As many of you know, we run a text competition at our theatre shows and all the revenue from this goes to 4 different charities. With so many worthy charities it’s hard to decide where our contributions would be best spent and wherever possible we like to make donations to charities we have personal knowledge of. After all, it’s not just about being able to write a cheque, it’s about being able to touch somebody’s life. There are several charities under consideration. Watch this space

"If, amidst the turmoil, you can find just one moment of peace in each day, then your whole life will become more joyful. Like the water in a lake, when your mind is calm, you can see the depths below."  Unknown quotation

 I have spent every day since getting back from Australia fretting about my To Do List which is getting longer .......i haven't replied to the SNU, haven't confirmed by flight for Canada, haven't sent a get well card to my Aunt.....and the more I worried, the longer the list got. Worry wasn't getting the job done or allowing me to enjoy the limited free time I get. Wingeing over the Bank Holiday to a friend, they gave me a good piece of advice that I would like to share with you.

'Take one step at a time towards your goal. A good planner breaks down every challenge into manageable chunks. Once you've done that, forget about the long term and take the step that's directly in front of you. Don't even think about the next one. You only have to take that one step. Ever?'

Since applying his theory to my To Do List, it has cut it the list by half leaving me to get on with the things that I enjoy and which really matter.

Whilst working at The London Spiritual Mission last week, I was completely bowled over when Doris Stokes came through to a Lady in the audience who had known her rather well in Life. I first read a Doris Stokes’ book in 1985 and it was through reading her captivating book with its unique content that I became completely enthralled in the Afterlife.  As a Medium, what a treat to bring back one of the ‘Old Masters ‘. I have to say, she felt just as lovely and completely without any delusions of grandeur in the Spirit World as I imagined her.  It is one of my regrets that I didn’t have the privilege to meet her during her Life on earth and my meetings with her since she has passed have gone a long way to reduce my disappointment.

 Home at last! Although I absolutely Iove working in Australia, there is nothing nicer than my own bed and a cuddle from my daughter. I squeezed her so tight that I thought she might suffocate. I expect the Little Princess will register her displeasure at my absence for so long by refusing to let me feed her or read her a story tonight at bedtime! Little girls know how to twist their Daddies around their fingers at such an early age.
Having survived the gigantic Australian spiders and snakes for a second year,  I'm pleased to be able to announce that I will be returning to Australia in 2014 and the details will be on the website soon.

For all the Debra’s out there!
Just flying off to Australia. I expect to see a lot of strange animals but maybe not this one! It's ALWAYS the kids that suffer!!
Her Name is Debra!

I came across this quote. I don’t know who wrote it but I thought it was quite powerful and may inspire some of you.

"Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic."

My heart goes out to all the families of those who died in the tragic balloon accident in Egypt. I remember the excitement of the trip we took in 2010 on the first Spritual Holiday to Egypt. How sad that such a truly wonderful experience should end in so much tragedy

After a demonstration a few evenings ago, a lady came up to me and thanked me for the evening. She told me that her Mother had died  2 years previously and how her sadness was still so very raw. Time was not the healer that she had hoped it would be although it had reduced her pain to a dull ache. She had various strategies for coping with the overwhelming grief and and one of them was to remember stories (especially funny ones) about her Mum from her childhood and to reflect on her accomplishments as a friend, Mother, Grandmother and in her career. She would remember (and write down) advice her Mother gave her (like keeping presents in a present drawer, so you’ll always have nice things to give people).

I thought this would a good idea......almost like writing a eulogy years later. And it doesn’t matter if you’re ever asked to deliver it in public or if you ever post it anywhere. 

Sorry Tony to hijack your blog!

All of us in the office would like to wish you a very Happy Birthday (21 again!). Thanks for being a great guy to work with, a good friend......and you’re not a bad Medium either!!!!!

Enjoy your day off. Hope you eat too much cake and drink too much celebratory champagne! Remember, disembottled and disembodied spirits don 't mix!

