We recently connected with Marcie (MJ) Lakin and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marcie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In the eighth grade, the principal asked me up on the auditorium stage to show an example of what a well-dressed female student looks like, shyly, I capitulated. I was wearing a 3/4 sleeve, just over the knee, semi fitted, wool plaid, Italian coat dress, self-belted with tall, heeled boots, that I am pretty sure my mom and I got for a hefty discount, at Loehmann’s Back Room. It was the proudest day in my reserved mother’s life and the last time I ever wore it.

It felt like more of risk to me to lose my life to the status quo.

Isn’t life all about risk? About being daring? If it’s interesting it is.
In my career as a Holistic Life Coach, I employ the Tarot as a framework to engage in a narrative that points towards more self love, while shifting away from out-dated, negative perceptions and leaning into the direction of increased joy.
What I do is not the average run of the mill! Sometimes it’s really hard to explain. I have had people say they were afraid of the cards and in some cases even afraid of 5ft tall me, because I am a tarot reader! My mantra for 2022 is “I am brave”. We live in a society where normal seems to be something to aspire to. Doing something that is creative or original is a great risk! I say listen to your heart and take a leap of faith! Subvert the dominant paridigm!

When I closed my natural make up business in 2016, even though I really enjoyed it, I knew it wasn’t my passion. I had just received my certification as a holistic life coach and was not quite sure how to build my practice. Online promotion, which I’m still getting comfortable with, seemed like a huge task. One day, while sitting in contemplation, I had a thought. I remembered a family member, who really stood out as different, that I had met as a teenager. She was a Tarot Reader! I was fascinated and I never forgot my strong impression. That was it! I began to study Tarot! I read many books and took a few courses and wrapped what I knew via coaching and other healing modalities around the framework of the Tarot.

I think if you’re doing it right, life is a series risks. The idea that life is knowable or predictable is simply not true. We may choose a career or path for a variety of reasons, taught to us by society or family. The idea that “safe” choices will provide us with a problem free life is not the case at all. As the eminent Joseph Campbell said “Follow Your Bliss.” It’s worth the risk.

Marcie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

In what I do as Holistic Life Coach and Transformational Tarot Reader the most valuable assets to have, are to be compassionate and to trust your intuition. When working with a client, I use my senses. I ask myself, how does this person’s energy feel? If they are afraid or are uncomfortable sharing, the session will not be as powerful for them. It is so important for me to be sensitive and attuned to their emotions. It is key to really listen to people and almost hear between the lines. If I am able to truly connect with someone, then they will deeply share and really hear what comes through in the session. If that deep listening takes place on both sides, there is a much better chance that they can see their way through their problem or situation and begin to recalibrate and create positive shifts in their life. Through my intuition, my knowledge and the tarot I help people create empowering changes that feel better and give them back their hope.

When I work with clients that have done a lot of personal growth work and have refined their own intuition, I have some of my most powerful sessions. I often share with them ideas and concepts that they may already have know, but needed to hear in the moment to move back into a happier, more balanced state. When two people that trust their intuition come together there is often a synergy, a knowing that takes place that is incredibly uplifting.

The Tarot works as an outline that sparks intuition. The interpretation of the cards, as related to the clients challenge, provokes new ways of thinking. One thing that is so wonderful about the Tarot is that it pushes one to see outside of themselves. It removes the boundaries and redefines the story. It portends to the possibility of magic.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

It’s so interesting, I’ve been wanting to write some thing about resilience for the longest time. I’ve had many things occur in my life that would crush most people and for a time they did bring me to my knees. I believe that we’ve all gone through trauma in one form or another, or maybe there’s a very few that life has been gentle with. I lived in New York City in the ninety’s and worked as a makeup artist in the fashion world. I experienced NYC’s hipster club scene when I was young and innocent, so #metoo.
One night more than a decade ago, I received a phone call from my mother, unusually late. She told me that my father had been shot in a Dunkin’ Donuts in Delray Beach by Cripps Gang Members. You can’t make this stuff up. Thankfully, although disfigured, he lived to tell about it.
In many situations people go through a trauma and they retell the story and relive the emotions over and over again. And in a sense they define themselves by their past experience. Their life is now seen through the lens of a terrible event, their worldview forever changed.
I made a promise to myself that I would never be defined by pain.
I sought out spiritual teachers and practices, classes of all kinds. I read books, chanted and meditated and I grew. I learned to be an observer of my own thoughts and redirect away from old negative beliefs. What I came to, is that it is not what happens to you, it is how you respond to it; and I learned to respond in a way that brings me a bit more peace.
My main focus is to cherish the life I have been given, to forgive myself when needed and to navigate this very imperfect world in way that points me towards joy. Sprinkling in active self love and some intentional gratitude. I think this way of thinking is what creates resilience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,marciejayne.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/marcie.jayne
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/marciejaynelakin

Image Credits
Anna Barnat (photos of me) Marcie Lakin (tarot spreads)