To read or to not read... for free?

For a long, I read card for free in order to practice. Things were usually fine when that happened in a "safe environment", such as the divination communities I have been a part of during the years. There, people had the same goals, so everyone (with some rare exceptions) took exchanges seriously and helped each other through feedback. All was good.

Then, I started the venture out into the "real world", to do reading face to face. While not all experiences were bad, I noticed a trend: people did not really take my reading very seriously. Not that I expected to be regarded as an oracle or anything special, but many times they would forget what I told them in a matter of minutes. Also, I was often left in a depleted state, because when people heard I knew how to read cards they immediately lined up in front of me to ask for a reading that, ultimately, they did not really want or need. And they never offered anything in return.

Recently, in the PCO Discord Channel, we had a discussion that touched upon this subject. How good is it really to practice by giving people free readings. Again, I am not talking about exchanged done in learning communities, but rather the reading we offer random people, either live or on social media, in exchange for feedback in order to hone our skills.

I'm posting below what was my reflection about this. This is what I found out to be true, in my experience, after many years of reading cards.

~*~

Most of people don’t value what they get for free - that is, what they received without having to give something material or measurable in exchange for. This is because we live in a society too concerned with taking, rather than giving.