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Cats and Cankles

musings of a crazy cat lady

Meet the Author
Portfolio and Buzz
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Portfolio and Buzz

Buzz:

Kelsey’s Senior Thesis

Kelsey as Manager of Bay to Baker in Bellingham, WA

Unpublished Works:

Kelsey’s Study Abroad Blog (Inactive)

Community Engagement Guidebook (Created during internship at YMCA of Snohomish County, 2018-2019)

More to come.

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Offline Reading

Kelsey likes to read...

A Softer World
Badass of the Week
Camp Weedonwantcha
Girls With Slingshots
Go Get a Roomie!
Hark, A Vagrant
Left-Handed Toons
PHD Comics
Questionable Content
Smart Girls at the Party
The Oatmeal

Instagram

February 26: How can I rekindle the small flame within my deepest inner sanctum? Ten of Swords ⚔️ Release baggage that tethers me to past anguish. Dispel toxic mental patterns. Shed old maladaptive habits and ways of being. ⚔️ The Ten of Swords is the phoenix aflame. In order to experience true renewal, we must release the toxicity of the past. Not forget, not scrape bare, but run through the rotten core, pin in place the dead parts, carve away the points of infection. Slice and chop with calculated precision. Wriggle free. What remains is denser, more precise, more focused. In the smouldering ash we rediscover the baby phoenix, the next iteration of that internal spark - sharper, wiser, more decisive. ⚔️ In order to rekindle the flame and keep it alive, we have to first make space for it to breathe. ⚔️ #MercuryRxflections #mercuryretrograde #tenofswords #tenofblades #thedreamweavertarot #dreamworkers #tarotchallenges #divinationchallenges

February 25: What inner truths are crying out to be heard and shared? Four of Vases (Cups) 🍵 Acceptance is vital to growth. Sustainable intimacy = interdependence. Balance introspection with service. 🍵 When I resist reality, I merely postpone the necessary process of dealing with what is present. Accepting what is creates space for next steps - ok, this is happening, and now what? Here's where the work can start. 🍵 Emotional codependence means I need you to be ok in order for me to be ok. Emotional independence means I am unaffected by others' emotional states - neither realistic nor aligned with my values. Emotional interdependence means that we support one another and demonstrate compassion within relationships. This sustainable, co-creative loving exchange is my goal. 🍵 Action without reflection causes harm. Reflection without action results in stagnancy. There must be balance in the way I divide my focus. Can I take time to reflect and rest without falling off the map? Can I be active and impactful without causing myself injury and illness? 🍵 #MercuryRxflections #mercuryretrograde #fourofcups #fourofvases #thedreamweavertarot #dreamworkers

February 24: What dark corners of my heart need my compassion and gentle cleansing? Five of Pentacles 🌨️ Five lies I tell myself: ❄️I am not enough. ❄️I am not worthy. ❄️I will never earn enough to justify my existence. ❄️My body will always be bad and in pain. ❄️If I am in pain, it is my fault and I should feel shame. 🌧️ Five softening gifts: 💧It is enough to simply be. 💧All beings are worthy. 💧Life is not earned. 💧Suffering is a part of being human. 💧There is no shame in being human. ⛈️ Five critical questions: ⚡What if I am abundant? ⚡Who determines my worthiness if not me? ⚡What if raw productivity is not the ultimate measure of my success? ⚡What lies beyond the pain and the numbness? ⚡Who benefits when I engage in self-blaming and shaming? 🌦️ Five kind choices, just for today. ☀️I respect my limits, and know that it is enough. ☀️I will not depend on outside input to establish my value. ☀️I acknowledge growth and learning as successes. ☀️I commit to being gentle with my body. ☀️I choose to speak to myself lovingly. 🌤️ #MercuryRxflections #mercuryretrograde #thedreamweavertarot #fiveofpentacles #fiveofstones #dreamworkers

