I want to start this post differently than I usually do—with a definition, a disclaimer, and an invitation.

What is “woo”? Woo, short for “woo woo” means those things that are more spiritual, out there, unscientific, and sometimes unproveable. Crystals, essential oils, flower essences, astrology, magic, light language, Atlantean teachings, past lives, starseeds, different vibrational dimensions, Human Design, and EFT (tapping) are just some of the things that can fall into the category of woo. And we each have our own unique woo tolerance depending on our own experiences, upbringings, and so forth. What you accept and believe may be well outside of someone else’s woo tolerance. Where we sit on the woo continuum and where our woo “squeal” point lies may change over our lives.

I’m telling you upfront that the content of this post contains a lot of woo so that if woo makes you uncomfortable, you can stop here. I’m not trying to change your beliefs about any of this. Where you are on your spiritual journey is exactly where you need to be.

I am sharing this story because I like for those in my life to know what’s going on with me, writing about my experiences helps me process them, and many of you have shared that you have found healing and validation when I have spoken out about subjects our society isn’t keen on talking about openly. And if you’re curious enough to read on but nothing in this story resonates with you, then I invite you to simply say, “How interesting” and move on.

Now, for background context, I have spent a little more than a year working on more esoteric, energy, and spiritual practices. I have invested time and resources to change in my daily habits, thoughts, outlook, and mindset, and engaging with astrology and Human Design to figure out my life purpose, why I am here, and what some of the challenges are for my in the years ahead.

None of this has been easy for me. I have sought support in groups of like-minded individuals, but have shied away from sharing with friends, family, and readers, because I have a lot of logical skeptics in my life, and it felt too new and precious and vulnerable to share. I was not ready to hear the nay-sayers for fear they would cause me to second guess my decisions and stop listening to my intuition, with which I was only just reconnecting and learning to hear.

I was blessed with scholarships to amazing online classes taught by strong women who began life steeped in science and logic and the left brain but whose life experiences opened them up and provided real, tangible proof of the truth of these lessons. These women and the other individuals I met in the classes and their communities helped reassure me that I was on the right path. I began to wholeheartedly embrace the woo.

Earlier this fall, it became clear that I am supposed to work on my gift of mediumship. Patrick showed up and connected me with a gifted woman who I now consider a close friend. That friend introduced me to the work of Suzanne Giesemann, a former navy officer who was an assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who developed an evidence-based mediumship practice after her step-daughter’s death convinced her there was more to life than our physical reality.

For the past month, I have been taking an online course on mediumship for which I received a scholarship. I am also going to start practicing with a small group of other folks who are also working on strengthening their gifts. Part of this process has involved starting and sustaining a meditation practice and connecting with my spirit guides. And some of the things I have been asking for are for signs of contact, confirmations of messages, and other evidence that I am on the right track.

This is all background to set the stage for this story. Earlier this week, I sat at the dining room table drinking tea when I heard an electronic chirp. You know the one. The dreaded smoke alarm low battery beep. It was coming from the kitchen. And I just knew, before I even went to look, that it was going to be the really high one by the ceiling. Why? Because it was the most inconvenient one and we didn’t own a ladder to reach it.

I gave it three more chirps before I went to investigate. Yup. It was coming from the high one.

If you’re paying close attention, you’ll see two smoke alarms in this picture. One about 2-3 feet above the doorframe on the wall, and one just to the right of the same doorframe. The two square items to the left of the doorframe are the thermostat and I don’t know what.

I hauled out one of our bar height dining room chairs to stand on to see if I could reach the smoke alarm. Standing on tip toe on the chair, my fingers could indeed reach the bottom of the smoke alarm. I began trying to turn the smoke alarm left and right, to remove it from the frame, but it wouldn’t budge.

After a few minutes, I got down from the chair and rotated the smoke alarm to my right to figure out what direction it should turn, so I could focus my efforts. While I had it off the wall, I confirmed that it had a battery, that the battery had a good charge, and that it was not the source of the chirping.

I eventually returned to the chair and redoubled my efforts to get this chirping thing off the dang wall. I pushed and pushed and pushed with my fingers as best I could until I finally felt it budge. Yay!

I hopped down off the chair, flipped that thing over, and popped open the battery compartment. This is what greeted me.

It had no battery. My mind exploded. I was shook. I had just spent 15 minutes listening to this alarm chirp the “low battery” chirp when it had no battery!

I knew, in that moment, that it was a message from spirit, and I had to make a choice. I could believe the evidence of the communication in front of me and move forward honing my gifts, knowing that I was going to experience more unexplainable things, or I could turn my back and shut down my gifts again. But I couldn’t stay who I was. That was no longer an option.

Honestly, I was so excited! I have believed in spirits and trusted mediums for a long time. To see some validation of the work I had just begun felt so reassuring. But it also meant that I had to leave my comfort zone. I would have to start telling people what I was up to. If this were to become a profession, I couldn’t exactly hide it.

So I’ve sat with this story for several days. I shared it with my kiddo and my spouse and my counselor and my close medium friend. And each telling left me feeling more excited. More empowered. More validated. And it left me with the feeling that now was the time to share the story, and the background behind it, more publicly.

So here we are. Now you too have a choice. You can believe my story as I experienced it and relayed it to you. You can find some version that includes details I left out or didn’t discover that makes it “make sense” according to the “regular” rules of our existence. You can write me off as someone not worthy of belief—perhaps a Christmas fruitcake.

Whatever you decide is fine. I don’t need you to believe me. My experience and my interpretation of that experience are sufficient for me. I have chosen to share because it was an amazing moment of growth and realization for me, and I have come to love sharing those moments with you. What you do with this story now is up to you.

I hope you’ll join me on my continuing journey as I discover and hone these gifts and help support me through the challenges ahead. But if not, if it’s too woo, or whatever other reason it may be, I understand. I bear you no ill will. You’re on your own path, and it’s perfect for you the same way mine is perfect for me. And I love that for both of us.

Namaste.

PS - all of the smoke detectors in the house have fresh batteries, and the ones that were more than 10 years old (the one that chirped and one other I found that also lacked a battery were both 21 years old (!!)) have been completely replaced. Because whatever else the message was for me, I recognized a sign to update smoke alarms when I saw it.