October 17th Full Moon Intention and Affirmation: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Celebrating Personal Triumphs

Feeling like an imposter in your own success story? You're not alone. Join me, Emily O'Neal, as I unravel the mysteries of self-growth using the wisdom of tarot.
 
With the guidance of The Wheel, the Seven of Pentacles, and the Six of Wands, we explore the cycles of change, the virtues of patience and perseverance, and the sweet taste of personal triumph. These cards offer not just reflection, but a roadmap to recognizing and celebrating our milestones, no matter the size. Through intention-setting and affirmations, we'll harness the power of these insights to boost your confidence and motivation, all while confronting the sneaky specter of imposter syndrome. 

Together, let's face the challenges of low self-esteem and the societal pressures that often lead us to undervalue our achievements. I'll share personal stories of battling feelings of inadequacy and the journey toward embracing our worth. As we wrap up, we'll turn to a heartfelt unity prayer, fostering community and shared purpose during these troubled times. Our collective spirit of stewardship, love, and empathy can illuminate our paths and provide comfort for those in need. Embrace the guiding light of hope and love, and let's honor the bonds that connect us all. Tune in and embark on this reflective journey with me.

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Transcript

Tarot Reflection

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to the Blooming Wand Podcast. I'm Emily O'Neill, evidential Psychic Medium, intuitive Healer and Coach. Here on this podcast, I guide you on a journey of self-reflection using the wisdom of the tarot. As the moon waxes and wanes, so do our own inner tides. And as a way to honor moon cycles and life cycles, I pull three cards which inspire an intention and affirmation to illuminate your path. Think of them as themes to guide you through coming days. So grab your journals, light a candle and settle into the present moment. Let's delve into the enchanting archetypes of the tarot, uncovering the magic and messages they hold for all of us. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in. For all of us. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in.

Speaker 1 0:45

On October 17th, we've got a full moon, and the theme for this full moon's tarot curated insights is really all about celebrating your personal journey and how far you've come. So I've got a new intention and affirmation for us to work with. As you know and here's your intention Taking time to appreciate and acknowledge your growth and achievements can help you gain a deeper understanding of who you are and how far you've come. Here's your affirmation I'm proud of my personal evolution and progress and this moon cycles tarot curated insights were inspired by three cards from the star seeker tarot, and those cards are the wheel, the seven of pentacles and the six of wands. Be sure to have a look at the cards to see what they awaken in you. You can do so by going to blooming wandcom click explore. Go to the blog. You'll see pictures of the cards as well as a full transcript of this podcast there. If you want to receive new and full moon tarot curated insights and have them sent right to your email inbox, I'd invite you to sign up for my newsletter.

Speaker 1 2:00

Now let's dive in and break down each archetype. The wheel, or the wheel of fortune, but it's called the wheel in the Starseeker Tarot, often symbolizes cyclical change and the inevitability of life's ups and downs, and it could suggest that you've navigated some challenging times and now you're reaping the rewards. Challenging times and now you're reaping the rewards. So when I look at this card, I see a spider weaving a web by starlight. This makes me think of how the great wheel of time is always turning and that our lives are always evolving. Sometimes we're the fly caught in the web, feeling hopeless and afraid. Other times we are the spider who weaves the web, feeling empowered and hardworking, and still other times we are the web itself, feeling connected to all things, fly and spider alike.

Speaker 1 2:58

Now the seven of pentacles represents patience, perseverance and the long-term rewards of hard work. It typically indicates the payoff that come from dedication and commitment, so committing to hard work, committing to your intentions and showing up for them through mindful action. Now, when I look at this card, I see a time of quiet tending. A woman sits on her knees with a bowl of water on her lap. The water she pours onto the earth branches off into seven streams. That water, seven seeds and long-term planning, and that these things will help the seeds to blossom. And it's a reminder, at least to me, that all good things come with time.

