People often question if the synchronicities they are experiencing or the signs they think they might be getting from their spirit teams or loved ones in spirit are “real.”  How does one know?

I often experience signs when I’m driving. It takes a certain set of complex skills to drive that eventually become automatic, where you don’t have to concentrate on driving and your body just knows what to do.  That kind of focus can sometimes allow another part of my awareness to be a little more open to receiving intuitive input. I’ll find that I am waiting at a stoplight and my head will turn without thought away, directly to a license plate that has a set of triple digits such as 333. This is can be a very common occurrence for me. When I see these, I smile and let a feeling of warmth and gratitude wash over me. I will pay attention to what I was just thinking about or taking about and interpret that sign showing up right then as validation or emphasis around that subject or idea. Either way, as I let myself receive love from my spirit team in that moment, I allow myself to fill with a loving boost of energy and warmth and I then give love and gratitude back to them. I have found that this exchange invites a ripe opportunity for more signs and synchronicities to happen for me.

When dropping my son off Monday, we were crossing the street to the school and I looked to the left and there was an 8888 license plate on a car stoped at the crosswalk. I said, “Look Nico, good luck for today!” and he smiled and I could see a warm feeling washing through him, giving him a boost of energy and confidence for the day. Then driving back the few blocks to my house, my eyes popped over to another car parked on the side of the road with a 555 license plate. Let me be clear - I wasn’t actively looking for these, and scanning all the license plates I pass by. When I do try to look for them, I rarely see them. It happens when I’m not looking for them. I just find my head and eyes moving automatically right to them and the numbers appear in front of my eyes.
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I had been asking my spirit teams what would be relevant and good to write about this week for you and as I saw the second triple digit, I realized this was it! They heard my request for what would be relevant to write about to share with you this week, and as soon as I saw those, I realized it was this. Now, since that happened I have seen SO MANY! I saw several yesterday and then today on the clock I saw 11:11 as we were chatting during a break at my Momentum Collective this morning. I looked at the clock at 1:11, 3:33, 5:55. I saw a 888 on a car and another two triple digit license plates. I don’t always see that many, but this definitely has reinforced the message for this week!

What are your signs? Finding pennies could be your thing. Or a certain type of bird, or the fact that birds tend to fly in front of you. It can come in any shape or form.

There are a few things that I recommend paying attention to if you are trying to decide when something is a sign:

1. You aren't expecting it and there is an element of surprise. In other words, you aren’t actively looking around and scanning for a sign.
2. As a sign appears, it draws your attention away from what you were doing or thinking enough to notice it, to acknowledge it. There can be a feeling of time pausing or slowing down - as if witnessing that it is waking you up in a way.
3. Consistency of one kind or another. This can be in the form of experiencing the same kind of sign in different times and ways. Or many different signs but they are all related because they inspire the same kind of loving feeling. There are many different ways consistency can appear.
4. Spirit connection. If you are tuning into the experience that you are having, it can feel like there is another energy at play. This can be an elevated feeling or like a warmth glowing inside you.

What is the message? It is a message of love. It can feel like a specific loved one or set of loved ones or your spirit team in general. You can ask them and trust the answer you feel. Or maybe you just know. The message is that they are with you. Advocating for you. Supportive. That you are not alone.

It is important to acknowledge that there can be concerns when signs and synchronicities happen that can feel frightening or scary. When I experience someone feeling this way, usually I can see that they tend to gravitate toward being less trusting of the world in general. They haven't known how to interpret the experience and have automatically assumed. They are almost always so relieved to be shifting their perspective to this being a positive and loving sign from their spirit team rather than a bad omen of some kind. There often are other evidential and loving messages from their loved ones in spirit that help support this understanding as well. The way we interpret things has such a huge influence on the experiences we have. It is a good idea to occasionally get curious about how you are interpreting what’s happening in your life and see if there are ways you can upgrade them to bring more joy, more love and more trust into your life.

There are other ways to engage with your spirit team more directly. You can ask them or specific loved ones in spirit for help with something like a parking space in a crowded parking lot and magically it appears. It may or may not always work, but it will help you feel confirmation of them helping and loving you like any other sign or synchronicity. It is important in this kind of interaction with them to be tuned into inviting their energy. It could occur to you to ask because they are ready to support you in that moment and have blended their energy with you to help you invite engagement. If you ask without tuning in and ask all the time, it is less likely to feel authentic or to happen as much as you want. Keep developing your intuition and discernment to feel when there is an elevated sense of connection.

