Seeing the Orchard

“Even the smallest shift in perspective can bring about the greatest healing.” ― Joshua Kai, The Quantum Prayer: An Inspiring Guide to Love, Healing, and Creating the Best Life Possible

Last night before bed I pulled an oracle card from my nature deck. I wasn’t looking for lottery numbers, a divine roadmap, or some cosmic customer service representative to tell me exactly what to live, laugh, love my way into next. I was simply curious about what energy might be available to me over the next few days.

The card I pulled was Abundance. The picture was a beautifully illustrated apple tree heavy with fruit.

Then, because the Universe has impeccable timing, a wicked sense of humor, and absolutely no concept of subtlety, I came across a post talking about Jupiter and Venus aligning before June 9th. Jupiter, the planet associated with abundance, expansion, prosperity, and good fortune. Venus, the planet associated with beauty, love, pleasure, attraction, and money. Apparently when these two cosmic heavyweights get together, the astrology community starts buzzing about blessings, growth, opportunities, and receiving more of what you desire.

Now, I am not an astrologer. I know enough to know I don’t know enough. I couldn’t explain planetary houses without ending up on an entirely different street. If you would like more insights, follow my friend Debbie D. as she has great skill in interpreting the cosmos. Still, between the card and the timing, abundance was suddenly showing up everywhere I looked.

Abundance. Such a loaded buzz word.

It has become one of those spiritual terms that gets tossed around so frequently that people forget what it actually means. Most of us hear the word abundance and immediately think money. We think about paying bills on time. Paying off debt. Taking the vacation. Having enough left over after groceries to stop calculating every purchase in our heads.

Those desires are real. They are human. There is nothing wrong with wanting financial stability. In fact, a lot of spiritual people like to pretend money doesn’t matter right up until rent is due.

After pulling the card, I sat down to journal and spend some time listening to what I call GUSS, God, Universe, Source, Spirit. During that reflection I found clarity around a few goals. I recognized some areas where I need to improve. I also got a little uncomfortable because sometimes growth feels less like divine inspiration and more like getting lovingly roasted by your higher self.

The abundance card hit me differently because it challenged me to think beyond acquiring things and toward stewarding things. The image on the card wasn’t just an apple tree. There was a basket beneath it. The basket had tipped over, and apples were spilling out across the ground.

That image stopped me.

Anyone who knows me knows I love fashion. I love self-expression. I love finding unique pieces that feel like extensions of who I am becoming. I love challenging norms. I love dressing for the energy of the day. I love the art of personal style and the way clothing can communicate something before we ever open our mouths — and as Meredith Brooks sang, “I’m a bitch, I’m a lover, I’m a child, I’m a mother, I’m a sinner, I’m a saint.” Apparently all those bitches need outfits which cost money and I know I don’t need those new shoes, yet the struggle continues because they are so me!

Because suddenly, as the universe so proclaims, the question I get to ask is not how do I get more. The question becomes what am I doing with what I already have? That is where abundance starts to take on a completely different meaning. True abundance is not simply having more. It is recognizing that I already have enough, leaning into my creativity and being responsible for what has been entrusted.

Money is abundance.

Time is abundance.

Health is abundance.

Friendship is abundance.

Creativity is abundance.

Freedom is abundance.

Peace of mind is abundance.

A good conversation is abundance.

A quiet morning is abundance.

The ability to share what you have with someone else is abundance.

Somewhere along the way many of us started treating abundance like a destination. We tell ourselves that once we have a little more money, a little more success, a little more recognition, then we will finally feel abundant.

The problem is that “more” is a moving target. There is always another level. Another purchase. Another achievement. Another thing to chase.

If abundance only exists in the future, then we spend our entire lives starving in a field full of fruit. That basket of apples made me think about stewardship.

You can pray for abundance. Manifest abundance. Visualize abundance. Light the candle. Pull the card. Speak the affirmation. Follow the moon phase. Align with Jupiter. Align with Venus. Do all the magical shit. But if abundance arrives and you don’t know how to care for it, appreciate it, manage it, or share it, then what exactly are you asking for?

The card challenged me to consider whether I am being a good steward of what I already possess. Not just my money. My time. My relationships. My talents. My opportunities. My energy.

Because it is entirely possible to receive abundance and still operate from scarcity. It is entirely possible to have a full basket and spend your life obsessing over the apples you don’t have. Then another realization landed. Those apples scattered across the ground are not necessarily wasted. Eventually they will rot. The seeds will return to the earth. New trees may grow. New fruit may emerge.

Nature understands something humans often forget. Abundance is not accumulation. Abundance is circulation. The tree does not cling to its fruit. The river does not cling to its water. The forest does not cling to its leaves. Everything participates in a cycle of receiving, releasing, and renewing. Meanwhile humans are paying monthly fees to store things we forgot we owned. There is a dark comedy in that.

We spend years asking for abundance while ignoring the abundance already sitting in front of us. We chase more while neglecting what we have. We ask for bigger baskets when maybe the lesson is learning how to care for the one already in our hands.

Ancient cultures understood some of this symbolism. Apples became associated with immortality, wisdom, renewal, and divine blessing because they reflected the rhythms of life itself. Trees bloom. Trees bear fruit. Trees release. Trees rest. Then they begin again.

Perhaps that is the real lesson hidden inside the card. Abundance is not about getting everything you want. Abundance is understanding the value of what you already have.

It is gratitude without complacency.

Stewardship without control.

Generosity without fear.

It is having enough and trusting that enough can become more when it is nurtured rather than consumed.

For all my dreaming, manifesting, praying, planning, shopping, and searching, maybe abundance is not asking the Universe for another apple.

Jupiter and Venus didn't deliver anything to my doorstep. The card didn't conjure anything new. They just conspired to get me to lift my head long enough to see what had been there all along. Maybe that is what all the magic is really for. Not manifestation. Attention.

Maybe abundance is finally noticing the orchard.