What The World Needs Now . . .

This is a post I wrote in June of 2017 and yet it seems to be perfect for January 2021 as well so I am reposting it in the hopes that it will help in some way.  (with a couple things added).

In many ways, we are living in challenging times.  Things happening in our world can make us question humanity, they can make us operate out of fear and they can make us feel powerless.

Yet, I believe we hold the power to make a positive difference in the world with the simple act of kindness.  If we look for opportunities every day to show people a little kindness, I believe that kindness will multiply and multiply.  It doesn't matter if you know the people you are offering kindness to or if they are strangers.  Something as simple as smiling at someone or letting someone into the congested traffic lane you are in can make a big difference in someone's day. It may inspire them to offer a similar kindness to someone else and the ripple effect can take it from there. 

There are people who have been so impacted by the lack of income from businesses that have been shut down this year that they are really struggling and people who haven't fully recovered from losing their homes to fires from this year. Many people think "Well, what can I do, I'm only one person" and yet I believe that if we do anything, anything at all, it can make a difference. 

It could be a small thing like making cookies for a neighbor or looking in your closet to see if there is a blanket you can donate or a warm coat you don't wear that you could give to someone. It could be anything at all. It may just lift someone's spirits enough that it gives them the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

There's a song from my childhood that plays in my head all the time . . . even though it was written and performed many years ago, the lyrics couldn't be more poignant today:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone

Even though it may not feel like it, this is our world . . . and even though it may not feel like it, we have the ability to make it a better place to be. 

I encourage you to try it out.  Do something kind for someone. There's no time like the present to offer love and kindness and compassion to others.  I can't explain how it will shift things in our world, yet I am equally sure that it can.
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Let The Healing Begin

For months now, I have been hearing people repeat this same phrase over and over again - worded exactly the same. Each time I hear it, it strikes me as odd. I have heard it from family members, neighbors, strangers in the grocery store - they say they need a particular person in office so we can "let the healing begin."

Given the number of people who keep saying it, I can only assume it's a line from a speech or something that is being stated over and over in the media . . . I can't see any other explanation for why so many people would keep saying the same thing verbatim. 

The thing that I find odd about it is I wonder why we would need someone to take office before we can "let the healing begin". . . I guess a big part of it is that for me healing is a very personal thing. We are free to heal ourselves, our bodies, our relationships, our planet any time we wish so I find it quite curious that so many people seem to have hung their hat on this tag line. 

Each time I hear someone repeat this phrase, I think to myself "Why can't we begin healing now?" "Why do we feel so unempowered to heal ourselves that we need certain things/people to be in place before we can start?

Do you know what you want to heal in your own life?  If so, I think that's a great place to start. After all, if we are able to heal ourselves, we can show up for our own lives and show up for others from a better and stronger position so why not start with ourselves?

Are there relationships you need to heal? If so, you can start there.

Are you dealing with physical ailments that require healing? If so, start looking at ways you can heal physically.

Are there emotional things going on with you that need healing? If so, look for ways you can start addressing some of the emotional things that are in front of you.

Does your community need healing? If so, look for ways you can help your community.

The actions we take don't have to be gigantic and grand. We don't need to single-handedly change the world but by doing what WE can, we can inspire others to do what THEY can. 

The more we help ourselves, the more we rely on ourselves to start the "healing process" the healthier we will all become.  Please consider that. If we all wait for someone or something else to be in place before the healing can begin, we might just find that the healing never starts. And it is my belief that that would be a big set back for all of us.

Trust What An Animal Tells You

Recently, I was on my way to the store when I saw a dog on a "walk" by himself.  He was running around, crossing streets and I could tell he was in a bit of a panic. Quickly, I pulled over to see if I could help him. He came up to me right away and let me pet him and I told him I would help him find his way home. Since he wasn't wearing a collar, there were no tags and no phone number to call.

One of the tricky thing about animal communication is that you can't ask "What's your address" and expect to get an answer LOL thus I began asking everyone I saw if they recognized the dog or knew where he lived. No one had ever seen him before. We happened to be close to the driveway of a housing complex so I decided we'd start by walking through the complex and if we didn't have any luck there, then I'd take him across the street and ask around since that's where he had come from when I first saw him cross the street.  

