Today is two days of the Omer - Gevurah of Chesed, Structure and Struggle

So we're two days into the desert, and from the 5 of Wands we can see the the Israelites are already fighting, complaining, competing — kvetching.

I know from my own experience you can escape from dire situations and be grateful and swear to be conscious moving forward only a day later (if even that long) succumbing to old patterns of unconsciousness.

Gevurah, as structure, can be seen in some ways as patterns of unconsciousness when unmediated by the energies by other sefirot. After all, one can be very disciplined in the pursuit of some very unhealthy activities.  But of course, day two is Gevurah in the week of Chesed, so that this loving kindness is in fact mediated by by discipline.
To some, this might look like the struggle and competition we can see in the 5 of wands. The clarity and foundation in the 4 of wands is in the midst of movement into a new order — an order that will ultimately be more balanced. Because unrestrained loving kindness can be overwhelming. Chesed on its own can be experienced as a boundary violation, and mediated by Gevurah, those boundaries are upheld. So while it looks like we've moved from Divine Marriage to earthly argument, the young men in the 5 of wands can be seen as dancers (pole dancers? lol) creating new order. In Chesed as it expresses itself through Gevurah, we can experience the deeper structure and harmony underneath all our struggles, inner and outer.