There is a Russian saying: “Я прошла огонь, воду и медные трубы. ”Literally:
“I went through fire, water and brass pipes. It sounds strange and dramatic :)
Fire and water I understand. But why brass pipes? Fire is suffering.
Water is instability and life itself.
But brass pipes are glory, praise, self-importance, ego inflation. Sometimes the brass pipes are harder to survive than the fire. Pain can humble people.
Success can intoxicate them. This is why Russian sayings sound like someone survived:
war, heartbreak, revolution, betrayal, spiritual crisis and three symbolic deaths 😄 Meanwhile Americans say:
“I’ve been around the block.” Russians go through fire, water and brass pipes.
Americans just stroll around the block :). But both probably point to the same thing:
life eventually educates everyone.

I have a strange relationship with time. People often say things like: "Good morning." "Good night." "Long time no see." Somewhere inside, those things never carried much weight for me. Even as a child, I remember having a difficult time adapting to formal social greetings. It wasn't rebellion. I wasn't trying to be difficult. I simply didn't understand why so much attention was being given to the doorway when we could already be inside the house. Years later, while studying Runic Diagnostics with rune master in Russia, I noticed the same thing. We worked together every day for months. Each morning he would begin with "Good morning", and it took me a while to adapt to that ritual. I simply did not experience our interaction as something that had stopped. Yesterday we were discussing runes, life, dreams, symbols, and human beings. Today we were discussing the same things. For me it felt like one continuous conversation. The same thing happens when I reconnect with people after years apart. Someone will say: "Wow, it's been ten years." And of course I know it has been ten years, but internally it often feels more like: "Ah, there you are. Anyway, where were we?" The conversation continues. The relationship continues. Life moves on. The calendar feels less important than whatever is actually alive between people. Over the years I have realized that this is also how I work with people. When someone sits down with me for a consultation, I am usually not very interested in introductions, roles, titles, or credentials. Those things have their place, but my attention naturally moves toward the person, toward what is actually happening, toward the living reality beneath the story. Sometimes after only ten minutes of conversation, people begin speaking about things they have not spoken about with anyone for years. Perhaps because I do not experience them as strangers for very long. Suddenly two human beings are talking about something real. This immediacy has become a framework for much of my life. It is probably why I enjoy the farmers markets and coffee shops as places for my work with people. It is probably why I can reconnect with someone after years and feel as though we are continuing a conversation that simply paused for a while. And perhaps that is why "long time no see" has never felt quite accurate to me. The conversation was still there waiting patiently for us to continue.

Real, down to earth, simple changes matters as much as huge transformative experiences. Sometimes people just need a real conversation, a little clarity, a little perspective, and permission to relax out of the compressed version of themselves for a moment. These are actual messages I received in the last two days after sessions: “After our conversation I relaxed more.” “I sleep better.” “Kуча позитивных эмоций. Спасибо вам большое!” ("Tons of positive emotions, thank you so much!") “You inspired my daughter to continue studying!” “Elena, because of our talk, it helped me stay strong and not text him yesterday!” “You see the highest potential of the person and show it to us in the most positive way.” Honestly, these full-on hay testimonials 🙂 make me smile because underneath all the mystical language, runes, symbols, psychology, and strange Purple Tent atmosphere, what people seem to experience most is simple human relief. And I think people are much more tired, emotionally compressed, and overstimulated than we fully realize. Sometimes a real conversation changes the direction of a whole day, or even a life.

Life.... Less than a year ago this man was an executive in a company. Now he is building his solar consulting business at local farmers markets. Meanwhile I somehow ended up on a market too, talking with people about life situations, confusion, relationships, direction, and human existence. We started our market adventures around the same time. There is something beautiful about seeing people reinvent themselves in public instead of quietly giving up on life.  Farmers markets are not only vegetables and handmade soap. Sometimes they are second beginnings.

I used to think I was a bit anti-social. I loved being alone, solitude was my way of life. But looking back, I think a lot of it was simply sensitivity without enough grounding. I withdrew for many years into inner worlds, spirituality, observation. The deep depression in the past couple of years completely changed me. I gave up all the defenses because I had no choice. And at this point in my life, I feel more human than ever. Not because I became less sensitive. It feels as if I got a center of gravity that contains and directs that sensitivity where it belongs: to feel in the immediacy of the moment and be useful with my sensitivity to another human being. Now I enjoy people. I enjoy real conversations and simple human contact. Just sitting with another while life untangles a little for them is a gift. 

Vicissitudes of life made me much more human. Not through spirituality, but through shock, disillusionment, grief, loss of direction, loss of spark, and slowly finding my way back into life again. After going through certain things, it becomes much harder to divide people into categories like conscious/unconscious, awakened/asleep, evolved/not evolved. Life can break anyone. And people can also come back even from very dark places. I think this is part of why I ended up at local markets open to anybody who feels drawn to come and talk. Not because I have everything figured out. Maybe almost the opposite. Something softened after going through enough reality. Now when people sit across from me confused, looping, grieving, ashamed, lost or unable to see clearly, I don’t feel above them. I simply understand what it means to be human.  This made life feel more real and more meaningful than many grand ideas ever did.

Years ago I was sitting in retreat circles, spiritual gatherings, speaking to groups, talking for hours about consciousness, awakening, transformation. Now I sit under a purple tent at the Farmers Market with a sign saying “Psychic Life Coach” And honestly… nothing actually changed that much. A person sits down. Life is tangled. Runes hit the table. Something becomes visible. The fog breaks a little. What changed is that the work became immediate. The Runic instrument uncovers what's going on instantly. Not trying to wake up people. No spiritual theater. No pretending we know everything. More direct human contact. Someone comes confused, uncertain, heartbroken, stuck, overwhelmed. We look together. Something in them relaxes. And somehow this strange little purple tent became one of the most human and meaningful spaces I ever created. What I see is that clarity, presence, and honest human connection matter more than anything.  And that’s enough.