I ran to the car to grab a collar and a leash and as I was putting the collar on him, I saw a gal taking her dog out for a walk. She told me she knew all the dogs in the complex and that the dog did not live there but as soon as I put the leash on the dog, he began walking me over to a specific house. She said "They don't have a dog" but that was where the dog pulled me so we walked up to the porch and I knocked on the door. The gal looked kind of annoyed with me as the dog and I stood on the porch. With hands on her hips, she sternly said, "I told you they don't have a dog." The dog didn't budge, so I knocked again. Still no answer but I could hear a TV coming from one of the rooms so I took a chance and knocked on the window of that room. She continued to glare at me with her hands on her hips while I waited. She kept glaring at me so I said, "Well, this is where he pulled me so maybe they can help identify him." Just then the front door opened and the woman was in shock. She told me she thought the dog was sleeping in the back room, then explained that they were taking care of him while their son was out of town and she felt awful that she hadn't noticed that he had gotten out.

Even though the gal was right that they didn't have a dog, I was glad that I "listened" to the dog. He knew where to go for help.  :-) 

There are many times during animal communication sessions where what I am picking up from the animal doesn't make sense to the guardian. In my early years, it made me second guess myself but I have learned to trust what the animal is telling me. My interpretation may not always be 100% so if the guardian is willing to work with me, we can usually sort it out. 

Years ago, during a session one of the two dogs showed me that she was thirsty and needed water. The woman told me that I was wrong, that her dogs always had access to fresh water. The dog wouldn't let it go so I asked her a few more questions about the water. She rather sternly explained that their dog bowl was hooked up to a huge bottle of water that continued to pour fresh water into bowl. I could feel the guardian thinking that I was some kind of fraud but I kept picking up the sensation of a very dry mouth from one of the dogs and seeing a bowl.

I asked the dog if she could tell me more and then I got the sensation of being turned off by the bowl. I said to the woman "I don't mean to upset you but can I ask how often the bowl gets washed?" She looked at me with irritation but then after a minute or so she said, "I don't know how often I clean it but they always have access to fresh water." Then it clicked . . . slobber had been accumulating on the inside of the bowl and I finally understood what the dog was showing me. The dog had a dry mouth because the build up of slobber bothered her. It didn't bother the other dog at all so he was drinking plenty of water. When I asked the guardian if she would mind cleaning the bowl out more often, the dog promptly began wagging her tail and licking my face. Even though the guardian still seemed skeptical, I knew I had done the right thing by trusting what the dog was showing me. 

More recently, during a remote session with a dog I picked up a lot of sadness. The guardian had mentioned that she had lost several dogs in the last year and I sensed the dog was showing me that his mom hadn't allowed herself to fully grieve those losses. A little later in the session, the dog showed me sadness again and this time it was connected to the work they used to do (he was a show dog and with the world being shut down, they had not been able to attend any dog shows this year). I assumed that once again he was showing me what his mom was feeling so I wrote up it up that way in my notes. 

When the guardian and I spoke after she had read my notes from the session, she told me that her dog was correct, that she had not allowed herself to fully grieve the other dogs she had lost. We talked about ways she could do that and she promised she would do that for herself. Then she said, "This part about being sad that we haven't attended any dog shows doesn't make sense because I've actually enjoyed the break from all the travel and all the associated stress." Just then it clicked for both of us and almost in unison we said "Duke must be the one who is sad that we aren't attending dog shows!" After we giggled over my misinterpretation, we agreed that Duke needed another "job" while they were on a break from the dog show circuit. 

We talked about some possible "jobs" she could give him - one of which was to lighten things up around the house by making she and her husband laugh a little more. Duke took to his new "temporary assignment" because a week or so later she followed up with me to share some of the funny things Duke had done since our session that had everyone giggling. 

Many people think that when an animal communicator talks to an animal that it is a full sentence conversation like it is with people but for me it has always been primarily physical and emotional sensations, pictures and images, occasionally words and phrases that I then try to make sense of. It would be fun to have a "chat" with animals the way people can chat but so far that's not how it has worked for me. Most importantly, we need to trust what an animal is showing us. Even if it doesn't make sense right away - an animal will always tell you the truth.