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Showing posts from April, 2025

Saving Bill Belichick - If He Can Surrender to What Aging Does to Us

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  If Bill Belichick came to me for a tarot reading I have a hunch one card that would be pulled is the Eight of Cups. That's the Walking Away card.  In the distance, if the walker-away looks up from the pain of letting go what had been, is a mountain representing new opportunity.  In the relationship with the significantly younger Jordan Hudson  Belichick is looking mighty foolish . The tipping point had been the CBS interview. Obviously Hudson is what the coach great has to walk away from. That entails accepting what aging does to us and then going on from there.  The latest illusions about aging include: You don't look your age. So what. The age bias still erodes much. Your energy isn't what it had been. In an interview even Energizer Bunny head of law firm Paul Weiss Brad Karp, in his 60s, conceded to sometimes being exhausted.  Warren Buffett is still at it in his 90s and Martha Stewart in her 80s. So what. They have lots of resources to help them stay ...

So American: Betting the Ranch on Relationships

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  As is well-known, many tarot readings focus on relationships. Sure, there are the romantic kind. But there also are the close friendships and even the interactions with co-workers and neighbors. Research at the end of the 1990s in Italy has proved out that we humans are social. That is based on mirror neurons . Those elicit empathy or our ability to loop into the feelings of other humans. Yes, we affect each other cell by cell. That explains the phenomenon of the nurses on the same ward all getting pregnant around the same time, living with an obese person can "make us" fat and moods are contagious. It's posited that damage to the mirror neurons can be the cause of conditions such as autism which impair social functioning. However, though we are social beings we don't have to bet the ranch on relationships. They're an important part of life. But only a part.  What so many observers of early American society, such as novelist Henry James, noted is that this new l...

Virgina Giuffre, Activist to the End?

In her brief life - dying at age 41 - Virginia Giuffre opened the door for other alleged victims of sexual abuse to stand up for themselves.  In her death, a suicide, she might also have been unique in her activism. That is, if we speculate about some kinds of inner torment that might be too hard for some to bear. What we know is that even before Giuffre had been an alleged Epstein sexual victim she had been one at the hands of a family friend. She wound up on the street.  The 2015 film "Forever" features that meme of unbearable trauma and loss. One father loses his small daughter to a wave at the beach. Another man endured sexual abuse by his father and then there was the trauma of his brother murdering both the father and the mother who allowed it.  They find refuge in a commune operated by a former psychiatrist and his wife. There they would search for temporary harmony and purpose. Then would be a collective suicide.  There is no glorification about that as a ...

Cavalry Riding in Protect Law, Ethics Could be 16 Democrats in Congress

What's really going on? That's what many in America have been asking in the current upheaval of traditional ethics and rule of law since the election. In tarot readings they tell me they feel "powerless" as citizens of the United States. Also they are scared.  Well, help in sorting this out can come from the power bloc of 16 Democrat lawmakers. Yesterday they sent letters to the nine law firms, ranging from Paul Weiss to Skadden, about the deals they cut with the Trump administration. Essentially the question asked is what motivated the firms to take this action.  Finally, the cavalry might be arriving.  ABC reports: [Lawmakers specifically want to know] whether the deals for pro bono work in exchange for the reversal of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump or to avoid being targeted in future missives may violate federal bribery, extortion, honest services fraud or racketeering laws" Added on to those questions are about state laws and lawyer rules...

The Pressure to Be Joyful

  It was so Americana - and such a failure - that the Kamala Harris presidential campaign had the meme of joy. That exhuberance of mood is so expected in America and so alienating to the majority of humans who are struggling to be emotionally stable, pay their bills and open doors to a future. Voters decoded the Democratic ethos as: You don't understand what we're about.  Despite the escalation of economic uncertainty and employment insecurity, the pressure continues to be joyful.  More of the clients for my tarot-reading services lament, for example, that at their community social clubs and even in the workplace they are expected to be happy-clappy. Have a serious persona? The odds you'll be asked if something is wrong. The message really is: Loop into the bright and shiny force field or there could be social as well as employment penalities.  In contrast in other cultures being emotionally cautious is the norm. Henry James made that a theme in his novels about the ...

When You Can't Worship at the Altar of Work, Not Anymore

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Post-WWII, economic growth in America took off. There was so much professional opportunity.  The old class system, a carry-over from Mother England, crashed. Get your ticket punched at college, or better yet, in the MBA program, and you could be middle class or better.  No fool, sophisticated you got it to worship at the altar of work. Management experts like Peter Drucker and personal branding gurus like Tom Peters became the high priests. Along the way great minds such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens made belief in traditional religion seem foolish.  What a wonderful ride away from limitations of birth, geographic location or gender. That was then, a more stable time. Now The New York Times documents: "People are no longer leaving Christianity; other major religions are growing. Almost all Americans — 92 percent of adults, both inside and outside of religion — say they hold some form of spiritual belief, in a god, human souls or spirits, an afterli...

The Resurrection: Can Big Law Transcend Circumstances?

