One of my first steps on my journey was recognizing and trusting in the sensations in my body and the "knowing" within myself. I always loved the look of crystals, but thought it was silly to feel them. That was my negative reel and I was embarrassed to pursue this interest for a long time. Fortunately, this book  by Tamara Driessen encouraged me to get to know my crystals and open to their energy. This was my first crystal book and it reads like a girlfriend giving advice on picking up a new hobby. It was exactly what I needed to trust that what I was connecting with and reminded me that connecting with Earth's energy is nothing new... it's our natural state of being. 

There is a stigma with tarot cards. Until recently, my perception was largely based on the gypsies, witches, and crazy grandmothers I saw in movies foreshadowing doom and gloom with the infamous Death card. Full disclosure: I had 2 tarot readings - one in college at a psychic fair on campus and one in a crystal shop shortly before I bought my first deck. Both were eerily and amazingly accurate... but that didn't make sense to me. So I decided to try it myself. It's taken me years to "get to know" my cards (and I'm still learning), but I love tarot as a tool because it calls me out on underlying themes that I may be avoiding. It invites me to look within when all I want to do is push through my to-do list. It is a check-in and a pause for me when living in my go-go-go world in my go-go-go mind.

This book by Tiziano Terzani was a gift from a dear friend at the beginning of my journey of self-discovery. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. The author is a journalist who decides to take seriously the warning of a fortune teller. I genuinely related to his incessant internal questioning about whether or not he was crazy to listen to fortune tellers and the ancient rituals on his journey through Southeast Asia. I was doing the same with my new world of energy healing, intuition, mediumship, and tarot. But what this book helped me to recognize was that the question isn't "Is this woo-woo stuff for real?" The opportunity lies in the reflection, the journey, the time to pause and appreciate the simple miracles surrounding us every day.