FIVE OF PENTACLES – love

In love, the Five of Pentacles is the card of the cold period.

Not of a breakup. Of winter. There's a time when the warmth isn't there between you – you're not arguing, nothing dramatic is happening, you're just cold next to each other. This hurts, and there's no one to blame.

Look at the picture. Two people are walking in the snow. One is lame, the other is barefoot. Neither of them can save the other.

And yet: they walk together.

This is the only true gift of this card. It doesn’t ask if you can solve it. It asks if you are there for each other, as long as it lasts. Because in difficulty, it's not the one who fixes it who stays by your side. It's the one who walks beside you.

Now look at what's above their heads: a lit window. It's warm inside. And neither of them looks up – not because they don't know it's there. It's because they are ashamed.

And notice: the window is not a bank, but a church. What you are missing now is not necessarily money. It could be attention. It could be a person who says: come in. Many people live in warm houses, with full refrigerators, and they are living this very card.

If you are alone: it might not be that no one comes because you are unlovable. It's because you don't speak up. Because you cancel meetings, because you invent an excuse so you don't have to ask.

Shame keeps you out. Not the world.

And notice: they are walking, not sitting. The snow will melt. This is not your life, just a winter in it.

Look up. And say what's on your mind – to one person, today.

Look up. There's the window.

Look at the card. It's snowing, two people walk down the street, one on crutches, the other barefoot. They are cold. And directly above their heads there is a lit window: it's warm inside, there's space inside, they'd give them food inside.

Neither of them looks up. Not because they don't know it's there. It's because they are ashamed.

That's why you didn't speak up either. Tell yourself honestly tonight: you canceled a meeting, you made up an excuse, you said "everything's fine," even though it isn't. Not because there's no one to turn to. It's because asking for help is humiliating.

Shame keeps you out. Not the world. The world is there, lit up, above your head.

There are two things I'd like you to hear tonight.

The first: this is temporary. Look closely – they're not sitting in the snow. They're walking. The snow will melt. This isn't your relationship, just a winter within it. It's not beautiful, it's not fair, and you didn't deserve it. But it will pass.

The second, and this is more important: two people are walking. One is limping, the other is barefoot – neither of them can save the other. And yet they walk side by side.

The one who stays with you is not the one who solves things. It's the one who walks with you in the snow. If you look around now, you'll be surprised who that is.

Tonight, they're asking you for only one thing. Tell one person what's going on with you. They don't have to solve it. Just know.

For those who truly love you, it's not a burden for you to ask. The burden for them is that you didn't speak up.