Figures of Speech

There are many expressions - "figures of speech" - that are commonly used, that we may not even really think about because we have been using them so long. A few weeks ago, one of my clients gently "schooled me" on the use of one of these figures of speech and it really stuck with me.

I was at my client's store, a high end jewelry store . . . and while attempting to walk to the back room, I tripped over a decorative gate in the showroom and knocked it off it's hinges. I was embarrassed by my gaff and made a joke about being like a "bull in a china shop." My client's response was to say, "I've got to show you something on the internet."

I had no idea where she was going with that statement, as I was still focused on how much my toe was throbbing and how embarrassed I was that I was tripping through her store . . . but a minute later, I understood why she wanted me to see the video she pulled up on her computer.

It was a video that was created to dispel the myth that bulls could cause havoc in a china shop. The producers of the video simulated a "china shop" by putting big shelving units in a pen, each filled from top to bottom with pieces of china. One by one, they let bulls into the pen and each bull ran around the pen, up the down the spaces between the "china cabinets" but never once did one of the bulls run into one of the shelves, not once did they break a single piece of china.

It was clear from watching the video that "being like a bull in a china shop" didn't mean what the expression intended . . . shelves weren't knocked over, china wasn't broken on the ground, the bulls couldn't have been more agile, more "respectful" of the china.

I realized in that moment that I needed to remove that figure of speech from my vocabulary. After all, it clearly wasn't fair to bulls, as it wasn't an accurate representation of how bulls behave when in close proximity with china.

After seeing the video, I had no choice but to accept the fact that this figure of speech that I had been using most of my life was something that wasn't "true" and since I feel so strongly about always speaking the truth, it wasn't something I could say anymore.

So, to the bulls out there in the world, I apologize and I promise to not spread untruths anymore :-)

Communication from the other side

Several months ago, a friend of mine loaned me a book by Jeffrey Wands called "The Psychic in You." At the time she gave it to me, she said there probably wasn't much in it I didn't already know, but she still thought I would enjoy it.

It's been sitting on the table, with a stack of other books that I hope to read someday, and I had been wondering if I should just return it to my friend, since I haven't found much time for reading lately but the other day, I felt compelled to pick up the book. I sat down on the couch and thought I'd read a chapter or two and the next thing I knew, it was way past my bedtime and I was half way through the book.

It's been an enjoyable and interesting read. Jeffrey Wands is a psychic and a medium and in the book, he shares stories about his experiences with his clients and those on the other side, that he communicates with. He also writes about how he learned about his psychic abilities and how he learned to trust and embrace his abilities over the years.

I've been feeling inspired to learn more about communicating with those on the other side, so the portions of the book about his medium skills were very intriguing to me. There was one part where he talked about the signs people get from their loves ones who have crossed over that really caught my attention.

It was a section on smells that those on the other side seem to be able to create, to let people know of their presence. I had heard of that before, but mostly in reference to good smells, like the smell of a mother's perfume that catches your nose or the smell of a grandfather's pipe . . . I didn't know that they can also bring forth not-so-pleasant smells, if those smells are ones they believe will clearly communicate that they are here in spirit.

He shared a story of two sisters whose father had passed many years earlier, and apparently, the father had some pretty bad body odor from time to time. Years after his passing, the sisters would occasionally catch a whiff of the pungent odor their father used to give off when he was alive and they wanted Jeffrey to confirm their father's presence in their home.

The story made me laugh out loud, as I remembered something that occurred a few months after Lucky had passed. My ex-boyfriend was over at my house and we were sitting on the couch visiting. At one point, I went into the kitchen to refill our water glasses and when I walked back into the family room, my ex was standing up with this really odd look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I swear, I just smelled Lucky's gas." I looked at him inquisitively and then played along as he asked me to smell here and there, but I didn't smell anything. I joked that maybe Lucky had come to visit him, but I wasn't serious, because it didn't occur to me that they could really come through with unpleasant smells from the other side.

