A Taste of Tarot by Hilary and Lessons Learned

The beginning of a internet journey...

Guess what! My fully functional website launches this Friday! (so you better stop by then to find out what goodies and reading specials are happening!)

This website is the cumulation of nearly five months of work with my tarot mentor, Theresa Reed. It is something I am extremely proud of, and something I will continue to be proud of. Most of this work has been a cosmic kick in the pants, the crux of the message being to not hide my light under a bushel. This is somewhat terrifying to step into the limelight (much like that Fool above teetering on the precipice), but I acknowledge that it is something I need to do to help my business grow. If you have been "hiding" your talents in some way, take my advice: Stop. Stop it right now. You are worthy of so much more than you give yourself credit for.

Lessons learned (so far):

1. If you are not happy in the job you're in, take the steps to change the situation. If you cannot change the situation, change your perspective. You may find the results liberating. 
2. We make SO many excuses when we are afraid. My excuse was the tax man/IRS/blah-blah-blah/etc. were going to come get me if I even thought about making tarot my business. Guess what? It's an excuse. And if I do everything through the correct channels, my fear of the guvment (misspelling intended) is unfounded.
3. Damn, a lot of us tarot readers have low self-esteem. Were we not loved enough as children? Where the hell did this low self-esteem epidemic come from? I know a lot of amazing readers (listen, peeps, these are published authors of tarot books) that suffer from low self-esteem. Surprising, right? We all have our issues. Doesn't make them real. Doesn't make what we think true. Pluck up and see above: you are worthy of so much more than you give yourself credit for.
4. You gotta spend money to make money. Sadly, a truth to some degree. But if you keep up to date with your bookkeeping and use a spreadsheet... who knows what success you can accomplish! There are also plenty of ways to advertise for free or on the cheap. Applying a creative brain to it absolutely helps. And the phrase "I'm just not a business person" is... guess what? Yup. An excuse.
5. There is a wormhole that is directly and inversely proportional to the amount of time you put into this. Surprisingly, as busy as I've been, time seems to warp and allow me to do everything I want to do! The mantra of work hard, play hard has been really working for me! Also, every social opportunity I turn into a "marketing" opportunity (in a non-skeezy way, of course). I run in some weird, strange, esoteric circles. Tarot is a subject that happens to come up a lot in social situations. And I say... "What a coincidence! I'm a tarot reader!" I'm letting it all hang out.
6. A mentor is a wonderful thing. They push us SO much farther than we're willing to go ourselves. They tell us stuff about ourselves that we pooh-pooh or explain away. They make us do things that we're afraid to do. They allow us to grow and flourish under a watchful eye. They give us advice so we don't make costly mistakes. So, in case I haven't said it enough: Theresa, thank you. A million times thank you.

"Leap, and the net will appear."--John Burroughs

Taking My Own Advice

Believe it or not, this tarot reader seldom took her own advice when her intuition piped up to serve her and not her clients. Sometimes both. That has changed.

I realized this after a particularly harrowing hangover, one of the worst I've ever had in my young adult life. As I was sick as a dog, cursing myself for all the fun I had, I realized that I had predicted it two days' earlier, and failed to acknowledge or take my own advice. Some of you might know this story if you are friends with me on facebook. If not, sit back and relax as I weave my sordid tale of vodka and debauchery (well, for me, anyway... I'm rather tame, all things considered).

I was scheduled to go to a wedding. I had taken a day off of work to go, and had posted my card of the day interpretations on both twitter and facebook before leaving (for more information on my card of the day procedure, see here). I thought nothing of it when I pulled Temperance (reversed). I looked at the card, said what I saw, and merrily off I went. I should have remembered what I said!

What I interpreted was: 

Card of the Day—Temperance (rev): Get back to balance today. Meditate, take a deep breath, do something creative... whatever you do to get back to you. Also easy on the drinking today, otherwise prepare for a WICKED hangover! ;)

Now, all things considered, my interpretation on the wicked hangover was almost a tacked-on afterthought. However, it was the afterthought that I should have payed attention to. Hell, the whole thing I should have payed better attention to. But in my hubris, I assumed that the interpretation was for everyone that was reading it and not for me.

Sordid details of too much alcohol, being the life of the party (in a bad way), and a two day hangover that even my boyfriend had never seen before later... I know better than to assume I am "above" my own interpretations. In fact, I'll tell you a little nugget of knowledge I learned: the advice I give to my clients I also give to myself.

Yeah, really. And though it is true that it is the details that I don't retain (what the cards are, exactly what I say to the client during their reading, etc.) that deeper message still remains retained. If I say, in essence, to someone that they are scared to love and they should love more deeply... hell, I'm storing that message myself. Who's to say that the cards aren't trying to teach me a lesson, too? When I say to someone to "follow their bliss"... well, wouldn't it make me rather hypocritical to not do the same?

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Stories of "do as I say, not as I do" (and the lessons learned) to share? Leave them in the Comments section below!