"This is going to sound wierd, but...."

It is the phone call intro that I hear every day, usually multiple times a day - "this is gonna sound weird, but........"

What follows that intro varies from day to day, but none of it sounds weird to me anymore. For nine years now, I've been managing the family business, which just happens to be a psychic tea room, so after about 20 calls a day for six days a week, 52 weeks a year, by now I've heard just about everything.

What makes the following list interesting, to me at least, is that in the vast majority of cases, these are sincere requests for information, not prank calls. (We did once have a brief spate of heavy breather calls, but that only lasted about a week.) These calls are from people who have real questions about what may or may not be real situations in their lives, looking for an honest answer that will help them make sense of something they can't quite explain.

Here are some of the phrases that have followed the quotidian "this is gonna sound weird, but........" call:

"....are you guys for real?"

"....do you make house calls?"

"....do you worship the devil?"

"....I need an emergency exorcism performed, can you do that over the phone?"

".....I think my house (insert garage, potting shed, cabin, or sailboat...I've heard them all) is haunted".

"....seriously, can you tell me where I left my car keys (insert engagement ring, plane tickets, deed to the house)?"

".....my son (insert daughter, husband, wife, or dog) is seeing ghosts (spirits, poltergeists, demons, entities, fairies, leprechauns)

"....I think someone (insert my boss, my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend/wife, my mother, a co-worker, a gypsy, or my personal favorite 'a woman from my church') put a curse on me, and I need you to remove it."

Taking each call one on one, it's easy for me to be sincere and try my best to help my clients figure out how to proceed. But when I look at the list as a group, I admit it seems kinda odd, and maybe a even a little silly. I'm definitely not curing cancer, here, am I? What I am doing is trying to help people, including myself, find meaning and connection and joy in their lives, whatever form that may take.

This work is not what I thought I'd be doing when I was little; it's not even what I thought I'd be doing 10 years ago, but it is surprisingly gratifying, always challenging, and makes for great conversation at cocktail parties. I've been invited into my clients lives, met amazing people (both living and dead), performed weddings, blessed homes, channeled spirits, and these days when someone someone asks me what I do, my answer starts like those daily calls: "This is gonna sound weird, but I'm a professional psychic." And proud of it.

Heatherleigh

A few tips on how to live your best life. - From Charise

*Start each day with an affirmation, such as...  My purpose is________ today!

*Choose your battles, train yourself to when feeling defensive ask yourself "is
this really important? is this worth my energy?" If the answer is no, (and you
will find it most often to be)  LET IT GO!

*Don't start each new experience concerned about when it will end.  You surely
don't do that when you are boarding your favorite roller coaster. Instead enjoy
the experience, whether it be a new love, a new job or just a day off. Make the
best of it.

*Know that it is VERY difficult to actually do some thing wrong if you have good
intentions.


 

Halloween

October is big for people in my line of work. The weeks leading up to Halloween are, for psychics, like the weeks between Thanksgiving an Christmas for more traditional retail businesses. Suddenly, we're the most popular folks in town, getting invited to every party (as long as we bring our Tarot cards), and being asked to weigh in on all manner of Halloween haunted-ness on every local radio and TV station. People who would never normally see a psychic call us weeks in advance to make sure they can book one of our Readers for their event. In short, my usually oddball career becomes the singular quality that makes me the belle of the ball for a few short weeks.

How do I reconcile that month-long celebrity status to the other eleven months of being the oddball outsider? It's easy, really. I love what I do. here are some of the reasons why:

• Sure, it's a very niche industry, but we have our celebrities: Mary K. Greer, Rachel Pollack, Robert Place, Ciro Marchetti, and many more. And when your field is as small as ours, you get to not only meet, but even get chummy with, your professional heroes. That's one bonus.
• I meet the nicest people! Every day someone new walks in the door of my shop, some by accident, and some looking for something; a particular herb, a book on meditation, a gift for a friend's birthday. Each of these individuals offers me chance to see the interconnectedness of all life, and they all offer a little bit of themselves through conversation.
• I get to work with my mom and my sister. Granted, this one is also one of the drawbacks of the job sometimes, but 90% of the time it's a blessing. It's nice to be surrounded by family and know that when it comes to work, they've got your back just like at home.
• I'm always learning something new. What I know about metaphysics, world religions, the benefits of meditation, the academic studies of psychic phenomena and much more, is vastly greater than when I began, yet doesn't even scratch the surface of what I still have to learn, all of it fascinating.

In short, I'll take the all the kooky over-the-top Halloweeny-ness this October, knowing that after November first I'll go back to being the oddball psychic down the block, quietly doing what I do a little bit under the radar, and getting ready for our second biggest holiday, New Year's Eve (because everyone wants to know what the new year has in store for them).

Heatherleigh

What the heck happened to my sense of humor?!

Well, I get it, kind of. My default humor setting is, well, a bit harsh. I have a tendency, I've been told, to be overly sarcastic, not very diplomatic, borderline judgemental, and quite frankly, kind of insensitive. I can most accurately compare my sense of humor to women like Kathy Griffin and Janeane Garofalo. No, I'm not nearly that funny, but that's my style, the sword-like skewering of others for the quick laugh.

So it's no wonder, I suppose, that I tone it down when I come to work. Let's face it, when you show up for a psychic reading, the last thing you want is to feel like you're at a bad Carrottop performance. In my work environment, I want to be kind, loving, helpful, open, and completely present for my clients. Sarcasm has no place in an intuitive counseling session. Neither does judgement. But there is, or should be, room for humor. Humor is a balm for the soul, and can help an individual in pain or turmoil diffuse the discomfort in their life and find the balance again. It can help remind us of the positives in our life, decrease physical discomfort, release endorphins and seratonin, and contribute to a sense of overall wellbeing, and when we feel better, we are more productive. It's a win-win. And for the record, spirit is funny! When I have a session where I'm communicating with a client's deceased family or friend, most often that person's spirit chooses to connect with us by using humor....they crack jokes with their loved ones (often private jokes that I don't get at all, but which my client finds hilarious). It seems to be their way of showing their personality, and connecting at a deeper level.

So here's my challenge: as a psychic, my job is be of maximum service to my clients; to help them find comfort and a way to move beyond whatever is limiting them, and to do that in a way that is positive and upbeat. To try to completely put a lid on humor in a session isn't a good way to do this, but neither is channeling Kathy and Janeane. Ahh, finding balance is always key with me. Any ideas on how to "find my funny" with love and compassion will be appreciated.

Heatherleigh

Our New Blog!

We have a new blog feature on our website.  Look for interesting and informative features from the owners and readers of the Boston Tea Room family.  Both the Ferndale and Wyandotte staff are involved, and excited to share their psychic adventures and metaphysical wisdom with our clients. We're busy collecting ideas and learning how this blogging all works.  Bear with us as we venture along this new path!  Talk with you soon,

Sincerely,
BTR