#soultarotchallenge Day 23: How can I strengthen my boundaries? What appears as an answer is the ACE OF S-WORDS. The first thing that comes to mind is that i can strengthened my boundaries by the threat of violence. I can grasp the Sword provided by this magical cloud hand of the spirit of the Tarot and threaten people with it if I feel like they are overstepping my boundaries. Nothing says “this is my personal space,” like waving a knife around wildly. With this Excalibur of personal defense I can just brandish my weapon anytime I feel uncomfortable and people will know to back the fuck up off me because I mean business and I won’t hesitate to cut a fool sloppy if I feel like my boundaries are being infringed upon. I love this! This totally eliminates uncomfortable conversations, difficult discussions or me needing to figure out what my boundaries actually look like. If I feel uncomfortable at all I can just pull my broad S-word and chop heads, cut ties, and walk away. God bless America. Then I hear this voice that’s like: “Use your words.” “What? Who said that? I’ll stab the shit out of you!” I draw my S-Word and begin to slash wildly at the air. “It is I, the #spiritofthetarot but you can call me THE STUFF. Will you please put that away before someone loses an eye. First off, People don’t necessarily know where your boundaries are unless you state them, clearly, and the usually reiterate them at least once, calmly and concisely.” I slowly put my knife away and stare dumbfounded at the the sky. “To strengthen your boundaries you are probably going to want to figure out what they are. You might even want to write them down and keep track of what they look like as you evolve and grow.” “Yeah I can carve them into the flesh of those that betray me!” I say drawing my knife once again. “Ok that’s not at all what I had in mind. Put that knife away, don’t make me hurt you. To have good boundaries means having a clear idea of what they are, not about irrationally threatening violence whenever you feel uncomfortable.” “Dang,” I exclaim out into space, “that is a revolutionary concept.” “Do you remember the wise words of the oracle of Oakland?” The voice asked. “No” “well she said this thing” the voice of THE STUFF continued. “She said that her boundaries used to look like the French defenses at Verdun with trenches, barbed wire, sharpened stakes and machine gun nests to pick off anyone crazy or dumb enough to make it through. Then there was a shift, she says now her boundaries look like a museum. ‘It’s so beautiful in here,’ she says, ‘you just know not to touch anything.’ When your boundaries look like that you you don’t need weapons or threats, you just need one guard in the corner reminding you to step back if you get too close to the #basquiat . Maybe that’s a better way to construct your boundaries than waving a knife around wildly in public.”