Day 187: Michael Bodine

April 5, 2010 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

”As a psychic, you’re not supposed to replace them; you’re supposed to help support them and help get them to trust their own intuition, their own instincts.  I try and do that.  … I try to help them understand their inner voice is actually better.  If people trusted their own stuff, they wouldn’t need to go to psychics or anything like that.”

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Home page image from the cover of Michael’s book Growing Up Psychic

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Michael, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Michael Bodine: Yes.  My name is Michael Bodine.

Toni: Michael Bodine.  And Michael Bodine, what do you do?

Michael: Well, I’m a basic psychic.  People come to me for readings, and depending on whether they need a reader or not, I try and tap into the stuff mostly about the future jazz, like things coming up, opportunities, blocks that may get in the way of the opportunities, that kind of stuff.  I’m not a medium per se; I’m just a … because I don’t really talk to your relatives that are dead.  The whole theory is that spirit guides show up, and I try and talk to those guys.  It depends on if they’re talkative or not.

Toni: I see.  So, let’s talk about inspiration, and hopefully the guides will be inspiring as well.

Michael: Yes.

Toni: So who do you inspire and how does that happen?

Michael: It’s funny.  Most of the time when people come to me, they want to have … they have basic questions, you know, about their relationship or about their future, you know, about their health and all that sort of jazz, and the people that work best with the other people that are actually going to do something with their lives, because everybody has a purpose here; they really do.  But I have to say that most of the time, people won’t do what they’re here to do, so I can’t even do those people anymore.

When I was a kid, it was fun to try and dazzle people with my psychic abilities, but I really don’t have any interest in doing that anymore.  But what I am interested in is helping people that I know achieve what they’re here to do, whether it’s just simple things or if it’s bigger things, so the people that I seem to work best with are the people that are actually going to do what they’re here to do.  It’s amazing how if you can touch on some points that it’s encouraging to them, because they know that they’re on the right path.

Toni: So the inspiration comes to those that work with you based on the questions that you ask, or the direction that you may lead them in; they become inspired on what’s possible for them?

Michael: You can tell right away.  Like when somebody comes in, you can tell right away whether they’re not there, or if they call.  I don’t always see people; a lot of times they just call.  There’s a certain person that’s here to go for things, that are here to try and figure things out.  And you know, in everybody’s lives, there’s always blocks, there’s always things that sort of stop people.  A lot of people let those blocks stop them, and so they just stay stuck, and they don’t go anywhere.  But there are people that just continue to go, even if it makes them … even if they look stupid, even if they don’t understand it, they just know that they have to keep going.

So when I’m talking to those people, I try to explain to them why these blocks got in the way, and how they’re going to overcome them, but I know that they’re going to do it.  I know that they’re going to do it, and so that’s why … I don’t think that they’re really different from other people, but I just know that they’re going to do it.  That’s the biggest difference.

Toni: How do you think then by the work that you do, or just what you do in general, maybe not even with work, but how might you help other people explore their own potential?

Michael: I affirm what they already know, a lot of them, from where they’ve been and where they’re going.  I support the decisions that they make, the decisions that they’re making about themselves.  As a psychic, you’re not supposed to replace them; you’re supposed to help support them and help get them to trust their own intuition, their own instincts.  I try and do that.  I try to express … whether they’re making the right decisions or not, I try to help them understand their inner voice is actually better.

If people trusted their own stuff, they wouldn’t need to go to psychics or anything like that.  They would just go, and that’s what I try and help them do, or at least in the actions that they’ve made or the decisions that they’ve made.

When I do a reading, I can’t ask them questions. I mean, I can ask them what they want to know, but after that, once I start a reading, I can’t ask them questions.  I can’t … it has to be stuff that their little spirit guides are telling me.  So the person knows that I’m either accurate or I’m not.  It’s such a weird deal with the psychic stuff.  A person will know.  And you know, sometimes I’m wrong; sometimes I just suck, but … hopefully I don’t – but …

Toni: I didn’t expect that to come out.

Michael: You know, sometimes you just have a bad day.

Toni: Well sure, sure.  Well let me ask you something along these lines just to kind of clarify just a bit of what you’re saying.  You’re working with someone and you’re really just trying to help them to unravel what it is that they’re meant to be, and that helps them to explore their potential.  But do you ever get into a position where someone shows up and says “Michael, this is what I think I’m meant to do,” and you get there and you’re like “No, not so much” … how do you handle that?

Michael: Well yeah, that happens all the time, especially if … a lot of the people I deal with are in Hollywood, and they’re in the business in Hollywood, and a lot of times people feel that if they’re an actor or an actress, they’re going to get an answer all their questions.  The holes inside of them are going to be filled up, and they’re going to be just great – and that’s not the case.