But, as I was reading Jeffrey's book, I realized that it probably WAS her and it seemed fitting that she would come through to him that way, since he was probably more bothered by her bad gas than anyone else I knew. I had gotten so used to it, I barely noticed it anymore, but he was always bothered by it, often feeling like he could throw up when he smelled it. It made me smile to think she was making an effort to reach him, especially since he isn't too sure about the "other side" stuff and always believed that when we die, that's it. Maybe she was trying to help him re-evaluate his position on the spirit world by giving him a sign that only she could create. :-)

If you're interested in exploring your psychic abilities, I recommend the book. It's an easy read and his stories are entertaining as well as thought provoking. It definitely made me more aware of what I am smelling around the house since I started reading his book. :-)

Communicating with Animals

A few weeks ago, a couple people were asking me exactly how animal communication works. They wanted to know if I actually heard answers to the questions I asked animals or if I got the information another way. I really had to think to answer the question at first, because it wasn't a simple answer and because I have been able to communicate with animals since I was a little girl, it's not something I even think about anymore.

I get information in so many different ways . . . by actually feeling what the animal is feeling, by pictures they give me (that I often have to interpret), by watching their reaction to the things I say and sometimes just by "knowing" the answer without having to even think about it - as if information was just put into my head. Chances are, other animal communicators get information in other ways as well. There isn't just one way to communicate with animals as they each have their own styles, their own way of sharing information.

In the event that any of you are as curious as the folks I spoke with a few weeks ago, I thought I'd share a few examples of how I pick up information. I believe we all have the ability to communicate with animals, it's often just a matter of developing the skill, so maybe this information will help you in your own quest to communicate with your animals.

When I pick up what the animal is feeling, I literally feel their feelings. It is often in response to a question or what someone has said, like the time one of my clients asked me how their dog was feeling about an upcoming trip and I immediately felt anxiety running through my body. Or the time I was working with a dog and one of his guardians made a comment about how dumb he was, and I immediately felt sadness and some frustration. When I said, "I don't believe he is dumb at all, in fact I believe he is quite smart" the dog immediately ran over to me and licked my knee.

Sometimes the information comes from pictures I get in my mind. The other day, I was giving a reiki treatment to a dog who had never had one before, although the humans and other animals in the house have had reiki treatments before. I was commenting to the guardian that I was surprised at how calm he was, as often animals are a bit nervous the first time they get a reiki treatment and as soon as I said it, I got an image of one of the other dogs in the house. I laughed and said, "Oh, Guy told him what to expect, that's why he isn't nervous."

Another way I get information is just by watching the animal I am working with. I have learned over the years that it is very important to pay attention to what is being said in the presence of animals because their behavior will often tell you how they feel about what has been said. One time, I was working with a dog who had severe separation anxiety. The dog was relaxing on the floor with me and her guardians, enjoying the reiki treatment, when the guardians brought up a recent incident where the dog had chewed up the inside of their car during a bad bout of separation anxiety. The dog immediately jumped up and hid on the other side of the room. There wasn't any other interpretation besides "the dog feels really bad about doing that to your car." Her guardians assured her that they weren't upset with her, they were just worried about her and wanted to help her feel less anxious. Once they said that, she walked back over to where we were sitting on the floor and laid down in front of me, ready to resume her reiki treatment.

It's a little harder to describe the last way I pick up information . . . when something is just in my head. It happened today, when I was sitting in the backyard working on my tan and a crossword puzzle. :-) I heard the buzz of a hummingbird and looked up from the paper. Right there in front of me was a beautiful hummingbird, idling steadily at eye level for a minute. The next thing I knew, I was saying, "I'm sorry, I'll take care of it now." It took me a second or two to figure out what I was responding to because my response was so automatic, but I quickly realized the hummingbird told me that the water in the feeder needed to be changed. As I had promised, I immediately got up, washed out the hummingbird feeder and refilled it with a fresh batch of sugar water. It has made me smile this afternoon to see visits from at least ten hummingbirds since I freshened up their supply. I think they are pleased that I was able to get the message that was delivered to me.

As I mentioned before, I believe we all have the ability to communicate with animals. It's just a matter of paying attention to what we pick up and then learning to trust that information. So, when you are talking to your animals, watch how they react to what you say, pay attention to how you feel and what pictures pop into your mind. You may be surprised by what you can pick up yourself. From experience, I would say, learning to trust what you pick up is actually the more difficult part of learning to communicate with animals, but in time, that trust will come.

Give it a try and see what you able to do yourself! I think your animals will appreciate the effort, regardless of how good you are at first.