As many Mediums will concur, our loved ones only come through on a vibration of happiness. That’s why I try to create an atmosphere of joy and laughter in my demonstrations. Also because nobody wants to see a miserable old b*****r on the stage! Spirit communication is not the only thing that Laughter assists and they don’t say that

Laughter is the best medicine for nothing. A few moments of laughter boosts oxygen levels, improves circulation and gives the tummy a workout. Blame it on my mad Family but I have never been one who finds spontaneous laughing difficult but I know if you try a forced laugh, eventually you will be able to laugh properly for no reason.

Happy Laughing

I’m back on track with the diet after a few blow-outs. We al start with good intentions on January 1^st but unless we see spectacular results, the majority of us go off the results. I’ve been given some advice which I thought may help my willpower and I hope it could help any of you who, like me, enjoy their food too much.

Taste Every Mouthful. Before you pick up your food, allow a couple of breaths to pass and the body and the mind to settle. Notice how it feels in the mouth – the temperature, texture, flavour of the food. Appreciate it, savour and enjoy.

Slow Down at Meal times. Chew your food 20 times, use your left hand if you are right handed, put your cutlery down between mouthfuls. Don’t allow any outside noise – no television, no radio and no PC.

 GOOD LUCK

You may have heard of mindfulness. It has its roots in Buddhism but, put simply, it’s a way of savouring the moment. The good thing is you don’t have to be a monk, a child of the Sixties or even a yoga guru for it to work for you. It’s just a question of slowing down the mind with a few simple tricks.

-          Really see the World around you. Look for something fresh in your daily routine. Notice the buildings, the scenery, the people you pass. Don’t make the journey on auto pilot.

-          Think Positive. Picture what you want rather than what you don’t want. Worry over something that hasn’t happened yet can leave us feeling down or tired.

-          Distract yourself. Press the mind’s on/off switch by focusing on something else such as the sensation of your breathing. Don’t worry if your mind wanders, just gently bring it back rather than fighting it.

-          Today is Special. Imagine you have lived to the ripe old age of 90 and are looking back at your life. Would you regret having spent most of it worrying instead of enjoying the moment. While we are so engrossed in the future, we often miss the journey that has taken us to where we want to be. Choose today to be a special day and enjoy each precious moment.

I get so many blanket emails but the sentiments of this one hit a note and I thought I would share it with you. Of course, I’m not going to admit to be old enough to understand it YET!!!

As  I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical  of  myself. I've become my own friend. I have seen too many  dear friends leave this world, too soon; they understood  the great freedom that comes with ageing.

Don't you just love a nice cuppa!!!

Well done Michelle-Ann Williams who entered our competition to win 2 tickets in the CHAT Magazine.

Always worth entering

It’s not often that I use this blog for completely personal use but I hope you will feel that it is a very worthwhile reason. A friend of mine is in a coma following a car accident last week. I would love for everybody to send out huge healing energies to him and supportive thoughts to his wonderful girls. Let’s work with the collective Power of Spirit to bring him back to good health.

I LOVED Glasgow. It was such an easy flowing show with good responses and good evidence. What more could we all want? The audience were positive and enthusiastic and their responses made it so much easier for me to bring through the best evidence.

I chose to work with 2 photographs in the second part of the demonstration. Coincidentally both were of teenagers who died far too young. I could feel the pain of the Parents and for that reason I squeezed my thoughts to give them the best evidence I could and I don’t think I disappointed them.

I also brought a message through from a Woman in spirit to her sister in law. The interesting thing for me about this message was not the information she wanted to pass on but the fact that she brought with her a Boy who I recognised I had communicated with before. Although I could not see my recipient in the audience (I often don’t wear my glasses), I knew from the Boy, that I had spent a week with his Mother on one of our Spiritual Holidays and that I had read for her whilst we had been there. The interesting part for me was that if he had come to me directly,  I probably would not have chosen to work with him on the basis that I had already read for his Mother. It’s funny how the Spirit World try to trick me but I was nonetheless delighted that I had once again been able to give her comfort.

