Everyone has pieces of themselves that they keep hidden from the rest of the world. I was one of those people. Usually, the hidden pieces are those things we’re not proud of or in which we fear judgment from others if exposed. In my case, it was both.

After a 2010 declaration to part of my family that I would heal no matter what it looked like, my healing journey began by working with childhood wounds. As I worked through family issues, I found my self-confidence growing and my fears diminishing. Courage showed its face. I was giving myself permission to be me. 

One of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes is, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” This quote is humorous but profound, which makes it perfect. As I claimed myself step by step, I noticed less judgment from others and from myself towards others. Each year I uncovered a smidgeon more of who I was and who I wanted to be, but there always seemed to be a stopping point that, if revealed, would feel like I’d crossed the Rubicon or to the point of no return. I wasn’t yet brave enough to go beyond that point.

I was a closeted psychic medium most of my life but had been subjected to enough judgment from others when uncensored things would fly out of my mouth. I learned early to keep quiet. It took three years of working with alternative healers to finally claim that part of myself. I knew it was okay to be a psychic medium and that it was a gift I could share with others. I was making progress but still not brave enough to reveal my biggest secret – that I was a contactee, a person who had alien abduction experiences. 

Divulging this part of my life gave me pause. I watched the news and listened to reports about UFOs. The people who claimed to have seen a craft were always made to look absurd. For many years, I refused to set myself up to be ridiculed. 

However, there comes a time in many people’s lives where it just doesn’t matter anymore; you must give up and retreat into yourself or you must be brave and stand up for yourself. For me, that time is now. There is more than my reputation and integrity at stake. What is at stake is the healing of other people who have had similar experiences but have no place to go, no one to talk to, and no one who will understand what they’ve been through. I am that person. I am here to help and to understand. Dr. Jack Kasher extended a hand to help me more than two decades ago, and now it’s time to pay it forward.