Like anything, signs and synchronicities can ebb and flow. You can feel less connected to yourself sometimes and that can also happen with your connection with your spirit team too. This is natural so don’t worry if things are quiet for a time. You are likely integrating and expanding and will soon come back in the flow in a more expanded and evolved state. 

The last and most important part of this puzzle is to TRUST yourself and your spirit teams. No need to second guess. Yes, it is a sign more often than not. There is no harm in allowing yourself to lean into this being true. Some fear that if they believe it, something bad might happen or they might fall off the edge of sanity or are worried it will keep them from relating to other people. I have found none of this to be true. Most often, there is actually a fear of receiving; a resistance to allowing in the love and healing for fear it may not be permanent, that it might cause more grief and loss. It can be scary to allow in love, it is a powerful force that brings with it change - for the better. Sometimes it can feel safer to guard from it, though this is often not a conscious choice.

So here is my invitation for you. Get curious. Where can you open more to receiving love in your life? You don’t need to have an answer right now. Asking the question can open places in you that are ready. Don’t worry about the “how.” That will unfold as your intention to open shifts your energy system and it will fall into place. Trust yourself and your spirit teams to know exactly what to do.
All my love,

Anna Blossom

Ps. What have you experienced on this subject? Do you have questions? Please reply in the comments section. If you don't have the substack app, consider getting it! That way you’ll have more access to being part of the conversation and easy access to my other past posts and all the great writers on this platform.

​Let’s build community!

As she suggested this, I had a vague thought somewhere in the back of my mind that they were out of town, in Eugene and there for his girlfriend’s nephew’s birthday. But only when I texted to invite them and my uncle responded stating those words in the same order they appeared in my mind was I shocked into realizing I’d already known this. HOW??? I scanned all my recent texts and phone calls with them, and saw that there had been no communication for a couple of months. Time seemed to slow down as I realized with a kind of sharp clarity that I had known this information psychically or through my intuition. I didn't normally get intuitive information about simple life details or in such a concrete way. It was like I woke up in that moment into an undeniable recognition of my ability and knew the experience was an invitation to fully step in.

When I was a child, I could sense what I’d call hot spots, or concentrated areas of stagnant energy or pain in someone’s body. I knew deep within me that I was a healer and that I could help people. I didn't have much language or context to talk about it all that much or develop it at the time. As a child growing up in an artistic and musical family, and living next door to an ongoing stream of chiropractic students, I always felt that I would become an art or music therapist or some kind of alternative medical practitioner. 

I was so clear about this direction that at age 13 I volunteered after school at a clinic owned by a family friend that provided leading techniques in physical and occupational therapy for children with cerebral palsy and autism. It was an amazing experience and I learned so much. I really appreciate the adults in my life who fostered my curiosity and drive to learn and be of service at such a young age.

Though I did a lot of different kinds of art growing up, when my grandmother taught me how to sew it opened a door of creativity for me. Designing took over my world as I grew and fashion design became my first fiery love and then became my first career. It was incredibly successful- I was following the energy and amazing things were happening. I was aiming for the moon, feverishly and excitedly and never looked back at the healing part of myself until I “made it” in the fashion industry. I was living and working in Italy for several years designing for brands including Max Mara and Patrizia Pepe. It was at that time that I started to pivot. I’m looking forward to sharing more about that part of my journey. If you’re curious, here’s a fun chapter from my time as a fashion designer, but do read on first. 

I had a lunch already planned with my aunt a couple days after that experience in my dining room and told her all about it. I shared that I felt a strong pull toward understanding what was happening and felt it was time to say “YES” to this ability that had been growing over the past few years. Her husband had died the previous year and she was familiar with the powerful healing experience of mediumship. I was not aware of it, though I was quite familiar with channeling, having had a close childhood friend who studied, practiced on me many times and then became very good. I had learned a lot from her over the years, but was never drawn to channeling myself. In this conversation, my aunt mentioned that she knew of someone she trusted who was running a mediumship practice group. She said she would vet it that evening and texted later to confirm that it looked trustworthy and said they were meeting the following day. 