“On 18^th October, I went along to my first everTony Stockwell demonstration inEast Grinstead, secretly hopeful of a reading, having lost a close friend and work colleague 4 months ago.  My muse, mentor, inspiration, friend, safety blanket, sounding board, comedy side-kick – my friend was all of these things and more. My friend had designed my website for jewellery I make and had given me two glass cubes for mounting and photographing the jewellery on, to make it look pretty.

 Clutching these glass cubes and a photo of my friend all through the first half of Tony's dem, I put the photo in my bag in the interval but continued to clutch the glass cubes. Tony recommenced after the interval and asked did anyone have a photo. I scrabbled in my handbag to find my photo, heart pounding!  Yay, I was picked - Tony took my friend's photo . . . what would he have to say?

 Well, he said that I had known this person for a long time and that hundreds of people had turned out to his remembrance service and my friend was pleased about that.  Now in 13 years of working with my friend, I always teased him that I wouldn’t commend him on his work, because his head would get too big, so yes, he definitely would have been pleased to see the astounding volume of people who came to pay their respects!

 Tony spoke of my friend as one of life's good samaritans, that he would do anything for anyone and that no time of day was too late nor too early for him to lend a helping hand.  This was so true of my friend - he just liked doing things for other people.  In the office, he would bring in cakes/chocolate/ biscuits but abstain from eating them himself; when he went to Disneyland Paris, he brought back little Disney toys for us all; he also supported me outside of work, when I was studying at college, giving a “best man speech” at my work hen do 9 years ago and in helping set up my jewellery business. He washed people's cars, sent them flowers to cheer them up. He was so selfless, he surpassed anyone I’ve ever met!

 Tony said that my friend was successful in his computer programming job - this is totally spot on as we worked together as Developers in the IT team for a firm of Solicitors and my friend had received commendations for his Senior development role and was highly regarded.

 Tony also said he saw my friend undoing his shirt and showing his belly! Now he would often wear T-shirts with cheeky slogans under his smart work shirt, and would reveal the slogan on a night out, or on occasion you could just about make out what it said during an important meeting and we'd share a knowing look.

Tony mentioned that I have two photos of my friend where I sit at home and drink my cup of tea. I don't have photos of my friend at home, only at the office, but where I do sit at home with a cuppa, is where I keep the two glass cubes for resting my jewellery on (that I was tightly clutching that evening).

 Tony mentioned terrible pain in his head and this relates to how my friend's death was due to a very sudden and unexpected brain haemorrhage.

 Finally, Tony mentioned that I had one specific experience where I felt my friend was there, and Tony confirmed that yes, that was him.  In the office, after my friend’s passing, I had asked to be responsible for collecting his belongings together at work and boxing them up for his Partner. I had asked if I could have something of my friend’s to remember him by, but his Partner was to choose what that would be. I’d kept an eye out for something that had reminded me of my friend over the years, that had always been hung on his noticeboard. It was a blue glass talisman said to ward off evil. I hadn’t seen this in his belongings whilst packing them up and so had assumed this had gone home with him at some point. It was an emotional time and I sent a text to my friend’s old disconnected phone number, just saying “I miss you – please give me a sign you are still around”.  The next day, his boxed belongings were taken away and I decided to swap his old biscuit tin that he kept his pens in, with my pen tidy.  I imagined that my friend’s replacement would be far happier with a proper pen holder, rather than the biscuit tin; I tipped the pens out on the desk to sort them out, throwing out any that didn’t work and then to my delight, I looked across the desk and there was the talisman! It must have been in the bottom of the biscuit tin . . . my request for a sign that my friend was around had been answered, he was around and my friend’s Partner agreed it was meant to be and I could have the talisman as my reminder of him.  It will remain a very precious reminder of an awesome friend who is forever in my heart - unique, funny, selfless, intelligent, full of innuendo – working life won’t be the same without him but I know he is at peace in spirit and I’ll hear from and see him again one day.    Thank you to Tony for providing such a wonderful reading and giving me faith that my friend is in a good place.