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This week's life note, we share the chair with our very first medium.

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Welcome to Life Notes from Chair 17,

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a podcast dedicated to sharing life stories,

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wisdoms and inspirations as we navigate life's journey,

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post chas to share thoughtful perspectives and insights from her own life journey.

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As well as those of special guests, contributors tune in for thoughtful conversations about lessons learned wisdoms,

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gained experiences, had and inspirations shared.

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Find us where you get your podcasts and be sure to hit follow or subscribe,

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so you never miss an episode. Now,

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enjoy this week's episode. All righty.

0:53

Welcome back in friends to another episode of the Life notes from Chair 17.

0:58

Our first episode of 2024.

1:02

Thank you once again for finding us in this corner of the podcast universe.

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I am your host ch and if you are listening close to the turn of the new Year,

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Happy New Year to you, as always,

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I sincerely appreciate and thank all of our returning listeners for tuning in each week.

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And if you have just found us on a major podcast platform or via our website out on Life Notes from Church 17 podcast.com,

1:35

a warm Welcome to you. Thank you so much.

1:38

We hope you like what you hear and you will want to continue to tune in new episodes,

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will continue to release on Fridays and we will continue to do that until the stats tell me otherwise.

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But for this episode, it is one that I have been really looking forward to sharing out with all of you for a while.

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And as returning listeners will know,

2:07

one of my goals with this podcast is to invite folks on to talk about their life journey or their life story.

2:15

And I am planning a series of those throughout the remainder of this year.

2:20

And with that in play and part of the plan as well as starting off the first Friday of 2024 with a guest.

2:33

We are renaming our episodes that feature a guest or a contributor to share the chair.

2:41

Given that this podcast's inspiration is partly due to a favorite mountainside chairlift and the unique moment in time,

2:54

a chairlift ride offers of sitting next to someone and swapping a life story or two.

3:02

So it felt very fitting to start the year with the guest and with a new name for the episodes when we do have a guest.

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And I was particularly looking forward to this one because it is with my very good friend Colleen Coleman,

3:19

who I got to know several years back when we found ourselves working for the same company.

3:26

And we have definitely gone down some interesting life paths since we first met.

3:32

And for her, she is embarking or has embarked on a journey to embrace a gift.

3:39

She has come to realize she has and that is becoming a medium.

3:45

And this particular interview,

3:48

in my opinion was very inspiring,

3:51

but it was also very educational.

3:54

I have never knowingly had someone who is a medium and is in my life.

4:02

But I have always considered myself someone who is spiritual and who does believe in the other side of the veil or another realm.

4:13

And I certainly believe that those of us who have passed on can and still do have a presence in our life.

4:21

Uh whether we choose to acknowledge it or not,

4:24

that is entirely up to us. And as I say,

4:27

all that, I do want to say that for this episode,

4:31

our standard disclaimer applies,

4:35

right? We are not challenging or promoting any kind of ideology.

4:41

We are not saying you should or should not go have a reading with a medium.

4:47

And we are certainly not providing any sort of medical or therapeutic advice or consult.

4:55

All of those things are entirely up to you.

4:59

What this really is meant to be is the sharing of an inspirational story of someone who has found a new calling and of which has been both healing and life changing for her in a good way.

5:14

And those are the kinds of stories I aim to tell on this podcast.

5:19

So while a lot of the time they are my stories,

5:22

they can also be stories from the people I know or from the people that I meet for the very first time.

5:30

Because if they are stories that can inspire someone out there to maybe lean into a talent or a gift,

5:39

and if that gift can harness, be harnessed to help and share with others,

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that's a good thing. And Colleen's story is very much that plus at the end of the episode,

5:53

we debut our c 17 questionnaire with Colleen,

5:58

our first guest to answer the series of rapid fire questions that are inspired by the great interviewer James Lipton from inside the actors studio from which he was inspired by the French journalist Bernard pivot.

6:19

Now this episode will run a bit longer than our usual episode timing.

6:23

I have also tried to capture in the show notes,

6:27

some of the very specific things uh that Colleen talks about as it pertains to terminology and medium discipline,

6:36

they are shared without sponsorship or ad placement and they are simply for those who are interested in learning more.

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You also have the ability should you choose or you want to,

6:48

to reach out to Colleen directly? There will be a link to her website in the show notes as well.

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We did cover a lot of ground and a lot of it was educational for me for sure.

7:00

And I'm sure it will be for those of you listening and learning about mediumship for the first time.

7:06

If however, there is something that is not in the show notes that I somehow m didn't capture and you want to learn more about it.

7:14

You are free to reach out to me.

7:17

I can send ad M on Instagram to our Instagram handle life notes at your 17 podcast.com.

7:24

You can also use our contact form on the website or if you want to just personally reach out to Colleen for her to help you learn a bit more.