Speaker 1 3:54

Now the Six of Wands symbolizes victory, triumph and sometimes public recognition. It suggests a readiness to share accomplishments. Recognition. It suggests a readiness to share accomplishments, a readiness to acknowledge one's progress, and sometimes it's stepping into a leadership role. And when I look at this cards, I see a woman atop a stick or a wand, and it looks as though she's flying across the sky on her broom. It is a very witchy vibe and I love it. She smiles as she flies across the night sky and five wands illuminate her path. She looks ready for her next adventure. She has prepared for this moment and her confidence and skill will not fail her.

Speaker 1 4:43

Now. Reflecting on your growth, it's not just about high fives or pats on the back. It's an important part of understanding your life. You might discover reoccurring patterns, learn from past challenges and recognize the evolution of your intentions and your goals, and this insight helps you understand how future efforts could unfold, which typically leads to more intentional action. So this full moon is an excellent time to reflect on your journey and acknowledge how far you've come. Take some time to celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem, express gratitude for the challenges you've overcome and the lessons that you've learned, and visualize your future self and imagine. Imagine the continued growth and success that could lie ahead.

Speaker 1 5:36

Together, these three tarot archetypes emphasize that, like a spider's web, life is a beautifully woven tapestry full of ups and downs and cycles and winding roads anything. It's full of all the things right. So take a moment to appreciate your journey. Your journey is your own and there's never going to be another you, by setting this intention, that is, to reflect on your journey and acknowledge your accomplishments. You affirm your progress, which can boost your self-confidence and help you to cultivate and maintain the motivation you need to keep moving forward. Overall, these cards convey a powerful message of growth and achievement. Your resilience and perseverance have paid off. Dedication and hard work have laid a path before you, and you're poised to share your wisdom, expertise and inner light with the world in ways that you've never done before. How exciting is Now?

Speaker 1 6:41

I don't know about you, but I don't find it particularly easy to reflect on my journey or my past achievements. I don't really know why that is, but I do feel like sometimes it's hard to acknowledge our achievements and I don't think I'm the only one that experiences this our achievements and I don't think I'm the only one that experiences this. So I thought it might be helpful to outline some steps that can help you celebrate your milestones and your achievements. So I'll get you started, or help get you started, because I needed some help getting started, so maybe you do too. So the first thing I want to ask you is how do you celebrate personal milestones, and is this something that comes easy to you, or do you have a hard time acknowledging or even recognizing your accomplishments? So I tend to have a hard time recognizing the efforts that I've put in and the accomplishments that I've made. I just kind of keep on keeping on and I don't really stop to consider the effort and the hard work that I have put into things.

Speaker 1 7:50

I tend to be a pretty hardworking person and a very organized, methodical, systematic, hardworking, consistent person, and I think those of us that are just naturally that way we just plow ahead and we don't really stop and look back that often, and I do think that reflection can be helpful. Here's something else to kind of think about to help you acknowledge, or get into the flow of honoring your journey what parts of yourself were involved in your achievements. Some examples include parts that are hard-working, ambitious, nurturing, organized, inspired, motivated, etc. So we're all a kaleidoscope of various aspects of who we are. So we've got different parts of ourselves that make up who we are and some parts are doing other things, like maybe self-sabotaging or making us feel imposter syndrome or inner critics or different things like that. But what I'm asking here is not ignore those parts, but reflect on the parts of you, who you are, that help you get things done, that have helped you along your way, that have helped you to meet those goals, hold those intentions and go with your natural rhythm and flow in a consistent way that gets you where you want to be. So, like I said, some of those parts can include hardworking, ambitious, nurturing, organized, inspired, motivated I think I threw in there someone. That's a planning and consistency. Those are great parts that can help us succeed. I would offer this to you Spend some time in communication with these parts, and you can do this by journaling, meditating or even having a dialogue with them and ask these parts that have helped you achieve your goals how do they feel about your accomplishments?