Happy Birthday Lucky

This past Monday, July 12th was Lucky's birthday. She would have been 15 years old, if she was still here. I felt it was important to honor her on her birthday . . . I just wasn't sure how.

Our annual tradition to celebrate her birthday consisted of going to Bill's Cafe, our favorite restaurant, where Lucky would get a side of sausage, that she was allowed to eat all herself . . . and then we would head over to our favorite beach in Aptos. Lucky would chase her tennis ball

and play in the water until she could barely walk anymore. It was what we did every year, with the exception of last year. Since she wasn't able to chase the ball anymore, we skipped the trip to the beach and went to the park instead. We did however go to Bill's, so she could enjoy her side of sausage. :-)

This year, as her birthday neared, I was unsure of what I wanted to do to celebrate. I wasn't sure if I was up for going to Bill's without her. I knew I would probably go to the beach, but I wasn't sure what else I wanted to do. The night before her birthday, I felt a strong pull to get my video tapes of her and watch them. I spent some time Sunday night watching video of her. Much to my delight, watching the videos just made me smile. No tears, no sadness, just a lot of laughter as I watched her, so full of life, opening presents, eating sausages, playing in the ocean.

The next morning, I got up and after getting some coffee in me, I found myself pulled back to the couch to watch some more video of her. I came across birthday after birthday, listened to my voice off camera saying, "Would you like to go to the beach?" and watching her cock her head and then jump up to get ready . . . and hearing my voice ask, "Are you having a good birthday, sweet girl?" as we played at the beach. I giggled as I watched her open her gifts each year (the wrapping was merely a plastic grocery bag that I would tie on top and Lucky was quite an expert at untying the bag to find what was inside).

As I sat there on the couch, enjoying the videos, I was still mulling over what I would do next. I still didn't feel like I was up for going to Bill's, but felt that going to the beach would probably be alright. All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door and it was one of my best friends, delivering a side of sausage that he had just picked up from Bill's. I was so touched, I shed my first tears of the day.

A little while later, I left for the beach. I could feel Lucky with me when I got into the car and it made me smile. I pulled out a subdudes CD that I hadn't listened to in a while (a live CD from many years ago), and popped it into the CD player. It was smooth sailing over Hwy 17 until we got to Hwy 1 and then traffic was almost at a dead stop. My usual 35 min. trip to the beach had turned into a 55 min. trip but for some reason it didn't stress me out. I was enjoying the music and knew I'd get to the beach soon enough.

As I exited the freeway, the song Suger Pie came on. I was surprised because I had forgotten it was even on that CD. I made a mental note that if traffic hadn't been so bad, I wouldn't still be in the car when that particular song came on. And as I pulled up in front of the beach, the most meaningful lines of that song began. The hair stood up on my arms and it felt like it was divinely orchestrated.

The lyrics at that moments were: "Now time has passed and you're so far away, can't get used to not seeing you each day . . . but there's one place in the back of my mind, where I can go to see you anytime . . . and for you to me, forever you will be my sugar pie, sugar pie, sit by me." Fighting back a few tears, I got out of the car and made my way down to the beach.

I hoped I might find a sand dollar (I thought it might be nice to have a momento to remember the day) so as I walked a couple of miles down the beach, I kept scanning the sand in front of me, looking for a sand dollar, but I never saw one. When I turned around and began walking back in the direction I came from, I set the intention "If I'm meant to find a sand dollar, it will be right in front of me and I won't have to look for it."

As I walked back, I spent more time looking at the water, and just enjoying the scenery. After about a mile, I looked ahead and saw a german shepherd coming my way. It made me smile from ear to ear and as I passed the shepherd and his guardian, I said, "You have a beautiful shepherd" and he smiled back and said, "thank you." I took two more steps and then right there in front of me was a sand dollar . . . a perfectly pristine sand dollar. I picked it up and held it in my hands. It made me happier than words can explain. I smiled from head to toe.

When I left the beach, I wasn't quite ready to head back over the hill, so I decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in Santa Cruz, a Hawaiian grill that has fantastic poke. They have an outdoor patio that welcomes dogs, so over the years, Lucky and I had been there together quite a few times. I got some poke and a beer and sat on the outside patio, just enjoying the experience, thinking about the interesting coincidences of the day (Sugar Pie coming on as I pulled up in front of our beach, finding the sand dollar seconds after seeing the german shepherd). I felt like she was there with me and it felt good. I said, quietly enough that no one else on the patio could hear me, "Are you having a good birthday, sweet girl?" I felt the answer was yes.

