Everything Happens for a Reason

Love, Faith, and Lessons of the Soul

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Happy Month of Love!

If you live in parts of the country where the weather is cold, you will welcome all the warmth of love coming your way in February! For, we know it’s all about Love, Love, Love, as recited so poetically by Lin-Manuel Miranda who was the winner of eleven Tony Awards for “Hamilton” (I still can’t get a ticket), and of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize. He also has two Oscar nominations for Best Animated Picture and Best Song for “How Far I’ll Go.” To be honest, for me it couldn’t be better said. He is a very “in-tune” man who has expressed the message of “Love, Love, Love,” over and over again, throughout all his work.

For most of my adult life, I have repeatedly heard from loved ones in spirit, as well as from those still here in the physical, how much Love means. The deep intense feeling we experience when we suffer the loss of someone close to us, and how their passing impacts our lives, has to do with the fact that we loved that person.

I realize that we all have to sometimes work hard to keep the faith through Love, and make it replace fear. Not always easy, but necessary for one’s soul growth.

Many of you have written to me about the current state of affairs on a spiritual basis. Firstly, I’m with Lin-Manuel, Love, Love, Love. It couldn’t be more important in these moments of tension and fear to keep Love as a focus. Again, I know how difficult that may be, but I am and will always be a firm believer that Love will always win out in the long run. We may not always see the results we desire, but please believe me, Love is what God, spirit, and soul learning is all about.

Most of you know by know now that I honor and have the greatest respect for Mother Earth. She who feeds us, shelters us, and offers escape via trails to follow; oceans, rivers, and lakes in which to swim; mountains to climb, etc., etc. In sum, it is Mother Earth who allows us to exist. She has a whole world to take care of, and she does it, tirelessly tending for us. Mother Earth is the ultimate nurturer and the example for women to follow as caretakers.

Men too! I have as well in my work experienced many wonderful men who take care of their loved ones – children, wives, mothers, sisters, etc. That is what nurturers do – lend a helping hand, especially during those overwhelming moments.

For Mother Earth, taking care of the land and the waters that support us, is a full-time job. I have for a long time known that trees communicate with each other and like us, have families and communities. Indeed, a well-known scientist studied trees in Nature for a twenty-five year period and learned that the trees actually communicate with each other underground. For example, if a certain type of tree needs a particular nutrient or more sun, the other trees will adjust to make it happen.

So, in response to those emails about fear of what may be coming, whatever it is, let me remind you of my book Everything Happens for a Reason. Love, free will, and lessons of the soul are paramount.

Through our love as nurturers, remember, Mother Earth needs us to do everything we can to help share her burden. Recycling is just but one small example. Each of us needs to do our part to make the world inhabitable for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. who will inherit the Earth when we transition to the Other Side.

With regard to free will, remember, God helps those who help themselves. We have the free will to do the little things that are the big things that make a difference. This can be as simple and taking cloth bags to the market and not using plastic bags. In some cities, plastic bags come with a price (a hotly debated issue in NYC right now), which is a disincentive to using them. When I worked in Denmark, there were NO bags in the stores, period! The oceans will be very happy if less plastic ends up there.

Lessons of the soul. We don’t die, we continue. More precisely, although nobody here gets out alive, every soul does. And the love in our souls continues after we leave the body.

Still, our bodies are important in our souls’ purpose and for learning. And Earth – a tough but wonderful school – is the stage upon which are bodies perform.

Take care of Mother Earth, and she will better take care of you, now and perhaps in a future lifetime.

As we start the New Year. I look forward to connecting in Love on the journey in which we really are all connected. I’m doing many new events this year in places I haven’t done for awhile, to name a few: Somerset, New Jersey, Baltimore, Rochester, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland, while returning to many others I love. Visit my calendar for a complete schedule.

Happy Valentines Day, my friends!

Honoring Mothers

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Happy Month of May!

And of course Happy Mother’s Day to all those important forever and always caregivers, be they actual moms or the gals who fill that role — from grandmothers, to sisters, to aunts, etc. Time to celebrate the mothers in our lives.

Yes, this Hallmark holiday can and does bring up every emotion possible — including love, anger, and of course sadness especially if your mother has recently passed over.

Because of what is revealed given the nature of my work, I hear many stories involving relationships with mothers, some that are not very pleasant. For example, a friend of mine got a call around Mother’s Day and began yelling at the caller that her mother was dead and to leave her alone!

One common theme that emerges during my work is unresolved mother issues, especially for those who have chosen to not have their mothers in their lives, or to not allow their mothers to see their own grandchildren, sometimes with good reason. Thankfully there are many more wonderful giving mothers than those who are not.

