​Lets talk about "Talent" in connection to psychic or mediumship development for a minute.

Talent is not some kind of magical fairy dust that some people were born with, and others not. Talent comes from having a certain understanding of something, that makes it easier for that person to get out of their own way and align with how readings work.  That understanding is built off of that person's experiences and point of view. Some people's experiences and point of view make it easier for them to understand how readings work and how to align themselves with the energy and get out of their own way. Some people's experiences make it more of a trek to get out of their own way and align with how readings work. It might take them more effort, but it doesn't mean that they can't be just as successful as the first person.  

The reason I want to talk about this is because developing psychics and mediums often get tripped up by their own limiting beliefs about talent. They stop themselves from developing because they are worried about not being talented enough. Or they get tripped up by the possibility that it isn't their "destiny" to become a reader, or worried that they were not born with the special "ingredient" for them to become a psychic or medium. 

These concepts and ideas of "specialness" aren't helpful and are often the biggest hurdles for students to cross. Our low self-esteem clings to these ideas, as a way to keep us from failing. To keep us from trying something new. To keep us from any disappointment of pursuing something we like and it not working out. That our desires will fail us and cause us more pain.

The truth of the matter, is that if you have a genuine interest and feel truly drawn in this direction, that is a good sign that this is the direction for you, whether or not that means you end up as a full-time psychic, or it ends up being part of a different journey for you. 

Of course, you can't half-ass your way through your development. It can be a bumpy ride. It's not necessarily for the faint of heart. But true desire matters more than any talent/"destiny"/secret ingredient.

Doing readings is a special kind of job, because it is often high pressure: in that you are dealing with people's grief if you're a medium, you're dealing with people's life choices if you're a psychic, if you're an animal communicator you are speaking on behalf of the animal which is a huge responsibility.

So in addition to all that pressure, we also have this idea of psychics/mediums/intuitives in popular media that if you are the real deal, you should be able to know everything about everything all the time. So even those of us who do know that this idea isn't true or realistic, we know a psychic isn't always going to be 100% right about everything, We STILL have this subconscious belief and expectation of ourselves to be 100% right on all the time.

Then add to that that there's no real way of preparing for a specific reading, because every reading is unique. There is no way for our logical brains to know what a reading is going be like beforehand, and so naturally our brains freak out.

Add to that, that it can be hard to trust the information coming through as a reader because it can feel so similar to your brain making things up.

So we have this wonderful mix of high pressure, unrealistic expectations, no way to prepare and no idea of what to expect, and a system of reading that requires us to trust information that feels extremely similar to our own imaginations. If you're just a normal person with average self esteem and no anxiety, this can still be a lot. For people with low self confidence and anxiety, this can be overwhelming.

So what often happens is we approach readings with the intention of just not failing. I call what happens the "fear of failure cycle". This is where we will approach a reading with the intention of not failing, and so we hold ourselves back and play it safe in the reading, which inevitably causes our reading to be partially or fully off, which then causes us to think we are unreliable, that our abilities are unreliable, and that the energy we are connecting to is unreliable. That causes us to hold ourselves back in our readings even more. We then think we need to practice more. When in reality it’s just you holding yourself back that started this whole cycle, and what you really need to do is approach your confidence in a different way, so that you are not holding yourself back during a reading, and that is what I guide people through in my course.

The more you can release that fear of failure, the more you can step into confidence, the more you can then give yourself to your connection to whatever it is that you're reading whether that be a spirit, or the client's energy, whatever it is, the more you can give yourself to that connection, then the better the reading will actually be and the better you can serve others.
The less confident you are, the more you hold yourself back, the worse of a connection you get, and the worse the reading is.

This is how confidence plays a huge role in our readings.

People often think that if they can first improve the quality and accuracy of their readings, THEN they will be confident. But in my experience, if you work on a solid foundation of confidence (in addition to practice), then that is going to improve your accuracy and connection.

This is the topic we go deeper into in my course "Courage & Clairs - Confidence-training for the Intuitive Reader"

As readers, so much of a reading is guided by what we believe is possible. We might have expectations, ideas of what the reading is going to be like, or how it would look if it's successful. But often those ideas get in the way of what would be truly transformational for the client. It makes you fight the flow of energy and information, and not let through everything that wants to come through. The more we try to control the reading, the more it constricts the energy of it, and the more our brain gets involved.

A good spiritual practice before doing readings is to remind yourself to soften your heart, soften your mind, and open up to anything and everything that needs to come through, even if it doesn't match your ideas of what a reading "should look like". Release your own ideas, in order to allow through the best reading possible.

A reading is also guided by what we believe is possible for us to bring through. Or ideas of how accurate we can be (which for many of us, we don't believe we can be all that accurate). Not believing in yourself constricts a reading.

Another good spiritual practice before doing readings is to remind yourself to release your ideas of who you are & what's possible for you, and shift into seeing yourself as the infinite spirit that you truly are. Infinite spirit = anything is possible.

This is why I focus so much on mindset in my course "Courage & Clairs - confidence training for the intuitive reader", to stop readers from constricting the reading so much, and instead allow through a reading experience that is ultimately better than we can understand.