7:33

That's also fine. Want to make sure that everybody has the ability to learn more.

7:37

Should they want to? And with that be kind to yourself,

7:41

take it one hour at a time, one day at a time and enjoy the episode.

7:47

Hi, Colleen. Hi, Courtney.

7:49

So great to be with you. I know I'm like we are talking about uh this is what four years in the making was the last time we saw each other overdue,

7:58

overdue, overdue to the nth degree.

8:01

So as we sit down to talk about your journey,

8:06

your spiritual journey that you're on, but also one that's leading you into becoming a medium before we actually start talking.

8:13

You wanted to actually pull a card for us.

8:16

Talk a bit a little bit about that. What are you gonna do?

8:18

Yes, I love working with oracle cards.

8:21

It's something that I do in my own daily practice.

8:24

And what are oracle cards for folks that don't know,

8:26

they are just a really simple tool.

8:28

They come in all different shapes, sizes,

8:30

forms, brands that you like.

8:33

But to me, it's really simple tool. You can pull one card,

8:35

keep it easy. And that really helps focus the energy.

8:39

It helps set an intention for the time that you're doing.

8:42

So I pull one every day in my meditation.

8:44

So I know where I'm headed and what's working on my behalf or what might be a watch out.

8:49

So I just thought it would be a great way to bring some of my regular practice to our time together.

8:54

Sounds good. All right. So she to describe for anyone who's not watching this,

8:57

there's a set of cards and she's shuffling them and I'm gonna be pulling from colette Baron Reid's Enchanted map,

9:05

which based off of our in the show notes.

9:08

So when we post this, I will um put links to anything that you mention here to make sure that if folks are interested they can learn more.

9:16

So we are pulling a card. Fantastic.

9:19

So the card I pulled, how perfect come together.

9:23

Ha I swear y'all,

9:26

we did not plan that. I literally just watched her pull the card and what does it mean or represent you're gonna read from that.

9:32

The essential message is love needs to be shared,

9:37

love needs to be expressed. Drawing come together is a sign that you're on the path to discover the nature of this emotion in all forms and expressions,

9:47

romantic familial,

9:49

unconditional spiritual.

9:52

In each instance, there is another being involved.

9:57

Love involves a give and take between you and a significant other,

10:01

a relative, a friend, an animal and or spirit.

10:06

This card assures you that love has come calling and seeks a partner to dance with know that you are cherished like a magnet.

10:16

You are attracting love into your life.

10:18

This is a time for harmonious caring,

10:20

partnerships. How beautiful is that?

10:25

Uh In Wow, I'm,

10:28

you know, me long enough. So Colleen and I have known each other for was that 2015 that we met uh working for a outdoor retailer.

10:39

Um And so I really do love.

10:43

Uh I, we have come together as,

10:46

as spiritually connected folk and really believing in talking about energies and good energies and whatnot.

10:54

And so the idea that we go through this very simple,

10:58

can we call it a ceremony before we start this podcast?

11:00

I'm here for ceremony in all the ways life is a ceremony.

11:04

That's the card that we pull and that as you and I reconnect after a gap of time,

11:10

which was true. Um When we talked to,

11:13

talked to Gail a few episodes back as well.

11:15

Pandemic has really skewed time for a lot of us.

11:18

It's also made our own journey is very,

11:23

our own life journey is very interesting. Uh It's taken us in new directions I would say awakened our own,

11:31

uh maybe our own callings, right,

11:33

of things that we have always wanted to do or pursue.

11:36

And so that's how you and I have come to have you be a guest on this podcast because part of what we do here uh is talk about different life journeys that people are on and what they are learning,

11:51

gaining, experiencing, being inspired by as part of that journey.

11:55

So um the starter question obviously is how did this come to you?

12:02

Because as you and I came to know each other, you were heavy into a totally different path.

12:07

Yes, I was and are so partially in on your day job in that path.

12:12

But that this has come to you within the last few years.

12:16

So talk a little bit about that for folks of how the idea of becoming this medium or a spiritual medium um arrived in your life on your path.

12:29

Yeah. Thanks so much for asking. It wasn't a straight path.

12:32

And I will say that is that some mediums experience and know that they are medium stick from their earliest memories of childhood.

12:43

That has not been my experience. So I can tell you my earliest psychic experience,

12:50

I was about 13 and I dreamt that my mom was bringing home Chri Deli's white chocolate,

12:59

hot chocolate mix from visiting my grandparents and she did the next day,

13:02

bring that home. Um And I thought,

13:05

well, that was interesting. And that's like the first. It was exactly what you,

13:08

exactly what I dreamed. Yeah, we didn't have a Costco where I grew up.

13:11

So it was a really big deal. She was going on a Costco run and this is what I was fantasizing about anyway.

