All the time in the world...

After sitting for the last few hours listening to music (much as I would at any other time in my life with little thought), I had an epiphany: My life is very strange. Don't get me wrong, I mean that in the best possible way. It's just that, sitting here, being lulled into submission by the bittersweet melodies of some of my favorite songs, I realized how very...odd...a journey I've taken through this place, this life...My beloved best friend Kat (who passed away from cancer in 2002) might say that I've played in the clover patches of life...My beloved grammy (who passed away from cancer a month after Kat) might say I took the circuitous route...listening to the truth in the beats of my own heart...But hopefully they'd both say I've lived my life well, full of experience with plenty of "sightseeing" along the way...

Follow up:

It's interesting, the road I decided to walk, considering the conventional paths of my siblings...all four of my sisters (one of whom is a gifted medium and another a gifted psychic) are in real estate and my brother is an engineer working for a huge electronics company. Throughout my entire life my family expected me to go to college, get a degree in law or medicine or...anything, really, lol and live in 9 to 5 obscurity...I'm sure the fast-paced, adventure-filled rollercoaster ride they've watched me navigate hasn't been easy to watch at times. But the truth is that it's shocking to me that, despite the fact that they've each shown interest in their abilities, not a single one of my incredibly gifted sisters has chosen to pursue a career outside the norm. My second-oldest sister (whose name I won't mention here to protect her privacy) is an amazing medium, for example...and the sister just above me has had prophetic dreams since we were little kids. I remember her waking up in the morning and telling me things that were going to happen in the world that week - and, almost without fail, they did. It wasn't an easy way to grow up, I imagine...For my part, I just got to talk to people whose bodies had died...It wasn't much different than talking to you or anyone else. But my sister had to see some very scary, horrific images in her dreams. Not all of them were bad, but I remember a few that were bad enough to really shake her.

I've been thinking recently though about perception and how it truly creates our lives. For example, I truly haven't had a clear concept on just how unusual my life has been until recently when I was talking with a couple of friends about some of my experiences. After explaining what I've always thought was a relatively tame experience in which a spirit manifested himself in full, clear "ghostly" form and walked out of one of the walls of my apartment, across my hallway and into another wall, I looked up to see that the jaws of both of my friends were practically sitting on their knees, lol. It's been hard not having my grammy to talk to about my experiences...When I was a kid I always loved to sit with gram, listening to her talk about when she was a little girl and first discovered that she was "haunted." She'd actually had a few scary experiences as a kid...Although they're easy to understand as an adult, they were frightening to a 9 year old. One such time was when she was babysitting her little brother. Her step mother had to run to the store, so she left my grandma at the little apartment with the baby. Gram said she'd always been afraid of that apartment because she'd heard noises, including footsteps and voices and she'd seen a man walking around occasionally. So this one day she was alone with the baby when the water in the kitchen kept turning on by itself. She was scared, but she kept going in and turning it off. She said it turned on probably 8 or 9 times. It would just be off and then as soon as she went into the living room it would turn on full blast. So finally she decided to ignore it and stayed in the room with the baby, already scared out of her wits. She heard the water running, but refused to go into the kitchen again, instead just sitting frozen on the couch. Then, a couple of minutes later, she looked up to see a man (she said he looked like he was 19 or 20) peeking around the corner, smiling at her. She said that was the last straw, lol - she grabbed the baby and ran outside to sit on the front porch for 30 minutes until her step mother finally came home, lol. She never told her step mother what happened because the woman wasn't very nice, but when they went inside the water was turned off and there was no sign of any disturbance. (Just as an interesting side note, having water turned on happened to gram in several places by several different spirits - it appears that was gram's "alert." Mine has always been televisions being turned on. Ever since I was a little girl, I've had multiple televisions turned on by spirits - I have a theory that every medium has their one particular "sign" that they've received multiple times throughout his or her lifetime. It would be interesting to test that theory!)

Okay, it's time to start my day...But I'm in the mood to share more about gram and Kat, so stay tuned!

Not Without A Fight....

I've literally had 3 clients within the last week inform me that my prices are insanely low compared to other readers, right before they asked me with trepidation if I was planning on raising my prices anytime soon, lol...The economy being what it is, I figured that those 3 people probably represent many, many more wondering the same thing, so I figured I'd address the issue here, along with some thoughts on the economy...

