The upside of spiraling
Looking back on a year of The Shuffle + Halloween events
Hi little coven.
A year ago, I published my first piece on this platform.1
That essay, Giving up the Grail and its follow up, The (Shadow) Artist’s Way remain two of my proudest publications of all time… because they wanted to be written so badly that I created this home for them. Without those ideas, the two thousand of us (!!!) wouldn’t be here together now.
It’s occurred to me that my year hosting The Shuffle here on Substack has followed a classic journey through the tarot’s Major Arcana.
Like the Fool, I took a leap of faith toward the kind of writing and community I wanted to create, and I spiraled down a rabbit hole where I found wisdom, pushback, and wild plot twists along the way.
I learned to take my destiny into my own hands; I drew on the vast depths of my creative experience and my expertise in the tarot, and I cultivated a domain for my creativity (Magician, High Priestess, Empress). I learned the rules, sought out advice, and endeavoured to honor my commitment to show up to you here however I can (Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers). I tried new things, tried hard things, and practiced following what’s right for me instead of what’s popular (Chariot, Strength, Hermit).
I navigated unexpected challenges to my finances, working life, and availability that disrupted my intended publishing schedule, tried to balance the pressure to draft a book in less than three months with the creative breathing room I’m trying to cultivate here, and managed somehow, amidst my overwhelm, to reframe this space as an opportunity rather than another obligation (Wheel of Fortune, Justice, Hanged One).
I let go of some of the things I thought this platform would do for me and allowed my relationship to it to change; I focussed on sustaining my energy and showing up to you, dear reader, as reliably as possible — though sometimes I let perfectionism, fear of failure and success, and shame block me from being vulnerable in this space and with my creativity more broadly (Death, Temperance, the Devil).
I burnt myself out, tried to cool myself down, and I continue to feel really weird about how to talk about it all whilst still kind of being in the midst of it (The Tower, the Star, the Moon).
I celebrated the launch of my dream book with you, explored the cards playfully with you, told campfire stories in the Tarot Tent with you (The Sun). And lately I’ve found myself reconnecting and resuscitating the motivating factors that sparked me to create this platform in the first place (Judgement).
All of this brings me to the World, a card that is associated with success even while its artwork represents vulnerability and newness through a figure naked with no firm ground to stand on.
I can relate.
I made it through this year. I took the leap, navigated the many landmarks along the way, and return to you a year later, a year older, a year wiser, still kicking and excited for what’s next. Success!
But also. I feel new. Not “gloriously enlightened and reborn new” but fragile, exposed, sensitive. Deer in the headlights new. Premature baby new. Fresh tattoo new.
The tarot makes space for this fragility-stained-success in a way that modern narratives of career progression don’t. It offers a spiralic reading of our experience, not a linear one, or even a cyclical one. The cards guide us to, to borrow Samuel Beckett’s words “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Every try finds us new, and every try finds us wiser, too.
Now, if you’ll allow me to indulge and quote myself:
Reaching the World prepares you for your next journey, which will require a new Foolish leap…
With every Foolish risk, you create a new World, you achieve a new level, and you prepare yourself to play the Fool again.
A creatively satisfying life is the combination of bold risk and meaningful reward, and you get to walk that journey for as many projects as you can creat
e in your lifetime. You get to dive in scared and emerge victorious and transformed with every creative endeavor.2
Me-now has inherited a new world that me-a-year-ago leapt off a proverbial cliff to create. And me-now is about to take the dive again, by recomitting to my vision for showing up to you vulnerable, honestly, creatively. Now, I’ve got to learn how to live in this new world, succeed in it, and how to be willing to dive off the deep end and try again.
Right now I feel new. And next October, I’ll feel new, too.
But next year’s new will be different. Because the year ahead’s new will be different — both new glorious, and new raw. I hope you’ll stick around to find out how (some hints are hanging out later down this email.)