When I got up to leave the restaurant, three people walked by . . . each with a german shepherd on the end of their leashes. I got a knot in my throat, but mostly, it just made me smile.

The gift that I got, from honoring Lucky's birthday this year and watching the videos of her, was the reminder that she enjoyed life . . . and the more simple the pleasure, the more wonderful it was to her . . . it was one of the ways she and I were alike. Finding the sand dollar made my day. I didn't need anything else to make it a perfect day. Having a friend remember me and Lucky's tradition of going to Bill's and being kind enough to pick up a side of sausage for me on her birthday touched me deep in my soul.

It didn't take much to make the two of us happy beyond words. This concept of simple pleasures was something that was reinforced by Lucky over all the years we were together. She got tremendous joy from the simplest things, but she was in no way simple. She loved very deeply but never lost track of herself. She knew what she wanted, but she didn't want for much.

Getting a tablespoon of yogurt in the morning made her eyes sparkle . . . being able to lick the spoon sent her over the moon . . . every morning. Seeing a child she knew walking towards her was enough to fill her whole heart with joy. The way Lucky lit up in the presence of children is something that I still hold as one of my most treasured memories of her. That is why I want to include these two final pictures from Lucky's birthday last year.

As I mentioned before, we weren't able to go to the beach because Lucky's back legs were no longer working, so we went to the park. She was laying there on the grass, looking a little bored and I

was feeling guilty that she wasn't having a great fourteenth birthday . . . when all of the sudden, she sat up so straight and tall, it shocked me. I swear, she had a smile on her face and her eyes just sparkled. When I turned around to see what had grabbed her attention, I saw one of her little three year old friends walking towards us with her dad. The joy that Lucky felt was obvious to anyone who was in the vicinity and it was contagious. She just lit up and when her little friend got over to her, she greeted her as if she had just been given the most amazing, spectacular present anyone had ever received on their birthday.

I know my sweet girl is still guiding me from the other side, helping me to remember what is important in life . . . helping me to remember that the sweetest joys in life can often be the most simple ones.

Dealing with grief

This week, I got an email from one of my clients who lost her beloved dog this spring. She attended a Pet Memorial Collage workshop at the Silicon Valley Humane Society and felt it was a really positive experience. I thought it would be helpful to share the information, in case any of you are still grieving the loss of a pet, and are interested in exploring this as an option to further process your grief. It doesn't matter if the loss was recent or a long time ago. There is no time limit for dealing with our feelings and there is no time limit for honoring those that we loved and lost.

The next workshop is taking place on July 24th, from 2:00-4:30pm. The fee is $30 if you sign up in advance, $40 if you pay at the door. The class is held at the Humane Society, on Ames Avenue in Milpitas. You can register by going to: http://giving.hssv.org/cal

My client shared a few words about the class and I am pasting them below, so you can see what she thought of the experience in her own words:

I thought maybe you would like to recommend the pet memorial collage workshop to your clients that have lost their animals. I enjoyed the class and the teacher. We introduced ourselves and shared pictures of who we would be honoring and a little about them.

We started by putting rocks in a glass (it was to represent the grief that we carry with us). Then we did a meditation to meet with our animal and get a message from them. We were then free to work on our collages. When we were done, we put them on another table so everybody could look at them. Then we shared our collages and the story it represented to us.

We ended with the option to take our grief back home with us or to leave it. I chose to leave it. It was just nice to share the stories and be with people who have a love for animals in the same way that I do. It was a nice way to honor our animals.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. For me, it was a mixed bag. It was my first 4th of July without Lucky, which was both good and bad. It made me miss her . . . and yet what I didn't miss was the trauma she experienced every 4th of July . . . so it many ways, it was the most relaxing 4th of July I've had in 15 years.

The sound of fireworks can be overwhelming and downright dangerous for some animals. I worry about animals more on the 4th of July than any other day of the year. We can't imagine what they experience, because our hearing isn't as good as theirs, but seeing the reaction that many animals have to the sound of fireworks made me begin to really dislike the holiday.