Follow up:

First, the 3 who spoke up each told me hesitantly that my prices are insanely low, apparently believing that this was something I was unaware of...While I do genuinely appreciate the fact that I have such wonderful, selfless clients who would be willing to help ME by letting me know that my prices are far below industry standard, even if it meant that they might have to pay higher prices, in this case I assure you the concern is unwarranted...Those clients are right: the industry pricing standard is significantly higher than the prices that I charge, which was an intentional decision on my part, for several reasons...First, I want to be sure that I am always accessible to EVERYONE who may need help, guidance, or a way to connect with their loved ones on the other side, NOT just people who can afford $300 an hour. Second, if I WERE to raise my prices, it certainly wouldn't make sense to do it now, when people are losing their jobs, many barely able to afford even my relatively low prices. There will come a time when I will raise my prices, but it won't be before the beginning of 2010 and it won't be anything too drastic...I assure you my current pricing will remain in place until our economy has passed its "red zone."

Which brings me to my next topic: the economy. I imagine many of you have noticed a distinct absence of any economy-related blog entries here...Like my pricing, this has been an intentional decision on my part. While I've spoken with several of my clients for the last year and a half about where the economy was headed, I've been very careful not to share my insights with the general public...First of all, as I always tell my students in my classes, nothing is set in stone - like a boat floating on the ocean, the course of choices (and therefor outcomes) can change like the tide and I am the queen of hope, lol...Some may argue that I could have prepared some people for what was to come by being forthright with everyone here about what my guides have told me was coming, which is true...However, sometimes ignorance actually can help since collective thought can literally change the course of events. Long story short, if everyone knows we're heading for a depression, they're going to panic, creating an energetic ball of fear that's going to weigh the ship down ten times more, making it sink a heck of a lot faster. Remember that EVERYTHING is made of the same energy - EVERYTHING. And thought is a very powerful form of energy (which is why the brain waves can be measured by doctors on an EKG). So, even though it may not have been possible to avoid what's to come completely, having a little extra time has allowed those in power to at least attempt to find some ways for us to recover a little more quickly when we get to the other side of the downfall...

Please remember that what you believe, you live. I realize that many of you have lost your jobs and are panicking, understandably. I'm not asking you to live in a fantasy happy land...But what I'm saying is that you CAN change the course of things by changing the course of your little tiny piece of the collective puzzle. Whether it's volunteer work or freelance work, KEEP THE ENERGY IN YOUR LIFE MOVING. PERIOD. DO NOT STOP. DO NOT FALTER RIGHT NOW. Keep moving, keep walking your path, do NOT be discouraged by what seems like a monumental setback. Be thankful for all of your blessings, no matter how small - if you lose your job be thankful for your savings; if you lose your house and have to move in with relatives be thankful that they're there to help you; if you don't have enough savings to last long, start doing consulting or freelance work and be thankful for the skills you gained at the job you seemingly "lost."

GET CREATIVE!! Remember that right now, many companies have had to let go of half of their staff because they can't afford the salaries and benefits, but they're STILL IN NEED OF THE WORK DONE BY THE EMPLOYEES THEY HAD TO LAY OFF. This offers independent consultants and freelancers a PERFECT opportunity! If you were a manager of a sales team, put together an independent sales team and approach companies who had to let their sales team go. There are obvious benefits to not having to pay for the desk space, benefits, etc. If you were an administrative assistant, approach companies to offer your services on a freelance as-needed basis, charging either by the hour or by the project. Most freelancers/independent business people don't need an office - they can work from their home/garage/community center and, when needed, a conference room can be rented very cheaply for client meetings.

Right now is NOT the time to fold, NO MATTER HOW BLEAK THINGS MAY SEEM! YOU ARE NOT ALONE AND THINGS ARE NOT HOPELESS, EVEN NOW...Take this opportunity to pool your resources, including others you may know who have lost their jobs or whose hours were cut...Now is the time for us to band together in pairs and groups to help one another...I know it's a scary time, but by taking just a little bit of control, not only will you feel less scared, but you'll be able to make the ride a little less bumpy for yourself and those around you...

BE INSPIRED.
INSPIRE THOSE AROUND YOU.
STAY FOCUSED.
KEEP MOVING.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE AND YOU CAN DO THIS!