Is it a sign or a hallucination?

Athena at Quix Sites
Apr 23
2 min read

How do you know if you're receiving a sign, or you're just hallucinating?

I've asked myself that question countless times.

I've always had a pretty high tolerance for uncertainty. Maybe that comes from being an entrepreneur. Maybe it's just how I'm wired. Either way, I've made some very big decisions in my life due to a very strong feeling that something bigger was trying to get my attention.

Sometimes that has gone beautifully. Sometimes, not exactly.

Years ago, I was dating a man who had been courting me for weeks. The first time we kissed, a fire alarm went off above our heads at the exact moment our lips touched. I mean, come on, if that isn't a sign, what is?

I was convinced we were meant to be together.

Never mind the red flags or the early therapy sessions. I married him anyway. That is how much I believed in signs.

And even though that marriage did not last, I have no regrets. I received two beautiful daughters from it. So I still consider that sign one of the greatest gifts of my life.

But signs are funny. They are not always confirmation that everything will be easy or perfect. In fact, most times, it's the opposite. Most times, signs are just invitations to pay attention.

When I was writing my book, I got to a point where I was so frustrated and lost. I had been working on it for years. One day, in meditation, I finally said, fine, I need a sign. A real one.

I had heard somewhere to ask the Universe for an unusual sign. So I did. I asked to see a bluebird if I was meant to continue writing the book.

That very afternoon, I was out on a walk when something told me to look up. In the sky was a cloud shaped like a perfect bird. I laughed and thought, no, that doesn't count.

Two weeks later, I was in Florida visiting my mom. We were talking about the book, and even though I kept saying I was done, something in me knew I wasn't.

Hours later, I was looking out at her backyard and saw a big, beautiful blue jay land right on an old fountain.

I yelled, "Mom, do you get bluebirds here?"

She said, "No, I have never seen one."

I thought, okay, good one, Universe.

Then, three months later, my daughter and I were driving in the mountains, a little lost and a little hungry, trying to find somewhere to stop. She spotted a place and said, "Let's go there."

I asked, "What's it called?"

She said, "The Bluebird Restaurant."

That was it. I went back to writing the book.

Two years later, it comes out this May 8th.

I do believe in signs. I also believe in logic, wise friends, mentors, and common sense. But I think signs can help us hear what we already know to be true.

Maybe that's all a sign really is. A nudge toward our own deeper knowing.