self-esteem
Love Bombing: When Romance Has Ulterior Motives
A client recently called me for a reading about a handsome, incredibly charming man she had met online. She was positively glowing as she described him. He works on an oil rig, she said, with a highly lucrative income and promising career advancement.
But what really lit her up was his love for her.
“He’s crazy about me!” she beamed.
She explained that they have long, dreamy conversations every day about the life they planned to build together. He told her she was everything he had been searching for, and promised her a future filled with abundance and romance once they finally meet in person.
In the meantime, he sends her cards and flowers, floods her inbox with love notes, and makes her feel worshipped and adored.
But the moment I started the reading, the message that came through was crystal clear: betrayal, deceit, dishonesty. Tactfully, I shared what I was seeing. I told her, with as much care as I could, that I didn’t believe this man was who he claimed to be, and that his intentions were not pure.
She paused for a moment. “What do you mean? He even asked me to keep $100,000 in my bank account for him! That proves he trusts me.”
That’s when spirit pressed me to ask the crucial question: What about the other money? She hesitated. “Oh… that…yeah. There was a $13,000 transfer fee I had to pay on my end.”
Remember To Treasure The Living Years
Many of us attach personal meaning to songs. Perhaps it is a song played at your wedding, or a family member’s favorite tune, or something meaningful from your childhood years.
Psychics often have songs come to mind during readings, or we find they are playing on the car radio after we were just thinking of that special family member or friend. We then take that as a sign that they are watching over us and that they had just stepped in from the Spirit side of life to make their presence know.
These songs can be the triggers for memories that we once treasured, or continue to treasure, or to remind you how precious and loved you are.
For me Ave Maria and Unchained Melody (from the Ghost movie during the pottery making scene) are songs that I have attached over the years to my mother’s presence. Ave Maria because that was one of her favorite songs. When she was younger she apparently sang it on stage a few times in Vienna.
I never did get to hear her sing it, but family said it was incredible. Later in life, when I found this out, she said her voice had broken and would not sing it for me. I often tried to imagine how great it must have been to hear her sing, as I looked at her picture.
Give Yourself Permission To Be Happy!
My life would be great if only… I had more money… he would come back to me.. I can find a better job… I can reach my goal weight.
How many times have you heard such statements? How many times have you told yourself something like this? Is it truly the answer to lasting happiness? What if there was a way to train your brain to accept life and live your best in the meantime?
As a hypnotherapist, my experience has been that when any suggestion is put into the mind, the subconscious will accept the information, whether it is true or false.
Whatever a person chooses to tell themselves enough times becomes their truth. The information becomes a habit to believe the suggestion. Some habits are good and some not so good. A bad habit needs to be replaced with a good one.
Why not take all the positive steps needed to live your best in the meantime… while waiting for the wishes to come true. There are many ways to retrain the brain, just as there are many ways to travel to a destination.
Some people like the fastest route, while other like the scenic route, in order to see the sights along the way. It doesn’t really matter what route you take. What does matter is that you truly have the belief that you can reach the destination, and allow yourself to enjoy the ride in the meantime.
Reclaiming The Voice Of Your Inner Child
I always sing with my yoga students at the end of class. I used to work in the entertainment industry as a singer, dancer, and actress. Because of that, I feel confident singing in front of people.
Growing up, I was always full of joy despite my dysfunctional and rather glum family. Of course, they didn’t appreciate my natural exuberance. They certainly didn’t like that I sang all the time because it represented a lightness of being they had long since given up on.
Like many dysfunctional families, they put me down all the time. They told me that I couldn’t sing and that I sounded awful. But, as with all the other negative, hurtful things they tried to convince me of, I did not believe them.
I kept singing anyway, which irked them. I continued to sing and dance, and I even wrote, produced, directed, and starred in my own musical when I was eleven.
Now I’m not saying I had a good voice as a kid. I really don’t know if I did. But, loving to sing, some voice lessons and lots of joy certainly helped me become a relatively good singer.
