Sunday the 15th of October was Palm Sunday for me.

I spent the entire day reading palms – the Japanese call it Te-Soh.

My father-in-law had recently given me one of his old formal kimonos, so I donned that, and spent the day looking like I’d dressed for some solemn Japanese occasion. In a way, it was fitting.

What was the event, and how did I come to be there, telling people’s fortunes?

About 40 years ago, I learned palmistry, and ever since then, I’ve enjoyed it as light entertainment when I’m with a crowd of folks. Word always spreads that “there’s a guy in the next room reading palms” and pretty soon people are lined up halfway around the house. At parties, I meet everybody – they come seeking me out – and folks always remember me as the guy who read their palm.

Sunday’s event was a small artist’s fair held way out in the small, sharp mountains of rural Wakayama Prefecture, about an hour from our home. And I’d been invited to participate by a friend who has a booth there every year.

Most of the exhibitors were private artists, artisans and craftsmen, and since I wasn’t strictly speaking any of the above, I didn’t know what kind of reception I’d receive.

For the first 10 or 15 minutes, I just sat at my little table, twiddling my thumbs waiting for the first customer. Then, finally one came over and sat down, and everything was all right.

That opened the floodgates. Once it started, it didn’t let up all day. From 10:30 that morning until 5:30 that afternoon, I held hands, probed palms and “told fortunes.”

Some people were just curious, but most came with specific questions. Should I take this job or that one? What kind of person should I marry? Or will I ever marry again? Is a particular business a good idea for me?

The one common factor through the entire day was a profound need for more confidence. Again and again I found myself giving a quick primer in how to build confidence, or how to chase away depression, anger or “bad feelings.”

This was a first for me. I’d never before charged for reading palms. This time I was charging 1,000 yen, which is about 8 or 9 dollars.

Oh, and lest you think I’m some kind of genius at speaking Japanese, let me put your mind at rest. I couldn’t have done it without the interpreting services of my favorite lady in the whole world – my lovely wife Shioe.

Now, I’ve heard people claim that doing this kind of work exhausts them. For me it was just the opposite. I sat and talked for 7 solid hours, squeezing in just two five minute breaks. But by the end of the day, I was more hyped up than when I’d started.

While it was fun for me, however, it was hard work for Shioe. The vocabulary of palm reading and personal advice is very different from her usual work as a patent translator. So she spent a lot of time trying to find accurate equivalents for seemingly simple statements in English.

When I told one woman, “You have an unusually strong hand,” she knew it didn’t refer to physical strength but to personal traits. However, stating that clearly in Japanese is tricky.

And when I told another that she had powerful aggressive talents – not for fighting, but for moving into any situation and turning it toward the form she desired – my wife had to grope for ways to say that in Japanese that didn’t come off sounding negative.

Anyway, while I spent the day blissed out, Shioe was working her tail off. She ended up just spent from the hard brainwork she’d been doing all day.

It was thanks to her, however, that we had people waiting for up to 90 minutes just to sit down and have us do Te-Soh for them. We managed to fit in 24 people. Many others didn’t get a turn – we simply ran out of time.

A couple of friends commented afterwards that it sounded like I’d found my passion.

Well, yes and no. I love doing this stuff. It almost feels like that’s my way of healing people. But I also recognize that when you start answering other people’s questions and making their decisions for them, there’s a danger of creating dependency.

And dependency is not a good thing. I’d far rather teach people how to be confident, how to make decisions without fear, and how to trust their own abilities.

I took a class one time, and in it, we attempted to uncover our life’s mission. Mine seemed so huge, so grandiose, that for years I wouldn’t even acknowledge it.

My mission? It was for every person on earth to gain so much confidence in themselves that they become unusable… to users.

Last Sunday was a tiny step in that direction. I touched only 24 lives, but who knows what turns those 24 lives may take tomorrow?

Cheers from sunny Japan,
Charles