I was approached with a question that caught me off guard.
“Why do you pay a reiki healer, and an intuitive, and a spiritual teacher for their gifts. They should be free right… and why do you pay so much?”
Apparently, there was a point of contention from a post someone had made on FaceBook, so she wanted my thoughts. Well, that’s a really good question. For some, there is a great deal of resistance to paying people for their ‘gifts.’
For me, it goes something like this…
First, money is simply energy, so it’s an exchange of energy for their ‘gifts.’
Second, this is their profession and I certainly don’t ask an author, artist, or any other person to give me their gifts and energy for free. (Could you image? Hey Elizabeth Gilbert, I am going to need you to sit down and tell me a story, or write it down real quick because that’s your gift.”)
Third, if these ladies weren’t receiving an exchange of energy for their profession (the one they are most passionate about) they may go into a different one ‘to make money’. My reiki healer may become a nurse with little to no energy at the end of the day to focus on me. My intuitive mentor may take a job in a big corporation, exchanging her gifts with people who sell products and services to the masses and ultimately line the pockets of the C-suite. All fine and good, but if she’s worked all day, how can I expect her to share her gifts with me? My spiritual teacher may take a job as a traditional one. You get the point.
This last point hits close to home for me as I work a full-time corporate job and juggle expanding the profession I love so very much. After 9 hours a day working for a Fortune 100 company, I spend time with my kiddos and husband, and then I find the energy to serve others. During my 8-5 job, I receive messages, calls, and pleas for support from those waiting for me to serve them with my energy. I am so honored, but I am often also so drained. Something will eventually have to give and I prefer it be the corporate job... so that I can be fully present with the women I adore and prefer serving... AND I have enough left to enjoy my beautiful family.
I don’t know about others, but I would prefer to pay my reiki healer to support me in my wellness, rather than pay the doctors and hospitals when I’m broken. I would rather the exchange happen before I am paying pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies to “fix my body and mind.”
I would rather pay my intuitive coach/mentor to help me clarify what I want and release the resistance I feel than to buy the services and products of major companies that I might use to not feel the resistance. And it's far faster than therapy or traditional coaching.
I prefer to pay my spiritual teacher to not only share her knowledge but to partner and co-create with me in my growth. I know these women gift their gifts often. They do a great deal of pro-bono work and I assume they do so for the same reasons I do, when I have space to do so... because it feels good AND because their cup is full from receiving energy for the profession they love.
I’d love to see a world where we exchange energy with one another for the things that matter most, rather than running around like hamsters on wheels and hoping we have enough left to give at the end of the day.
And lastly, I pay them so much before they are damn well worth every penny. If I didn’t feel I had it, I wouldn’t. And I trust that every other individual in the world can make that decision as well.
If you are in these professions, THANK YOU! Your energy means so much to the people you serve and you are worthy of the exchange!