Flag Oracle #21: The wisdom in distance
and a new phase for the flags
Hello friends,
I haven’t traveled much in the last five years, but I’ve found a way to “travel” locally by taking myself to places I don’t normally go. I’m always surprised at how refreshed I feel when I get away from the routine set of locations I visit every week. A play, a festival, a new store—all these things help me get mental distance from whatever issues I’m grappling with and inspire my projects. Today’s cards remind us of the benefits of physical and mental distance.
At this site toward the end of the last of the 12 flag hikes, I stepped back from the flag to sit on a rock and snack while watching the flag flutter in the wind to the sound of waves crashing on Stinson Beach below. It felt good to get some distance from the Best Laid Plans flag and reflect on the yearlong project that was about to conclude.
Distance allows us to see from a different perspective and consider how things fit together. It generates ideas that can provoke adjustments to our Best Laid Plans. It also allows us to attend to other matters.
Sometimes distance is forced rather than chosen. It doesn’t mean the thing or person we’re distant from isn’t still affecting us, it’s just a different perspective than a close-up (last week’s Portrait Mode). Being on the beach is far different than being up on the ridge, and the presence of the ridge affects the experience of being on the beach. Welcome the relationship that distance provides, and trust that what needs to come together will do so at the right time.
This card invites you to step back, appreciate another perspective, and enjoy what you get to do because of the distance.
The Simplify flag hangs from a pair of perpendicular fallen trees. As I surveyed the scene, I tried to determine how the trees fell. Did one take the other down with it? Or did they crash to the ground during windstorms at separate times? It was impossible to know.
Dramatic events are necessary for the shaping of the forest. Perhaps, too, the uncontrollable blows to our lives (deaths, accidents, losses) are just as necessary for the shaping of our souls. The Simplify flag reminds us that life is much simpler when we accept how things have evolved instead of twisting our minds into stories of blame.
In the Night position following the Get Some Distance card, Who’s To Blame asks us to trust that with distance (or time) we will be able to release blame, see our part in what happened, and carry the lessons forward. It might also mean that you could witness another’s story of blame and offer them clarity of perspective that reminds you how far you’ve come.
When the only person to blame is yourself
Recently I was feeling out of sorts with my creative projects, and I haven’t taken out the sewing machine since last summer. I experienced a renewed energy when I decided to take the next step for the Flag Oracle—it wants to be held in your hands, not just mine! Last Friday I spoke with a printer to get paper recommendations and design specs. On Saturday, I mocked up the guidebook cover.
Another portion of the project will entail sewing, which got me excitedly playing with fabric and imagining new colorful banners flying in the wind. Maybe I needed the distance from working with fabric to remember how happy it makes me.
This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer—which feels like flag season to me. Celebrate!
Love, Lee Ann
Congratulations on the captivating cover and the guide!