Did you grow up being indoctrinated with the belief that "It is more blessed to give than receive?" 

I'm looking deeper at this, especially as Valentine's Day approaches, the traditional day when everyone longs to feel loved. Most of the people reading my blogs and newsletter are spiritual people, and by nature, "givers." And of course, none of us would have to think too hard to identify the "takers" in our lives; people who drain us energetically, financially and emotionally. Those who are self-serving, who give no thought to the cost inflicted upon others. But I'm not musing about the takers today.

One of the great pleasures of my job is sharing the joy when loved ones in Spirit make jokes or recall funny situations that bring up happy memories during a reading. So many people are afraid of mediums, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they are afraid of what their deceased loved ones might have to say to them during a session. Not too long ago I remember a comment left on my Facebook page from man who said, "Why do dead people...

Without a doubt, the most talked about, written about, and misunderstood topic on the afterlife are "signs" sent to us from a loved one in Spirit. 

• What makes something a sign and not a natural occurrence?
• How do we know who the sign is from?
• Why don't I see any signs?
• Why have they stopped?

My clients often say they feel disconnected from a loved one in Spirit. But from what I have observed, the disconnect often occurs on many levels. Disconnection from current world events. Disconnection from joy and laughter. Even disconnection from people in their lives. 

As energetic Souls who occupy a physical body, we are always connected to our Source. You can call it Spirit, the Universe, God, whatever name you like. If you can, imagine yourself as an electrical unit attached by millions of small wires to literally everything and everyone with whom you interact. We always have access to that Source--our Higher Self. To access it, we must to learn to listen from a place other than our ears.

Over the last few weeks I've taken some time to reflect upon 2014 and what it brought to my life. While I experienced plenty of wonderful, easy and joyful moments, the year was heavily laden with personal growth for me. I'm trying to make that sound positive, because in every challenge there is always a helpful lesson, but to be honest, it was entirely difficult to navigate. If I could sum up what I learned from it all into a sentence, it would be, "I learned to live into the answers." 

Last night I arrived home at 11:30 p.m. after driving six very long hours in terrible fog and rain. When I unlocked the back door, I was welcomed by a large plunk of water hitting my head. I looked up to see that the ceiling in my breezeway was leaking, and I mean, BIG TIME. Having been gone for the better part of month on tour, I didn't realize it had gone past the point of no return. Wearily, I put a roasting pan on the floor to catch the water and collapsed into bed ala Scarlett O'Hara telling myself, "Tomorrow is another day." Not surprisingly, around 8 a.m. the ceiling hit the floor along with a loud crash, tons of rain-soaked insulation and an accompanying waterfall. 

In my last blog, I talked about how to validate the presence of a loved one's Soul. The final step when a loved one in Spirit visits you, is to receive the communication. This is where things get tricky for the untrained, and frankly, a place where skeptics might make a great point. "You can't talk to the dead!" Well, you can talk to them, but will they "talk" back? The answer: probably not. When the physical body has died, how can words and sounds be formed without the benefit of a voice box and mouth? 

To validate the presence of a loved one's Soul in a particular moment, you can rely upon your physical sensations. We have all been sensing and feeling energy our entire lives, and perhaps you have never paused to give it much thought. Think of a time when you visited a place like the Alamo in Texas, or Alcatraz prison in San Francisco. Both of these old jails hold lots of energy, and many people report getting a particular feeling while there. Examples would be having goosebumps, or the "heebie jeebies" or the hair on the back of your neck standing up. 

With the news of Robin Williams's passing on August 11, it seemed all of America was simultaneously heartbroken and what I refer to as: heart-awoken. There are few circumstances more difficult to deal with than a loved one's suicide. A suicide always creates more questions than answers, even when a note is left. 

While Robin's passing is an absolute tragedy, it is also an opportunity to create open conversation. Talking about suicide is still, too often, taboo. Many people try to cover it up, or paint a different picture and pray no one will learn the secret of how their loved one passed. 

It's an awful state of affairs...