"You would not believe what the fortune teller has told me earlier tonight!"
Of course, I could not expect anything less intriguing from you as your first sentence, every time after we bid each other hello. With what you do for a living, it is only natural for you to come up with enthralling stories every now and then, and I could only respond it by eagerly saying, "Do tell!"
So, apparently, you are currently working on a story about modern fortune tellers, which has been keeping you occupied for the past week. For three days in a row, you interviewed three fortune tellers with different specialities. The first one reads people's personalities from a custom-made horoscope chart, and the other two was a tarot and palmistry specialist and an aura reader respectively.
As much as I wanted to encourage myself to be interested, I am never really into this fortune-telling thing. Others may think that believing in a fortune-teller is a form of infidelity for not solely believing in God, but I only have one word for it: bogus. I cannot comprehend that people still look for fortune tellers just to be told things that they want to hear, then stop making efforts and waiting for their life to change.
"The first thing I have to tell you is this: nobody should take what a fortune teller has said for granted and embrace it as their fate, then they would stop doing their best. This is, I believe, the biggest fallacy people have been embracing for ages, making them thinking that fortune tellers are frauds. Whether they read your personality or your future, using whatever method they are good at, the genuine fortune tellers would not fool you just so they can dig deeper into your pockets. Instead, they would help you discover who you are so you can furthermore empower and develop yourself."
"But fortune tellers are humans too, and they make mistakes just like everybody else. What if they are hiding behind this logic and actually make things up?" I argued.
"Exactly," you responded. "But nobody should even come near a fortune teller, if they know they would not believe a word from them. It is a matter of exercising your choices, really. I think it is as simple as taking things with sufficient reasoning. Also, I believe that my fate is in my own hands, not the fortune tellers', so I should not, for one, stop looking for the most suitable romantic partner although I was told that I'll be meeting him by next year."
"Nobody can win an argument with you," I sighed hopelessly. You responded with a smile, saying, "Actually, all three fortune tellers said that."
"You're joking!"
"The horoscope reader said that it has something to do with my having Aquarius in my Mercury. On the other hand, the aura reader claimed that the red in my aura is the thing to blame."
I believe my face could have told you better than having to say, 'I have no idea what any of those words mean.'
"Horoscope-wise, Mercury is the planet that represents communication. In my case, it makes me see debates as an opportunity to express my thoughts and beliefs with no hesitation in the slightest. Aura-wise, red means a logical self, making me a straightforward and dominant person. The palmist was more straightforward, she called me a dominant." We laughed in unison.
"That was spot on," I reluctantly admitted. "Nevertheless, you went to three fortune tellers in a week – that must have been an indulgence for an enthusiast like you!"
"Indeed! Other than getting my personality analysed, I got a glimpse of my future too, as thrilling as it may sound. I know that you are the kind of person who is rather sceptical on this matter, but as you've seen for yourself earlier, there are bits of their readings that actually have very similar premises, and they are bizarrely accurate."
I could not help but grinning. "Try me."
"The palmist told me that when I fall in love, I fall deeply. Probably, I have in my heart a bottomless pit into which I have the tendency to jump, and for now I have been keeping myself away from it by running in circles around it. Of course, I might have been tripped once in a while because I have poor balance, but gravity has yet to pull me into the abyss as I fall for someone.
"The horoscope and aura reader agreed with this. The former claimed that the element of Pisces and Scorpio under the romance part of my chart makes me a hopeless romantic at heart. The latter, on the other hand, believed that it has something to do with the blue-coloured aura I have in my personality."
"But you didn't interview them simply for free consultations, did you? What else did they talk about?"
"We talked a lot about human beings in general, actually. The palmist told me that it is human nature to be curious when they are being clueless about something, and once they are exposed to the truth, they have the desire to change what is supposed to happen. Some things, on the other hand, are meant to be the way it is, and nobody can change it no matter how bad they want to do so. Nevertheless, knowing that fact would make one understand the cause behind the consequence, and that would help them in accepting it, as well as making necessary improvements."
"That sounds like something a philosopher, instead of a fortune teller, I would say," I muttered. "It makes them sound more reasonable. Speaking of curiosity, though, I bet they have quite a number of curious clients?"
"Yes, actually. The aura reader told me a rather eventful fact, that many of her clients are women in their 30s with an almost similar issue: they are yet to be married and wondering what is wrong with them."
And here you are in your twenties, sharing their sentiments. You should have put such concern on hold. "Did she tell you why such thing happens?"
"They are red-dominated, this women," you said, matter-of-factly. "The presence of this colour in their personality makes them stronger, a person with ambition who strives for a successful and prosperous life. Having set a high standard for themselves, they tend to be picky in looking for a romantic partner. On another hand, many men would be intimidated by the nature of these red-coloured women. They prefer blue-coloured ones, who are somewhat less stubborn and would look up to them."
"You mean, like our mothers and grandmothers?"
"Yes. Strangely enough, the changing way of parenting actually contributes to this change of how women today behave and see themselves. My mother saw my grandmother as a stay-at-home mum growing up, and she didn't find that kind of role comfortable because it restricted her room to grow, so she taught me that I must do whatever it takes for me to be on my two feet. And now, ta-da!"
Sometimes I hate that I am so bad at encouraging people. Can you read my eyes, which tried to tell you that there's nothing wrong about being a red-coloured woman?
"Don't worry, I'm not blaming anyone here," you affirmed. "The horoscope reader told me that I should not be too pushy. 'There is nothing good from being so hard on yourself,' she said. 'You can start brushing up your personality here and there, but you must bear in mind that everybody was created with different set of characteristics, thus it is okay for us not to master everything there is to master in life.' She even said that after knowing her own character better through her reading, she doesn't blame herself as much as she used to do.
This is why I am all for horoscope and aura reading to get to understand one's personal nature better. Why should we stop trying to know ourselves a little bit more, if it would help us in understanding who we are and making the most of what we can do as a human being?
"It may sound a little unusual, but after listening to what the fortune tellers have told me, I am engulfed with relief. There is something heart-warming about getting to know someone better, and my own self is no exception. Now, I don't have the urge to say 'I might not be able to swim, or draw, or drive, or other gazillion things I cannot do, but I am not doing so badly' either, because comparing myself with others doesn't bring me anywhere."
"You are doing your best for yourself, and that's what matters." I finally managed to say something, to which you nodded in agreement.
"I am trying. I still have so much to work on. For one, I am learning not to be judgmental of others, believing that I am the only person in the world who is doing everything right. The aura reader told me that what she does now has taught her to see the good side of people. She said that no matter how 'bad' they may seem to be, there are reasons behind each of their conduct, that they don't want everybody else to see."
"I second you," I smiled, raising my mug of hazelnut latte. "To the future, and whatever fortune it may bring."
You grabbed your cup of green tea. "Cheers!"
And that was it, and then we moved on to talk about other things, but mostly about how fascinating your life has been. Not that I mind.
There is one thing, though.
I should have asked you to continue that bit about meeting your dream man in the near future. I need to know if it has any substantial clue that would draw you closer to me.