Flag Oracle #13: Uncommon symmetry and wholeness in the spotlight
in which a Vermont education meets the San Francisco skyline
Hello friends,
When I get tripped up about something in my life, I’ve learned from experience to turn my attention to other matters. Hyper-focusing on a problem only seems to make it worse; if I instead attend to another area of my life, a solution usually arises—or the magnitude of the problem diminishes and it magically solves itself.
Since most of us are lucky enough not to be passengers on a plane about to crash, we get to decide what’s in the spotlight of our attention. Today’s flags offer insight that points us to the ever-present wholeness in our lives.
The Best Laid Plans flag meets the propeller engine of a downed plane in a nearly dry stream bed. The design of both symmetrical objects radiates from a central point. One a circle, one a square. One old, one new. One immobile, one easily transportable. One, an unfortunate interruption of plans, the other, as the 12th and last flag of the series, the successful culmination of a year-long plan.
Symmetry occurs in places other than geometric shapes. Seemingly different things form a balanced whole when put together. Drawing this card is an invitation to consider disparate things that make up your life and see how they contribute to a balanced whole. You are one whole human, and all parts of you balance out the others.
The Flag Oracle is an example of uncommon symmetry; the product of a woman who combined her interests in writing and textile art; hiking and photography; spirituality and nature, to successfully complete her best laid plans. Each interest informed the other. Perhaps things that you think are unrelated are symmetrical after all.
On a bright afternoon, the Life Had Other Plans flag catches a ray of sunshine from behind, making the surrounding forest appear dark. Under the spotlight, there’s nothing to hide. Life becomes a performance of our own making.
“All the world’s a stage” are the opening words of a monologue from the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It. The character lists the seven stages of a man’s life. We each have different parts to play at different stages of life—and this journey is essential to our human lives.
As the day progresses in the forest, each ray of sun illuminates different parts of an ecosystem in its natural state of being. In the Night position following the Uncommon Symmetry card, All the World’s a Stage invites you to see how your authentic being—who you are and where you are in life now—exists in different areas of your life that may seem unrelated.
What happens if you shift the spotlight of your attention to matters that have been kept in the dark? The Life Had Other Plans flag reminds you that positive results can come even when things haven’t quite turned how you envisioned.
In an age filled with performative acts on social media, people who live authentically are true blessings. We tap into our innate wholeness when we accept all parts of ourselves and our lives. From there, we can make choices about what to bring into the spotlight for others, and what we keep in the spotlight of our inner lives.
The uncommon symmetry between a Vermont college and a $300B San Francisco company
Last week I experienced a bit of uncommon symmetry: watching the sunset from the top floor of the Salesforce Tower while attending a fundraising event for my alma mater Middlebury College. The Salesforce Tower is the most visible building in the San Francisco skyline, and I often see it during sunset walks near my home. Instead of looking at it, I was in it!
Another aspect of uncommon symmetry: it turns out that Parker Harris, the CTO and co-founder of Salesforce, is a fellow Middlebury grad. Like the skyline-dominating tower, Salesforce (which also owns Slack) makes pervasive software products used throughout the business world. My employer’s operations run on both Salesforce and Slack.
While Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff gets all the press, it was heartening to know that Parker Harris, an English major from Middlebury, helped shape a company that shaped the San Francisco skyline.
I hope you find some uncommon symmetry in your week!
Love,
Lee Ann
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