Connection Series: Hope Through Connecting

What if love doesn’t vanish—it starts speaking a new language? We kick off our connection series with a candid look at how two sisters walked from childhood sensitivity and fear into an intentional practice of communicating with loved ones beyond. The journey blends practical tools, personal stories, and a steady insistence on evidence, turning grief into a guide rather than a wall.

We trace early moments that felt “otherworldly,” shaped by a religious backdrop that made seeing and hearing feel risky. That changes as we learn boundaries and consent: nothing comes in without permission. One of us leans into structured study—mediumship classes, meditation, Reiki, tarot—while the other pivots from lifelong sensing to clear intention. Together we map a path that anyone can follow, emphasizing small, repeatable steps over lofty claims.

The stories are specific because specificity matters. A monarch butterfly survives a dog’s mouth and circles the flowers again. A server’s tattoo reads “Love, Dah,” echoing a private name on Kenny’s birthday. An early reading yields “bright blue string,” dismissed as trivial until a family finds it on their doorstep days later. These details become anchors that shift belief from maybe to likely. We share how to ask for targeted signs, how to open and close a session cleanly, and how to keep a validation journal that turns scattered moments into a pattern you can trust.

If you’ve wondered whether only the “gifted” can connect, we offer a different view: everyone carries the capacity; some choose to practice. Start with five quiet minutes, a clear intention, and a request that’s simple and testable. Pair it with automatic writing or a short meditation. Let the odd details stay odd—they’re often the proof you need. Subscribe for the full series, share this episode with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with the most unexpected sign you’ve ever received. Your story might become someone else’s first step.

Thanks for listening to Soul SiStories. We hope you follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Five-star ratings and reviews always help to spread our message of hope.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Soul Sisters.

SPEAKER_02 0:08

So we're inviting you to join us as uh Donna and Diana have just a little conversation here that we are calling our connection series, where we just want to spend some time chatting with you about making connections and our journey and really just kind of opening everybody up to the awareness and the knowledge that anybody can connect and maintain connections beyond kind of this world. So join us as we uh jump into this new adventure.

Why And How We’re Sharing

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Hope through connecting. Let's do it. Hey, hey, everybody, welcome. So here's the thing. I get asked a lot, this thing that you do, the these connections that you make, how do you do it? How does it happen? And how can I learn? And so the two of us, Diana and I, have thought, you know what, there are a few things that we know and we can share. And we want to start out on a connections series to talk to all of you and give you those little nuggets, share a little bit about our journeys and what you can do in really practical ways to build your own connections. Right now we're talking about hope through connecting, really, and just the foundations of our own journeys, right, Six? Right, right. I can speak.

Childhood Sensing And Early Fears

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Right. And I think, you know, that's that is the piece that got me on this journey, right? Is is that looking for connecting. And I know you'll share what you want to share, but you know, I know as a young girl, you connected with spirit, although I don't know that I really knew it was spirit at the time.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

And I didn't know it either.

unknown 1:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

I didn't know it when I was little, though.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

And and you know, you would you would tell me some stories and and I believed them. And then there was a period when I got a little older and I thought, oh, my sister's so creative, and that was so nice of her to tell me stories to make me feel better. And then as an adult, I realized, oh, those weren't made up stories, those were real stories of experiences you were you were having that you shared with me. And then in 2019, we lost your boy, my godson, my nephew. And um I remember purchasing my first um little book online that was about talking with the dead. And it was just like, hey, I'm gonna learn some activities because I want to do what you did. Um that was my beginning of like learning to make connections.

