Lesson learned: age does not make a person

I do tarot card readings for both parties and one on one. I was asked to do readings at a birthday party for a 13 year old. At first I was hesitant to do the party because I did not know how well a tarot reader would go over with a bunch of kids. Then I found out that the kids were the ones interested in the readings. So at that point I took the contract to do two-week readings for every one at the party, 45 to 50 people.

However I was still concerned about the quality of the readings I was gong to be able to give. I made the mistake of thinking that because of their age that there would not be that much for me to tell them, other then they would have schoolwork, parent issues and maybe a few relationship questions. Here is where my lesson was learned. As usual I asked every one to think of a question and shuffle the cards, and not to give me any information. I was very surprised at the depth of the readings, and how complex they were. Just because some one is 12, 13, 14 +, they are not kids, they are people with very complex lives and issues. Their lives are much more complicated then an “adults”. I must say these people impressed me.

First lets look at school. Take school out of schoolwork, you have work. Work = job. So they go to work for several hours, and deal with several demanding bosses and then always have to bring several hours of work home with multiple overlapping deadlines. Then they come home to another set of bosses – the parents who have a complete different set of demand and expectations for them. If there is any extra curricular activities, groups, or a paying job it gets even more complicated trying to balance all of this. I do not know of many adults with this many high stress demands on them, and I can not think of any one who would be interested in a job with this type of work load or number of bosses unless the pay was very, very high.

Then you add the complex social structure and the demands they have on them to fit in, find themselves, and try to get some independence all at the same time. People in this age are treated by their peers in a way that we “adults” would not find acceptable in our work place or home. They are being picked on, discriminated for every thing – sex, age, what they like, what they don’t like, the clothing they ware, what they look like, who they hang out with, the music they like, any thing. Every one expects them to change and be what they want, not what the “kid” wants.

Then we say, oh by the way the decisions you make in the next few years are going to decide how you live your life and what you do in it. They have to start thinking about what they want to do and how to get there – money, grades, and first jobs – all of it. Who knows what they want to do in 5 years, let alone 10.

There is more – it is not going to end for years, but only get more complicated, demanding and stressful. Lets just throw in sex, relationships, more responsibilities, and any thing else we can think of into the mix. No wonder most people at this age want to grow up faster. I used to think it would be fun to be able young again, to have all that time to relax and have fun and hang out with friends. As one person said – who has time?