In this week ‘s special interview for Mystic Mag, we talked with Shari Dworkin-Smith, an evidence-based medium and certified grief educator based in Orlando, Florida (United States).
Shari told us a bit about her story, how she developed her psychic abilities, how to deal with grief and also how everything we do help us move forward.
Check out the interview below!
How did you discover your psychic abilities and the will to help people?
I often knew things before they happened. I was a rambunctious, emotional child, as a lot of empaths are labeled, and spent a lot of time in my room. I was never lonely though, and always had entities around, so I never thought twice about it until I got a little older. I never really identified it as connecting with those who had passed away, I just knew there were “spirit people” around me.
In my teen years, that part fell away a bit, as I got more involved with life around me. But my psychic abilities stayed with me until and it became too overwhelming for me and, in my first year of college, as I was knowing things before they happened, I started worrying about the type of responsibility I had in the world.
So, I asked this gift to go away, it was just too much. Later in my life, when I was more ready to reexamine that part of myself, a very dear friend of mine passed away. It was heartbreaking, Michael ignored his health for so long that, by the time he was diagnosed with cancer, it was everywhere, and he was gone six weeks later.
In his passing, Michael became a tremendous “busy body” in my life. He showed up and pushed me to re-open the door to mediumship because he needed me to share a message with his husband, who was still alive. Realizing I was being used in that way, to help people I love so much to find healing, it was clear to me how powerful this work can be. What an honor to be utilized by our loved ones Spirit, and to be their voice.
In your website, you mention knowing when something is off when entering a place. When do you know that this feeling is not just an impression but something meaningful?
It’s like being enveloped in flavors of energy. I can walk into a room and, if there are many people, it can feel overwhelming with a lot of different flavors coming at you all at once. I can feel the good flavors and the not-so-good ones, like if there was an argument or dishonesty between people, or if there is genuine love and connection.
When I shake someone’s hand, I can receive flashes of information about that person, or perhaps more of an energetic feeling from connecting my aura with theirs, just from being in the same proximity. At the same time, boundaries are really important. I can choose to be open to receiving information or not, it’s up to me. And, just because I may feel something, it doesn’t mean I’m going to say or do anything with that information. because if the person didn’t ask me to read them, it’s very likely to be intrusive to them. I consider it mental trespassing. Just because I can see what’s over the fence, doesn’t give me the right to wander onto someone else’s property, or mental space.
Did any psychic reading in specific stuck in your mind after so many years of work?
Yes, sure. There have been a couple that really stand out due to the intelligence and magnificence of Spirit when they communicate. Spirit will use anything that is in my consciousness or experiences to get me, as a medium, to say what they want to share.
Once, I was sitting with a woman who wanted evidence her deceased father was with her and, as much as I told her different things, it was still not the piece of information she was looking for.
In my mind, I kept seeing a piñata, like you would find at a party but she she didn’t have children and couldn’t recall any instance of a party where there had been a piñata. She didn’t understand but Spirit wouldn’t let it go. Finally, I told her it was a donkey-shaped piñata and, it turned out her father had a donkey as a pet! It was the missing piece for her.
Another woman shared she had accidentally overdosed with heroin, but it hadn’t been her intention to use this drug. She kept holding onto my arm so I could understand she’d been pushed into this situation. I was able to feel that pressure on my arm, her anxiety as well as the needle going into my arm! It was upsetting for all of us at that moment, but she finally let go when I was able to share all she needed to say.
There were other times, when loved ones had passed and there wasn’t an opportunity to say goodbye. It is powerful to be able to let relatives know that it’s OK, they don’t need to carry the guilt of not being there. Some people change right in front of you from having that veil of grief be lifted, knowing their people are ok.
One last quick story I will share, is about a young woman who had terminated a pregnancy because her partner was abusive, and she knew that having this child would keep her from being able to end the relationship and start over with someone who would treat her well. She carried so much guilt about making what she felt was a selfish choice that, when I shared about a baby in the Spirit world she couldn’t even acknowledge it. She just said no but something told me to accept her answer and not to push her. A few days later, she contacted me to say thank you. She had pushed all the memories about this away because she was so sure the baby hated her. Now she understood the child had come to her to be the impetus for her to finally leave this bad relationship and that it had come to help her, not to harm her.
It is amazing what they can do and how they can bring so much healing from the other side.
What is your biggest challenge when teaching people in courses what appears to be so natural to you?
Patience. People take the online courses and want results right away. I think it is important for people to take things a step at a time and allow yourself to integrate the new information. We can learn a new skill but, if we don’t take the time to practice it, we may never truly own it. I encourage people to move more slowly and repeat the lessons more than once, instead of quickly moving on to the next modules. Give yourself time to let things sink in and become part of you.
Especially for empaths who are feeling overwhelmed and come to my courses, they are often looking for an instant fix, or a Band Aid – but that’s not the way it is. You need time to digest the information and work with the exercises so you can own your new skills, and they become second nature to you.
How does grief education work? How to deal with such an important emotion?
I have recently added this certification to the work I do, and it has been incredibly powerful. So many people are living with grief and don’t know what to do with this immense pain. They may not know how to put it to words or work through it. It can feel so overwhelming.
As a grief educator, I work with people, to help them walk through their specific grief journey, and to have a better understanding of what the reality of that situation may be. Could they have created a different outcome or handled things differently? What are the takeaways from that experience, from that relationship?
We carry so much with us and, when we are in grief, we are susceptible to the lies of our broken heart. We can believe all these distorted things, or half-truths of a situation because we are in pain. Helping people to better understand their pain and see these experiences in a different light can make a huge impact. Knowing you will not always feel this depth of pain, and learning to see a path forward, can change people.
In this country, we don’t want to deal with grief, we want to push it away and expect a Hollywood ending: they die, we have a funeral and everything’s OK. Shying away from uncomfortable situations is part of our instant gratification culture. If we don’t want to deal with something, we can just change the channel or tune into any number of people who will tell us what we want to hear. And too often, those who are lost in their grief are left to figure it out by themselves with very few resources.
Do you want to share a special message with our audience for these challenging times?
We are not alone. There is a higher intelligence around us. It comes from love and genuinely wants to help us move forward. All we have to do is reach for it. Whether that’s Higher Self, angels, or guides, your loved ones in spirit or God, however you identify Source, it is there for us. There is so much more beyond this 3D world we live in, and we are capable of greater love and understanding if we can allow it to come in and become part of our consciousness and awareness. The news is loud, our world is loud, and it can feel like things are falling apart but they are not.
I tell people all the time: you are not on the wrong path; you are not doing it wrong. Everything we do is moving us forward. We may go through a loop, where we go back around in order to go forward, but we are still going forward. Everything is part of the journey and for our highest and best as we continue our evolution.
Trust Spirit, trust the journey and know how very much you are loved!