Reframing Evil And Setting Boundaries

Auntie’s Tools And Facing Grief

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Yeah. And so your beginning was you did the practical student mindset of here's what you do. You learn this and you put it into practice, and you you work with teachers, you read the books, you do this experience. Mine was, um, yeah, I just all I can say right now is I always knew stuff. I always saw stuff. So, but I again I didn't know what all of that was, and I and I had a lot, a lot of fear around it. A lot of fear, but there because there was a certain larger religious context that we had in which um that that fueled that fear in me. Maybe that was unintentional, but that that is that was my takeaway. And so I was always afraid of people appearing in front of me and hearing things and seeing things. I and um and it and you know, it happened with some frequency um that that did happen. And my fear was that those appearances would be dark and sinister, and that there was something evil that was going to get me. Um and you know, what I understand today, and not everybody will agree with this, but I understand today there is no force of evil as an entity in the world. There is sickness, there is deep sickness, and there is um I don't need to get deep into all of that, but there is nothing that can get into me, affect me, um, without my open doors and welcome, right? So I would see somebody walking across the living room of our house, or I would go to church and I would have uh, there would be an apparition there, or I would just hear and be aware. And he talked about those stories. I would, um, I know I told you those stories, but there was a young man whom I could hear and see um who would, and he was very kind and loving, really loved animals, and really he was just so sweet, and he felt like just a really kind big brother, which I did not have a big brother in my own world, but he was just a gentle, loving guy. He told me his name was Mike, and he shared this world of stories that I then shared with you. And I didn't understand that until I was an adult either. That, oh, whoa, okay, that did. I, you know, I thought, oh, I must have just been making all of that up, but it was very, very real. And it would and I can I understand now the different places that these things come in my mind. There's the stuff that I think, and there's the stuff that I become aware of that comes into my field, and it's in a different space. So I always had that. And I experimented then. I started with uh tarot and crystals when I was a young adult because our auntie she used those tools and and really connecting with her and learning from her what she did. I didn't know it until that time, but it was talking to her that helped me start shifting from fear around the practicality of it. So then I started that journey. But yeah, I did not go hard or deep into any of this until Kenny died. And that is when I learned that I could be purposeful and intentional around this. And so I started with the teacher and I started learning and then jumped in to do it. So go ahead, talk a little bit about how your path differs from that.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Well, you know, and it's interesting because I can remember looking back at a few instances in my childhood and maybe early adult life where there were experiences that were, I don't know how to describe them except maybe otherworldly. I didn't know that it was spirit. I just thought I have a pretty powerful mind to create these things. Um and and I remember Arkenny being a little boy and having a bedroom in the house. And I remember him waking up in the morning and telling us all about the man who was talking to him at night. And he described the man, and it was 100% our grandfather.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Yep.

Otherworldly Moments And Kenny’s Signs

Learning Paths: Books, Teachers, Modalities

SPEAKER_02 7:18

He had never met in life, but he could describe the man and the things the man were telling him was exactly what grandpa would have said. And maybe Kenny was two at the time. Was he that old? Maybe. Um, and that was pretty powerful. And and it wasn't scary at all. To me, it was just the most beautiful thing, thinking like, oh my God, Grandpa was just in the next room. That's so cool. Um, so like I said, I got that book. Actually, our sister Debbie, um, who was on the show earlier, she told me about this book and I purchased it and did a few of the exercises, but never got deep into them. And during those months, I remember talking to you about that. Um, David and I would talk about it. We would have conversations about how can Donna connect so easily? You know, we love him too. How come we can't connect? And when are we gonna feel that same thing? And having a couple of experiences over those next few months that were like, hey, is that Kenny? Certainly signs, you know, we we start with signs, and that's a piece of connecting. Yeah, recognizing the signs. And I've since learned that the more you recognize and believe the signs, the more you're gonna get, which is totally. And you can play that game with yourself of like, oh, that's just a coincidence, or oh, that's just, you know, a butterfly that has nothing to do with anything. But I will share one experience with the butterfly that we had after Kenny died, and it was this beautiful monarch butterfly. And our dog, who we absolutely adore, David's baby, got the butterfly and put the butterfly in his mouth. And this is after David was watching the butterfly and thinking, oh, Kenny, thank you so much. This is so beautiful, thank you for sending it, and was so upset that our dog got this butterfly, and the butterfly stopped moving. I mean, the butterfly, for all we know, was dead. And the dog got in trouble. I got kicked out of the garden, and David took the butterfly and laid it on the table, and we had taken a picture of it, and it was just so beautiful. And I don't know, five minutes later it started flapping its wings, and next thing you know, it flew and just started surrounding the flowers again. And it was just 100% a sign from Kenny for us because of that butterfly, right? Um, and so that's you know, signs and looking for Kenny is what started it. And a few months later, um, losing David and your incredible connection, which is probably a story for another day. Um and then within just a couple of days, me trying to figure out where he went, and knowing that this love that had existed really since uh childhood. I mean, this this person who had been in my life since uh, you know, we were 11 and 12 years old couldn't be gone. There's just no really no way that that could just end. And so finding teachers, finding mentors, finding courses, and not just on mediumship and spiritual development, but meditation and Reiki and um, you know, and mediumship and psychic development and tarot and angels, and I mean, just I I don't know, you name it, and I've experienced it or tried to experience it.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Um you have definitely gone deep as the student. You are you are uh the love of learning lives deep in you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

