Ladies, ya gotta love yourselves FIRST!

For women especially, it's difficult to love who we are. Most of us are overly critical of ourselves. I know I've always been that way – but I'm working on it. Sometimes all I see are the flaws, the mistakes, the ways I *should* look or *should* be, but am not.

Here's the thing: you've gotta learn to love yourself or you won't be in a space to fully love, support, and encourage others. I'm fortunate to have a husband who tells me multiple times a day how beautiful/amazing/sexy I am. He's more smitten with me than I've ever been with myself, so I cast a jaded glance in his direction when he tells me those things. Except he doesn't mean just looks – he tells me I'm a beautiful person as well. Nobody else may see me that way, but through his lens he does and he tells me every day, without fail.


All too often, I see other women and think, "Oh, her face is pretty and mine's so average' or 'she's so tall and I'm only 5'4'. I've always battled weight issues since I was a little girl, whereas some women were born a size 0 and stayed that way – they didn't have to eat a piece of fruit a day and nothing else to fit into that size 5 blue homecoming dress back in the day! By the way, that's incredibly unhealthy, so don't eat just one piece of fruit a day!

Then again, I'm just me and I have unique qualities nobody else has. There's only one Bev, and I like her better now than I ever have. Oh, I still have days when I lament what it would be like to be a trophy wife who looks great on someone's arm, but I guarantee you she doesn't have my personality. I'd rather have substance than a vapid, nonexistent personality and only looks to go on. Looks fade; personality lingers.

So, yeah, ladies. It's hard as hell, but keep working on loving yourself. It sets the foundation for opening up and loving others, as well as calling bullshit on yourself when you're not being as authentic as you should or could be. It's a lifelong journey that's not easy, but it's worth it. There's only one [insert your name here] in this world. Love who she is, flaws and all. Then let others know you love them, too – just as they are.

[Quote] Roger Ebert: "This is all an elaborate hoax."

"The one thing people might be surprised about—Roger said that he didn't know if he could believe in God. He had his doubts. But toward the end, something really interesting happened. That week before Roger passed away, I would see him and he would talk about having visited this other place. I thought he was hallucinating. I thought they were giving him too much medication. But the day before he passed away, he wrote me a note: 'This is all an elaborate hoax.' I asked him, 'What's a hoax?' And he was talking about this world, this place. He said it was all an illusion. I thought he was just confused. But he was not confused. He wasn't visiting heaven, not the way we think of heaven. He described it as a vastness that you can't even imagine. It was a place where the past, present, and future were happening all at once."
–Chaz Ebert, Roger Ebert's wife

The unexplained/paranormal will eventually be explained by science

Image source: Pixabay/Genty 1

Excerpt of a conversation I had with Shawna Kimble a short while ago:

I believe we continue to exist as consciousness because energy is never destroyed, it simply transforms*. I don't believe in a heaven or a hell, though. I DO believe that nothing is truly paranormal, even though for now we call it that because science has yet to explain certain things (but eventually, it will).

So, everything is natural and can/will be explained by science and the connections will all be made -- but certainly not by the time I'm still here on earth. I do believe in a strong case for reincarnation mainly due to the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson. I believe there's nothing 'woo woo' about it and it, too, is explained by science.

I'm not sure if ghosts are ghosts or something else and we don't know what else to call it. We've had way too many weird/inexplicable experiences that could not be explained by mundane means. As in EVPs where I was addressed by name, for instance.

My beliefs and ideas are always changing and evolving based on new information I discover. So, I'm open to many things and will remain that way.

I think quantum physics is magickal, as is science. Magick, to me, IS science. So, it's all natural and will be proven/explained at some point.

Roger Ebert's deathbed assertion that 'it's all a hoax' has haunted me ever since I heard about it. I want to know what is really happening and how we've allegedly been hoaxed.

The world -- and beyond -- is far more complex and mysterious than we can ever imagine, and that excites me. I want to believe. BUT all things are natural, even though on the surface many experiences/events seem otherwise.

It is by science that we will ultimately unlock and understand the amazing and sublime mysteries and essence of our existence and beyond.
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*The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed. ... In the process of energy transfer, some energy will dissipate as heat.
LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/…/farabee/biobk/BioBookEn…

~Bev Sninchak,
Founder & Co-Team Lead
Colorado Springs Paranormal Association (C.S.P.A.)

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2019. Make it what you want!

For me, 2019 will be more about enjoying experiences instead of stressing myself out over superficial markers or goals that make me resistant to the entire process. If I don't enjoy the process, why bother in the first place? No, I'm going to enjoy 2019 and approach it in a different way than I have many other years. There will be no list, no goal sheet, no set of markers to hit or attain.

For example, instead of setting a goal of reading X number of books this year and trying to hit a set, artificial goal, I'm simply going to read for pleasure without feeling like I'm punching a tote board for something I already intend to do for pleasure/knowledge.