One day, after my yoga class, a student came up to me and told me I had a beautiful voice. I thanked her. I often have people compliment my singing voice after class.
The student then told me her family told her she had a bad singing voice when she was a child so she stopped singing. She then mentioned other abuses she received by her cruel family.
The Magicless Misery Of ‘Compare And Despair’
I once attended a Toastmasters meeting where a gentleman was delivering his first speech to this specific group. It was an ice breaker to have us get acquainted with him. Instead of the typical short autobiographical introduction this speaker chose to give us an overview of his philosophy of life.
He told his audience that he sees himself entering a new phase of his life right now. He spoke about how important it is to get to know yourself and to take care of yourself first and foremost, and to always live in the moment.
After the speech and applause, the toastmaster reflected briefly on what the talk meant to him as he had listened. He said it reminded him of a mentor who had once, many years ago, said to him, “Compare… and despair”. If in life you are constantly comparing yourself to others, or comparing what you have with what others have, or what you feel you lack, or need to achieve, then all that will do is bring yourself unnecessary despair.
The only thing you should ever compare yourself against, his mentor added, is yesterday. Today did you do something constructive or grow in some way that makes you a better person than you were yesterday?
Too often we compare ourselves with our peers, both in our personal and professional lives. Why did he get a raise and not me? Why can I not find a soulmate like she did? Why can’t I be a successful entrepreneur like him? How come they get to have all these wonderful vacations?
The Empath’s Sacred Gift Of Compassion
Being an empath is more than just having a high sensitivity to the suffering of others. It is also the sacred gift of compassion. Empaths do not only perceive other people’s pain, but we also want to soothe, heal, and uplift them. These twin gifts of discernment and compassionate action are inseparable.
I have yet to meet an empath who doesn’t feel the calling to alleviate suffering in some way. In a world that so often feels cruel and chaotic, our tender hearts are now needed more than ever.
Compassion, both inward and outward, is a powerful force. It can transform relationships, heal roots of insecurity, and reshape the texture of our inner lives.
In leadership settings, compassionate responses consistently foster trust, deep connection, and lasting loyalty. Harsh reactions, on the other hand, often erect walls and breed resistance.
When someone feels seen, supported, and deeply cared for, their loyalty and dedication follow naturally. This principle applies not only in professional spheres but in every relationship we nurture.
I’ve come to see self-compassion as just as vital as the compassion we extend to others.
Empaths especially can be our own harshest critics. We measure ourselves against external standards and comparisons, often coming up short in our inner dialogue. But offering ourselves a warm, non-judgmental embrace opens new doors: to deeper confidence, heightened clarity, and a grounded sense of worth that doesn’t depend on outperforming someone else.
Tarot Forecast August 2025: Strength
This month’s card is the Major Arcana’s Strength, which symbolizes inner fortitude, patience, and compassionate control. This month, we are invited to look within and embrace the quiet, enduring courage that lies beneath the surface.
The Strength card traditionally shows a calm, confident woman gently taming a powerful lion. Her white robe symbolizes purity and spiritual focus, and the lion represents raw emotions, instincts, and untamed passions. The infinity symbol above her head denotes eternal wisdom and the balance between the material and spiritual realms.
This scene beautifully captures the harmony between courage and compassion. Rather than dominating the lion through fear or brute force, the woman subdues it through love and understanding.
Her calm demeanor reflects her inner strength and her commitment to responding rather than reacting. Overall, the scene symbolizes the triumph of the soul over the ego and the mindful over the impulsive.
Instead of seeking power through force or dominance, the Strength card reminds us that true mastery comes from the heart, through calm resilience, loving intention, and unwavering self-belief.
The card calls for emotional balance, urging us to act from our higher self, even when faced with chaos or challenges. It’s time to align with your spiritual center, trust your instincts, and rise above fear with the grace of someone who knows their worth.