The 8♠️ is a sibling card to 3♠️. Both cards encourage and invite us to be open to changing our minds. This is being continually curious, challenging ourselves, reaching out into the mysterious I-don't-know space to explore.

Carol Dweck is a psychologist who researches motivation, personality and development. She is best known for her work on the concept of mindsets, particularly the idea of a 'growth mindset'. Having a 'growth mindset' suggests that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort and perseverance. In our post-truth world we are often deluded into thinking we can follow our bliss, be anything we want to be, and that success is measured in external attributes, like how much money or stuff we have, how famous we are, how young or glamorous we look. But this is a deception.

The real rules of the universe are rather different: life is challenging, there will be pain and uncertainty and everyone, everyone has to put in effort: there are no exceptions. But once you discover this, there is a huge amount of beauty and treasure to be found. You just need to know how to hunt for it.

If we move from a fixed and limited mindset to a growth mindset, we can embrace challenges, see failures as opportunities to learn and view effort as a necessary part of self-mastery.

Learning is a key pathway to developing wisdom which leads us towards a rich, deep and meaningful life. The fox, the birds and the trees on our card, remind us of the wisdom of elders, the intelligence to be found in the more than human world and learning from experience. We don't just learn in schools and libraries (though these can be very good places too). There are many ways of knowing.

• What small steps can you take today on your path of learning?

• Get up, get out, look around, wonder, ask questions: Where will be your classroom?

• This life can be an exciting adventure

• There is wisdom all around

• Be prepared to change your mind

♥️ ♠️ ♦️ ♣️