I will take a moment here to acknowledge the amazing timing of these events: The experience I had in my home, followed by already having lunch planned with my aunt who then knew about this group which happened to be meeting the next day. Everything was lined up already, and this is how the magic of spirit communication and support often works. I can’t tell you how many times clients are amazed by the timing around their sessions with me. It has happened multiple times that people have booked months in advance and their loved one unexpectedly passes days before their session or a magical opening appears in my schedule just perfectly in time for someone who really needed it right then. This kind of timing happens all the time.

It was a warm summer day and I was wearing a casual long-flowing floor-length navy dress with platform sandals. I entered the back room of a tea house filled with couches and tables and a variety of people of all ages and backgrounds. The medium and animal communicator Thea Strom, who later became a friend and colleague, was leading the group. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and then she led us through one of the most powerful meditations I’d ever experienced. Even though I’d been intuitive my whole life and that had brought me into an incredible career, and some pretty magical experiences, I’d never opened up to the spirit world directly and intentionally like this before. She led us to connect with an animal and immediately I connected with my beloved cat who I’d known for all 19 years of her life. It was so powerful and I was filled with her love and her energy. My cat then brought forward a gift for me. The gift was the strong message that this space of intuitive spirit connection is where I belonged, what I had been searching for. I had tears of relief and appreciation streaming down my face. Tears from finding the doorway to the nectar of my own spirit and my meaning for being here, tears of so much love from the spirit world, I couldn’t contain it in my body.

Shortly afterward, we broke into pairs and I did a mediumship reading for the first time for someone. When I connected with her energy, I saw the image of an old typewriter with multiple keys jammed in the center and unable to type. I explained this to her and she said she was a writer and was experiencing writer’s block. I was blown away! The reading continued to unfold and I felt her father-in-law with her. I could sense he was helping her and a few things about him. She was quite moved by the reading and showed me a photo she had with her afterward and I was stunned to see the person I’d just been connecting with. He was a little different than I had seen in my mind, but so many things were accurate. It was an incredible first experience.
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I knew then that this was a direction I must continue to explore and I began to dedicate myself passionately to studying mediumship. I was still advising startup businesses and doing freelance design and creative direction, but this became my new main focus. For about two years I studied and practiced and then began my professional practice. 

With ANNA COHEN being such a public-facing name for my fashion brand, I wanted something else when I started my new venture both because it was very different in nature and because I wasn’t ready to be public about what I was shifting into. So I started my business using my first and middle name, Anna Blossom. I knew I had been saving that for something over the years, but I didn’t know what it was until this direction unfolded and it fit perfectly. I built up my mediumship practice for a couple of years. Once I felt I was standing on solid ground and began to have a following, I was ready to “come out” as a medium. I was worried that people would judge me or feel uncomfortable with the direction I’d chosen to go in, but was relieved and surprised by how much support I received from my community. My work has grown and evolved over the years, and now the name of my business has evolved to be BLOSSOM INTUITIVE which has reflected the expansion of bringing more and different offerings and other healers into my practice as well. I am so happy to do what I love and help others to find their way home in their lives as well. 

Is there something that you are feeling drawn to but haven’t said “YES” to yet? In this moment you have an opportunity to pause and ask yourself this question. Maybe you know the answer immediately. Maybe there is a subtle knowing somewhere inside you that has been slowly emerging. Sometimes we are afraid of the powerful energy that comes with saying a full “YES” to something we know resonates with us.

If you’d like, you can take a few deep breaths, centering yourself. Allow your body to soften and your heart to lead. Let go of rushing right now, let go of what’s coming next. 

Let your heart allow a knowing to surface into your consciousness, a clarity, a feeling. Follow this feeling and let it reveal helpful information to you. This could be inspiring or it could be unraveling some stagnation that has been needing attention in order to shift and make room for you to move through and forward. There’s no way to do this “wrong” so trust that whatever is coming up in your awareness is helpful and healing. If you desire clarity, ask for it from your heart and allow it to answer. 
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Please feel free to share below. I’d love to hear from you!

