to survive in a changing market and a changing world.
Like the Fool, sometimes the Wheel will turn in my favor, and sometimes it will not.
