I went into the cabinet and pulled out the blow dryer. Then I filled the sink with water, and I was going to use the blow dryer to make bubbles in the water.

Literally three seconds before I put the blow dryer in the water (I had it in my hand, with my finger on the switch) my aunt opened the bathroom door, saw what I was doing, and stopped me.

At that point she was probably shocked out of her mind, but she didn’t show it. She explained how dangerous it was to put electrical appliances in the water, and that I could’ve killed myself. I distinctly remember how calm she was about it.

Even at that young age (and without any fanfare) I realized that my aunt had saved my life. And that brief moment changed me. I just knew that what my aunt had done was part of her reason for being born.

Yes, I know it sounds odd for a child to have that thought. But it was such a moment of clarity. It was like my higher self showed me a big abstract picture, and I completely understood it.

Each and every one of us has the ability to be a divine bonfire in another persons life.

My question to you is, have you saved a life lately?

You were carefully placed on this earth to do just that. And if you haven’t already, one day you will.

Be ready.

I’m not talking about looks – though she was very attractive. I mean her personality, her soul. What she brought to the table of life was pure and real.

At the age of 32 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She immediately had a mastectomy, several rounds of chemo and radiation. It went into remission.

At the age of 35 it returned with a vengeance, spreading to her spine, her bones, and other organs. It was terminal.

The truth isn’t easy to face

I had come to live with Jackie, Bob and Demetrius (their 7 year old) a few months before that terminal diagnosis. When the tides turned, I would take Demetrius to school and Jackie to her doctor’s appointments.

As much as I like to say that I was helpful, emotionally I was hardly there as much as I could have been. I didn’t know what to say to her most of the time. I was partially stunned, partially angry, and partially going insane inside.

Sometimes I found myself fearful of even being around her. She would grow angry with me as I drove her to her appointments, because I was driving too slow or too fast. She would yell at me because I didn’t bring the trash bag fast enough when she was throwing up.

It was tension-filled like that that until the day before she died.

“Let’s connect, okay…”

However prior to that point she and I had a conversation. We spoke about Bob (her husband) moving on to another woman after she passed.

I jokingly asked if she was going to make the bed shake at night, and we laughed about it.

I told her not to come to me as a spirit because I would be scared. But if she could find a way to let me know that she was okay, that would be good.

Several weeks after that conversation, she died.

It was very sad for all of us. We weren’t expecting her to die at that particular time. The day before she died the doctor told her she had 3-6 months to live. We were stunned that it happened the following day.

Laughter through the tears (in more ways than one)

I remember crying at the hospital that day. It must’ve been 2 hours after she’d passed. My best friend was there trying to console me, and I was going through this really strange emotional thing.

Though I was sad, inside I was a kind of happy that she was finally out of pain. Between the tears I really wanted to laugh.

My Aunt Jackie must’ve sensed that because suddenly – as clear as a gong – I heard her. I heard my Aunt Jackie call my name. CLEARLY.

She didn’t just call me, she told me to stop crying because she couldn’t understand anything I was saying.

And that’s not unusual (except for the timing) because that’s what she ALWAYS told me when I was crying. It was like our private joke when she was alive, and I was going through my frequent bouts of teenage angst.

I knew without a doubt that she was okay, and I dried my tears. My best friend never did hear anyone call me.

Up until that point I wasn’t totally sure that life existed beyond our physical senses.

And from that moment on, I knew that my life would be changed forever.

(BTW, you’ll notice that I switch between the usage of ‘psychic’ and ‘intuition.’ Yes, I know some of you will say they’re completely different – but just go with the flow while you’re here.)

Even before my “mother’s intuition” kicked in many years ago I’ve had instances where I’ve known things that I shouldn’t have.

For example, picking up the telephone to call a friend, and then realizing they’re on the line calling me. Or not listening to that little voice telling me not to get on the highway, only to run into 3 hours worth of traffic on 30 minutes worth of gas.

Around 6 years ago I really began paying attention to the steady stream of mental flashes and the inner promptings, more seriously than I ever had.

I studied books on intuition. I did exercises. I meditated. I prayed. And it all worked.

I did get better at acknowledging the mental flashes. I even started to get better at interpreting the signs the Universe was constantly giving me.

But then I’d reach a plateau where I didn’t feel like I was making much progress beyond a certain point. Don’t get me wrong, I felt fairly strong on the intuitive level. I just knew I could get better.

Anyway I guess I was at one of those plateaus when I decided to take an intuitive development class with Janet Lightstone.

I found Janet after searching (intensely) for a teacher who could help me advance my psychic skills. We’d meet via telephone every other week, and by our third session I was to begin giving readings to others. In fact, Janet would be my very first client.

I felt like I was waiting to go on stage and speak in front of 10,000 people! My stomach had butterflies, my palms were sweaty and I was even shaking a little bit. Okay, shaking A LOT.

The truth of the matter was that I was afraid of being wrong. I didn’t want to start getting messages, and have them be completely off base.

But as luck would have it…

My fears were totally wasted.

That first reading was not only exhilarating – it was very much on point.

The messages I was receiving matched everything that Janet ended up confirming with me. Random thoughts that went through my head as I was giving the reading, ended up being messages that were totally meant for her. It was both eerie and exciting to realize that these insights were so on point for her situation.

