But What Will People Think?

I’ve personally struggled with this question for most of my life, and while I thought I had largely put it behind me, as I do my “business year in review”, I am realizing more and more on the daily that this spectre is still haunting my every move: “But what will people think?”

What will people think if I’m actually as Pagan as I really am? What will happen if I show the world that I’m Catholic (little c) and Pagan (big P)?  Will I lose customers? Will I lose friends? Will they think I’m a kook, or a crazy person, or *gasp* a hippy?  Or worse, a devil-worshipper?

What will people think if I show them that Tarot is a valid counseling tool, instead of something you just do for shits and giggles?

What will people think if I let my hair down and show them the real me? You know, the one that has a degree in English but says things like “okies” and “thankies”, because I’m really adorable when I do?

Up until this point in my life, the answers that my head and the world have given me have gone a little something like this:

If you show people you’re Pagan–if you publicly operate from that place, instead of making sure you keep that in the backyard where the neighbors can’t see and seriously on the down-low–they’re going to think you’re a devil-worshipping, flower-waving, hippy-dippy charlatan, and they aren’t going to take any of your work seriously. They will ostracize you.  You might even get death threats (I sure as hell did in high school!).

If you present the Tarot as an actual counseling tool, instead of just something people can do for entertainment value, they’re going to accuse you of witchcraft and ostracize you and threaten you some more (that happened to me in high school, too).

If you say things like “okies” and “thankies” to anyone outside your inner circle, they are going to doubt your veracity as a writer and as an intelligent human being. They will think you are juvenile and uneducated (yeah, I’ve been accused of that by someone in the writing world who I greatly respect; this has happened to me already).

Well, guess what? I’m not in high school anymore! And my business numbers for 2015 say some very interesting things about all of the above:

My customers and my reader-base–all of you who have been so good to me this year and supported me with everything I’m doing–are actually hungry to know more about the Pagan side of things, and there’s no judgment whatsoever! Showing off my “Pagan side” is actually making people other than just me happy! There are no death threats, and nobody’s cutting me out of their lives; instead, more and more of you are tuning in to learn more.

I’ve been presenting the Tarot as an actual counseling tool, and I’ve actually helped people! I’ve actually helped folks change their lives for the better! And again, no accusations, ostracizing, or death threats–just a whole lot of thank yous from some pretty fabulous folks!

I’ve let my hair down and let people see the real me–the one who says “okies” and “thankies” and is adorable sometimes, cutesy others, and dead serious on still others, and nobody has called me juvenile or uneducated. On the contrary, they’ve found me profoundly accessible, and they’ve been grateful for that (and I am extremely grateful to them!).

So I have a new answer to that very bothersome question: But what will people think?

Those who matter won’t mind!  They won’t judge me; they’ll uphold me.  Anybody who’s dead set on judging me isn’t a friend, loved one, or potential customer anyway, they’re just a Judgey McJudgey-Pants, and they can walk on. The door is over yonder…..

In the immortal words of Jared Leto, this is who I really am. Thank you, those who love me most, for teaching me to accept and be that. And thank you, all of you who have had faith in me and my business this past year for teaching me that, too.  I would not be on the amazing journey I’m on right now if it weren’t for all of you, and it’s only going to get cooler in 2016!