13:15

So that was just a marker in time that I can point to,

13:18

to say, oh, wow, there was a greater intelligence at work.

13:22

Um, But it wouldn't be until May 19th of 2014,

13:29

the day my father died. Um that I experienced a profound pain that I had never known.

13:38

And that night my dad came to me and he touched my arm and he squeezed it three times and he used to squeeze my hand three times and it was a,

13:47

I love you. So a squeeze for each,

13:50

I love you. And he was as real to me as you are sitting here with me.

13:57

Um And what it did was give me a lot of comfort in the moment knowing that he was sending me messages from the other side.

14:07

And also what it did was awaken this intense need to know.

14:14

I need to know of the other side.

14:18

What's going on? What is the afterlife?

14:21

What is the other side? What are they doing over there?

14:25

So I started ordering every book from Amazon I could find and reading them ferociously.

14:33

I mean, I was insatiable and can I ask a question about that small sidebar?

14:39

Did you grow up with any sense of interest in,

14:43

in sort of what, what happens when we leave this world and go to next?

14:47

Was it ever something that you talked about as a family or?

14:50

I don't think you were particularly,

14:52

uh, like religious or anything or not from a religious family.

14:55

My mom, I think she's gonna, she's gonna listen to this and it's ok.

14:59

I say this. My mom, hi mom. Uh,

15:01

she was definitely highly spiritual always but kept it in the closet while I was growing up.

15:07

Um, and I grew up really rurally, um,

15:09

with farm and like farm animals.

15:12

So I understood the cycle of life and I didn't really worry too much about the afterlife.

15:16

So, no, not really did kind of come out of left field as a result of the passing of your father.

15:22

And so I am like reading all these books and a lot of them were the work of Sylvia Brown,

15:27

which we can include in the links in the show notes.

15:30

And then uh four weeks to the date of my dad's passing anniversary.

15:34

I went to a medium. You did?

15:36

Ok. Yeah. But the appointment that I made with her was actually for a tarot card reading.

15:41

Oh, interesting. Ok. And when I walked in she said,

15:44

oh, you're here for a blah de blah reading. And I was like, what I mean?

15:46

She was using words. I had never heard didn't understand.

15:49

And I said, nope, just here to have my cards read.

15:52

So she does the card spread,

15:54

which um was profound because the death card came up in,

16:00

this was in the bread. And she said, oh,

16:03

that's why you're here. I've been sensing someone the whole time and he wants to come through.

16:08

Um Are you comfortable doing a blah, blah?

16:11

And again, I had no idea what she was saying, but of course,

16:13

I said yes. And um she ended up doing a trance channeling,

16:17

which that's a lot. OK. I'm just gonna tell you right now as somebody who understands,

16:22

there's gonna be a lot of learning for folks listening to. If you've never talked about,

16:26

I think it's important to point out, right? People have different levels of degree and understanding.

16:31

Um Some of it is ground very religiously.

16:34

Some is ground I would say more in uh an indigenous sense of spirituality or something to that effect.

16:39

So this is meant to sort of share one version of this and the idea that it could spark interest for other folks too that might be interested in wanting to talk about that.

16:49

So you're going to this um this medium directly after your father's passing,

16:54

passing death car is pulled.

16:57

Energy is like, hi, we wanna come through,

17:00

come through and share. And it just so folks,

17:03

you know, in this audience understand a, a trance,

17:06

reading, a trans channeling is where a medium works with their spirit and team to let a spirit communicator come into their body and use their vocal chords and um things that I'm not currently doing in my practice or my mediumship,

17:20

it looks like what Whoopi Goldberg does in ghost.

17:24

Good reference. Yeah. Good reference. Or I just recently saw um the Haunted Mansion with Jamie Lee Curtis and Tiffany Haddish plays one of those plays a medium and does this for on behalf of the house kind of a thing.

17:37

So folks interested in kind of seeing that,

17:40

I think it's a little more comical on that level.

17:42

But same concept of the body of the medium is used as the Conduit through which to use.

17:50

The example earlier when we were talking over dinner,

17:53

you are Bluetooth, you're not a Spotify playlist.

17:55

So it's like they may or may not be able to control exactly what's coming through,

18:00

but it opens the channel to be. In fact,

18:03

it's better if we don't try and control it, that gives us a strong message is much clearer from what spirit is trying to say.

18:08

But yeah, I work as a psychic medium. So I'm a psychic,

18:10

evidential medium and evidential is the type of training that I am committed to.

18:16

And that means um myself and the folks that practice evidential mediumship,

18:21

we bring a higher level of integrity to this practice where you as our sitter me.

18:30

If I came and said hi, I would like a reading,

18:33

please. Could you do reading for me?

18:35

You as the sitter need to be able to positively validate the spirit contact that I am bringing through within the first 1 to 2 sentences if my tutor Carmen is listening.