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I n Christianity, the Resurrection, not the birth of Jesus Christ, is the holiest day of the year. That's because of this: After his death on cross Jesus was transported alive, body and soul, into heaven. Obviously, he transcended a human limitation. Over the centuries the inspirational message derived from this is that it is possible for all of us to also rise high above circumstances.  As Easter approaches the same challenge of transcendence is thrust upon many large elite law firms encountering the impacts of the Trump administration. They include those making deals such as Paul Weiss and Skadden; those making deals but partially resisting like A&O Shearman; and those totally resisting, leveraging litigation, such as Perkins Coie. What all face is the unknown. Both the ethos and the business of practicing law, as they have known it, have been disrupted. And there is no little yellow brick road back to what had been. No consultant, no public relations agency and no lobbying o...

Compassion: Why Christianity Has Continued Strong

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  The holidays which are Christianity based continue to dominate in influence in America. Tomorrow is Good Friday and everything from the stock market to the management office of my residential complex is closed. On Sunday, that is Easter, many big boxes like Target are not operating, in respect for the holiest of days in the Christian calendar.  So, we can gain plenty of insight about what resonates in our human lives if we think about why Christianity has such a hold on a nation which seems to be the headquarters for capitalism. I have a hunch is its fundamental of compassion. The New Testament features myriad examples of how deeply Jesus Christ felt for the plights of human beings. Those ranged from the humiliation of newlyweds when the wine ran out at the wedding feast to the woman whose circumstances forced her into marketing her body.  That high degree of empathy neutralizes the hardened ethos of judging others - under the guise that will help them as well as societ...

I Was Lost, Then I Connected the Dots

  Hold the soaring rhetoric for commencement speeches for the Class of 2025. These times are not the time for that. But a carry-on for life is exactly what Steve Jobs told the Stanford Class of 2002. That’s be alert, then connect the dots. The audience can then break out in a retrofit of hymn Amazing Grace. “I was lost and then I connected the dots. Here I package that hope in Substack. Thriving in difficult times starts from the inside. Tarot Readings. Intuitive Coaching. Mediumship. Remote and in-person. Pay what you can afford. For confidential complimentary consultation please contact Jane Genova at 203-468-8579 (text, voice)   or janegenova374@gmail.com .

Running Low on Hope ... Very Typical Right Now

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 If you’ve ever been roughed up by life - and who hasn’t been you know this: Hope is everything. There are simple ways to grab back onto hope, even though you might be convinced right now that it’s not even worth trying. Standard is the mindset that you’ve been through so much so far in the 21st century that you’re not sure if you want to get through anything again. You can shake that off. Just stop your day and …  Here on  Substack  is what you can grab onto.  Thriving in difficult times starts from the inside. Tarot Readings. Intuitive Coaching. Mediumship. Remote and in-person. Pay what you can afford. For confidential complimentary consultation please contact Jane Genova at 203-468-8579 (text, voice)   or janegenova374@gmail.com .

If You Were a Dog, Would You Wind Up in a Shelter?

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  As a tarot reader I bear witness to so much suffering. At the top of the list are those anti-social behaviors which make a human being and society so miserable. For example, non-stop complaining.  The tragedy is that can be "treated." Just adopt an attitude of gratitude. You know the adage: When you want to lament how tired your feet are after a day at work, reflect on those with no feet. I add in this lousy economy: Or no job. Unfortunately, dogs usually don't have that option. That's how they wind up in a shelter and, in most cases, are never adopted.  This week I drove to the Pima County Animal Shelter in Tucson, Arizona. "Mack" stole my heart. He's a 9-year-old small tan dog. But he was brought to the shelter and why I couldn't give him his forever home was this: He barks non-stop from anxiety when no one is home.  The shelter provides him stress medication. But that isn't enough. Since I currently live in an apartment in town and not som...

Luckiest Generation Could Become The Homeless Generation

  Boomers had it all. Higher education was cheap. The Post-WWII economy hit a gigantic growth spurt just when that generation was ready to start careers. Corporate America with its opportunities, great pay and great benefits welcomed them. They earned enough to become investors and had fun watching the Dow every day.  Now, as I'm hearing in tarot readings, that luckiest generation fears winding up homeless. PBS reports: "As baby boomers age into senior citizens, a series of recessions and the lack of a strong social safety net have pushed more and more elderly people into homelessness — a number that’s only expected to rise." The recessions in the 21st century have been especially brutal and the world could be heading into another one. The investments haven't been doing so hot this week. Too many made the mistake of listening to their feelings and retiring too early, not anticipating they might live into their 90s. Therefore, the monthly Social Security check is low...

LAID OFF - Existential Loss

Those losing their jobs at Health and Human Services are sobbing. Their pain is palpable. And no way are they underestimating what job loss means. That ranges from gonzo is a professional identity to financial security goes poof to the end of a daily routine.  In tarot readings with the newly unemployed I'm connecting with so much suffering. The system, as it is, factors out the human pain, focusing only on some assumed financial savings. Most of those forced out are taking that first critical step: They're feeling the pain.  The next step is the raw need for another way to bring in income from their labor. That has become so difficult with knowledge work becoming a commodity. In a sense There's Nowhere To Go. Today I'm delivering a webinar for O'Dwyer's Public Relations on starting your own business. 2025 could be The Year of the Entrepreneur. Former government workers might have to investigate what has probably been an unthinkable: Operating their own piece o...