Sheri Meshal

I grew up on a farm in Iowa. We moved to a smaller acreage as a teen and I currently live in downtown Chicago. My first book, Swallowtail, was inspired by events which occurred shortly after my dad's passing in 1998. My dad and I engaged in regular conversations regarding the possibility of life after death and exchanged numerous books on the subject years before his cancer diagnosis.

 

After a year of unexplainable events following his passing, it occurred to me that had I transitioned first, I would've done everything in my power to get his attention and make it clear that I was still here. I assumed that most people had similar experiences. So I set out to create a work of fiction that would encourage people to discuss those experiences more openly. Yay! It worked, and I wrote more books, which are basically about self-healing. I must confess, I have an obsession with self-healing. I think it's beautiful, empowering and I love to encourage it in every way that I can.

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I was on a major self-healing journey in 2022 when I took an animal communication class with Nikki Vasconez. It brought me full circle back to the deeper connection with farm animals I'd had when I was a kid. Thanks to Nikki, I became an animal communicator!

 

In 1973, I was almost three years old when my parents and I moved to an old farm in northeastern Iowa. I'm grateful to my dad for having the courage to follow his heart and also for instilling in me a deep love and respect for animals. I'm grateful to my mother for allowing me, at a very young age, to wander and explore the farm and spend entire days with animals. Thanks to them, my first friend was a little goat named Daisy. I also had a cat I named Mazy. The three of us were crazy... just kidding, but we were inseparable until I started kindergarten.

 

I was on a tour at Diamond Head in Hawaii after taking Nikki's online class and watching My Octopus Teacher with a friend for the seventh time, when I began to cry as I realized that I had something in common with Craig Foster, the creator of that documentary. I too, had wandered very far from the activity which had brought me the most joy as a child - spending my days completely immersed in the lives of animals.

 

It was during my solo travels, that I naturally found my way back to the person I used to be. I must admit, I set out on that adventure completely oblivious to the fact that this was a part of my heart that desperately needed healing. I highly encourage you to take a self-healing sabbatical soon!