18:48

Um so that you really know who's with me.

18:51

So that way the message is not just me saying nice,

18:54

beautiful fluffy things about light and love, which are great time and a place for that.

18:58

But there's like a kind of like a trust but verify approach,

19:01

right? You need to know that it's not just smoke and mirrors or some kind of um not grounded in a,

19:09

in a way to make sure that the experience for the sitting person is as authentic as possible.

19:15

You got it. So I guess back to the story.

19:17

So I go to the medium and uh that was intense.

19:20

Um But I, and it was very comforting and I felt like,

19:22

oh wow, I was just able to make a long distance phone call and it brought me a lot of comfort.

19:26

Um And you know, I have own even then in my grief with the loss of my father,

19:32

uh I was numbing. I was using alcohol a lot in an unhealthy way.

19:38

And I was also training for an exceedingly hard and long term marathon.

19:42

So when I wasn't drinking, I was running my fanny off.

19:45

Uh neither of which I would recommend as coping mechanisms.

19:49

Um get a grief counselor. People get a,

19:52

get a grief counselor. Do not, do not. Grief is um I recently was talking to a coworker Lauren if you're listening.

19:59

Thank you. And she was listening to a podcast where the focus was grief and they were talking about um I'm not,

20:06

I will have to find the podcast link to uh share that with folks.

20:13

But the idea that the,

20:16

the s me, the subject matter expert on the podcast,

20:18

that's my abbreviation, apologies that I can't recall it off my hand is that grief creates a hole in your life and it doesn't necessarily ever get filled,

20:28

but you learn to build around that hole and essentially um frame your life while,

20:36

while, while acknowledging and, and knowing that it has left that mark on you doesn't mean that it's meant to cripple you or that it's meant to prevent you from going and living on in your life.

20:49

But that we sometimes rush too quickly to think it should be filled or it should go away or it should be like no longer a thing.

20:57

And that actually isn't true in the sense of um how we can learn to adapt to uh the various grief moments that we come through.

21:07

And one of those could be grief counseling.

21:10

One of those could be medium reading. One of those could be something that is not a destructive way of,

21:17

of healthy outlets, healthy outlets,

21:19

right? Healthy outlets, not unhealthy outlets.

21:21

I think that's beautiful Courtney and thank you for sharing that so much.

21:24

Um I just learned this like literally two days ago,

21:28

very timely. You know, for me,

21:30

it felt more like the Grand Canyon. So down,

21:34

down you were very close to your father, uh tumultuous relationship,

21:38

tumultuous relationship. And actually, I think that's why it was so complicated.

21:40

Uh Courtney knows this. So I feel comfortable seeing this on record.

21:43

I am a recovering co dependent and my dad was an alcoholic.

21:50

And so when he crossed over all of a sudden,

21:52

that pattern was no longer available to me,

21:54

the pattern just ended whether it was healthy or not.

21:57

Um And so that kicked off a real crisis for the way I had been functioning in the world in a lot of ways.

22:04

And so as I went down, down, down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon,

22:08

um what became clear is the only way out was a very difficult climb.

22:14

Um And it was a climb of self healing and self development.

22:19

Uh And it would take me three years of trying to run myself to death and drinking a lot to then actually wake up and um happened upon an incredible teacher.

22:29

Thank you, Cosette. If you listen to this, I'm so grateful for you who was one of the,

22:35

the key people and still is a key teacher in my life that has helped me awaken to this gift.

22:42

Um And the path. Uh, and with that,

22:44

you know, um, I was having experiences through that,

22:48

uh, with my loved ones, my dad has been a pretty constant spirit in my life.

22:54

And, um, then I lost both of my grandmothers during COVID and they have come through several times and I thought,

23:02

well, how great, like I am experiencing my loved ones on the other side,

23:06

I'm moving through the world operating like,

23:09

oh, everybody must experience this. That's what you told me when we were talking about this,

23:12

you're like, you thought everybody got to have this happen.

23:14

I know it's not true. Then I started having experiences with other people's loved ones.

23:19

Um And when that happened and from a time frame perspective,

23:22

so 2014 was kind of that moment of like,

23:25

oh, ok. And then you went through sort of year a couple of years there.

23:29

So if we say between 2014 and 2020 where 2017,

23:34

I started my spiritual path, right?

23:36

So there's a, there's a gap of sort of, hm,

23:39

ok, that was powerful and helping and then sort of coming around to,

23:43

I wanna get serious about this and potentially think a little bit more about it and then hitting into the pandemic where you are experiencing other people's dead people,

23:55

literally out of the sixth sense, right? And then because there was a lot,

23:59

sadly, um and that,

24:01

that has accelerated in these last,

24:05

would you say in the last year or so. A year and a half.

