#11 The year of the fool
Learning how to live from Tarot & Carl Jung. Plus, French indie pop from 1999, an aesthetically and otherwise pleasing film to watch & some other recommendations
Last year I started dabbling in Tarot (I know), and there’s one card that I’ve felt particularly intrigued by and drawn to: the very first one in the deck, the good old Fool. The wide-eyed wanderer, standing on the edge of the cliff and staring into the sky, completely carefree, not realising there’s an abyss right in front of him. The sun is shining graciously upon him, he’s wearing a funky-patterned robe and stylish yellow footwear, and there’s a cute little dog nipping at his heels. What a delightful scene.
In Tarot, The Fool is a card of infinite possibilities, new beginnings and unlimited potential. It’s numbered zero - and it’s the first step on a journey towards The World, a card of completion and wholeness.
In life though, The Fool is a character we are taught to avoid. We don’t want to look like fools ourselves, and we don’t want to associate with them. We perceive them with pity and condescension at best, and disrespect or even disgust at worst. But what if there’s a thing or two to learn from The Fool?
I love this quote by Joseph Campbell: "If you can see your whole path laid out in front of you, it’s probably not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path." The Fool knows and lives this truth instinctively, creating his path with each step - even if it leads into the abyss.
The Fool’s journey kind of aligns with what Carl Jung called the process of individuation - or finding that ultimate wholeness and self-realisation. And here’s the thing: you cannot get there with a cheat sheet. You gotta hit all those bumps in the road. You gotta deal with your deepest fears, beliefs and attachments. You gotta meet and confront that infamous Shadow self. And, once you complete the journey, you gotta start that cycle all over again. Apparently, it’s a lifelong, circular process, and you’re never fully done - until you are dead, of course. The Fool does not seem to be bothered by this - he wears his cute outfit, enjoys the sun while it’s shining and walks towards the unknown.
I don’t know about you, but right now I’m finding a lot of appeal in the Fool’s way of living. I too want to wear funky robes and footwear, but more importantly: embrace curiosity and playfulness, let go of self-importance, do more and doubt less by leaping into the unknown, more often than not. So, here’s to the year of The Fool!
#vibes
✨Album by a French band, in English, that feels like the German word “unbeschwert” - and brings me back to my ultimate era of The Fool:
Tahiti 80 - Puzzle (1999)
I heard “A Love from Outer Space” on the radio a few weeks ago - a song I know and love in A.R. Kane’s original version from 1989 - but here there was a different take on it, from a French synth-pop band Tahiti 80, released ten years later. It spoke to me on this mysteriously metaphysical level, and I listened to the whole album, and it took me places I did not expect. There’s a great German word “unbeschwert”, which can mean something like “light-hearted” or “unburdened”, but to me it has a unique undertone that doesn’t quite translate. Un-heavied - free of heaviness, or weight, or care. That’s what I’m talking about here. That is how “Puzzle”, the album, felt to me. It takes me back to my era of The Fool if you will: late 90s/early 00s, I was maybe six or seven years old, living a pretty jaunty life - reading Pippi Longstocking over and over again; listening to Modern Talking and Smokie (and whatever else my dad would put on) and coming up with pretty intense dance routines; recreating scenes from X-Files and Inspector Rex with my neighbour Vitalik out in the garden. The world was big and full of adventures, time moved slowly and was endless. Now, over twenty years later, I listen to these four Frenchmen sing about completely unrelated stuff and, for reasons that are not quite clear to me, feel transported back. Magic!
✨ Ear candy of the month: English Teacher - Live on KEXP
I fell in love with English Teacher ever since the gracious Youtube algorithm recommended me “The World’s Biggest Pavement Slab” back in August 2023. What is there not to love - these guys have a great band name, great song titles (The Best Tears Of Your Life! Broken Biscuits!), raw post-punk energy coupled with unexpected twists and turns and a touch of surrealism. And as if this wasn’t enough already, they are also so damn good live. This fresh live session from KEXP folks is the living proof:
✨ Film with a dreamlike aesthetic and soundtrack that beautifully encapsulates the desire for quiet intimacy in a big city:
All We Imagine As Light (2024, Payal Kapadia)
This film by Indian director Payal Kapadia is set in one of the most hectic megacities in the world, Mumbai, and yet somehow it manages to be unhurried - even meditative - in the most gorgeous way. I’ll admit, I’m an easy target for aesthetically pleasing Wong Kar-Wai-esque visuals coupled with a good soundtrack - but there’s more to it than this. It’s an intimate and gentle slice-of-life exploration of longing and connection - all through the characters of three working-class women of different generations. It’s candid, warm and has just the right degree of humour to not take itself too seriously. With that, it hits pretty much all the criteria for a good film in my book. Funnily enough though, the top voted Google review on this film starts with “Super boring - waste of time” - so yeah, it’s surely not for everyone.
✨Book that imagines a world in which basic emotional intelligence is a thing:
“Radikal Emotional. Wie Gefühle Politik machen” by Maren Urner
This book by German neuroscientist Maren Urner dives into an idea that I’ve been thinking over for a while: namely, that emotions drive politics far more than we’d like to admit - and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Urner argues that recognising politics as, at its core, an emotional matter, is actually key to having a more constructive discourse. She advocates for “radical attention” and “radical honesty” as a way to integrate emotions into political decision-making - which would essentially lead to a more inclusive and empathetic society. I found myself nodding to a lot of the points she’s making - and even though it sounds a bit utopian right now, it made me hopeful for a future where cynicism is out, vulnerability is in, and basic emotional education for everyone is a thing. A girl can dream, right?!
✨ Quote rediscovered - courtesy of Readwise:
Your mind can deceive you and put all kinds of barriers between you and your nature; but your body does not lie. Your body tells you, if you attend to it, how your life is and whether you are living from your soul or from the labyrinths of your negativity.
- John O’Donohue (Anam Cara)
Thank you for reading (or scrolling) all the way to the end & see you in the next one! x