by Diana Chin
When I first started my career as a professional tarot & oracle reader, I remember predicting my best friend’s success after being fired from a company. Around July, I conducted an oracle reading for my friend and emailed her my thoughts.
I never liked the idea of making predictions. However, there were a couple of occasions when I managed to nail certain events on the dot. I don’t consider myself a psychic. I simply understood the pattern of events that transpired in the past and made analytical scenarios on what might happen. When I conducted the reading, I remember visioning my best friend visiting public places to speak, traveling, and investing her time in meaningful projects. It seemed fair, considering that my best friend was doing some soul-searching in the aftermath of being fired from her previous job.
Suffice to say, my best friend did make a breakthrough. Two years later, she managed to publish her thoughts with a detailed account of her experiences at her old job. Within 24 hours, she garnered enough attention from different media outlets who made her story viral. A couple of months later, she managed to attend public conferences and travel more in advocating change in the workplace.
Having a best friend attain overnight success can make or break the friendship. Some of us may have joked within our inner circle that if one of us were to become famous, the lines “Don’t forget about me” are usually uttered in response. For me, I never bothered mentioning those words to my best friend since I already knew that she was going through enough attention (whether good or bad), as is. Simply stating those words would be an insensitive way of saying, “You got what you asked for. Now it’s time to deal with it.”
One of the things that I anticipated after the breakthrough was less communication. A couple of times a year, she’ll text to let me know how she’s doing. Compared to our frequent communication in the past, I knew that she had her hands full on working with different projects. Understandably, one of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned was that people do change. Not just personality-wise, but their outlook in life and where they fit in society after a drastic change. Another key moment? Knowing when to give the other person enough space to cope with the adjustment.
Was it hard for me to accept that our friendship in the past is quite different from now? Yes.
I knew in many ways that through the growing pains my best friend encountered, she was already on the path to success. The only thing I can do is support her on the sidelines and keep on rooting for her cause. At the end of the day, I know that my best friend is making waves. Even if she doesn’t see it, her presence is already felt in certain parts of the community.
I’ll always be forever grateful for the mentorship she provided to me in the past when it came down to freelancing. Even if the communication is limited, the current work that I do will be my way of saying “thanks” for making an impact on my career path of choice. To me, that’s the true essence of friendship – carrying out the cause and honoring the spirit of helping other women succeed in their chosen fields without judgment.
