Da Juana Byrd

Many have, upon meeting me, told me that they were a celebrity in another life.  And that’s entirely possible.  As for me, I can’t remember being anything other than an everyday person.  Another thing for me too is that I generally don’t ask celebrity ghosts to come see me.  But they do on occasion.

 
For two days, last year, I think it was, a tall man continued to show himself to me.  That’s not unusual.  He was just so insistent.  Most of the time, I watch them come and go and never ask who they are but he continued to make sure he was in my line of sight.  As a matter of fact on the second night, after a hard workday, he walked between the television and me.  And it was something I wanted to watch.  That was enough.  I turned to Claude and asked, “Who is the man in black?” because that was what he was dressed in.  Immediately, as Claude said, “Johnny Cash,” I heard the man say, “John R. Cash” and I said it as Claude was speaking. 

 
Now, I didn’t know his name was John R Cash.  Just barely liked his songs.  Oh, there was one or two I liked but he wasn’t someone I would just ask to come see me.  He had a message for someone I know.  Because I’m very leery of coming out as a celebrity medium, I decided I wasn’t going to give the person he wanted me to the message.  That’s when I got a good talking to by the other side. 

 
You see, we all put our panties on in the same way, one leg at a time.   A chorus told me that I wasn’t being fair just because he was well known.  They were right. 

 
I had the opportunity to give the message and had it confirmed by the recipient.  The only thing was that I just couldn’t let it go.  That’s when I asked, “Why would he tell me that his name was John R. Cash?”

 
“Because that was his name,” he answered.

 
Well, you learn something every day.

 
Da Juana

You know most of us think about gifts being something spectacular:  something like a diamond ring or cash rewards or a trip to somewhere nice.  But the best gift of all is something that most take for granted everyday.  It is the gift of cognizant thought.  Sure we do some things by rote but there are times when we must make intelligent decisions.  Those stupendous feats of intelligence are not even what I’m speaking of, but they rank right up there at the top, if you think about it.  No, I’m talking about the quiet times when you have the ability to wonder.  

 
The gift of wonder is mind-blowing if you really think about it.  That’s the time that you have all to yourself or if you are a medium, you share with about a hundred thousand or more other souls.  But that quiet time is the most marvelous of all.  You can remember items you have read or events you have mastered along life’s highway and you can savor each on your own terms. 

 
Quiet thoughts give you the time to make decisions or not.  Listening to your own mind’s chatter can sometimes solve all your problems or can give you the ability to help someone you love. 

 
When I use that time for myself, my ghostly friends try to walk quietly around me too, sort of like when you are in a library.  No one wants to disturb other readers.  It’s kind of funny really.  But that is the respect I get from my otherworldly friends when I’m using the wonderful gift of thought.  Come to think about it, that’s one of my favorite gifts.

 
Da Juana

This weekend was one of speculation and wonder.  Weathermen all over the place were telling us that we would have an ice event.  And we did but, thankfully, not as bad as they said.  For some it was horrible though. 

 
I watched as the trees bent under the pressure of the ice but it wasn’t as bad here for us as for others in our neck of the woods.  Memories came back from many years ago (oh, that makes me sound old) when I lived out in the country in Louisiana.  People in the country don’t get electricity turned back on as quickly as city folk.  As a young mother, I was without electricity for days.  Thank goodness we had a double fireplace and made our home in our living room for the week it happened.  But that was far worse than we saw here. 

 
Ice is such a beautiful substance.  Without it my tea just wouldn’t taste the same.  I like to overload my glass with it and then pour in that wonderful, tasty, brew.  Unlike most southerners, I don’t like sweet tea though.  Tea makes me a strong believer in the Boston tea party.  If someone told me that I couldn’t have it, I think I would be like some dope addict hoarding as much as I could find.  Even now, I’m feeling guilty.  I know I would share. 

 
The sun came out today and it too made me think.  Though the ice was beautiful and I’m one of those people that like a good, rainy day where I can snuggle in and read, the sun seems to chase all your miseries away.  When it comes smiling out and makes these beautiful trees glisten with their icicle-laden limbs, they look like shimmering Christmas trees.

 
Da Juana

When I think I’m above it all, generally I get a rude awakening.  That’s why I have mentioned before that I get upset with being human.  It may be because I’m so close to people and animals on the other side but I’m close to the physical ones too.  With one foot in the physical and one foot in the other side, life can have its moments. 