24:07

No, it was very specifically, um,

24:09

I was in a plant medicine ceremony on July of 20 to,

24:17

yeah, July of 22. So a year and a half ago,

24:19

year and a half ago and, um, I have a beautiful relationship with Ayahuasca.

24:25

She's been a hugely powerful teacher for me and it was with her that she took me to the underworld and said,

24:34

uh no, it's not everybody.

24:38

And you know, it's not just your loved ones.

24:42

And now it's time to make a choice and the choice being uh to lean in to what you have the ability to bring and share to others.

24:53

Looking for comfort in knowing kind of how it's going on the other side.

25:00

Yeah. Comfort and healing, comfort and healing.

25:03

Um But it came with a lot of responsibility and truly,

25:09

after that experience,

25:11

I felt very dismantled.

25:14

Like if I had gone through an identity crisis when my dad died,

25:17

uh there were some serious things that I had to take a hard look at.

25:21

Um And it took me more than a year to come to terms with what is potentially a gift that you have been told that you have and what to do with the gift.

25:34

And if I wanted to make the commitment, if I could make the commitment and to me,

25:38

that's really important because of the responsibility.

25:42

Um There is, you know, people are incredibly vulnerable when they're coming to you for a reading.

25:48

And it also requires,

25:50

you know, and I just want to say that to me, this is the greatest privilege of my life.

25:55

And I work for spirit.

25:58

And when you have a boss like that, when you have a board that has a higher level,

26:04

uh that doesn't, you can't get away with things,

26:07

you know, that you would if you nail it in. And,

26:10

uh, you know, with that in mind, I've just felt very aware of the responsibility that if I was going to choose this path,

26:19

um, that not only was it going to be a lifelong commitment to my own personal development,

26:23

my own work forevermore, um,

26:26

but also that there could be no other sacred cows.

26:29

Just go back to one of the things you were saying earlier.

26:31

This is sort of the practice that you're approaching to make sure that you are,

26:35

um, the, the trust but verify sort of the,

26:39

what we call it the and you know,

26:42

how like you major in something or you follow a certain track,

26:45

this is a particular kind of mediumship that you're in to make sure that as you talk about the responsibility that you,

26:52

you have taken on as having this ability as well as being able to share what you have.

26:59

Um, did that, uh did you initially know about that particular track or did you all think that mediumship was all just one kind of thing and some of it is kind of maybe hocus pocus but other might be serious.

27:11

Like, how did it, how did that approach come to you?

27:15

Yeah. Great question. If, if I can ask that question or i it's educational for folks because even for me as somebody who I would say is of a spiritual mind,

27:27

I didn't know that there were levels of practice within mediumship that there's a lot of disciplines,

27:35

we can refer to it as majors. Yeah, like disciplines and major or a major that um is ultimately designed to benefit the person that you're trying to do the reading for.

27:47

And I'm sure that's gonna be educational for folks listening for the first time too that if they are seeking,

27:52

uh uh we obviously share all of your information,

27:56

but let's say they, they've had previous mediumship,

27:59

maybe it hasn't been successful, maybe it has been not what they thought um for folks to understand kind of those levels of discipline is that,

28:07

did you know about that or is that part of your education in learning like 2017 forward?

28:12

I definitely had no idea. So, uh there's a lot of learning that's happening,

28:16

but I just want to touch on something you said there. And that is,

28:19

you know, um if somebody has been to a medium before and the,

28:24

the reading wasn't quite what they expected.

28:28

One. I would always encourage you as a sitter to really go in with as little expectations as possible and with as much openness as possible,

28:39

knowing that it's a three way communication between you and your loved ones in the spirit and the medium.

28:47

And all three really have to work together as a team for the best reading to take place and the highest level of healing to take place.

28:56

So that's number one and then followed up quickly by number two.

28:59

And that is that, you know, I operate at a very different radio frequency than the 59 other mediums that I was recently at Arthur Finley College with.

29:07

Right. So there is going to be some spirit communicators or loved ones on the other side who are able to come through my radio frequency but couldn't come through someone,

29:16

a beloved student sitting next to me for the whole week and vice versa.

29:19

And so it's just that sometimes and even it might just be where we're at in our development.

29:24

Um Right. If we were doing a reading Courtney, like,

29:26

maybe I could pick up an aunt that you have on the other side,

29:28

but maybe not able to pick up. Yeah, but maybe not able to pick up your highest level of guides at this point.

29:34

Or maybe I couldn't, that would be amazing and I look forward to that.

29:36

Um So it's really, that's ok.

29:40

I would, I would just really encourage people to stay open and there's so many disciplines about medium like there's trans mediumship,

29:46

like we've already talked about, there's animal communication,

29:49

which is incredible. I love that so much.

29:52

That's not what I practice, but I can't wait to go visit.