Speaker 1 9:55

So have a conversation with your hard-working self and when you do, you can ask them these questions Do they feel proud? Do they have concerns? Are they tired or overwhelmed? What do they wish to express to you about your achievements? Do they need anything from you and would they change anything moving forward? So when I connect into my hard working self, or the part of me that's hard working, that plans out my day, that shows up for the things that I know I want to get done and the things that maybe I don't even want to do, and when I check in with that part of who I am. I definitely feel like it's proud of my efforts. I feel like sometimes this part of me is tired and somewhat overwhelmed because I do work so hard so often and that moving forward they might still appreciate the hard work, but maybe I don't have to do as much as I think I do at the pace that I am. So that hard-working part of who I am definitely likes to work hard, but it might be wanting to let me know that the pace and the workload could be modified. Hopefully this makes sense to you and resonates with you and will help you kind of connect with the parts of yourself that have gotten you where you are today. And there's probably so many different parts. So just maybe work with the top three. Honestly, you can work with as many as you want to, but just to get you started, so you don't feel overwhelmed, maybe just pick a few Now.

Speaker 1 11:30

The other thing I think is helpful is what does your highest self so, your big capital S self, the part of you that is pure and sort of in that middle path part of who you are. It's sort of the part of you that will never die, the part of you that makes you you. It's your inner wisdom, it's your highest self. What does this part of you say about your accomplishments? And so when I check in with sort of my highest self and take that kind of broad bird's eye view of my journey from a place of neutral and non-judgment that's how I sense my highest self anyway I feel like it always is reminding me that I do show up regularly and consistently, that I do work very hard and that maybe I don't have to be so hard on myself or push myself as hard as I do. So it always offers me this gentle reminder that frankly, I am good enough, even if I don't accomplish all the things that I feel that I need to. It's often a part of who I am that is much gentler on myself. So it'd be interesting to know how you connect with your highest self, how you feel and sense into that part of who you are. And once you do, what would it say about how far you've come and your personal journey and your accomplishments?

Speaker 1 13:01

And I also want to bring up this idea that are you able to engage in this process from a place of neutral and non-judgment? Can you even engage in reflection on your life and your journey from a place of neutral or non-judgment? If not, what parts of you are having a hard time celebrating your journey and do you have an inner critic stepping forward? So, like I mentioned earlier, when I curated this intention and affirmation that was inspired by the tarot archetypes of the wheel the seven of pentacles and the six of wands and I kind of landed in this place of celebrating one's journey. I thought, oh no, I'm not very good at doing that. This is going to be challenging, which is why I kind of gave some of these prompts to you, because I figured if I have a hard time, maybe you will. But these are the prompts that helped me.

Speaker 1 13:56

This is kind of what I came up with to get me started, and I'm still, frankly, working on this. This is probably one of those tarot curated insights that I'll work with for a little while until I feel like I've come to completion with it. But one of the things that is also helping me is I kind of started to look at my life in decades, so kind of beginning with the earlier years of my life, maybe one to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 30. And that kind of helped me break down what I was doing in those periods of time, and that's why I know I have a very hardworking part, parts of myself, and that I've always been there. I've usually both worked and gone to school. Sometimes, when I was in school, I had two jobs instead of just one job. I just tend to take on a lot. I believe that for me, that is a way that I cultivate a sense of safety and security for myself, but it also means that the hard-working parts of myself feel a little bit tired sometimes.

Speaker 1 15:03

Now let's dive into why it's sometimes hard to acknowledge our achievements, and we're going to be touching on some concepts that are probably not new to you and that we've talked about before, and that includes perfectionism. So perfectionism is characterized by an excessive concern for accuracy and detail that can hinder our ability to acknowledge achievements. So we look back and think it wasn't perfect, it wasn't, it's not good enough, and the fear of making mistakes or imperfection. So things not being perfect often leads to unrealistic standards, stress and procrastination. And while striving for excellence can certainly be beneficial, perfectionism can be detrimental when it prevents us from recognizing our accomplishments. Detrimental when it prevents us from recognizing our accomplishments. So I mean, I probably do have an inner perfectionist, but for me I'm not 100% sure that it's perfectionism that makes it hard for me to look back at my achievements. I think it's just I'm always going like a little workhorse, that I just don't take the time to do it and I take everything in such a day at a time way that I get kind of caught up in the everyday stuff that I forget. You know to take on board that sometimes getting through just one day is really hard, and other times it's full of joy and wonder, but the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities can consume our awareness and kind of prevent us from taking on board how far we've come. But I would wonder if you resonate with perfectionism. I know people and I have clients that really struggle with it.