Lessons learned-

From that very first reading I quickly discovered a few things about my new found skills.

• You have to pay attention to those fleeting thoughts. Intuitive flashes often don’t come accompanied with a THUD. It’s more like a little tip-toe. Sometimes they’ll resemble your own personal thoughts, so that you don’t think they apply to your clients situation. I find that when a totally random, out-of-the-blue thought passes through, it’s usually worth paying attention to.
• Don’t be afraid of the silence. During your readings you’ll need quiet moments to tune in to your thoughts. Initially it will feel like an awkward silence. You’ll feel like you should be saying something, but it’s okay to resist the urge. If you explain to your client that there will be times that you’ll need to turn inward, they’ll understand the moments of silence.
• You must TRUST. This is the most difficult skill to cultivate because initially you’ll want to keep second guessing your words. When I first started giving readings to friends of friends, I’d say things like, “I don’t know if this is right or not, but…” Saying that only helps to keep you in a place of un-surety.

Although it might seem strange you have to be confident enough to say what you see, feel or hear. You can always turn inward and interpret what you see. But you have to willing to trust the process.

When I went to put the frying pan on the burner I realized that the burner was sticking up a little. This sometimes happens because I forget to push the burner completely down after cleaning the stove.

Now normally I notice this and push the burner back down into place before turning it on.

This time – however – I’d already turned on the burner to level 6. (That’s level 6 out of 7.) And I forgot that I’d turned it on, because I was also scolding my daughter about something.

You can probably guess what happened next, but I’ll elaborate for you anyway. I got up on my tippy toes, and PUSHED that hot burner down with both palms.

Within a split second it felt like my heart was leaping out of my chest. I jumped back and when I looked at my hands the burner was literally branded into my skin. Oh my gosh, the pain was immediately searing. It took my breath away.

Oddly enough even with that fresh burst of pain, my mind flashed to the big, nasty scar on my left thigh. I’d gotten that one after spilling hot cooking oil on my leg some years ago.

I believe my mind went there because I hated that ugly scar. And with my hands on fire I felt like I would once again be cursed with another lifelong scar on BOTH hands.

I just couldn’t fathom that thought. So I put cold packs on my hands and decided right there and then that I was going to heal myself.

Yes, it was just that simple. I mentally exclaimed, “I’m going to heal myself, and that’s that!”

A look at my previous healing experience

Ummmm – NONE! I’ve never taken a healing energy class before.

But I’d read a number of books on it. And I was a pretty good meditator (doing it twice a day) so I was sure I could access the necessary energy.

So with my heart pounding from the pain, I rested the cold pack on my hands, closed my eyes, and began to visualize a healing white light penetrating the burned areas.

I felt a little energy running through my right hand, which was the worse of the two. But I didn’t feel anything going through the left.

I did this visualization for maybe a minute or two, then I continued cooking dinner.

That throbbing pain was still very much present, so after a few minutes I stopped and focused my healing energy again.

By the time we finished eating and I began cleaning up the kitchen, I noticed that the pain wasn’t as bad.

I stopped again for a minute to visualize healthy hands. Hands without the burn marks. Hands without pain.

And that’s just what happened. Little by little the pain began to diminish.

All the while I tried to keep busy, so that my rational mind wouldn’t get in the way of this obvious healing. I felt that if I thought about the pain, it would return.

Later that night I was a little nervous about taking a shower because I thought the hot water might re-ignite the pain. But once I got in, the pain was minimal. So once again, I took a moment to visualize a healthy, pain-free hand.

Did it work?

The next morning I got up and began brushing my teeth as usual. Halfway through, it suddenly dawned on me that my hands didn’t hurt.

I looked at them, and the visible burn marks that were there before, had diminished to near invisibility. In fact, there were no marks whatsoever on the left hand.

By the third day, I couldn’t even tell that I’d been burned as badly as I had been. There was NO scarring, nor was there any pain on either hand.

The skin where I’d been burned looked perfectly normal. It appeared as though nothing had happened.

The truth about healing energy

The following week I called a friend who’s a Reiki master and told her what happened.

“Oh my gosh – you’re a healer!” she exclaimed.

Even though I knew what had happened I still found it difficult to grasp the concept that I could actually be a healer.

But the reality is that healing energy isn’t something that’s magically bestowed to a select few. On the contrary, I had to realize it’s something that’s available to each and every one of us.

The thing is, we have to believe that it’s available and be willing to mentally direct that energy to where it’s needed. It is truly a cooperative process between you and the Universe. You simply have to ask for it and expect it.

Unfortunately it’s often much easier to believe that healing energy is some unattainable mystical force. As strange as it sounds, most people will find that it’s more realistic to suffer than it is to believe that healing energy is at our beck-and-call.

Now let me clarify – that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to cure every single ailment you encounter.

Sometimes disease carries gifts far beyond what we can understand and comprehend at that given moment.

But even then, the act of calling healing energy into your life can and will bring about profound emotional and spiritual changes. In other words, sometimes it’s not meant for the body to heal, but instead the mind and the soul, and even the hearts of those around you.

Healing can occur on many levels, we simply have to ask for it.