29:54

One. Fascinating. Right. And there's some that are really focused on art.

29:58

There's things called oral or oral photography or photography.

30:03

Um, where people draw what they're experiencing and the medium,

30:08

the draw it, draw it. Um,

30:11

and there's some people that focus exclusively on color and reading color.

30:17

That's incredible. Yeah. So there's like a whole wide world of mediumship disciplines that I had no about,

30:22

no idea about. But for me, what feels right for my path is,

30:27

um, working on becoming a demonstrating medium where I'm reading in front of a group for a group so that it's the highest level of healing.

30:34

The greatest number of healings can take place in one at one time.

30:38

And then also, um, private sittings are just the most powerful,

30:43

beautiful thing I've ever experienced if,

30:46

um, that's actually a great segue because I was gonna ask sort of as,

30:51

as part of this journey and coming into sort of what medium you are you have become and are and are becoming,

31:00

what would you say has been most rewarding for you as part of this journey?

31:04

I love that question. I hope I never stop becoming,

31:09

ah, good answer. Fabulous answer.

31:13

Meaning constant state of growth,

31:16

growth and next learning and change.

31:19

Um, and that might point to some of my shadows which are always like,

31:23

what's next? What next? But truly, you know,

31:26

what's the greatest, what do you say? What's question privilege?

31:29

Oh gosh, to witness or what did I say?

31:33

It was like what has been the most um um challenging.

31:40

So rewarding to you is a constant state of becoming,

31:43

would you say? Or, and, or mm You know,

31:48

I really feel like the most rewarding thing is when uh when I mean,

31:54

it, it's an amazing thing when spirit comes through.

31:58

And every time I make a link,

32:00

I'm just in awe, I'm absolutely just in awe.

32:04

And um you were talking, you were saying earlier,

32:07

it is very humbling. It's so humbling.

32:09

I mean, to, and I'll tell you the most profound thing is feeling the love somebody has for somebody else that may or may not have been well expressed while they were in human form.

32:22

It's powerful like at times,

32:25

um clear sentience, which is a feeling.

32:27

Um It's one of my strong, my strongest sense at this time in my development,

32:32

like my whole chest will get so hot and I mean,

32:36

like on fire hot when love is coming through for somebody.

32:42

It's amazing. And I um I recently did a contact,

32:46

it was a young boy and he was coming through to connect with his mom.

32:49

Um And the way he came through,

32:53

um I got to experience what it was like to feel pregnant and I've never been a mom before and that was an incredible sensation that I was just,

33:01

I mean, wow, mad respect to your moms out there because that was something I've never known and feeling that love was just I'm really in awe.

33:10

Does it leave you drained after you have these very transformative moments like where you are essentially experiencing that level of energy on behalf of somebody else in sharing that does it,

33:28

we often hear actors talk about when they are in a and by the way,

33:32

I'm not saying you're an actor, please, I realize that could sound really wrong.

33:35

What I'm talking about is when actors go through a very um challenging role and they have really put tremendous amount of energy.

33:44

Generally, emotional energy can be usually in crisis or despair.

33:49

So lots of scenes of crying and trauma and grief when the role is done or when the,

33:55

the film wraps or the show raps, they can often talk about sort of um it takes a while to let go of the character and,

34:02

and sort of the um the imprint of that.

34:05

Does that ever happen to you? I think you're asking me two questions.

34:09

I hear two in there. So I'm gonna go with them.

34:11

Go ahead. So the first question I'm hearing is about energy and do I feel drained after?

34:17

And then the second one is maybe about uh what do I do?

34:20

Do I have Lingerers? Yeah.

34:22

And and maybe potentially how, how does that affect you or,

34:26

or does it, maybe it doesn't, um I will say early on um before I was loud and proud and out in the public doing readings.

34:36

Um I was quietly and privately doing readings and at that time I would do one or two and just then collapse on the day bed that I have in my meditation room in a cap of exhaustion.

34:49

Uh And I realized that what was going on is that I was not taking good care of clearing the space energetically.

34:58

Um And also not allowing myself enough time to really reset in between readings.

35:06

And so I've, I've learned this,

35:09

yeah, I've become much more diligent. Um I don't know if anybody's been on my calendar,

35:13

but if you're trying to book an appointment with me, I've got really big blocks of time in between each sitting because I need time to clear myself,

35:22

clear the space, reset, reset.

35:24

It's like, um it's like a turnover, an Airbnb turnover.

35:29

I love that. And so with that, you know,

35:31

spirit airbnb turnover with that in mind.

35:34

And as I'm closing each reading,

35:37

I'm asking uh the loved ones to leave the space.