Speaker 1 16:48

Imposter syndrome is another reason, another quality or another characteristic that can make it hard for us to acknowledge achievements. And so imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their abilities despite evidence to the contrary, and it can also hinder self-recognition. And those with imposter syndrome often feel undeserving of their successes, attributing them to luck or external factors. And this self-doubt can overshadow one's achievements and make it difficult to acknowledge their worth. And I can tell you that I've definitely suffered from imposter syndrome and felt like, oh you know, I didn't do that great, other people have done better. So many people have helped me out that I don't want to take full credit, and so that's kind of a way that imposter syndrome can come forward. And there are probably others, but the one that really stuck out to me when I thought about what does keep us from wanting to reflect on our life and our progress and our accomplishments and our achievements, and low self-esteem came to my mind. And so low self-esteem is a negative evaluation of one's own abilities and it can further impede the recognition of achievements. And individuals with low self-esteem may feel insecure, inadequate or unworthy, leading to difficulty with relationships making decisions, or unworthy, leading to difficulty with relationships making decisions or reaching goals or just even acknowledging one's old goals.

Speaker 1 18:19

It's like I know for me that I think I might suffer from this at times, because I'll be like it's not that big of a deal and people are like you worked really hard to accomplish that it is a big deal, and I'll be like, no, it's not that big of a deal. Other people have worked harder or other people have done better than me and I can't compare and I'll get into that mindset and it really isn't very helpful and it doesn't, I don't know. It's just, sometimes when people want to acknowledge some of my accomplishments, I'm like, ew, don't do that. Want to acknowledge some of my accomplishments? I'm like, oh, don't do that. It's like maybe I have a lack of self-worth or low self-esteem and I don't puff up and be like, yeah, I did that, I'm so proud of myself. That's not my go-to, but I want to work on that. I want to move more in that direction that when I get acknowledged whether it's through myself giving that to myself or someone else saying hey em, wow, look at what you've done I can say thank you, I appreciate that. Or yes, I did work very hard to get to accomplish said goal or meet my intentions. I wonder if you relate to that as well.

Speaker 1 19:30

Now, external expectations can also hinder self-recognition. So when we constantly compare ourselves to others or striving to meet external standards so standards we don't create for ourselves, but that are created by the influence of media or something that someone has kind of got in our brain that we need to be and so we've adapted to that so external influences can get in our heads that we need to be a certain way and it's not really coming from us, like we don't maybe believe that about ourselves or we've taken on that belief for whatever reason. And the reality is, when we constantly compare ourselves to others or we're trying to meet these external standards, it can be challenging to appreciate personal achievements and this can lead to a constant feeling of falling. I think it does feed that I'm not good enough monster, because we've decided that we are going to be influenced by something other than ourself and then we start working towards those things and that can just get us off track and not be very fulfilling working towards those things and that can just get us off track and not be very fulfilling.

Speaker 1 20:59

I'm trying to think if I can come up with an example and they always when I think of examples around external influences for me as a woman. I've taken a lot of those on how I need to behave and how I need to look and how I need to like, act so, and those are external standards that I've adopted because I've seen them. I've seen people get attention for them and so I think, well, that's how you're going to get recognized. Then you better go do those things, and it has to do with kind of being a good girl, being well-spoken, making myself feel like I look attractive according to a certain standard, being at a certain body weight. Like all of those ideas, a lot of them for a long time came from outside sources for me, and so if somebody would tell me, even if they were like, oh, you look really good today, I'd be like, no, I don't. And I used to think it's because I didn't think I look good or I didn't find myself appealing. But the reality was is that it's because I in my brain, thought I had to look like another person, not myself, in order to be quote acceptable or beautiful. And so even if I got a compliment, I'd be like, well, you're not complimenting me or complimenting my ability to turn into something else based off an external standard.