I mean, actors and actresses, they have a specific reason for being here.  It’s not all that great of a life.  I mean, it’s great, but it’s a trade-off.  And so when people come and they’re expecting “Oh great, this psychic is going to tell me I’m going to be a star,” and you know, it’s not really in the cards, but the reason for that … I kind of have to explain to them why I think it’s not in the cards and why I think … what their life path is.  Sometimes it gets depressing for these people, but sometimes they get it.  Sometimes they sort of understand.  And I’m not like a dream-squasher kind of dude, I’m just … these guys … I’m just more of a realist when it comes to stuff.

There’s a lot of times that people are here to do things that they don’t believe that they are.  Like they think that they’re just going to be working in the garden, and they’re actually here to become very successful in helping a lot of people.  So I have to explain that too in a different way, and there’s other people that … I’ve talked to a whole bunch of people that before they became very successful, they just didn’t think that they were going to ever become very successful like in acting or standup comedy, or whatever – writing, directing.  It turns out that their life does work out really well, but they just didn’t get it.  It goes in both ways.

Toni: I would imagine.  I would imagine that it does, and probably you might just be the hand that they need to help them to see that in a clear, easy manner, I would imagine.  So Michael, we’ve been talking a lot about what you do for others, but what inspires you?  What do you need to be inspired?

Michael: Well actually that’s the thing that gets me going.  When I’m sitting there and I’m talking to some guy that is just a nice guy, a really nice guy, and maybe he’s just starting off in standup comedy, and all of a sudden these guides show up and they start telling me about this stuff that he’s going to do, and the effect that he’s going to have.  I mean, that’s really exciting, because you can feel the passion.  You can feel what’s coming up.

And even if the guy thinks you’re just full of crap, even if he thinks “Oh yeah, whatever, psychic boy” you know that this guy is about to become really successful and really happy, and that’s the kind of stuff that is really fun for me because it’s like they’re excited.  The little spirit guides are all excited.  Whether the guys knows it or not, he’s about to … something really big is about to happen, and that happens probably … well, it doesn’t happen as much as I’d like it, but it does happen, and it’s really exciting.

Or, to be around somebody that you know is going to have a big effect on other people in a positive way – like they’re going to influence people, or just by their presence they have a really a giving kind of a nature.  All that stuff is really, really fun for me, just because as a psychic if you’re around a bunch of people that are really depressed, you kind of, you know, you feel depressed.  But if you are around these people that are actually going to do stuff, it’s really, really exciting – I mean, it’s really exciting.

Toni: When you are sometimes … when you’ve been around … let’s say you’ve been around people who are depressed or you’re having a bad day yourself, and you wake up and you go “Gosh, you know, I could use a little inspiration here,” what do you find yourself reaching for?  Are there things that you tend to do on a consistent basis to lift yourself up?

Michael: Well for me, personally, music is like the biggest deal.  I’m not a … I kind of get a lot out of the music stuff.  For me also, they … in ghost-busting and exorcisms and all that sort of jazz, one of the things that really has saved my butt on a whole bunch of occasions is this belief in this stronger, higher power kind of thing.

I’m not the most religious kind of guy in the world, but I do have a knowing of this presence, and sometimes when … it’s not even … and I use it in situations like in really bad … like you walk into a place that’s really demonic or just, you know, it’s bad, bad, bad, and there’s, you know, they’ve had, they’ve done a bunch of weird stuff in the place and you’re there to clean it out.  If you don’t have a belief or if you don’t know of this power, it’s not a good situation.  But if you know it and you feel it, you can tap into it, too.  Like if you’re going through the blues, or if you’ve got weird stuff going on in your own self, I tap into that.  It’s a power.  It’s kind of like a force that’s out there.  I know it sounds kind of stupid …

Toni: No, not at all.

Michael: But it’s really true.  It’s this unbelievable strong power or love kind of deal, and yeah, if I get really blue, that’s what I sort of tap into.

Toni: Have you always known that this was going to be your purpose?

Michael: No!

Toni: Are you sure?

Michael: Yeah.  I had so many other things to do.  I wanted to be like a football player, I wanted to … there was a ton of things I wanted.  The last thing I wanted to do was to be psychic.  I mean, that was really … I mean, when you go to a job fair, nobody goes to the psychic part of it.  Really.  It’s the stupidest job.  You sit and talk to dead people all day.  There’s no dental.  You get no like no paycheck.

Toni: Oh, dear.

Michael: There’s no like Christmas things.  It’s just … it’s a really dumb job.

Toni: But … so, what happened then?  I mean …

Michael: I know.  That’s what I keep going – what the hell happened?  It just kept evolving.  No matter what I did … I went to chef school and I was a chef, and people would bring their food back.  I’d pick up psychically on the people, you know.  I was a counselor for a while – that was always turning into a reading.  I did everything.  I did everything, and it always went back to the reading.  So I just … for some reason, maybe I was a Roman in my past life and I’m being punished, I don’t know.  But it’s just … it’s there, so …

Toni: So you’re making the best of it.