I accomplish more and do better when I don't feel like every single thing I do has to be tied to a marker or 'have to' of some type. In fact, looking back on when I was most productive, it was when I WANTED to do certain things instead of being under the gun or pressure to perform for someone or something else. Therefore, I'm going to be creative and pursue my passions because I WANT to, not because I HAVE to.

If I don't finish writing a book this year, so be it. If I don't plow through 50 books or more this year, so be it. I want to enjoy the process of living, learning, and creating. To savor the journey and not just pass over the experience en route to a destination for the sake of it.

If you're like me, you have enough have-tos in your life already with work and regular life responsibilities. Engaging in hobbies or leisurely activities that bring you comfort and joy should be about that sense of peace, relaxation, and pleasure, which loops us back to cultivating more hygge in my life.

However you decide to shape and design YOUR 2019, I hope the new year delivers you the well-being you seek in whatever form that takes.

[Dream] Letterman shows me the world — and we visit Neil Gaiman

In a new episode of "What the Hell Did Bev Dream About This Time?", I was treated to a vivid dream where David Letterman took me all over the place to see interesting things and people. It was like I was his assistant or something.

Along the way, my clothes got messed up, so I was forced to continue the journey wrapped in a towel. This made me uncomfortable and nervous, but Letterman paid it no mind as he had lots to show me on our trip.

Eventually, we ended up at a venue where Neil Gaiman (one of my favorite authors) was having his latest work presented (I believe it was in movie form). I was upset about still not having any clothes to wear, and especially since Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite people and, quite frankly, I had a crush on him. How embarrassing!

Soon after this turn of events, my alarm went off and I didn't get to finish the dream. Bummer! It was a fun, interesting, and realistic dream, so up till the time I woke up I enjoyed it immensely. David Letterman and Neil Gaiman in the same dream? MOST EXCELLENT!

Justice is no longer blind, it's merely broken

Lady Justice/Image courtesy of Pixabay free images

So, I'm watching "I Am a Killer" on Netflix, working my way through the entire series. Since the interviews are with people on death row — so far all males — the death penalty is on my mind.

Here's how I feel about the death penalty (not that anybody asked, but it's been on my mind): I am NOT for the death penalty because far too many people have been put on death row, only to be released years or decades later because they were proven innocent, usually by DNA or other evidence that exonerates them.

Damien Echols of the West Memphis 3 is an example. I met Damien in person after he was released from prison, in 2011, after spending about half of his life in there. After reading his book, "Life After Death," as well as hearing and reading about other accounts of life in prison, I'm certain that life in prison, especially Close Management/solitary confinement, is probably a fate worse than death.

While I do believe in severe punishment for those who are guilty of murder and other such heinous crimes, I cannot, in good conscience, agree with the death penalty if even ONE person is innocent and ends up dying because of a life-altering error or a vendetta orchestrated by the justice system (and believe me, the West Memphis 3 case is a horrifying example of that). To me, that's simply government-sponsored murder, whether state or federal, and I'm not down with it.

Some of you might say, "Well, I'm sorry if someone's innocent and they die, but..." Oh, easy for you to say that if YOU are not the person falsely imprisoned and waiting to be killed by lethal injection or the electric chair! NO, executing an innocent person and brushing it off as mere collateral damage is heartless and insensitive, at least to me.

I strongly believe in the work being done by The Innocence Project, described as "a non-profit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing and to reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice." http://www.innocenceproject.org

Again, I absolutely and unquestionably believe in justice for victims and severe punishment for criminals who are guilty. However, in our zeal to mete out justice, let's not be in an irrational rush to throw people in prison based on false witness accounts, political motivation, personal/professional vendettas, or false/coerced confessions. When you're holding another's life in the balance, the process of arriving at a final result of guilt or innocence must be thorough, meticulous, unbiased, and measured.

In America, justice is supposed to be blind, meaning objective and impartial. We all know America is failing at that ideal and has been for a while. If justice is not blind, then I submit that justice is not legitimately or properly served. The system is broken and must be repaired. Until it is, you'd better hope you're not one of the people who is accidentally caught in its web.

Willful ignorance and/or stupidity doesn't look good on Americans

Based on dealing with the public five days a week, it's clear that most Americans are stupid and/or ignorant (yes, there's a difference). It's obvious how we ended up with clueless Trump in office!

Also: the customers from overseas I've dealt with -- from Europe, in particular -- are more polite and well-spoken than the vast majority of Americans I've encountered.

And people wonder why we need a better education system? It's not hard to see why. Get educated, Americans! Read a damned book every once in a while. Take a class. Learn a new language. Become literate in science.

Intellectualism isn't a bad thing. But being proud of (and even bragging about) your stupidity/ignorance is.