Sometimes the Message Is Just… Bear
A while back, Paula, Katie, and I were doing one of our live events.
The three of us do a program called Echoes and Angels. Katie is our emcee, she keeps things moving and usually keeps us laughing, while Paula and I go around the room giving people short readings. I usually get past-life information. Paula gets messages from the angels.
Stay with me here. I know this sort of thing stretches some people’s brains a little, but I do have a point.
There was a couple sitting in the front row, and when I looked at the husband, I heard one word.
Bear.
Bear?
What the hell am I supposed to do with bear? So I went within again.
Bear.
Seriously? I’ve been hearing the Voice since I was a child, and over the years I’ve learned that arguing with it rarely gets me anywhere.
But still. Bear? There was no explanation. No helpful footnote. No PowerPoint presentation.
Just…
Bear.
So finally I walked straight up to the couple, looked at them and said:
“Bear.”
They started giggling.
Well, THAT was unexpected, I thought to myself.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could practically feel Paula and Katie taking deep breaths. Apparently they thought I’d finally lost it.
Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure they were wrong.
Then I continued with the past-life information I was getting. I don’t remember exactly what I said because when I channel information like that, it comes through in the moment and then tends to leave my brain just as quickly.
I’m pretty sure bears were involved.
Then the couple told us something none of us expected.
They traveled the world looking for bears.
Not hunting them. They loved bears! They planned trips around seeing them. Bears were their thing.
I had never met these people before. They hadn’t told me anything about themselves. There was no conversation beforehand where they casually mentioned their worldwide bear adventures.
I couldn’t have known. And yet…
Bear.
I was scrolling through Instagram recently when I found myself ranting about the way people communicate in the spiritual world. And suddenly, that darn bear had a completely different lesson for me.
I didn’t understand the message, but the couple sure did.
Isn’t that the whole point of communication? If you want to reach people, you have to speak words they understand.
Meet them where they are. Not where you are.
This comes up all the time in the spiritual world. Someone will say:
“Release what no longer serves you.”
Okay. What exactly does “serves you” mean?
Anger can serve a purpose. It can tell you a boundary has been crossed. It can protect you. It can motivate you to change something. Hell, sometimes you just like being mad at somebody.
So instead of telling someone to “release what no longer serves you,” maybe ask:
What is this doing for you?
What is it costing you to keep it?
Now we’re speaking a language people can actually use. In fact, if you want to reach people, I think you have to.
You can believe in intuition, energy, angels, past lives, guides, synchronicity, and all manner of weird crap and still speak plain English.
And while we’re here, can we please stop with “dear ones” and its equally annoying cousin, “beloveds”?
I’ve been hearing those two phrases for most of my life, and I’m officially done with them.
They make my teeth itch.
So for the love of all things holy, people.
Please. Just. Stop.
Knowing a language isn’t the same as communicating. Communication means paying attention to the person in front of you and finding the words that will reach them.
You don’t stand three floors above someone shouting instructions and expect them to figure out how to get to you.
You go meet them where they are. Then you walk together.
Come to think of it, I taught this for years in the concierge and customer service world.
You meet people where they are.
A frustrated customer doesn’t care about your industry jargon. They don’t need to know how much you know. They need you to understand what they’re asking and explain what happens next in words that make sense to them.
Apparently, people aren’t all that different whether I’m talking about customer service, forgiveness, intuition, spirituality, grief, anger, relationships, or just life.
The goal isn’t to sound profound.
The goal is to be understood.
And sometimes the right language isn’t profound at all.
Sometimes it’s only one word.
Bear.
Until next time!
Katharine