Michael: Yeah.  Yeah.

Toni: So you’re helping people to find their purpose.

Michael: Yeah, right, exactly.

Toni: People are going to get a kick out of this interview, I think.  Because there’s really an ironic twist going on here.

Michael: I’ll say.

Toni: How do you continue then to explore your own potential?  You’re doing such amazing things for others, and in order to do the good work that you’re doing, how are you continuing to explore that potential?

Michael: I keep looking for jobs … no, I keep … I guess … I don’t … yeah … I keep thinking “Okay, if I just can get out of the ….”  Like I wrote this book …

Toni: And what is the book?

Michael: It’s called Growing Up Psychic. It’s a humorous look at growing up in a psychic family.

Toni: Based on this interview, I think you’ll have some interesting …

Michael: I’m telling you, it’s the weirdest job on the planet.  Now they want to make it into a movie or they want to make it into a television series, or blah, blah, blah.  My family, I have kids who I love, and they’re … I’m trying to squash their psychic abilities as much as I can.  They have this whole family thing where they want to do this reality series based on us, and so all that stuff is kind of a nice distraction from, you know, from my normal job.

Toni: Says you.

Michael: I know. It’s kind of in the same field though, yeah.

Toni: Well, is there …

Michael: I just can’t get away from it, is what I’m pulling at.

Toni: That’s what I keep hearing.  I’m trying to get to there, but …

Michael: No matter what I do.

Toni: The things is, though, you’ve talked about yourself.  You work with people to help them find their purpose, and so you are … it sounds as though you’re working your purpose, no matter how hard you try to get away from it …

Michael: I know.  I agree.  And all my teachers, these Yoda types, especially like my mom.  She’s like this Yoda person, but all my other teachers, my psychic teachers, they’re all dead, so I can’t even go to them anymore and go “Hey” … well, I mean, I can, but you know, they’re on the other side, and yeah, so I guess I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.  It’s …

Toni: Do you plan on writing any other books?

Michael: Yeah, yeah!

Toni: Okay.

Michael: Ten Reasons Why Not to Do a Reading – that’s my next book.

Toni: Oh my goodness.   So to make sure that we answered that question, how are you going to explore your own potential, I heard the answer is “I’m going to continuously try to get out of this field.”

Michael: Right.  I know.  I know that’s not the best thing to say, I’m sorry, but I guess that these people will always be there, no matter what I’ll do.  Even when I was like a normal guy and I was trying to do no readings and that sort of stuff, I would be walking down the street and they would stop me, and I would have to say something to somebody.  And that’s just embarrassing, really, because a lot of times the person would look at me like “Yikes!”  But then they later contact me and thank me and all that sort of jazz, but it would just … it kind of builds up and then you just kind of blow, you know.  You have to say something to somebody.  So that’s why I kind of just resign myself.

There was another time too when back in the day I was doing so many readings.  You know, people were doing interviews about me all the time because I was this brash psychic, you know.  And I was doing all these people and I was booked up for like a year in advance, and I just thought I was the coolest thing since whatever.  And then all of a sudden, I lost it because it became all about me and not about them.  I couldn’t come up with anything.  And the first thing I did … I was on the radio and this guy says “So Michael, can you pick up on me?”  And I said “Oh, you bet.”  I thought “Sure, I can pick up on you anytime.”

And so on the radio, live, I start giving this guy a reading, and everything I said was wrong.  And this guy, he was a nice guy, but it was like, everything was completely wrong.  I said “So, okay, your daughters …”  He said “No, well, I have sons.”  It was like oh, boy.  I said “Well, people seem to kind of have a problem with you.”  He says, “No, I just won a Humanitarian award.”

Like, okay.  So it was like that.  It was like everything I said was wrong, and it was on the radio, so I couldn’t … it was like in front of everybody.  For like a year, I couldn’t pick up on anything.  So I know that there’s a whole thing there that goes with that.  Like if you start thinking … if it’s about you, then it’s a bad thing.

Toni: Yes, and it blocks you; and that is a great point to leave the interview on, because as entertaining as you were and as self-effacing as you are, you really do provide a gift to others, and it is what you do.  You provide a service to others, and your point that when you stopped doing that is when it didn’t work for you at all, and that’s pretty cool.  We will have a link to your book at the bottom of the website … at the bottom of the interview, rather, and we wish you great success whatever direction you go.

Michael: Okay, thank you very much.  Wish me luck!

Toni: I do!  I wish you great luck!  And thank you for the interview.

Michael: Well, thank you!

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For more information about Michael Bodine:  Growing Up Psychic: From Skeptic to Believer

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