I’m very proud of the accomplishments I’ve made since I crossed over, but it’s not just the pride that’s inside me. It feels broader than that. My pride is located across the world instead of just inside me. I don’t look at it and go, “I did this today!” or “I said this important thing. Go, me!” It’s not like I think I’m hot shit or anything. That’s all ego stuff, and like I said, spirits don’t really have egos. What I get out of it is the feeling that comes with helping a person, including my mom. Part of the way she heals is by helping others, and what I communicate through the blog lets her do that, and it lets her know that I didn’t just disappear. I help a lot of other people with that. I help them be more comfortable with death and what happens afterward. That’s a reward in and of itself.
Let me explain it this way: When I help a person’s life, not only am I proud of the work I’ve done but I’m also proud of them for fighting. I’m proud of them for accepting my help and taking it to the point where they turn the corner to save themselves. In every teacher-student relationship, things don’t just flow in one direction. It’s not just me who knows all and fixes things for them. I can know all and give direction, sure, but they have to follow those directions and make of them what they will. They have to own it. They have to do the work. They have to fight for it. So my pride doesn’t stay in me. It’s in every single person’s path that we’ve come across, and by “we,” I mean my mom and me—our blog, our story, and the books. It’s about how people have changed the way they see their lives and how they want to live it. My pride is in them for wanting and making the changes.
The Channeling Erik community allows people to explore spirituality together. They might get an awareness of the wonderment that’s beyond the life they know. They might come to understand the reasons behind the human experience and become less fearful of death. I think the blog has helped define the spiritual realm with everyday language, and that helps people understand it better.
I’ve helped stop people from taking their own lives by letting them see that there are people in the same situation they’re in. Through the blog, they have a place to talk about it, and that’s what people need to feel connected to the world and to other people again. We show them the way back to the value of the human experience. You know, some people feel so separated from everything. It’s not their fault, really; that’s not how it works. They just feel like they’re trapped in a box and can’t communicate with others. Connecting is the answer, but you can’t connect if you don’t have the tools. Our blog helps put those kinds of people in touch with each other. Once they do and have those, “Oh, shit! Me too. Me too!” moments, then they can reconnect to the sweetness in life. That’s what the blog does. It connects people who feel like they’re alone, and that can change everything.
Another really important thing we do on the blog is to remind people how fucking precious their lives are. Your life on Earth is a choice your soul makes, and when you’re actually living it and not getting mired down in all the day-to-day shit that makes life so damn hard sometimes, it’s easy to connect with the big picture—that this is the path your soul has chosen to walk. Sometimes the blog helps people figure out why they did something dumb or embarrassing or hurtful and why suffering is sometimes just a way to grow.
I encourage people to ride the roller coaster of life for as long as they can, because it’s so special to be alive as a human. The experiences and the beauty and the connections your soul needs to evolve and thrive are all made on Earth, and you carry those with you into the afterlife. Helping educate people about these things makes me feel complete and satisfied as a guide. I’m so invigorated by my work that I don’t ever want to stop.
I remember this one time I helped this guy find the purpose in his life and what a gift it was to do so. He was a forty-eight-year-old man. He was one of the first ones I helped on my own without my guides helping me along the way. I think of him as my first solo flight. This dude had been thinking about killing himself for weeks. He even bought a gun—a shotgun. He’d had enough of life for lots of reasons. Life just became too fucking heavy for him. He was suffering too much, and he didn’t know how to find relief. It mostly had to do with control. He wanted to control how long a job lasted, how long a relationship lasted, and how certain family members and friends listened to him or didn’t. Suicide was the way he chose to express his anger, disappointment, and frustration with everything life had been throwing at him.
One night he was shit-faced drunk, sitting on a couch, thinking this was the day he was going to do it. So he got up, went to his backyard, and sat on a bench that had a wooden fence behind it. First I started fucking with him a little bit. I don’t mean to make light of the situation, but I’d whisper to him, “How are you going to put that shotgun in your face? Think about it. What if you just blow off part of your face? Dude, you’re fucking drunk as shit, so your coordination sucks. You’re gonna screw this up, and you’re probably going to regret it.” I was feeding this information to his subconscious energetically. Eventually, he put the shotgun off to the side and thought, You know, maybe this isn’t the best thing. He kind of stumbled back into his house, washed his face, and then sat in front of his computer. What he didn’t realize just then was that washing his face was a metaphor for starting to cleanse some of the shit he’d been holding on to. Then the real magic started. He did a search about death and suicide. He wanted to make sure that there was something afterward waiting for him before he went through with it. He came across the Channeling Erik blog and started reading it. While he did this, he started to discover other people’s stories and he started to empathize with them and see himself in them. He came to understand that there’s a purpose to life. I’m so fucking proud of how he turned himself around. That was super brave.
I’ve learned so much as a spirit and as a guide, but I think the biggest lessons are my ability to love and my ability to connect emotionally to everything and everyone, including myself. That came from realizing that I’m an emotional being. In other words, I’m energy made from emotion. Humans are also emotional beings, and once they figure that out, then they’ll be able to put their emotions—especially empathy and love—first and start to make those same connections.
Another thing that’s been really groundbreaking for me is learning that separation is an illusion. I know it sounds like bullshit when you’re feeling super lonely and like no one understands what you’re going through, and believe me, I get that. But do me a favor: The next time you get that feeling of separation and loneliness, go outside and look up at the stars. Try to remember that, even though it feels like you’re alone—especially if you’ve lost someone you love—you’re a part of the fabric of the universe and so are they, and you’re both connected to everything that ever was, is, and will be. We’re here watching over you, and if you need us, get in touch. Reach out. Join an online community or a support group or just talk to your angels or guides in whatever way that you feel is most authentic. We’re here to listen, man. You’re not alone.