​- Anna Blossom

“Are there any other seats available?” I asked the flight attendant in the tiny section at the back of the plane. “I’m sorry, it is a full flight,” he said. I’d just realized that my seat wouldn’t recline and we were headed to Paris from New York. I was exhausted and exhilarated, high on the energy of the moment and was sure I’d want to sleep at some point. 
A little disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to recline, I settled back down in the isle seat next to the well dressed woman seated next to me, who I’d been embarrassed to realize had heard me. She assured me with her east coast charm that those seats were actually the safest in the plane. After the sounds of preparing for takeoff, she asked why I was headed to Paris. I was excited to share that I’d been invited to show my apparel collection at Prêt à Porter Paris, a fashion industry trade show. She turned to look at me with happy surprise and said that she was headed there too and that she was a writer for Women’s Wear Daily (WWD is only the MOST important trade publication in the fashion industry!). OMG what luck, I couldn’t believe it! She said was covering lingerie and had been doing that trip for many years. Immediately we started connecting and she wanted to know my story. 
You see, being invited to show your collection as a guest is not the same as applying to show and paying a hefty sum to do so. Prêt à Porter had added a Green section to their trade show to promote and highlight brands that were in the new and emerging space of sustainability. At the time, there were very few brands that were actually blending sustainability with true high fashion and mine was a leader in that space. I had been trained in New York and Italy and then worked for top Italian brands for four years before returning to Portland where I started my line. 
Freshly back from Italy in 2005, I was getting to know local folks in the industry when a makeup artist asked me to partner with her to produce a fashion show. I thought about it and said, “Sure, on one condition: it has to be about sustainability.” She agreed and so I started to reach out to the few brands around the country who were in that space to see if they wanted to send collections to be included in the show. To my surprise, ALL OF THEM said yes! So I suddenly realized I needed to put together my own collection for the show. I didn’t have much time, I think it was about two weeks. So I borrowed $2,000 from a family friend, and having just moved into my new design studio, started creating. I didn’t know what would happen once I got a design studio. I just knew it was time, and that there was so much energy and momentum around it that I jumped in and knew something would come into being once I said yes to it. This is how my life seems to work, and why I now know I was primed to follow the path that has led me to the work I do now. 
During the process of creating this collection, I worked closely with my mom, Connie Cohen. She was instrumental in helping me understand concepts of sustainability, having written her Master’s Thesis on “The Role of the Arts in Sustainable Culture.” I remember us brainstorming late one night at the dining room table trying to sort out how to communicate the idea of limited resources in a way that was poetic and beautiful; that could inspire rather than scare people into making responsible decisions. We landed on a canary as an indicator species, and came up with a sort of poem that would tell the story of canaries in the coal mines. The fact that my anti-Apartheid Dad was from South Africa with its huge mining industry, added a flavor of meaning to this concept. 
My dear artist friend Susanna Battin became the first of my many interns. She helped hand paint the words of the poem onto a series of un-dyed bamboo dresses I designed for the show. I drew a canary and created a silk screen of it that I printed on the backs of all the dresses in different places. When the models walked out, they brought what we later called, “The Canary Story” to life one line at a time on each dress. When they all lined up and turned around at the finale, there was a flock of canaries flying across their backs. It was a powerful message and people were ready to hear it.
At the time, I didn’t realize I was launching what would become my fashion company, I was just following the inspiration and energy of the invitation to participate and lean into what I was passionate about. I had no idea that poem and canary would become the guiding light and icon of my brand, I was just trusting and following my intuition.

DEEP IN THE COAL MINES

CANARIES GAVE WARNING

WHEN TO TAKE ACTION FOR SURVIVAL

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

CHANGE 
​BE STRONG

FIND WHAT YOU LOVE

LOVE WHAT YOU DO

LISTEN FOR CANARIES

It was an exhilarating moment. I was excited to bring these two worlds together: Fashion and Sustainability. To make a statement that was so deeply meaningful to me, a tribute to the natural systems on which all life depends using my talent and training for something that could make real change. 

Soon I heard from several writers from local and national publications wanting to feature my work and know more about my vision. It was on. Time to create seasonal collections and start a company - and quickly. The canary became the logo for the ANNA COHEN brand and “Listen for Canaries,” the tagline.

It was an exciting time. I gathered more interns to help and started teaching Fashion Design at Art Institute International of Portland while building my business. I could hand pick the most talented students to work with me and that was such a great perk! Sourcing local patternmakers, sample sewers and production proved to be more challenging, but I made my way through and was soon balancing a large team of talent to bring this vision into form. 