I spent many years in the bathtub with Lucky, which was where she would go for refuge. She would be panting and drooling, totally inconsolable. I was always afraid she would have a heart attack and I began to dread the 4th of July. I tried every kind of holistic remedy for calming her. None of them worked. One year, I even tried a pharmaceutical drug to calm her down, (I was that desperate), and even that didn't help.

About 5 years ago, someone suggested that I take her out in the car during the firework displays, since my car was more sound proof than my house, so that became our new tradition. I'd load her into the car, bring along some cd's we enjoyed and we'd just drive. We'd get to watch the fireworks, in every city we drove through on the freeway, but we didn't have to hear any of the loud booms, which helped her stay calm and made me much happier.

So this year, I didn't have to protect Lucky from the sound of the fireworks, so I didn't need to fill up my car with gas. I was at my parents house and we were sitting in the family room, with both their dogs sacked out on the couch. When the loud booming began, my heart started to race, years of protective instinct kicked in and I was ready to jump up, grab my parents dogs and head for the car . . . and much to my surprise and delight, they both slept through it all.

I sat there feeling so grateful that not all animals are as afraid of fireworks as Lucky was, and grateful that she was on "the other side" where the fireworks couldn't bother her this year. My hope is that in time, I will start liking the 4th of July again. This year was a pretty good start.

They are always with us

Today, I had the honor of giving a reiki treatment to the guardian of a former animal client of mine. She has been dealing with a lot of grief since her beloved Lacy made her transition four months ago and she thought a reiki treatment might be what she needed to help her move forward.

Lacy always came to my house when she got her reiki treatments, so they decided that the wife should receive a treatment at my house as well, and we picked the same time of day that Lacy always got her treatments, 2pm. As I was getting ready for them to arrive, I wondered if Lacy would show up in spirit.

I got my first clue that she was here when I took my massage table out of it's carrying case. When I went back to retrieve something else from the case, I found a tennis ball in there, that was NOT there before. Sure, the case was sitting next to Lucky's toy basket that still has a home in the laundry room, but I couldn't explain how a ball jumped out of the basket and landed in my carrying case.

During the reiki treatment with Lacy's mom, I could sense Lacy was here, although, I wasn't sure if I should say anything or not, as her mom was already feeling pretty raw and I wasn't sure if she'd think I said it because it was what I thought she wanted to hear.

Through out the treatment, I could feel Lacy sitting on the left side of the table and then at one point, I could sense her going under the table. I was so glad that she was here and in all honesty, I wasn't surprised. The love our animals have for us doesn't change when they go to the other side, and knowing how deeply Lacy loved her parents, I had a feeling she's make sure she was here today when they came.

Lacy's dad came along to support his wife and he was relaxing on the couch reading a book during the reiki treatment. A couple times he fell asleep, still holding the book he was reading but at one point, the book fell out of his hands and it startled all of us, as it hit the coffee table and then landed on the floor. He quietly apologized, as we all giggled for a minute . . . and the reiki treatment resumed.

When the treatment was over, I asked Lacy's mom how she was feeling . . . still unsure of whether I should tell her that Lacy had been here. Much to my delight, the first thing she said was, "Lacy was here, I could feel her!"

She went on to tell me where Lacy had been sitting, first on the left side of the table, then she felt her go under the table and then she settled on the right side of the table for a while. I was so thrilled to hear that she had felt Lacy's presence and also happy to know that what she felt had matched what I had picked up, although, at some point, I wasn't focused on Lacy anymore because I was focused on her mom and what I was sensing from her body during the session.

As she continued to share what she had experienced during the reiki treatment, she, her husband and I all teared up . . . she said that at one point, she felt Lacy get up and start moving around the room and in her head she thought "It must be about half way through the treatment"

The reason she thought that was because when Lacy got her reiki treatments, like clockwork, she would get up half way through, walk around a bit, go to her mom to get a treat and then settle back down for the second half of her reiki treatment. Even when I sent reiki to Lacy at a distance (which I did towards the end of her life when it was too difficult for them to make the trip down to my house), Lacy's guardians said that Lacy would still get up half way through, walk around a bit and then settle back down. It was just how she received reiki and we were so touched that she did the same thing when she was here in spirit, watching her mom get a reiki treatment.

