In The Palm of Your Hand
Hand prints are maps of our brains. Your dominant “doing” hand is a snap-shot of where you are at in your life right now.
I met the palm reader in the back of a Pilates studio where she rented space. Sitting on a comfy arm-chair across from the pretty young woman, I felt immediately at ease. Maybe I felt at ease because the woman reminded me of my writer-friend Annie, except with long-brown curling hair. Maybe it was because the space was relaxing. Maybe it was because it felt like this lady knew what she was doing and had my best interest in mind.
Not-Annie squirted a dollop of hot pink paint into my palm and used her fingers to smear it evenly across my skin. Placing my hand in the center of a piece of paper, she gently pressed down making sure all the lines and breaks in my skin were captured on the paper. It’s the only time she touched me over the two hours I was there.
I washed the pink off and turned my right hand face up on a pillow. We both leaned in.
She said, “Wow. You need A LOT of alone time. Way more alone time than the average individual.”
I swallowed back, “Holy crap. Truer words have never been spoken.”
She had me bend my thumb inwards. It crooked at right angles along both joints. “See how angular your bends are, that shows me you’re a highly analytical thinker.”
Whoa, that’s what those Research Institute tests said too — I scored 90% on analytical thinking according to science.
I bent my thumb-backwards, like a hitch-hiker. Already knowing that it would bend insanely far back. (Sometimes people ask me if I’m double jointed. I’m not.)
“You really hate conflict. Like to the point you’ll do anything to avoid it.”
Uh huh, and that’s why working in insurance had been a horrible fit for me — most of that job was conflict resolution.
I’d been in the Pilates studio for fifteen minutes and not-Annie had me pegged. So I settled in to see what I could learn from this total stranger, and oh-my-God I learned so much.
Here are just a few tidbits for you:
- There’s a school for palmistry, which is where not-Annie learned her trade.
- Our fingerprints never change, but over the course of our lives our palm prints do change.
- Hand prints are maps of our brains. Your dominant “doing” hand is a snap-shot of where you are at in your life right now. Your non-dominant hand is a map of what your brain wants your life to look like. In an ideal world your left and right hands maps grow to look the same.
My hands didn’t match, but they did paint an accurate picture of my life.
Most people’s lines are continuous, long grooves, but mine looked more like tire tracks — three mini-lines running parallel to one another along the standard lay-lines of a palm. The tire tracks meant my energy was split — like a river being split into three streams. My energy was constantly channeled in three different directions, which wore me out easily, and explained my need for extensive recharging via alone time.
She’d never seen it to this degree, and was surprised because it was like that from the time I was very young and continued for the rest of my life. By her tone I could tell it didn’t make sense to her.
It made perfect sense to me.
My parents divorced when I was six. I spent one week at mom’s, the next at dad’s, and school was the constant between them. Divorced kids are highly adaptable and kid-Jess at dad’s house needed different survival skills than kid-Jess at mom’s house and school-Jess was some sort of hybrid. Compartmentalization followed me through college and into adulthood, and now I find myself leading a three-way energy split career. (Writing, speaking, and coaching.)
Not-Annie helped me see many things clearly. It was liberating to let go of the guilt I’d felt for needing alone time — something I had struggled with for years. I understood this was how I was hard-wired and there is nothing wrong with taking care of myself. I accepted that alone time is as important as working out or eating the right food and would no longer put other people’s demands for social engagement before my own health.
If you had told me a trip to the palm-reader would be as helpful to me as the science tests I took, which had reported I’m well suited to a career in writing, I would have scoffed. But, I would have been wrong.
Sitting in the back of that Pilates studio I came to understand that there are infinite ways for people to learn. “Normal” ways like books or workshops, and “weird” ones like science tests and getting my palm reading.
I’m down to learn any way the information is offered, so bring it on universe. I’ve got some more learning to do.
Jessica Conoley is an author, developmental editor, speaker, and Authorpreneurship coach. She writes YA and fantasy novels, creative non-fiction, flash fiction, and essays. In 2012 she became the Managing Editor of Kansas City Voices arts and literary magazine and spent the next five years publishing emerging artists and writers. She launched her Authorpreneurship coaching program in 2018 and utilizes her editorial and business skills to prepare authors for the next step of their publishing careers. Get Jessica’s monthly Authorpreneurship tips delivered to your inbox at: https://jessicaconoley.com
