Written by Naren Michael & Melanie Hartt
Where to begin
Naren
As I review the earliest readings between Melanie and myself, I'm reminded that even then there was an energy that was happening in the readings. We both were thinking and expressing, "where are we going with this?"
For myself, I had retired a few years ago from a long career with IBM. I had no desire to start my own business. I was already seeing in these early days of learning to connect with animals that I was being drawn somewhere. I felt a pull to keep going.
This was us at the beginning. There were questions we weren't even sure we were asking ourselves in those early sessions. "Where are we going?" and "Where are we now?" My progression in this lifetime has always held the 'wherever I'm led, I will go'. And this journey is the biggest I've ever taken.
The very first reading that we recorded was Melanie reading Diamond, one of my living cats. Diamond was holding a picture of me with a ‘sad face’. Diamond then crumpled that picture up. My thoughts when Melanie said this took me back to my shy self. It's something deep, at a really internal level. I'm basically shy. Pretty shy. When I was little we moved around a lot, so I was in a lot of schools. I tell myself it was because I didn't get the skills on how do you have good friends, all that sort of thing. And so chasms with people is potentially some of that.
My response to that image of Diamond crumpling the picture was "I think the message was that she took that 2D representation and crumpled it up. And now we can get together as we want, but we don't have to. We can be separate. Whatever. There's no geographical..." And Melanie finished with "Chasm. There's nothing. You get to decide. You can control it."
As I grew up, to bridge that chasm, I found that there are really lots of different ways to look at things. And so that's how I am with people. I take it in. And I think, too... unconsciously, I present myself differently to different people. I don't even know why, really.
Looking at this now, and knowing what has transpired since that first reading, I see a change in how I present myself. I'm "me" and that's all I am right now. The face I now show to the world is my face. Somewhere between this first reading and now, I changed and grew.
Where does this all take us? Melanie expressed an amazement that Diamond thought of her in the reading and brought something for her. Both of us taking something big from the reading. We are just starting to understand what we built over this past year. We'd like you to come along on this journey with us.
Until next time.
Melanie
There’s a phrase which has been coming up frequently for me over the past few years. It has a way of stopping me—freezing me in place.
Unsure of where to begin.
It is a funny phrase. I know I’m not the only one who faces it. It’s clear that we have not evolved our way around it.
“Unsure of where to begin” is usually followed up with:
“What’s my next step?”
“Where is this going?”
“I’m not sure of my purpose.”
As I sat down to write this blog, I pondered the phrase. Fretted over it. Unsure of… where to begin. And then a tune entered my head. “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” It was Maria from The Sound of Music and the first line of the classic song Do, Re, Mi.
So what is “the very beginning”?
The Big Bang? Genesis?
I think it means “going back to the basics - the foundation.” You’ve got to start somewhere - and the beginning is the best place to start. Check it out and learn from it before you set your sights on your future goals.
So, one year later, I’m looking back at the first zoom reading Naren and I had as new animal communicators. It took place on April 17, 2025. (Thankfully, he recorded those zoom sessions and transcribed them for us to study!)
The first thing that stood out for me was an image of a chessboard that his cat Diamond showed me. Chess is iconic. Mention chess and most people will immediately equate it with high intelligence. It takes a lot of skill to become a chess master. There are strict standards for scoring a person’s chess competency level, which are respected all over the globe.
After 51 years, all I really know about chess is that there is a knight that usually looks like a horse. And it moves in an L shape. Looking at a chessboard and all the other pieces (pawns, bishops, kings, queens, etc.) feels overwhelming to me. There are so many rules, nuances, strategies, and philosophies around each piece.
It’s kind of like what we’re exploring in our animal communication journeys. There are so many things to learn, skills to develop, ideas to share, paths to take, and animals to learn from. It can feel overwhelming - especially looking at all of the data we’ve collected over the past year and a half.
There. Is. A. Lot.
So, where to begin?
Revisiting that image of a chessboard, I am reminded to focus on the board, not the game. The foundation. Alternating blocks of light and dark to form a square. For such a complicated game, the board is so darn simple!
Doesn’t it remind you of something else? After reviewing the reading, the image most certainly does for me.
The thing is, the image isn’t only a chessboard—something to stop me in my tracks, to fret over if I will get right or if I will fail. The image is also a checkerboard.
A checkerboard is no different than a chess board.
Checkers is a game that most kids learn in their early years. Simple pieces. Simple rules. Simple foundation. Make your piece hop over the other ones and scoop them up.
One day, your moves will have more complexity. And you’ll be ready for chess. For now, learn how to hop.
Going back to that first reading, there was something else which stood out to me, something that Diamond said. To paraphrase: “There are no real chasms. You get to decide which way you go.” There aren’t traps or wrong turns - there’s just the path you want to take.
How to begin?
What if I were to start by treating my next steps like playing a game of checkers? Go one direction as far as you can and then pivot to go another direction. I have some ideas about what that means for me, which I’ll share down the line.
For now, the point is: It’s good advice for anyone. Not just me.
Not just me…
That reading was supposed to be FOR Naren. Not me. Yet, after I reviewed that first session my reaction was awe in that the lessons Diamond shared were for Naren AND also for me - for everyone.
For you.
Start at the beginning. You don’t have to be a chess master.
Every time that we had a reading since that first session - I feel like I hopped over another checker and added it to my pile. I’m accumulating information. The same for Naren. A gift from our animals to us.
Ruminations
"I have all of this energy swirling. There's something more tangible, even after today, about what we're doing.
Going back and analyzing it with our present selves' understanding. Versus a year and a half ago selves." Melanie Hartt
"We're learning how to understand what happened. We just figured out we're on a journey."Naren Michael