I’ve felt suffocated lately by a snarl of negative feelings. As I sat in my meditation loft last night, with a candle burning before me, a little voice said, “Burn the Fear card.” (There was a deck of Mixed Emotions cards beside me.)

“I’m not going to burn the Fear card,” I thought. “It’ll ruin my whole deck.” But I could burn a copy! So I climbed down my loft ladder, made copies of the cards that described how I felt, cut them out and got a metal bowl. Back in the loft, I did EFTon my feelings of desperation, fear, and betrayal and then burned the corresponding “cards.” (I deliberately didn’t put a “Betrayed” card in the Mixed Emotions deck, so I made my own by writing the word on a slip of paper).

At this rate, it will take me many nights to burn through all my negative emotions. But you know what?

I already feel better.

Here are the feelings in my burn pile:

Afraid Desperate

Afraid and desparate

Depressed Overwhelmed

Depressed and overwhelmed

Disappointed Frustrated

Disappointed and frustrated

Discouraged Worried

Discouraged and worried
Vulnerable Panicky
Vulnerable and panicky

Illustrations are by Kris Wiltse from the Mixed Emotions card deck.