Marcia959 said:
I do have some experience, just not professional experience. I know I need more experience. Why else would I post this? Why else would I say, I am still learning. I am. I always will be.
Your learning is not the issue. We're all still learning, whether we've been reading for one year or 50 years, whether we rake in hundreds of dollars a week or we read in exchange for a new deck or some crystals. And we understand that.
Marcia959 said:
If every apprentice were met with a punch in the snoot when they tried to take their first steps, think you'd ever have done this?
If they really wanted it, they would--and they wouldn't feel the need to justify themselves. And that's the purpose of being an apprentice: starting out at the lowest level, to see if you have the fortitude to make it to the top (or as close to it as possible), and gaining the skills necessary to rise.
Marcia959 said:
Or is it a good thing that I'm pushing back, saying that I really do want this? And that I really want input?
Only you can determine if a pushback is good for you or now.
Pushing back, as you put it, is coming off to me as extreme defense that is a bit irritating, as if you know it all and we can't possibly know you or your circumstances, therefore implying that we are speaking on things that we do not know; especially since you came to us so-called professionals for advice and input that you, in your relatively limited experience, do not have.
Yes, I don't know you from a hole in the wall, or how you came to tarot. I haven't lived in California for years and when I did read in San Diego, it was in a store. So I don't know what the laws are there. However, there are people here who have lived (and still do live) in California, and are professional readers there for money; they may know some things that you don't. And the advice that you ask for can go across the board, regardless of life experiences, backgrounds, and geographic location.
Marcia959 said:
I do want it. I honestly didn't expect to outrage the professional community or at least a few. In fact, I'm really kind of amazed, especially since I think of myself as a well-meaning reasonable human being.
Who's outraged? The written word (especially on a message board) doesn't always translate correctly. And while I can't speak for everyone in this thread, I will simply say that I'm not outraged. Concerned, yes. Outraged? Nope. Don't have the time or energy for it; it's your life and profession.
"Constructive criticism" is in the eye of the beholder, it seems--and it's not always pleasant. But the point of constructive criticism is to point out specific areas from which you can grow--if you want to grow. Not everyone can handle it.
Yes, people (myself included) will applaud your decision to go pro and encourage you to go out there and do that, to the best of your ability and for the greater good (first, do no harm and all that). But there are also other professionals--those who read for money and those who don't--who are going to warn you about the potential pitfalls of reading professionally. It's not all 10 of Cups and The Sun (well, it is, but in a different way).
And this is not to insinuate that you are a poodle, a cat, or any other domesticated animal who relies on an external hand to house and feed them, with little effort on their part except to sit and look cute; feedback is what you allegedly wanted but, like a lot of newbies on here, you start crying when it's given to you real.
Marcia959 said:
What do you think other newbies (to PROFESSIONAL reading) would think after reading this? Hey, don't say anything because they will tell you you're an idiot? They'll make fun of you in front of the rest of the professional community? You guys treat your clients this way? Or do you, as Nisaba noted, think of a way to communicate it so that the message is heard and understood with choice still at the center?
I'm usually known for ripping newbies a new one on AT, so most of them won't ask me anything.
I don't do it to get a thrill (well...maybe a small one
); I do it because I want to see what they're made of, and how badly they want to be a tarot reader (and not someone who just reads the cards--there is a difference). Even though I am usually blunt, sometimes I'm extra blunt (and borderline rude) on purpose. And when they get up in arms and start whining as the smallest whiff of censure--kind of like you're doing--it makes me wonder if they have the backbone to take their reading skills beyond the entertainment/fun level and/or Reading Exchange, into the professional realm. What are you going to do when a client is in your face, running an emotional gamut because of what you saw or didn't see? It can be scary, and worse than any slight you've received on a message board.
Ah, clients...those that treat clients "this way"
don't usually last long. But those who are honest with their clients (and clients can sense this, even when they don't want to hear what the reader is seeing in the cards) and have a viewpoint similar to Nisaba's, go the distance.
Marcia959 said:
What was it like starting out? What did you wish you'd known then that you know now? Do you think there's just one path to getting there or do you think each person has to take their own path? Do you have friends in the professional community?
Starting out was filled with apprehension, doubt, and gladness when a client told you you hit it on the head, or when the cards started clicking in combinations, or when you had that intuitive leap that may have been contrary to what the card(s)'s traditional meaning was, but which was more relevant to the querent's life. I wish I'd known that everyone doesn't have to read with RWS and that it didn't make me any less of a reader if I didn't use it. And titles of Grandmaster, etc. were sometimes just that--titles, and they weren't any better a person or reader than me because of that. Give them the respect due their accomplishments, and keep it moving.
There's never just one path in tarot, which is why we all have uniquely personalized experiences and outlooks. It will take some time, but yours is there if you let it find you.
And yes, I have friends and acquaintances in the professional community; we tend to stick together overall, especially in places where tarot or any divination is not as accepted (like the deep South). We exchange ideas, processes (ha!), and usually just like each other as people.
Just my $.02.
T.
