What the fortune-teller said
I had my fortune told once. A five dollar new year's special I believe it was. At the beginning of the session, the fortune-teller said I should think about a question I would like the answer to. I was going through a bad patch at the time and my question was predictable: will things get better for me in the new year?
After the fortune-teller read my fortune - the contents of which I have long ago forgotten - she concluded by saying, "The answer to your question is 'yes'." Despite my skepticism I was much heartened. My situation would improve. Things would get better. This annoying downturn in my life was only temporary.
When I decided to focus my attention on my writing I had no idea what challenges I would encounter along the way. Was I any good? Would I be a success? Would the struggle to achieve in this field be worth the financial sacrifice?
Many times I wished there was a mountain-top oracle to whom I could direct these questions. Said oracle would save me a heck of a lot of time, work, and heartbreak. If I knew I would fail, that there was no point to my efforts, I could just give up now. And if I knew I would succeed and all would be well, I would forge merrily onward filled with hope for the future.
In lieu of an oracle I frequently turned to my horoscope. Was this a good day or bad? Were the planetary alignments in my favour? Would I meet somebody today who would change my life? Would my finances improve? Was my big break coming? In short, would my horoscope throw me a bone to let me know I was on the right path?
The problem with the future is it doesn't contain all good. For example, if somebody had foretold for me the summer of 2001 I might have run screaming for the hills.
First of all, my biggest client ran out of funding and was unable to pay me for work I'd done. This considerable amount of money would have seen me through several months of expenses, and without it I was cash-poor. For the first time in my life I had to scramble to pay my rent. At the same time, writing jobs seemed to dry up. All the while the balances on my credit cards were building. And, as we all know, the economy started to slow down.
Latest Articles