February 23: When am I most alert to the intuitive messages from the cosmic collective? Three of Cups 🍵🍵🍵 Investing energy in my relationships. Growing through collaboration. Creative expression that benefits the collective. 💧💧💧 As an introvert, it has taken a long time for me to find my access point into community work. I care A LOT about the fate and future of humanity - about the suffering and joy that is experienced by people I may never meet or interact with directly. I have had an intuitive understanding of the interconnectedness of humanity since I was a child, and a strong sense of my responsibility to contribute to collective wellness and healing. Yet my personal struggles with health and anxiety have held me back from participating in ways that felt substantive in the past. ☕☕☕ The dominant cultural norms reinforce this idea that if I want to "make a difference," I have to produce something independently that is both monumental and forceful. As a part of my adult unlearning/deprogramming work, I'm learning to see the value in small, gentle, consensual, and collaborative contributions. I can use my skills (like writing) and tools (like the internet) to connect and collaborate with people who are free to engage with my work as much or as little as they like. 💧💧💧 I can write handouts on stress management for a new mamas support group and enjoy learning from both the participants and my co-facilitator. I can invite folks to join my Patreon and trust that those who will benefit from it will choose to engage. I can craft reflection questions for mercury retrograde and allow folks to opt in both publicly and privately. 🍵🍵🍵 I receive intuitive messages from the collective consciousness when I release old ideas of what a meaningful contribution has to look like and instead focus on my own strengths, skills, and spark of inspirations. I connect to the cosmic collective best when I acknowledge that my offering will not appeal to everyone, and allow space for folks to actively choose how they wish to engage with me and my work. 💙💙💙 #MercuryRxflections #mercuryretrograde #threeofcups #smithcentennial #tarotchallenges #divinationchallenges

February 22: How can I be more fully engaged with the process of recalibration? The Emperor ⛰️ Stand tall in my truth. Acknowledge that my choices and actions affect more than just myself. Actively live my values. Take. Up. Space. ⛰️ This winter season has challenged me in ways that I could never have predicted. When the challenges presented themselves, I didn't think I could handle them. I thought I might just curl up into a ball on the floor and let the spiders claim me. ⛰️ Each day I woke up and asked, is today the day? The day I surrender to the spiders? And each day I thought, hey, what's the worst that could happen if I give it one more day? So I did. ⛰️ More challenges arose. My brain and body protested. I did a lot of crying in the car, in therapy, and in my supervisor's office. Nick did a lot of heavy lifting. ⛰️ Then about two weeks ago (right at the beginning of the retrograde pre-shadow), I got triggered again and something shifted. I got mad. First, I was mad at myself (it's not cute but it's true). Then, I refocused and realized that I could redirect that anger where it belonged - at the systems and culture that created the environment for my original traumatization. ⛰️ It's still a struggle, pretty much every day, to not choose the spiders. But since that shift, I've found surprising value in my new "I don't have energy to give a fuck what anyone thinks of me" attitude. I care more about what gets me and the folks I care about through to the next day. If that requires pushing back against authority figures, I'm speaking up. If I need to set a boundary or take a day off, I'm doing so with less guilt. ⛰️ The Emperor asks me to channel my anger towards growth, healing, and justice. I am fully engaged in recalibration when I plant my feet in the earth, stand tall, and look those challenges straight in the eyes. ⛰️ #MercuryRxflections #mercuryretrograde #theemperor #smithcentennial #smithwaitecentennial

February 21: In what ways is my intuition connected to the power of the Earth? Eight of Swords Rx ⚔️ Seeing past artificial separation to the interconnectedness of all things. Utilizing a new perspective to see the reality of long-range cycles and the slow nature of change. ⚔️ My intuition is the calm, consistent voice underneath the chaos of mental chatter. It reminds me that humans are a part of the larger ecosystem of the Earth, and just like the planet we experience healing as a slow, organic process. The Earth has the power to renew and heal itself when allowed the space and time to do so. It is equally true that my body and brain can heal themselves when I give them the time and space to process. ⚔️ #MercuryRxflections #mercuryretrograde #smithwaitecentennial #eightofswordsreversed #smithcentennial

@Kelshenka on Twitter

Past Posts

October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
August 2014

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