Listen to Me!!

Rather than continuing the monologue of how I got to where I am, today I’m going to digress a bit and share a more recent tale.

A couple of weeks ago, Don (my husband), Kathy (a friend and teacher), and Kim (a friend and student) along with her husband and two year old son, decided to spend the day in Lily Dale. We all had different goals for the day: Kim wanted to introduce her husband to Lily Dale as he’d never been; her husband, a skeptic who tries his darnedest to support his wife on her spiritual path but struggles to align her beliefs with his own wanted to see what it was all about and perhaps get the sign he has apprehensively been asking to receive; Kathy will be teaching a class in Lily Dale in a couple of weeks and wanted to scope out the Lyceum building as this will be the first time she’s taught in there; I wanted to soak in the energy and just relax; and, Don never passes up an opportunity to go to Lily Dale – he likes to be reminded of the first time we met.  So off we went, and we certainly lucked out! It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day!

Meeting up at just around noon, we planned to go to the healing service. Being a beautiful day and a weekend, Lily Dale was busy. Making our way towards the healing temple, we realized it was standing room only!! Rather than wait with a tired two-year-old to even get in to the temple and then our turn for healing, we decided to walk around and grab a bite to eat, including Cup of Joe’s famous Lavender Cookies!! My favorite!!

After lunch, we made our way to the 1:30pm service at Inspiration Stump. While walking down the path to Inspiration Stump, I informed my crew (and Spirit) that I would not be volunteering to serve that day. My reasoning, “I’m not working today. Today it’s all about me. It’s Sunday and after all, even GOD rested on Sunday.” Kim’s husband chuckled and remarked, “Have you told THEM that.”

Albeit a skeptic, he knows Spirit’s antics all too well. And although I had informed Spirit, that didn’t mean that Spirit would actually listen. And sure enough, they didn’t. During the service, there were four pesky spirits that would just not let up. One medium after another got up and as each one connected with different visitors, the ones that could tell I was a medium, got LOUDER. So loud in fact, Don turned to me and said, “Dawn, you either need to volunteer to work or tell them to go away. They are bothering ME now.”

And so I did. In my best teacher/mommy voice, I told them to stop. And all but one did.

She would not, despite my urging, go away. This middle-aged woman was relentless and desperately wanted to talk to a woman in a purple on the other side of the glade. As the service came to a close, I considered going up to the woman in purple to let her know her mother was here and pass whatever message she had. This is against Lily Dale rules and a big no-no as I am not a registered medium. But, I was willing to take the risk because I really wanted to get this woman to go away!! She was loud, pushy and a little obnoxious. But alas… when I looked for the woman in purple she disappeared in the sea of people.

Walking out of the forest, we discussed the service. I mentioned the noisy woman and her daughter in purple, surprised that a message had not been passed. At which point the woman, who was still walking with me said, “Find her.  I want to talk to Vivie!” My jaw dropped, I realized at that moment I knew exactly who the message was for. This woman was there for Vivie, a woman my best friend had worked and I haven’t seen since my friend’s wedding five years ago!! Was it really possible that she could be in Lily Dale?

I pondered this as we walked. During our wandering, we passed the woman I knew the message was for. Unfortunately, she had her head in her phone and I couldn’t tell whether it really was Vivie, the woman I knew or not. I kept walking, despite the Spirit’s frustration. I did not want to approach a stranger with a message – I was no longer at Inspiration Stump and as such didn’t have the conviction to go against Lily Dale Rules. Approaching someone with a message without permission is also against my personal code of conduct. It’s like eavesdropping!! And anyone who knows me knows, it’s a big no-no!

So we continued on with our day, going to the labyrinth, the medicine wheel, the fairy trail and the museum. As it began to get close to dinner, we decided to part ways with our friends and head home. As we began our way to the car, the woman again started screaming in my ear. At which point I looked up and who was walking towards me, it was VIVIE!!

As we made our way towards each other, I called out “Vivie?” She approached, squinting at first, and responded, “Oh my goodness, Dawn IT IS YOU! It’s so good to see you. I’ve had this feeling that you would be here today and that I’d run into you.”

We spoke for a few minutes, chit chatting and catching up. At which point I let her know her mother was with her. Vivie responded that she knew and that she had a wonderful reading with a registered medium that brought her mom through loud and clear. And finally, the mother brought her daughter and I together, which was part of her plan. We chuckled and parted our ways. Her mother finally went with her and was gone.

I had gone to Lily Dale that day to have a peaceful, relaxing, “work-free” day. At first, I was a little annoyed that Spirit did not respect my wishes. But, when they revealed their message, I realized I got something so much more.

That day in Lily Dale, Spirit reminded me how we are all interconnected. There are no coincidences. That day I didn’t have a message for Vivie, SHE had a message for ME. Her knowing that I would be there demonstrated to me our interconnectedness and how messages resonate in each and every one of us. You don’t have to be a medium to talk with Spirit, all you have to be is open and willing to listen. Which Vivie was, I for a long time that day was not. But, by listening with your heart to Spirit, others and ourselves we gain strength and our wisdom. We also feed our soul. Thank you, Spirit, for reminding me of this valuable lesson.

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