As I have said so many times, before we incarnate, we actually chose our mothers, as part of our soul growth process. Consciously, one might say, “I would never have chosen this situation,” especially during trying times of a mother’s illness. But, the soul knows better. Like old fashioned photography, we develop from the negative.

The movie “Still Alice” focuses on what happens in a family where the matriarch of the family has been diagnosed with Alzheimers, and how things change when the center of the family falls ill. Of course, this type of situation deeply affects all of the family members, and things can really become unglued.

But sometimes the opposite happens, as with a friend of mine whose 94 year old mother came down with debilitating spinal stenosis over the harsh and icy New York City winter. The three brothers pulled together as a team to care for their mom, and took turns being there at every juncture, including surgery which thankfully went as well as could be expected. Hopefully now, physical therapy will help get her back up on her feet and walking again.

Interestingly, there are two main times of the year where my office phone rings non-stop: Christmas and Mother’s Day. The latter is because mothers are a major force in all our lives, and the mother-child relationship is one of the most significant relationships we have — if not THE most. Through mom is how we learn to love and share.

In my experience with clients and attendees at my events, I have seen that losing one’s mother can still be painful twenty years after her passing. This is why I devoted a whole chapter to losing a parent in my book Everything Happens for a Reason, addressing issues like losing a mother at a young age, taking care of mom in her old age, and for so many never getting over a mother’s passing.

Interesting that Mother’s Day occurs during the Spring when the flowers, trees and grass start to grow. There are tulips galore, forsythias, and all those little green uprisings that I promised would be coming up through the ground where all that snow used to be.

Ah, Wonderful spring! The season where poets sing songs of love, people have a skip in their step, and joy abounds. This year, I got my hint of Spring while in the desert, watching the cactus and desert plants blooming. Seeing flowers emerge from a cactus is breathtaking, one of the many wonders of Nature. Once again I am looking forward to The Afterlife Conference in June, and a return to New Hampshire where it’s been a few years. There will also be new events in Denver in July and Lily Dale in August.

Okay then, time to put some flowers on the table after picking them with my hands and letting them do what they do best — look beautiful and smell glorious.

Happy May Everyone!

New Year’s Intentions 2015

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A Very Happy New Year, Everyone. Welcome to 2015, a Universal 8 year (2+0+1+5 = 8).

As is said in the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, as noted by Pete Seger and brought to pop prominence by The Byrds, there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.

And everything has a vibration/energy if you will. So as we change years, we change cycles, and the energy turns from one time to another.

So . . . we are now in a Universal 8 year. What exactly does that mean? Well, although interestingly enough, 8 is infinity (standing upright), it also means “as above so below.” What I’ve always found so interesting about an 8 year is that it’s about material, or things or power. But, one thing is for sure, it will be a very different year than 2014 . . . expect some bang for your buck!

While 2014 was more of a quiet and meditative (Universal 7) year, I personally ended 7 going into 8 with tons of social engagements and parties! I expect that to be a prelude to how 2015 will be.

I want to emphasize that the “Universal Year” relates to what can be expected universally. So, while the Universe at large may be going through materialism, you may not be. To calculate what you might be going through would require an analysis of 2015 and how that relates to your personal birth day and year. Personally, I check this out each year for myself. In retrospect, it’s always interesting to look back and see what happened in your last personal year cycle, and observe whether your calculations were correct. It’s all a bit too complicated to get into in this short newsletter.

Although I’ve never been into the “resolution” of a new year perspective, I most certainly do believe in cycles and vibrations, and changes in those cycles. Thus, there will be changes as we move from 2014 to 2015.

I would point out that if there are things you very much want to change or add in your life, then by all means take advantage of the new energy, and beckon it to assist you. You must, however, be conscious of your intent, or expected outcome of whatever it is you want to achieve. This is very important because you must want your goals to happen. Recognize, however, that your goals may not be achieved right away. Brace yourself for moments of doubt, and try to proceed along the lines of faith and courage. Make sure that you really do want your dreams to come true – all things considered – but as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”

I have over the years had this discussion with so many students, clients, and friends about how we really can manifest our own reality, and put into action what it is we want. Here is a list of just how we can begin to manifest our dreams and desires, and a reminder of what the Universal 8 year is all about. Consider . . .