Soften your heart (open your heart), soften your mind (open your mind), allow yourself to expand.

I get to work with a lot of animals that are severely ill or dying, and their humans are often in a position of having to make a choice: whether or not to help the animal cross over, or let them pass on their own time with palliative care, or pursue more invasive options for treatment. There is no one-size-fits-all answer: it's going to be very individual what's right for the individual situation. But I want to share my experience in talking to animals who are in this situation.

They are usually extremely understanding about the decisions you make and the reasons you make them. Remember, they are very in-tune with you and your thoughts, and they often know more of what's going on than you think. They are not mad at you for your choices. In animal communication sessions they show that they understand you're doing your best to help them.

In a lot of cases, that means helping them cross over through euthanasia. In other cases, the animal is on board with trying out different treatment options. Others feel like they have a lot of energy left to give. Again, it's very individual and I can't speak for all animals just through this one post. But should you decide to help them cross over through euthanasia, know that they understand their circumstances (being in pain or too ill, their quality of life being severely lowered etc). There is often a lot of gratitude for the difficult choice to help them cross over through euthanasia.


Animals are not afraid to die. They have a much bigger understanding of life/death/afterlife than we do (often already being aware of spirits on the other side). They might worry about you and how you'll do when they're gone. Or they might get unsettled or worried due to the strong emotions you are going through around all of this. They might worry because you are worried, but not because they're worried about death in and of itself. They're not mad at you. Towards the end of a sick animal's life, they might change their behavior, and sometimes we take that to mean they're mad at us, but that's usually not the case. They might be feeling so ill they can't interact in their normal loving way. I have never talked to an animal that was mad at their human companions for how they passed.


We often worry about the timing of our animal companion's death. Is it too early? Are they ready? Have I waited too long? Should I have helped them cross over sooner? Which day is best to schedule the euthanasia? In my experience there is no one second that is the exact right timing for their passing. It's more like a window of time: sometimes that window of time is months long, and anywhere within that window of time is an appropriate time.


One thing about euthanasia, is that you and the animal get to prepare in a conscious way for their passing. You can plan where you want it to be done (you can have a vet come to your home, so you don't have the stress of travel). You can plan meaningful activities and create a type of ceremony around it if that feels right.


If you are in the situation where your animal companion is close to passing, whether with help or on their own time, here are some things you can do to make it the best experience possible for everyone involved:


💛Be present with them
💛Talk out loud to them (they will understand the gist of what you're saying)
💛Tell them what's going on and why
💛Tell them how much you love them and appreciate them
💛Reminisce out loud about all the good times you've had together
💛Try to keep the energy uplifted and loving and calm (again, think about the wonderful things you've gotten to do together, and the wonderful things they'll get to do on the other side). It's also 100% OK if you're doing this all through tears and heartbreak.
💛Do their fave activities with them if possible
💛Give them their favorite treats and junk foods
💛Bring them to their favorite spot (if it can be done in way where they're still comfortable)


Think of this as an opportunity to help them have a little more joy and a little more ease before they go. And know that they hear and understand what you're trying to tell them.


A question I get alot is "Do they know how much I love them?" And the answer to that is always 100% of course they do. You do not need an animal communicator to tell them that for you. They know.


Sending lots of love to those who are going through this with their own animal companions

Thea

I am pasting in something I shared on my business Facebook page a little while ago, that I thought would be helpful to have here as well. It's connected with my last blog-post on communicating with your animals, and focusing on the thing you want them to focus on.

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Sometimes we have to do things with our animal companions that we know are unpleasant for them. 💛 Vet visits, medications, moving, etc.

Last time i took Humphrey to the vet (a while ago), they hinted strongly that he would be a great candidate for tranquilizers next time he goes to the vet 😂 (he was very aggressive towards them 😬).

Last week i had to take him to the vet again, so i did a few things differently when it came to my communication with Humphrey about it all (and did not give him tranquilizers).

1. I told him i had scheduled a visit with the vet, about a week in advance. (Keeping secrets never work with pets and it just confuses them and can sometimes worry them more🙈). I was straight to the point and also told him why i was bringing him in. (Just saying it out loud is enough, as they get the gist of it).
2. I focused on the positive aspects of it: the vet being a safe place, that they will check his health and help him feel better, that they love cats and that’s why they do this work 🌞.
3. I focused on the ideal situation. I did not go into the whole “i know you hate the vet...” or “i know it was scary last time...” because when we do that we’re sending them the energy of those negative feelings, reinforcing that in them. Instead, i focused on the ideal situation🌻 (even visualized what that would look like) and told Humphrey that the calmer and more relaxed we could be, the easier and more pleasant the visit would be.
4. I managed my own anxiety/worry about it. ✨ Anytime i started to worry about it, i took a few deep breaths and released those feelings in order to make room for the ideal situation. I wanted Humphrey to know i was confident about the vet being safe and positive.

He did amazingly well this time, and even purred for a good portion of the visit. I was so proud of him 🥰 As with anything we want to communicate with our animals, to the point and focusing on the positive is a good way to go. 💛