Friends, even though I've given some insights in my site description and credentials about how I came to be offering Tarot led coaching and intuitive Tarot readings, I feel compelled to delve a bit deeper. When you're looking to someone to be a guide or a coach or just to help you with something you're struggling with, you generally want to know what qualifies that person to do so, right? I know I do. Even when it's just deciding which friend to vent to, you choose the friend who would best "get it" don't you? Or the friend who's been in your position and survived it, because you know their advice will be rooted in experience and real life understanding. That's valuable isn't it? I bet we've all gone to someone to help us with an issue and been so frustrated when they clearly don't understand where we're coming from, so their suggestions and advice just don't seem applicable to our experience. Have you been there? I have, repeatedly.
So, when describing my services and what I think qualifies me to do what I do, I've told you some pretty basic statistics about me. I'm a mom, I'm a nurse, I have taken courses on cognitive behavior therapy techniques and life coaching, and reiki, and intuitive Tarot. But all this is pretty surface level isn't it, and it doesn't tell you why I feel like I'll get you or be able to help you with your issues or make plans and goals to improve your life, and in this post I want to explain more.
First, I'd like to introduce to you the story of The Velveteen Rabbit? Have you read it? It's a beautiful children's story, written in 1922 by Margery Williams, and it's still being published today. It's a pretty deep story, about a stuffed toy rabbit that wants to be real and gets some advice from a toy horse who tells him that "real" happens when something is deeply loved, and that sometimes means you've acquired some damage and aren't in pristine shape, because that's how life goes.
The horse explains that those experiences that beat us up (metaphorically speaking) can make us feel ugly or broken, but that what they do is make us real, and when you're real, you can't be ugly, except to those who simply don't get it. The story tosses in magical fairies and such for the kids, but the take away for adults is that the things we've experienced in life that we're inclined to think have decreased our value, have really only served to make us "real" and more genuine and relatable. The wear and tear show we've lived and loved, and it makes us more valuable to those in our lives.
So friends, what I want to first explain about myself to you, is that I am real, imperfectly flawed, knocked around a bit by life experience, well worn and well loved. I've lived through some difficult chapters and have come through on the other side with some wear and tear but in many ways better, and definitely wiser and softer and more sensitive to those who are in difficult chapters of their lives right now and wondering if their struggles are somehow diminishing their value. They're not. Take it from the Velveteen Rabbit, he knows all about it.
So, number one, I'm real. I've got a lot of experiences under by belt that might help me relate to what a lot of you are going through in your own lives right now. Secondly, I've got a heart that wants to help, and wants to see people succeed and be happy. I'll toot my own horn for a minute and tell you that I'm pretty great at understanding how people have been shaped by their experiences and that we've all stumbled, I don't judge. This is why I do the nursing that I do, because I am able to see the value in people who have struggled and stumbled and I believe that all people are capable, by their own efforts, of improving their circumstances, and that a little guidance and support goes a very long way. My personal experiences come through the lens of a woman, but my current nursing niche is caring for primarily men, I think I'm pretty good at accepting all people where they're at and providing compassionate and empathetic care to both men and women, as a nurse yes, but also as a human citizen.
I'm spiritual and believe that the Universe has a lot to offer us and teach us, and that those teachings are absolutely accessible to us all. I believe in Tarot and divination and people as conduits to help plug into the Universe and Spirit. I believe that our essences are never destroyed but just on the other side of the veil, and therefore we can still connect to our ancestors who are gone from our physical lives. I believe our dream lives are still part of our experience and that we can get valuable messages from them. I believe we're all full of magic and that we're all capable of healing, ourselves and others.
I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to studying and learning and note taking. I'm obsessed with workbooks, journals, my day planner and self improvement. I read a LOT of books on personal development, spirituality, magic, self help, etc. I take notes because I learn better when I write something out for myself. I've done a lot of studying on a lot of things, and I took courses on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques and life coaching so that I could better serve and support clients to who come to me as their Tarot guide. I'm bringing a spectrum of caring modalities to the table for you friends, so I can do the best job I can, empowering you to create a life you love, and to love yourselves.
I'm also comfortable using my personal using my lived experiences to help me be the best guide, coach, healer and support person I can be for you. Because of who I am and what I have experienced in my life, I am particularly attuned to what those going through similar experiences may be going through. While I'm happy to work with men and women, you'll find I can relate to those who have experienced the following on a deeper level:
*having a baby in the NICU
*infant loss
*raising a twin-less twin
*divorce
*single motherhood
*managing finances as a single mother
*being a working single mother
*sexual assault
*managing dating and mothering
*body image issues
*chronic illness
*anxiety
I'm coming from a place of being well informed educationally, and also by way of a rich life filled with ups and downs and painful experiences as well as joyful ones. I've got the credentials and the studies and the certificates, but I've also got the lived experience, the scars and the triumphs. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, I am real. So are you. And as a team, we can do some really amazing things in your life.
I'll help you access your intuition and the Universal knowledge through Tarot, but I'll help you set goals and create workable plans to achieve those goals with coaching and CBT strategies, and I'll support you with the heart of an empathetic soul who has lived a very real life (and still is), and will accept you as is, and who probably understands more than you know. This is who I think I am.
Katie
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