35:41

And so, um there's some beautiful universal spiritual laws when I say what I say,

35:47

if they head out respectfully. So that way,

35:50

it's been really good and beautiful. And so in that there are maybe not lingerers,

35:55

correct. That's good. OK? Because I think sometimes um I would say like folks may not as familiar might be like,

36:03

so what happens to them? Do they just hang around like you?

36:05

But there is a practice in which you welcome them in but also then help them say goodbye and move back.

36:14

Yeah, it's like the date is over. Thank you.

36:16

It's time to go home. You don't have to stay here or you can't,

36:19

what is it? You don't have to go home but you can't stay here.

36:21

We have that conversation at the closing of each treating that.

36:24

And, you know, I just think it's interesting too, a lot of the times and,

36:27

you know, maybe you have some listeners that are curious about this.

36:30

Uh, sometimes I share what I do and people are like,

36:33

oh, wow. Are you reading me right now? And I'm not,

36:35

no. Uh I'm not.

36:38

It is something that I consciously turn on and turn off.

36:42

So, um, and that goes back to the integrity and the quality.

36:47

Um, I, I don't think it's ethical for me to sit down on a plane next to you and start checking in with your dead people with loved ones on the other side.

36:55

I also don't think it's an ethical thing to do with the grocery or anything else nor do I want to because I'm a human who has to function in this human world.

37:03

Um, so I just think that's something that's really interesting that a lot of people get really curious about and they're like,

37:09

oh, gosh. And almost self conscious. Yeah.

37:12

And I'm like, no, I mean, it's like, sort of like,

37:15

that's not really how it works. Like, that's not,

37:17

that's not how, if you are doing it and practicing it in the discipline to which you have adopted,

37:23

that's not your approach. And that shouldn't necessarily be something that people assume is what is happening is that you're just constantly on,

37:32

constantly reading, constantly looking for people.

37:35

Yeah. The reason being it, this is incredibly sacred work to me.

37:39

Yeah. And I hope and pray that I never lose the reverence for that.

37:48

And it doesn't mean I can't do a reading at a grocery store,

37:51

but there'd have to be some serious intentionality there.

37:53

Right? And also, um,

37:56

I would assume too, I have the saying of sort of give yourself permission,

38:01

but it would be like to ask permission.

38:03

You wouldn't want to invade someone's sacred sense of,

38:08

um, someone who isn't with them anymore.

38:11

I mean, we, we've just talked about on this podcast a couple of episodes back,

38:15

right? The loss of someone in my life very abruptly.

38:18

And, um,

38:20

how much, you know, we still think about her and talk about her and it would seem so wrong to just,

38:29

and I just, it's like we need to remind ourselves of this way more than we do.

38:34

Oh my gosh. And just have so much grace there is no such thing as overdosing on grace and compassion and I really feel like that's what's needed now.

38:44

Yeah. And our, our world is very fractured and very,

38:50

it, it feels very dark at times.

38:53

Uh and particularly as we,

38:59

we, we could do a much better job of focusing on what you just talked about than what is my car.

39:07

What is my job? What is my title? Because I think too,

39:11

there have been, they're not memes, but they're more like you go and you are interviewing folks that are well into their last chapters.

39:18

So late eighties, early nineties and they ask folks,

39:25

you know, what is it that you, what is the advice you would give the younger generation?

39:29

None of job money status comes up.

39:34

It's like cherish every moment, tell somebody you always love them,

39:38

you know, have the big dream, big,

39:40

have the extra chocolate cake, whatever that is.

39:43

And I just think that there's something very simply beautiful.

39:46

Oh, I'm getting so much wave from spirit right now.

39:49

Well, I'm having a lot of incredible sensation.

39:52

I'm getting what one of my teachers calls markers.

39:54

That might be an easier idea. So I just get really strong body sensations when spirits with us.

39:58

So that's good. Thanks. We have,

40:00

we have more than one audience in this room. Um So I do get to our tagline here is navigating life.

40:07

One story at a time and you might have already touched on this,

40:10

but I, I don't think so, the, the one key thing that has essentially helped you navigate your life story.

40:19

So I often think about this, the mantra,

40:21

the ritual sort of a practice.

40:24

Now, you have been before you were a medium.

40:26

I believe you were into meditation or you were doing meditation.

40:29

But is there one thing regardless of mediumship or not that you always consistently come back to and lean into as you continue down your path in life?

40:38

It's my breath. Is it ok?

40:41

So for I'm a runner,

40:45

right? And um I'm a runner who has for a long time,

40:49

ran a lot slower than I realized I was physically capable of because I don't breathe very well and I breathe short.

40:57

I don't think you ever told me that I never knew that turns out I can run way faster than I thought.

41:01

Um And I credit that to the breath work that I started doing also in 2017.

41:08

And uh you don't have to be in a breath medicine ceremony or a runner for breath to matter.

41:13

Breath is such a powerful thing.

41:15

Um It's our life essence.