I shared this story and more with the woman sitting next to me on the plane as we ate our dinner and enjoyed wine together. I also shared that I would leave the show early and return to New York to spend a couple exciting days with the executive team at the apparel company, Eileen Fisher. I’d been awarded one of five $10,000 Socially Responsible Women Owned Business Grants. They were flying us to New York to celebrate together, show us a window into how their successful socially responsible business model worked, and to be available for any questions. 
When we deplaned, a young girl was in front of us and the woman said to her with a beaming smile on her face, “You know, this is a famous fashion designer!” It was so lovely to experience her calling me that. 
We shared a taxi and hugged goodbye, wishing each other well. I was excited to meet up with my team who had already arrived from Portland. Only a few minutes later as I was entering our marbled flat, my phone rang, a number from New York. My new airplane friend had reached out to WWD and another writer on staff wanted to interview me right away about the Eileen Fisher grant. It was published a day or two later and was my second time being featured in the iconic publication. I’ll share soon about the first time, which was also an incredible and magical experience. 

It turned out to be quite amazing to see how Eileen Fisher and her team ran their business. It was so inspiring, organized and easeful in a time when that was not the norm in the fashion industry, which tends to thrive on fierce competition, intense timelines and complex systems. It was amazing and such an honor. Eileen was kind, gentle and strong and I learned so much that deeply influenced me in those couple of days spent with her and her team. 

I was following the energy, walking through doors as they opened in front of me and magical things were happening. At that time, my healing work was unfolding through my talent as a designer and visionary dedicated to honoring our natural systems. That evolved over time to include many more chapters that led me to where I am now. 
Your story is unfolding as you move along on your journey and this is an invitation to listen to what feels true, good and important and follow it through the opening doors in your life. Many times over, I have learned that this yields amazing things. Thanks for reading! 

“My friend accidentally killed her cat,” she said. “She hasn’t been able to get out of bed for days and is really struggling,” my dear friend and collaborator, Rosemary, said to me on the phone last Friday night. “Can you help her?” 
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I arrived the next morning and met them both. We went upstairs to her bedroom while her husband and beautiful young children played downstairs. As soon as we started to talk with each other, her other cat, Cookie, scratched at the door, wanting to join us. Avery was surprised. “He usually isn’t like this,” she said as he connected with each of the three of us, looking at us and walking between us. I wasn’t surprised at all. This kind of thing happens with animals all the time when doing sessions. “He knows what’s happening,” I said. “He’ll help us.” 
I’d brought a bundle of dried lavender and rosemary to help with the session and he leapt up on the ottoman where I’d set it down and was rubbing all over it. All of us were amazed, but I knew it wasn’t time to use that tool yet, that would come later.

​As I started the grounding meditation, he walked under my legs, rubbing up against them and jumped up behind me rubbing on my back, very out of character for him. I could tell it was going to be magical. As I opened up to the spirit world I could feel Chloe, Avery’s cat who’d passed. She was sweet and loving and very forward. She showed her eyes first, beautiful and clear and unusual in some way. Avery confirmed this to be true. Then Chloe showed her beautiful fur and parts of her personality. 

The session moved at a gentle pace, one thing being revealed and then another. Soon her grandmother started to appear in my awareness and I could see that she was close with Avery, very dedicated to her when she was alive and also now. I had a feeling about something being in the room that was hers or representing her just behind me and to the right. Avery was astonished when I asked if there was an item representative of her in that part of the room and said there was a figurine that was on her shelf right there that was her grandmother’s for years that she’d recently taken down, and had just been thinking about. She’d been thinking about her grandmother and wondering if she might come through. Of course she came into my awareness just before we started to do healing energy work, perfectly timed to support Avery. 
I could sense her grandmother’s hand on her forehead, the soothing loving energy of her. I followed suit, placing my own hand there, caressing her forehead lovingly, explaining what I was feeling and knowing this was the opening that would help her let go. 
I intuitively knew immediately on the phone the night before that Rosemary would assist with the session. She works with energy too and I knew it would be part of her journey to learn, serve and receive as a healer in this process for her friend. She sat to one side of her while I sat on the other and with her consent we opened her energy channels with gentle touch, following the energy of her body to know where to place our hands. Avery was ready. The flow was powerful and she was starting to release deeply rooted energy and feelings of intense responsibility and tension that expanded beyond the trauma from losing Chloe. 
When in session with a client, I am shown through my sensory system, relevant information that will help them evolve and heal. This information is provided because the client has invited loving spirit connection and support and consented to receive. 

