My kid sis and I sit in the back of Luna Park cafe, drinking our tea and sharing a large blueberry pancake.
People walk by and say hi and chat and talk at us and walk away. We sit. While my sis smiles and waves and is chipper and cheery… I merely absorb the words that are spoken and I write down ideas and when the person walks by again my sis hands them the ideas that wrote.
Some stop by to have my sis pull out her Tarot cards and they beg for one quick reading.
I have been listening to them as they visit in small burst. A girl who has been “blast visiting” (5 minute burst before she has to serve another table) has been telling us why she feels so down and I say to her… “You’re boyfriend is mean to you and he doesn’t listen. You will feel better when you stand your ground and tell him you don’t like it when he’s mean to you.”
She doesn’t believe me. Nervous laugh and “Oh, it’s not that bad, that can’t be it.”
But I have been listening. I have been sitting here most of the morning… listening… please believe me. I can hear what you say. You need to tell your boyfriend you don’t like this…
My sis will lay out the cards and explain the cards and tell the person… “This card I see conflict. She flips another… This card I see a love interest. Conflict with a love interest?”
The girl will say… “My boyfriend always puts me down.”
My sis will turn another card “Strength” reversed… the girl will say… I wish I had more strength.
My sis will turn over the 5 of cups “disappointment in a part of life?”
The girl will say… “Disappointment in the relationship” More cards are flipped and then as all the pictures stare this girl in the face the girl says… You know, maybe I should stand up to my boyfriend and tell him I don’t like it when he’s mean to me."
Well we got there in the end.
I guess it’s not just the message… it’s how the message is presented.