The Highlighter

Diving into a new book-themed tarot deck

I have so very much to tell you.

I spent three weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland, and … I just have so much to tell you. And precisely because I have so much to tell you, I don’t know where to start.

And if I’m not careful, that overwhelm will prevent me from writing anything at all.

I decided to jumpstart my writings about Edinburgh by pulling from my new tarot deck—the Bibliophile Oracle Deck by Lindsey Smith and Alexandra Franzen. My friend Naya immediately thought of me when she saw it, and she was very right to do so.

The card I pulled? The Highlighter. Here’s what the guidebook said about it:

Illumination. Focus. Remembering.

In a world filled with noise and distraction, it’s easy to forget what’s important. When The Highlighter appears, it’s a signal to focus on the priorities that matter the most to you. This card says, “Look. Pay attention. Don’t forget this.”

This card also invites you to look for significant words as you go about your day. When reading a book, poem, essay, document, email, or something else, does anything stand out to you? Is there a particular phrase that feels like it’s a message meant especially for you? Take note. Remember it.

The Highlighter card from The Bibliophile Oracle Deck

I sat with that message for a moment; how did it apply to my Writer’s Overwhelm? Here’s what came to me:

I feel stuck with my writing because I have so many ideas, so many things I don’t want to forget, that I don’t know where to start.

Still not sure of the exact message of this card.

Just start, maybe? Start documenting the “highlights,” perhaps?

I’ve got a list started in my planner. Perhaps it really is a matter of just starting.

Trusting that my voice is the common thread, the common theme. So no matter how it comes out—whatever order, whatever it looks like, whatever I focus on, whatever I highlight—it will be enough.

And it will reach who it needs to reach.

And of course, I decorated it with highlighter and stickers. Because here, we know that life is too short for beige.

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I kept a running list on my Notes app of the things I loved about Edinburgh. Here it is, unedited, and without explanation. I will write about some of it. But some of it will stay in my Notes app. And that is enough.

Why I Love Scotland

No rabies

No fascism

Gardens

Peas

M&S quickie meals

Taxes built into prices

The bestest-behaved dogs in the world

The cover of The National on Friday, July 25

Seagulls, somewhat unhinged

Peaceful bumblebees

Backpacks

Marvis toothpaste

Perfect photo lighting

Nationalized health care

Sunday roast

Climate-change friendly

Time zone from which all other time zones are borne (aka GMT aka UTC+00:00)

Seagull feathers everywhere

History everywhere, no editing

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