In this case, I was shown that there was a pattern in her life of taking more than her share of responsibility especially for outcomes that were not ideal and being extremely harsh on herself in a way that she wouldn’t do with anyone else, which she confirmed. I could see that this pattern was also at play with what happened with Chloe who had climbed into the dryer for a nap. Avery had closed the door and started it going without knowing she was in there. It was agonizing for her that this had caused the death of her most beloved animal companion and she held such a level of intense emotion, regret and sadness. She carried a huge amount of responsibility for what happened and even though she took actions that led to the outcome of her passing, I could see the responsibility was not all hers to hold. I helped her understand this and how interlinked Chloe’s passing and her healing was. The extreme version of this pattern at play made it no longer possible to sustain in Avery’s body and this is why we were there; why spirit connection was happening at this time. Many elements, energies and intentions were converging to support this transformation for her. 

I could also energetically sense that she would hold herself separate from others, not allowing herself to receive and that her incredible relationship with Chloe was a kind of healing she’d never experienced before, which she confirmed. I was shown and then explained that Chloe’s ultimate gift to Avery in her passing provided the opportunity to release this strong held pattern so she could be far more free and open in her life. It was clear that it would have been very difficult for her to let go of this pattern and allow this major shift - spiritual, emotional and physical without this intense experience. She also desperately wanted to know that Chloe didn’t suffer too much and needed to communicate how much she loved her and how sorry she was. 

There were more words and energy work that took place. She was holding so much grief and tension in her chest. Rosemary was amazed as she witnessed Avery’s body and energy system distinctly soften and release under her hands. 

It is hard to articulate the depth and measure of the incredible life changing experience that transpired from this exchange. I feel as though when I’m tapped into the level of consciousness, of being, of communication and exchange that happens while serving toward the highest good in partnership with the spirit world, a kind of powerful healing beyond our full capacity to understand takes place. 

We all felt deep and powerful shifts and knew when the healing was complete. As we did the closing meditation, Cookie, who had been working with us the whole time, scratched at the door once again to be let out. His work was done. I could feel and confirmed to Avery that his role would shift and he would help her continue to heal. 

“This is an absolute miracle!” she said. “I didn’t think I was going to ever get out of bed. And I feel completely different now. I feel lighter and back to myself. I couldn’t be more grateful.” She shared these words with gratitude filled tears as we locked eyes for a long moment then she and Rosemary had a long sweet tearful embrace followed by all three of us in a hug. We all felt so lifted by the experience. “This was absolutely incredible!” 

I then felt the pull to clear the room and her with the smoke from the lavender and rosemary. Afterward, Rosemary and I went downstairs to the laundry room where Chloe had passed. Avery thought she’d never be able to enter that room again. We opened the windows and burned the herbs in that space while Avery remained upstairs gathering items for creating an altar in there. Then we brought her gently into the room and made the beautiful altar together. Rosemary and I sang to her and Chloe. It was beautiful and transformative. Then our work was complete. 

I reached out yesterday to find out how Avery has been doing the last few days. Here’s what she said:“I feel like I have been reborn. It is the craziest thing. Like I’m meeting Alex and my kids for the first time. How a cat dying could cause what’s happening is mind blowing. The block that was there was preventing me my entire life from being where I am now.” 
This is the beautiful work I have been aching to write and share about for years. I get to see this incredible transformation unfold time and time again, each scenario unique, beautiful and profound.

Another friend reached out for an urgent session for her mom as I was writing this post this week. Her mom’s dog is passing and her mom’s mother very recently passed. I struggle to find the words for how powerful the healing and messages were that came through in that session yesterday. 
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Whether you are near or far, whether it is for you or someone you love, if you feel the pull to receive or provide a session for another who needs it, follow that feeling. There is a reason you are reading this, let that reason become clear. I am here to help and because of the trend of these sessions this week, I am opening up my books to do more urgent sessions (in person and online) and house calls, which I haven’t done in years, as needed. ​