  1. You know what you want, but ask yourself, “How deep is my desire?” I think you may find it very interesting just to sit down alone and ask, “What do I really what to have happen in 2015?” Whatever it is, you must feel it very deeply or have an emotional inner-connection to that desire. Remember, everything is about energy. Connect with your emotions and deep desires. It is very important to go into your subconscious which affects your thoughts, which in turn attracts that which you want, or the results you want to achieve. You cannot manifest your dreams without a passion for them, in my view. So when asking or focusing on this or that, make sure that you have an emotional bond to that which you wish to connect.
  2. Your motivation. Your motivation may be supportive in numerous ways. The Universe will support you when you’re doing the highest good for all concerned, and/or the planet. When you shift your consciousness from “MY needs or wants” to “What can I give or do to benefit others or the world?” you expand your thoughts, consciousness, and power, and that travels far energetically.
  3. Fears and Beliefs . . . I talk about this factor in detail in my book A Medium’s Cookbook: Recipes for the Soul. There I discuss in full that the two key things that stop us from connecting with our loved ones in Spirit are our fears and beliefs (maybe the latter should be referred to as “disbeliefs”). If you continue to feel the way you feel about not being able to connect with loved ones on the Other Side, or the possibility of whether it can or can’t happen, most often it is because of your fears and belief system. If this is you, this mindset will require some healing on your part, perhaps engaging in forgiveness (which often benefits you more than it does the forgiven person). For example, let’s say you’ve had dreams about your deceased parent but then you remember that he or she was very discouraging and said that you will never be able to achieve a precious goal of yours. Those were powerful negative thoughts being thrust upon you, and you may have to look at them in a forgiving way, considering the mindset of the person from where those negative words arose, in order to make the connection with the parent you still love but who also hurt you so.
  4. Patience. In short, be kind to yourself through this and every journey. Everything happens for a reason, in its own time – though it may take a while to figure out the reason why something happened.
  5. Be in the now! Enjoy where you are now and count your blessings. I know this is a bit of a cliche, but there is a reason cliches last so long – they are often on the money! Being present helps open up more doors for your motivations and the purpose of your process.

Most importantly: ENJOY!

All of these steps can be parts of your spiritual life and help you to begin manifesting whatever it is you want to have happen in 2015. Consider giving it a shot! And may the Force be with you!

Just as a reminder, I always look forward to reconnecting with so many of you I’ve met over the years, and with new folks with whom I may be connecting for the first time. So please feel free to share your thoughts, experiences, and questions with me. You can contact me through my website.

As always, I hope everything you want maybe yours. Just be generous in your desires.

Listening – An Art

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Listening, I believe, is not only an Art, but a invaluable tool of knowing.  In my travels I get to have so many sharings and conversations with collages, friends, clients. In those moments, and quite often it is just a moment, the sincere conversation where much of our deep feelings are revealed.

Most certainly, with being a “medium”, many of these conversations naturally are about loved one who have “passed over”. Death, without question is probably one, if not the most, of people’s deepest fears and pains.

I was just recently sitting around with a group of people. Some of them I have known for awhile, others I just met. Within this group were several couples. One of the couples that were there I hadn’t seen for some time and had actually only met her husband once.

We started talking, and yes, once again the subject turned to my profession. One of the women there has a very successful private practice as a Therapist. It was particularly important to her to know more about my work.  She was very interested in how my work as a medium was reflected in ways of her own practice.

As we continued the conversation, I started sharing what was the significant theme in my book: Everything Happens for a Reason.  My reason, beside the obvious of writing this book, was that I had over the years become aware that with every passing or death, what we deal with typically has a theme.  For example, how the inter-dynamics of a family changes when a sibling passes or if it’s an instance where a parent passes while we are young.

All of a sudden, one of the women’s husbands’, who up until that point, had been silent, blurted out how his father ‘s death had completely changed the direction of his life. He most likely would have been successful as a ball player if his father hadn’t died. It seemed that the man who had taken his father’s place as a Coach couldn’t quite understand the way he played.  He punched him in the nose, was kicked off the team and spent next several years following another path. That was forty years ago.  He spoke as if it had happened to him yesterday.

The next day before I left several of the woman that were there went out to lunch.  The women who’s husband had lost his father said point blank to me after 36 years of marriage she had never heard her husband share this intimate detail of his father. I said, in my work it’s happens all the time. It’s that moment when something is said, where another resonates with the conversation, that they are able to share their deepest, most intimate feelings that they have kept inside.

She thanked me. It is a reoccurring theme in my work, we just have to be in the moment to listen.  It was then that she said, she almost opened her mouth, and knew that if she did, the moment of her husband sharing his story would be lost.

They are one of those couples that truly love each other, and here she, the therapist, was hearing this after 36 years of marriage. So, yes listening is truly an Art, and one that can open up and reveal the most intimate details of one’s life that we never knew.