 
Even I get frustrated with the human condition.  On one hand I can understand why people war but on the other, more spiritual side, I have a real problem with it.  Before you say it’s a matter of control on my part, I’m mentioning that I really don’t think it is.  Like people on the other side, I watch the behavior of those hurting one another here and can see the overall picture, but that doesn’t make it any easier.  Even people on the other side hurt over what we do here.  They just don’t show it in the same way.  It’s more of a wait and see mode and looking at us earthly survivors with a sense that maybe someday we will learn. 

 
A saint, I’m not.  There are times that I become completely human.  When someone hurts someone I love, the momma part of me comes out.  I know that’s human.  Afterwards I have to think about what that must look like to people on the other side.  But that didn’t keep me from being totally human for an instant. 

 
So you see, being a psychic/medium can have its ups-and-downs in more than one way.  For me, it really does mean watching your behavior and trying to be more Christ like, not just your run-of-the-mill Christian.  And it makes me know that all religions, no matter which one, have merit but religion isn’t spirituality.  My integrity can make me be a little harsh on others and myself while the spiritual part of me tries to understand.  (Bet a psychiatrist would have a field day with this one.)  But each of us has a common thread and that is God.  We were born with the ability to know right from wrong.  As we aged, we learned how far to push it.  When the Bible says that babies are born sinful, I don’t agree.  Though I don’t believe in sin, only choices, I know that babies grow up to learn certain traits such as greed, envy, lust and what’s those other deadly sins?  We make choices.  And the quicker we understand that we are masters of our own fate, the quicker we become more spiritual beings.

 
Well enough of my ramblings.

 
Da Juana

There’s a lot that you can say about pride.  Most would say that it is an egotistical emotion.  But that is not always true. 

 
While I was growing up, and still to this day, I take a lot of pride in my work.  And though that might be egotistical, I prefer to think that since my name is on my work, I should do the very best I can.  It is me. 

 
Many, today, think that because they work for others their name is not on their work.  That’s one of the items I miss about times past.  When a person told you they would do something, you got a handshake.  And you knew it would happen.  Time has marched on and some are more cutthroat than ever before.  Their word is no longer their bond.  But as for me, I still keep on trying to do the very best I can and trying to keep my word on everything I promise or give the reason why I can’t in the time period I said.  I believe that if each of us takes pride in who we are and do the best we can at whatever we choose to do, pride is a very good characteristic.

 
Da Juana

One of the items I think of on occasion rather than just enjoying is this:  Why is color so important in our lives besides being fantastic eye candy?

 
Wars have been waged over the color of someone’s skin, little nuggets of gold and even prime real estate.  Of course human beings can find all measure of stuff to fight over.   The oceans depths of color have issued invitations to explorers so that they were willing to die in order to see what lay beyond.  Volcano’s spew molten lava, both red and black, and lure scientist like the sirens of old to the heated chasms.  Bird watchers flit from one tree to another trying to capture the sight of one of the most colorfully rare specimens.  We, humans, like peacocks, adorn our hair in fashionable color especially the younger generation. 

 
So what is it really that we find so fascinating about color?  Well, my dead, dear Muffin, who taught me so much, would tell you that it was because she could find one of her favorite foods that way.  She loved cotton candy and because I had a pair of slippers that were fluffy and looked the same color, she was constantly checking them out around fair time.  Food might be a reason that humans look for color especially when you are thinking about a tree-ripened, fresh, colorful peach or the beautiful greens of a ripe watermelon.  That could be one reason that God gave us this much-appreciated gift. 

 
Another reason might be to keep us out of harms way.  Snakes of a certain genre and all sorts of other hurtful creatures have certain colorings that allow us to make good decisions as to what not to pick up. 

 
There are a myriad of reasons from sexual to creative reasoning for color but my thought is that we got this beautiful gift for enjoyment.  There are so many events in life that seem to weigh us down but when we see a fluttering butterfly in all its glory, we can’t help but be lifted up.

 
See the glory in all colors, whether it is on a friend different from you or a little rodent washing his tiny hands.  God is in it all.  And that’s his gift to us.

 
Da Juana

Here I am again.  And it’s just like Lay’s Potato Chips, you can’t just eat one.  Here’s another question.  Before you go, “Oh no,” I think it can help everyone.

“Does my daddy know I love him and does my daddy and mom come around;  Both have passed on. Also does my grandmother come.  Aloha”