And very true, because I say if I didn't have to work, I'd just go to school. I mean, I would just take classes all the time. And so, yes, and and I do say that I have spent more more time, more intentional time and training in this than I did even during my doctorate. Yeah, I'm not gonna say more than doing my clinical experience because obviously I did a heck of a lot of training there, but um but but fully invested, I guess.

Birthday Signs And The “Love, Dah” Tattoo

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Oh, I get what you mean. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. So let's just do a quick little thing about just yesterday was Kenny's birthday, and we talk about the signs. We had such a cool shared one yesterday. I'll share my part and then you share yours. So um I had uh, you know, it was Kenny's birthday, and I was, of course, feeling him and aware of him all around. I hadn't asked him for anything in particular, just very much aware of him being there. And uh myself and uh son and husband, we all went to lunch for Kenny's birthday. I had these gift cards we were gonna spend anyway. So um we had the lunch, the food was delivered, and the server reached across in front of me and sent the plate down in front of my son. And I got the flash of a tattoo on his arm, and I could swear it's it said dah, which is what Kenny called David. Um, and and we all then for forever now call him dah. That's how he's known. Um, and it is not lost on me that dah, for many is a word for dad, and and David was um very much a father figure to Kenny, for sure, and was the most important man in his life in his early years. That is absolutely sure. So, anyway, I saw this and I asked the guy, I'm sorry, can I see your tattoo on your arm? And he shared it with me, and it said, love, dah. And I mean, it could not be more gorgeous and perfect and on point. And he said, you know, and that was for his dad, whom he lost. And I had a little conversation with him, and we made a connection, he and I. And then I shared with you that I had just seen this love dah tattoo. So I knew that David was there in support also with Kenny and all of that, and shared with you, and then you take the story, sis.

Asking For Specific Signs And Getting Them

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Well, and you know, one of the things, as I mentioned, when you see the signs and you recognize the signs, you get more of them. And and I play a little game with them and try to throw like crazy things out. I remember one time telling David, you know, like, I want to see a purple, I think I said a purple dinosaur. And of course, in my head, I was thinking of Barney and the kids and I went out, and there was somebody with those puppets, you know, with the long strings. Yeah, Marionette. Yeah, there you go, Marionette. And it was a purple dinosaur and not a Barney dinosaur. It was actually like a tyrannosaurus, whatever, but it was purple. And I thought, oh my God, you know, really came through. Well, yesterday morning at the start of Kenny's birthday, I just said, okay, kid, what if you give me like a really cool tattoo? And I thought, like, maybe I'd be flipping through Facebook and I'd see this tattoo with, I don't know, a pretty heart on it, or I would just see something that was just a reminder of Kenny. That's that's what I thought I was gonna get. But then you come forward with your here you got your love doll tattoo. And I thought, okay, thanks. I asked for it and you delivered to your mama, which was perfect.