Speaker 1 22:15

And when a lot of our life's accomplishments are born from that source, so external influence it can make our accomplishments feel different, maybe less fulfilling. I pursued a career track for a long time because people were like, wow, you'll make a lot of money, you're doing a good job at it. And um, I got basically told that what I was doing was good because of of probably, the money that I was making, but it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing. So there was a time when those accomplishments that were in my career and a career path that was accidental and in some ways not intentional or by my choice, I would think, well, I'm, you know, yeah, I did those things, but it wasn't what I really wanted to be doing with myself and so I'd kind of brush those accomplishments aside.

Speaker 1 23:08

But the reality is is we have to be careful with our tendencies to want to minimize accomplishments, regardless of what the reason is, and maybe the reason doesn't really matter, maybe we just need to notice that we're wanting to brush them aside, whether it's imposter syndrome, low self-esteem, perfectionism or external expectations that are getting placed upon us. It can be helpful to understand that those can be influences or reasons why it's hard for us to acknowledge our accomplishments. But at the end of the day, just notice, if it's hard for you to acknowledge your accomplishments I got a little bit tied up in my words there. Now, trauma and past experiences can also be an influence. So you know, negative past experiences, abuse, neglect, all these things can make it hard for us to feel like we deserve positive outcomes.

Speaker 1 24:09

So those kind of connect to the low self-esteem category and I just want to say that it's important to remember that recognizing your achievements is a valuable skill that can boost your self-esteem and motivation. It can also help you understand more about why did I do said things, why were those goals important to me, why was I pursuing X, y or Z at different points in my life and through that insight, maybe curate more mindful action today and moving forward. So let's loop back one more time to our intention and affirmation. So here's our intention Taking time to appreciate and acknowledge your growth and achievements can help you gain a deeper understanding of who you are and how far you've come. Here's your affirmation. I'm proud of my personal evolution and progress and I hope that you share with me your process of sort of evaluating your journey and intentionally acknowledging your accomplishments, and share with me how that has gone for you. Do you have a hard time with it? Like I do. You know I love to hear from you and shifting gears a little bit.

Speaker 1 25:27

So we're in October, it's 2024, and I don't know about you, but there's just been a lot going on in the world lately. There's war, there's genocide, there's climate change, there are hurricanes, and just all over the world, not just in the United States and I feel that pain and suffering and I have taken steps to do what I can to help others. And one of the things that I've done to help myself and also the hope is that this will also help others is I write prayers. I've started to write prayers, and having my altar space or saying certain prayers does make me feel connected to other people. It also helps me to connect to my soul and speak for my hopes for the world and I think that, calling in our hopes and dreams for a more peaceful and equitable world and a world where there's less suffering, I think prayer can really help us cultivate and curate that. So I wrote a prayer for troubled times, because I do feel like these times feel a little bit troubled, and so I offer this prayer to you in hopes that it brings some comfort.

Speaker 1 26:44

So here we go, a prayer for troubled times. In this fraught hour, we call upon the sacred power of unity. May the earth's embrace remind us of our intermingled destiny, binding us with the strength that transcends turmoil. With hearts full of love, patience and empathy, we recognize the delicate threads of our interconnectedness. As stewards of this land, may we honor its gift of life, nurturing it as it nurtures us. So we may, in turn, tend to each other with gentle hands and open hearts.

Speaker 1 27:28

When darkness descends and chaos reigns, let the radiant light of community guide our way. With reverence, we cherish the bonds that hold us close, honoring the earth and each other standing as one In solidarity. May we find common ground, embracing a purpose shared by all, a purpose rooted in love for the earth and each other. In this prayer, we hold those in harm's way. In this prayer, we hold those who suffer. In this prayer, we offer comfort and solace to those who seek it. May hope and love be our compass through these troubled times. May they illuminate our path with the enduring light of unity and grace. And so it is. And I leave you with that prayer, and don't forget to get those journals out. Take good care of yourselves, and I'll see you on the new moon.