As we were talking about Lacy's presence during the treatment, all of the sudden it occurred to me that maybe it was Lacy that knocked the book out of her dad's hands. When I shared that with him, he said it made sense because that time, he hadn't quite fallen asleep yet and he said he couldn't offer any other explanation for why the book had slipped from his hands that way. It made sense to me as well, since Lacy's dad doesn't feel energy the way her mom and I do and she probably wanted to find a way to let him feel her presence as well.

It was such a treat, for all of us, to know Lacy had come to be with them today . . . It was clear to me that Lacy wanted to share in her mom's healing process and lend her support.

As I have said many times before, I continue to be in awe of these mystical, magical creatures that we are lucky enough to share a part of our lives with. I am grateful to witness the love that continues to exist, regardless of whether the animals are here, or on the other side.

The Bees came back

A month or more ago, I wrote a blog about the strange incident I had, where on one particular day I kept finding bees in the house. In the previous 15 years I have lived here, never once did a single bee come into the house, so I found it extremely odd that so many bees would find their way into my house on that one day.

Well, it happened again this Wednesday, only this time it was different. From the first bee I found, I knew they weren't here to deliver the same message as the previous bees, because the energy of these bees was so different.

Last time, the bees that I was rescuing from indoors were somewhat docile, seemingly appreciative of my help in transporting them outside, but this time, the bees were feisty and on edge. I couldn't believe how hard they made me work to get them into a cup, for their trip out to the yard. One bee insisted on walking on the ceiling, where I couldn't reach him, so I went and got a chair and as soon as I stepped up on the chair, he flew to another spot a couple feet away and began walking on that part of the ceiling. I worked harder at getting the first two bees out of the house than I did getting the previous seven out of the house. I couldn't figure out what in the heck was going on.

After I got the first three bees out of the house, I pulled out my Animal Speak book (Ted Andrews) and looked up bees to see what they could possibly be trying to tell me. There are many different things a bee can be trying to tell you when they "show up" so I read through all the possibilities. One line in particular kept grabbing my attention, and it was NOT the line that grabbed my attention the last time I was visited by so many bees. This time, the line that jumped out at me was, "Are you keeping your desires in check so they can be more productive?"

I have to admit, while I knew that was the message I was supposed to get, I had no idea what it really meant. As I was sitting there trying to open up my heart to better understand the message, I started to hear the familiar buzz again and looked up to see two more feisty bees in the front window of my family room. I can't tell you how long it took me to finally get the two of them in the "transport cup" but I had worked up quite a sweat by the time they were finally relocated to the backyard.

I sat down again to try and figure out what that line really meant, and could feel irritation in my body. I just couldn't believe how difficult they had all been. All five of them made me really work to get them out of the house and it made me mad. I missed the previous set of bees that came to visit, as they were so much easier to work with. As I sat there, realizing how edgy I was feeling, the message finally came through clearly . . . I had been having a tough couple of days and I realized in that moment that I had been focusing for days on what I DIDN'T want in my life.

I happen to believe that our thoughts manifest our reality, and given where I had been focusing my attention, it was clear I was on the verge of bringing a whole lot more of what I didn't want into my life. The bees were trying to give me a wake up call.

Just then, I heard the buzzing sound again. I was dumbfounded. After I got the last bee out of the house, I checked every window in the house to ensure there were no more bees and I made sure the backdoor was closed so no one else could come in. I have no idea how he got in, but there he was.

As I was chasing him around with the "transport cup," I explained to him that I had finally gotten the message and asked him to let all his friends know that I finally got it. I asked him to let them know I appreciated them all for making such a big effort to get through to me. I promised him that I would keep my thoughts focused on what I DID want in my life (keeping my desires in check) so that I could bring in more of what I wanted.

Interestingly enough, not a single bee has come into the house since then. Over the last three days, I have had the back door wide opened (I think I mentioned before that I don't use my screen door, since Lucky was kind enough to make german shepherd size holes in it for me) and still, not a single bee has come into the house. Clearly, they knew their message had been received and they didn't have to try to communicate with me anymore.

I am determined to keep focusing on what I DO want in my life, so they won't have a reason to come back and give me another wake up call. :-)