The Hit List - Not sincerely

I intended to write something different today about self-care or some such thing. My writing was going along splendidly when the little ding that alerted me that I had an email caught my attention. Because I like to stay on top of my inbox, I opened the email.

I wish I didn’t.

It was a nasty note from a peer. She wanted to let me know how awful my work was, blah blah blah. If she meant to hurt my feelings, she succeeded.

I took a minute to absorb this haterade, cried a bit to my husband and friends, then went back about my business. Because frankly, I don’t have time for this shit. I’ve got clients that need me and a big stack of to-dos. Plus, the world I live in is kind and loving. I won’t allow that kind of negativity to take up too much space in my life. There isn’t room for hate here.

But I do find it interesting that a colleague would stoop to such behavior. A lot of my work and writing is about encouraging my fellow tarot professionals. I want them to succeed. I’ve done a lot to help them out in that way. Oddly, the meanest flack I’ve ever gotten always comes not from a client but from a peer. I guess I would understand that more if I were out there attacking folks. But I’m not. I’m trying to actively lift them up.

I also found myself wondering: if this is how they treat a complete stranger, a person who works in the same industry no less, how do they take care of their clients? How do they interact with their loved ones? Are they cruel to them? Or does the internet make it easier to unleash your nasty because it’s not a “real” person?

I dunno what the answer is but stuff like this makes me feel sorry for that person.

Because it takes a lot of energy to send a vicious email, to write a brutal review, or to slag off a stranger on a forum. A LOT. That’s energy that could be better spent sending love letters to people you admire, writing kind reviews for products you adore, hugging your loved ones, or petting cats.

One of my goals in life is to spread as much kindness to others as I can. The other goal is to support folks wherever possible. Because the world is tough. We don’t need to be hateful to each other.

And most of all, we don’t need to go the sour route and wreck someone else’s day, even if we don’t like them, their work, their cat, or whatever.

Better, not bitter. THAT.

Do something nice today. Trust me, it feels good.