A Year in Review
For so many reasons, I can confidently say that I don’t know how I would have made it through this last year with you… so thank you. As an author, a small business owner, and a sensitive, neurodivergent soul, having you on my side has softened many of the hard edges of my life and made it possible, on enough days, to get out of my bed and out of my head, compelling me to arrive here to share my experiences and hold space for yours.
Your support made it possible for me to:
write monthly deep dives into Tarot and Zodiac archetypes like this one
facilitate live conversations to help all of us connect more deeply to ourselves and the tarot like this one
create a still-growing on-demand library of over 50 journaling sessions and creative workshops (have you checked out this re-usable daily tarot journaling ritual yet?)
write thoughtfully, at my own pace, about meaningful elements of creative living
feel less alone when launching my latest book
race to the finish line of a manuscript I never believed I could write in the short amount of time I had available
navigate the scary, insecure realities of existing as a freelance creative in this world
so much more that will tumble out of me in dribs and drabs in future essays, I’m sure
Your support also makes it possible for me to dream big, and commit more of my time in the year ahead to this space. You can expect:
more seasonal toolkits, workshops, and essays
continued tarot journaling club sessions (+special guest co-hosts coming soon)
New weekly Mini-muse Monday letters starting in November
The (Tarot) Artist’s Way workshops and essay series coming Spring 2025
You tell me - I want to provide more value to you in the coming year, so let me know what would you like to see landing in your inbox!
PS: EVENTS!
I’ve got lots of lovely virtual and in-person events coming up for Halloween, and I’d love for YOU to come along as a guest of honour. More information below:
PARIS
29th October. Join me at The Red Wheelbarrow bookshop at 6pm for an evening of conversation, cards, and creativity.
I’ll be signing books AND raffling off a 1 hour tarot reading with me to support the bookshop’s expansion. Fun fact: The Red Wheelbarrow recently ousted a far-right bookshop that set up next door to them, and are expanding their beautiful English language book collection into the space instead. A worthy cause.
31 October. I’ll be the resident reader at Messy Nessy’s Cabinet from 11am to 6pm. Drop in to buy a copy of Tarot for Creativity (or anything else from the shop if you’ve already got a copy) and get a complimentary 10 minute reading. Fun fact: This shop is what my heaven looks like.
VIRTUAL
27th October. Join me at 7pm EST for a special, 90-minute Tarot for Writers workshop, hosted by author and yogi Sarah Herrington. This is a rare opportunity for my US friends to catch me in a live evening workshop - it’s past my usual bedtime so I’ll be bringing the pyjama party vibes! Tickets are $65 USD, include a newly refreshed edition of my Tarot for Writers prompt book, and YOU can get $10 off with code OCTOBERGIFT. Get your ticket here.
28th October. Tune in this event from 26, a UK based writers collective, where I’ll be in conversation with one of the most supportive writers, and the most gloriously witchy writer, I know,
. We’ll also crack out the cards for a couple of creative exercises. Entry is free to members of 26, or 6 GBP for outside attendees. Get your ticket here.
If your Halloween schedule is already full, don’t worry!
Catch the replay of my Write a Ghost Story with the Tarot workshop on your own time here.
AND, I’ll be hosting a free little journaling workshop right here on the SHUFFLE on November 10th on how the tarot can help us navigate change. Stay tuned for more details soon.
Interestingly, when I sat down to revisit Giving up the Grail, an essay on the elusive nature of creative “flow states” I was overwhelmed by a feeling of regret. Not for having published it. But the opposite, actually. For not having published more like it.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m proud of everything I’ve shared with you over this past year, from workshops to interviews to deep dives on creative applications tarot and zodiac archeyptes. But reading back those early pieces, I wished I’d shared even more like those with you, too.
In the coming year, I plan to. I hope you’ll keep reading along!
from Tarot for Creativity by me, Chelsey Pippin Mizzi
I adore you! I adore this Substack! I adore (and am so grateful) for everything you put into the world. Thanks for writing to us for a year, here! Here's to many, many more!
You're doing amazing work.