Evidence Matters: The Blue String Story

Yes, You Can Do This Too

Practical Tools And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 14:47

A hundred, hundred percent. I love that. I love those guys who are still so very present in our in our lives in so many ways. And of course, yesterday I got all kinds of messaging from friends of Kenny's or friends of mine, and people who I hadn't seen in you know, a while, and they all sent messages that I knew were from them, but also there were pieces of them that were from my kid as well. And he does that. He finds so many ways to get to me. And when I'm in my grief and those emotions or and I'm more walled off from that receptivity, he finds other ways. He finds other ways to get through. And exactly to your point, sis, it is about being open and accepting that there's so we get so often, and we're trained to get doubtful of what it is that we know and what we see. And oh, it's not just that, it's just a coincidence. It's there's so many mind games we do. We're afraid to believe, or others are afraid for us to believe. But you're exactly right, and I just don't want to reiterate that. The more you accept that it's so, the more validation and evidence that you get that it's so. And that evidence is essential. It happens again and again. And I know we want to keep this short and tight, but I'm gonna share one more thing that was early in my mediumship journey, and it's because it sticks with me. So when I open myself to reading for other people, and that was a scary leap, it's like, who do I think I am? And how do I like it? Was a whole thing, but it's so many indicators that I should be doing this, including going to the amazing, great um medium, John Edward, who called me out of an audience and said, Hey, you do this. You're supposed to do this, keep doing this. I mean, you know, hello, validation. Thank you very much. But one of my early readings, and I don't remember most of what goes on in my readings because it just comes in and goes out and it's not about me. This one stuck with me because it was so weird. And I thought I didn't want to say it because it sounded so stupid to me that um the client was asking for that their grandchild wanted a validation from their granddad who had transitioned. And how would they know? And what I heard and understood was blue string, bright blue string is gonna appear. I'm like, what a dumb idiotic. Like, how how do I say this to the person? That's like a piece of that's like a piece of trash. It's like a piece of string. It's just didn't sound right. And like, but my commitment is to share what it is that I understand, what I hear, and I did, and I shared that, and she went, okay. She was very hesitant, all right. But she messaged me a few days later and said they'd been having a family party and walked out the door and lying in the doorstep was a piece of bright blue string. Like, and that for me was the big, and I go back to it again and again. Share what you hear, don't hesitate. This is there for a reason. And because I was open to it and went and you know, all but that opened up. The evidence is there, the evidence is there. How do you come up with something as silly as that? But it is very purposeful. So, hey, everybody listening, this is for you too. You can do this. You all know what intuition is. This lives in a space that is related to intuition, it is not the same thing, but it is related. You have the pathway, and you can do this. It's not, it's not um just exceptional for some people.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

And I think that's important because I know even before I took the leap into this, I thought, and you know, in my life, I have experienced mediumship readings and tarot readings from people who were really good. Maybe some who weren't so great, but from some really good ones and um very evidential stuff. And I thought that they were gifted. I thought that they were kind of like the chosen ones and that you had to be chosen to get to do this. I've since I I really do believe that we all have the gift. It's just that some of us choose to develop it and hold on to it, and others don't. And I mean, I could go back to some things that my son said early on, that I just thought he was very creative and uh an amazing, brilliant kid, which he definitely is. But also there was this other piece of it that he remembered his connection that I had already let go of. Um and so I think that's important as you say that everybody can do this. And I think part of what we'll do in this series is to talk a little bit about that being intentional and finding what works for you. And there are, you know, we could connect through mediums, we can go to mediums and have readings, but we can also develop some of those things ourselves. We can use meditation, we can use automatic writing, we can, you know, um, yeah, we can use um, I don't know, loving hearts connections. We we can use all sorts of things to develop a connection with someone else.

Closing Hopes And How To Follow

SPEAKER_00 20:37

So that's what we're going, we're gonna be talking about in our connections series, right, sis? We're gonna talk about those tools, talk about the practical and the purposeful things that you can do, things that we've done, things that you can do to help support you on your journey. I get asked this a lot by people who come in for readings, especially those who come for soul readings. So, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I get started? And there are any number of great teachers out there, great books to read. Um, but we've learned a couple of things too. So we said, well, why don't we we put it out there for for you to listen to it and you do with it as you will. You do with it as you will. You are the master of your own journey. Yeah. And um we send you so much love and light. All is well. Thanks for joining us today on Soul Sistories. And thanks for sharing stories with us. We'd love to hear your stories as well and keep the conversation going, absolutely keeping the hope going. So we're really hopeful that you'll connect with our guests as well who have great stories to share. Go ahead and follow them in various social media platforms or live venues, wherever it is that they're performing and uh sharing what they do.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

We would love to have you follow us on all of our social media platforms, subscribe and rate. As that will help us get our message of hope out to others.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Thanks for listening to Soul Sisters.