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(Above) Mystical Hand, www.carolineallen.com
As a writing and metaphysical coach, I have been busier during the financial crisis than at any other time. Why? I ask myself that all the time. I’m as surprised as anyone.
I’ve been pondering it lately, and I think I’m coming close to an answer. I wanted to share my story in case it helped others grappling with how to make money in a sluggish economy. I’m calling it finding your “Path of Value”.
In 1993, I’d been a journalist for many years when I heard a strong call to quit journalism and take up metaphysical healing and fiction writing. At first, I had no idea what the “call” was. I just knew I couldn’t do journalism anymore. I’d worked in newsrooms in Tokyo and London, and as a travel writer in Asia – so you can imagine that giving up journalism was a struggle. I LOVED my jet-setting lifestyle. I still miss it sometimes.
So, I left London and moved to Seattle, where I worked odd freelance journalism jobs while I set myself up as a tarot reader. I’d gone from buzzing around in black cabs in London doing interviews with important people to sitting at a rickety table in the back of a bookstore in Seattle giving psychic readings. Ego-wise it was a falling downward. Spiritually it was right on track, but I didn’t know that at the time. I’d always thought in London that my phone rang off the hook because I was well-loved and important. I realized when it stopped ringing abruptly in Seattle that my “importance” had come from working at newspapers like the Financial Times. I, personally, wasn’t important at all. It was a huge (and necessary) ego blow.
I started writing fiction every day, but as any artist will tell you, you can’t expect to make money from your art right away. In fact, you have to detach your art from money to be able to explore it freely, without having interfering and destructive thoughts about what you’re writing.
I also began teaching fiction classes through evening college extension programs. I’d stand in front of a 6th-grade classroom while adults squeezed into the small desks, posters on bullying on the wall and a snake in an aquarium in the corner. It was good; I found to my surprise I was a good teacher. Some students ended up becoming professional fiction writers after my classes, others created writing groups that are still going today, more than a decade later. But I couldn’t make any money at it. The pay was dismal. And I was so sensitive that the creative outpouring of the 20 or so people in the class would stay with me for days – I’d dream their short stories so profoundly I had little room in my head for my own fiction writing.
Meanwhile, I kept reading tarot. Once, a self-help book writer from NYC stopped at my rickety table. I read for her, and she went back and included me as a resource in the back of her most recent book. Within hours of its publication, I was inundated with clients. Thousands of dollars poured into my account. All great news, yes, but then I had to do the readings. At that time, a one hour reading would take me six hours to recover from. They were draining and overwhelming. I’d get so much information and it’d stay with me for far longer than I could handle.
So, I didn’t see leaving journalism and becoming a fiction writer/metaphysical coach at first as a good thing. It was draining, overwhelming, and I made a starving artist’s income. Who wants that? Why did the universe direct me to give up journalism if this was all I got out of it? Meanwhile, as I grappled with these questions, I was profoundly helped through regular metaphysical sessions with Seattle’s Judith Laxer, www.judithlaxer.com
About six years ago, life started to shift. Over time, I learned how many tarot readings I could do without becoming overwhelmed. I raised my prices. I discovered that I wasn’t as drained if I did the sessions over the phone. The readings were just as good, and I could disconnect psychically more easily afterwards. So I changed my metaphysical coaching business to doing almost all the readings over the phone. This way I could reach clients all over the world – which increased my client base significantly.
Within the realm of fiction teaching, it was a student who helped shape my career as a coach. She asked me simply: “I was wondering if you would work with me one-on-one?” I resisted at first. I wanted to write and publish my own novels, not help every other person in whole blessed world write their books. Months passed. I ran into the student at a party on the beach. A light bulb went on. I could do this one-on-one work. In fact, it would turn out to be a profitable business, but I didn’t know that at the time. I called it Art of Storytelling, a coaching service for writers. I built a website. I came up with a plan. Within months, I had six ongoing clients. I was able to quit teaching.
Now, years later, I make a solid income through writing coaching and metaphysical coaching. I’m busy even during the financial crisis. I’m on my second novel, and I’ve also become a visual artist. Sometimes, I discovered, we can think our ideas are all wrong when in fact they just need time to develop and evolve.
At the same time, the world is evolving. I only recently discovered that part of the reason the universe was calling me to quit journalism was because there would be no print journalism jobs left. Who could’ve predicted that? We also have to pay attention to what’s going on in the world, and evolve with that. I can’t help thinking how much the introduction of PayPal and Skype have made my international business a possibility. I couldn’t have afforded the hour-long sessions to Amsterdam and the UK that I make regularly these days. I can easily get paid online with credit cards. Just a few years ago, none of this was possible.
Yes, I make a humble living, but I don’t feel I have more or less money than when I was an international journalist. All the money I made as a journalist seemed to disappear quickly in trying to maintain the high-pressured lifestyle. Since my spiritual shift my needs and wants are more humble. I’d rather have a simple cup of green tea looking out at the river, than a $4 Starbucks coffee. I’d rather make my own meals and enjoy the colors and aromas of food I’ve hand picked, than go to a stuffy restaurant for over-greased fare. I still travel the world. That is something I’ll never give up.
If you’re unemployed, underemployed, or just unhappy with your work, the advice I’d give is this: Listen to what you really want to do, the work your soul craves. Don’t dismiss it because it quote unquote won’t make you money – even if it’s poetry or visual art or singing. I keep thinking with the financial crisis, with so many people out of work, what do you have to lose? These “troubles” could be the perfect opportunity to try something you’ve always wanted to try. Have the courage. You CAN do it! Ask the universe to help you figure out a way to form your passion into making money in a legitimate, soulful way. I do not use visual art as a money-making path because I don’t want to, so I found another way, through coaching, which feels soulfully legitimate and leaves me the time I need to paint.
There is something profound about valuing your gifts; it brings value to your life, and I know it’s connected to “making money” in the world. It’s like you’re “taking the credit” you deserve in the world. It’s all about self-value first.
You’ll have to work hard. I work harder than anyone I know. You’ll have to figure out as you go what works for you and what doesn’t. You’ll have to stick it out when money is tight. You’ll have to have the courage to say: This is who I am and what I believe and I can do it! If you’d told me 20 years ago I’d be a metaphysical coach, I would’ve scoffed. I’m not scoffing now.
As I mentioned earlier, I was profoundly helped by a metaphysical coach during my process of understanding and shifting my career. One of the reasons I became a spiritual healer is to then turn around and provide that help to others. If you need a session or two, or ongoing coaching, to help you figure out your Path of Value, contact me at www.shiftingperceptions.com.
