I've been able to see and hear spirits for as long as I can remember. While my inner circle has always known about this, I kept it a secret from everyone else in my life . . . until recently. As a child, my family was very supportive, so I never thought it was weird that I would see angels in my room at night. I had a wind chime in my bedroom and would ask spirits to jingle it so I knew they were listening to me. In fourth grade, I even asked a spirit to be my boyfriend through a Ouija board [1]. I know, I know, that sounds super creepy. I still cringe at how embarrassing that is to admit, but it speaks to how comfortable I was communicating with the dead! And in case you're wondering, that "boyfriend" stopped communicating with me after that day. He literally ghosted me [2].

As I got older, I wasn't sure how to blend my spirituality into my very normal lifestyle. I kind of lived a double life . . . I would spend my days at my office job engageing in small talk with my coworkers, and spend my nights communicating with spirits and seeing into the many past lives I've lived. I didn't tell anyone because I was deeply afraid of rejection. I know a lot of people don't believe in mediums. I would never push my beliefs on someone else or even expect them to be open-minded to it, but the fear of having people think I was a "fraud" or "crazy" makes my chest tight. In a previous job, my boss once told me how psychics are scams. On my first day of another job, I had a mentor casually mention that people who believe in crystals are crazy. Little did they know my purse was full of them because I use them in my spiritual practice.

In 2019, I became certified in reiki, which is a form of energy healing [3]. I started practicing on others, and the second I put my hands over their bodies, I was inundated with messages for them. It felt like a disservice to not share what I had seen and heard. Slowly, my reiki sessions were turning into intuitive readings.

I knew in order to open up my practice and start taking on more clients, I needed to expose my secret. It was time to come out of the spiritual closet. I typed up a social media post outing myself then quickly published it before I could back out. I was immediately flooded with messages from so many different types of people — cousins, strangers, and even my eye doctor. Every time I got a new message my heart would jump. I would assume they were going to say terrible things, reject me, or disown me, but every single message was supportive and kind. Many of them wanted to know what it's really like to be a medium.

In a session, spirits come through in a wide range of sensations. I'm mainly claircognizant, meaning that messages pop into my head like a thought. However, I receive information from all of my senses. For example, if a person died from a head injury, I'll get a headache. If a person always wore a certain perfume, I'll smell it. I can see them as well — my favourite is when I see a client's spirit babies (future children) hanging around them. I can also audibly hear the departed talking and laughing. Mainly, I hear a strange ringing noise throughout the day when spirits are around, and to be honest, it often gets annoying.

I've had to set really strong boundaries [4] with this so that I can live a normal life. I've figured out ways to "turn it off" like wearing hats, visualizing a bubble around me, and picturing a door on the top of my head closing shut. After all, I'm still a 24-year-old who spends her days replying to emails, folding laundry, and binge-watching Netflix shows. But when I open that little door on the top of my head, I can escape to a land filled with colourful auras, vivid past lives, and meaningful messages from loved ones.

Now that my secret is out in the open, I feel both vulnerable and free. Even though my situation might be a little different, I think I'm similar to most young adults who are also on a journey of trying to figure out who they are. And now that I've embraced this part of myself, I can confidently look in the mirror and know exactly who I am. I am a medium.