41:17

It's the single thing that keeps us in this realm.

41:21

And it's what meditation is really founded around.

41:24

And the breath is something that you have the power to control or manipulate as needed to tell your brain and your body,

41:33

it's ok, you're safe, it's ok,

41:35

you're safe and to calm anxiety,

41:40

to calm, stress, to calm nerves,

41:42

to calm and really reground.

41:45

What did you talk about earlier? It's like being in your strength of yourself,

41:50

the strength of your power, power of your strength,

41:52

power of yourself. Some things to that effect probably said,

41:55

sitting in the power, sitting in the power and,

41:58

and I will share, you know, as I go to make a link with spirit contact before the blending starts where they share evidence with me and then I share it with the sitter or my audience.

42:08

It all starts with a breath, that's it. And that evidence is essentially making sure you have the right connection,

42:16

correct? You got it. Yeah. OK. I'm learning,

42:18

I'm learning in this whole process. Um uh So I have so this is new.

42:27

So for folks that have been listening, we have um I've developed something now called the C 17 questionnaire.

42:34

Uh for those folks who might have watched inside the actors studio many moons ago with James Lipton.

42:42

He used to read a series of questions at the end of interviews or the end of his guest uh actor that was made the appearance for the show and he modeled it after the Bernard pivot,

42:54

a very famous French journalists questionnaire.

42:58

Um Fun fact when I used to be um doing this um when I was in school,

43:05

I would also do this with interviews and I've decided to bring it back now that I'm doing the podcast.

43:10

And so Colleen is very graciously the first person that we will be reading these questions off to an early adopter,

43:16

early adopter, right? And the goal here is I read the question and it's essentially a rapid fire answer when we don't spend 20 minutes talking about each question.

43:26

And that was always the brilliance of not only the questionnaire but the response of the the actor who was responding back,

43:33

I never saw the, actually the French. I love this because this is the game that spirit plays with me.

43:37

Actually, this is very helpful, I think for the audience to understand this is so perfect.

43:41

I love that you did. This greater intelligence is at work here.

43:43

Team. We try, we do well,

43:46

we can that way, I can't think about it,

43:48

right? The worst thing that would happen is for me to get evidence and then try and think about a better way to say it and then my mind's in the way.

43:56

So let's do it. And there were some,

43:58

there were some great answers to that used to come out of it.

44:01

And I was always my favorite part of his um his show.

44:05

And you know, these were some of the greatest a Listers ever that went on to that stage and he could get them to say some of the simplest things in one word or one phrase.

44:15

And so that's kind of the, that's kind of what's going on behind this.

44:18

So, um, since we are c 17,

44:21

we will start, here we go. What is your favorite lucky number?

44:25

And if no number, what is your favorite or lucky item or object or charm?

44:31

Favorite number? 1111. Angel number.

44:33

Look it up. Excellent. What is your favorite word or expression?

44:38

All is? Well, what is,

44:41

or where is your happy place? Oh, my gosh.

44:43

Granny's Cabin Deep Bay, Vancouver Island,

44:46

British Columbia, Canada. What is the best life experience you have had to date?

44:54

I've had such an amazing life, but I'm going to say becoming a medium or waking up and realizing I was a medium.

45:00

Thank you. Spirit. What is the hardest life test you have had to face to date the loss of my father.

45:10

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

45:14

You know, I'm pretty inspired by my mom,

45:16

Carol. She's amazing. Love that.

45:20

What is the best piece of life advice or wisdom you have received?

45:26

Just go for it. What is the best piece of life advice or wisdom you have given or shared?

45:34

Oh, I mean, hopefully something on this podcast.

45:38

That's yes, I would love that. Um If there was one place in the world you could travel to tomorrow,

45:46

where would it be and why? Oh my gosh,

45:48

ok. You know, I've been traveling a lot, but I would say Granny's cabin Bay,

45:53

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It's my happy place.

45:56

Yeah. Yeah. Anything else you would like to add Colleen as we wrap up here.

46:02

Just what a pleasure it has been to reconnect,

46:05

come together our beautiful card in this way,

46:09

uh to share this powerful evolution of ourselves with the world.

46:14

And certainly, you know, I look forward to bringing more healing.

46:19

So if anybody's interested in a mediumship reading,

46:22

I would be honored to do that for them.

46:24

Well, I, since I, I second everything that you have said and I couldn't say it better.

46:28

It has been a true joy to talk to you about this because I am very,

46:32

very happy for you and very supportive of what you're doing.

46:35

And it does make uh really a beautiful life story and that's what we aim to do and talk about on this podcast.

46:42

So, thank you for being a guest. I really appreciate it.

46:44

Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Life Notes from chair 17.

46:55

Remember to follow and subscribe. So you never miss an episode.

46:58

We'll see you next time.