Being the Prophet

After considering how I can categorize and label my family and friends based on ‘knowing them so well,’ I started thinking about how easy it is for them to do the same with me.

It’s hard to drum up the courage to speak up and share the fact that I am a hand analyst. After all, hand analysis can sound a bit esoteric, and my family is anything but. Somewhere deep down, I’m afraid that my family and friends will reject it (and me).

The fear isn’t unfounded—I grew up with a lot of skepticism when it came to anything outside the strict boundaries of what the family viewed as practical and ‘realistic.’ One of my stepfather’s favorite sayings was, “Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Amusing, but squelching. So my desire to conform to the norm was molded in childhood.

Now, decades later, it feels safer to stick with the topics of children, grandchildren, homes, taxes or movies than to share something that could put me in the position of, “Who does she think she is, anyway?” So I have avoided those vulnerable conversations.

Since that’s the case, how can my family and friends do anything but categorize me as the mom, the grandma, the wife, the organizer? When have I ever given them the chance to see other aspects of who I really am?

At our next family event, will I be courageous and vulnerable, taking the chance to share something specific about what I do with someone who might be open to hearing it? Taking this chance is a particular challenge for me, because it brings me into a direct confrontation with the Life School aspect of my Soul Psychology—my Life School of Wisdom (after all, I don’t want to look like a fool) and my Life School of Love (I don’t want to chance generating or experiencing feelings that might prove uncomfortable).

How about you? How open and vulnerable are you with your own family and friends? What are the risks, and what are the rewards? And where do you see your own Soul Psychology challenged in the process?