Psychic medium and author of 'The Guide(s) Book', MaryAnn DiMarco talks about honouring the pause in life in her new book

Written during a profoundly transformative period in her own life, author and psychic medium MaryAnn DiMarco invites readers to go on a spiritual and intuitive journey. The Guide Book(s) offers a compassionate roadmap for connecting with spirit guides who help support and guide each of us in unique ways.   

Harper's Bazaar: Your book presents spirit guides as reliable companions on life’s journey. For someone feeling sceptical, what’s the first small step they can take towards that possibility?

MaryAnn DiMarco: I think it's okay to feel sceptical. We don't have to fight it. We want to move ourselves into something that feels more in alignment with what spirit is trying to reveal to us. A belief system is a great place to start. If we could shift our perspective to believe that we are part of the light—as made from it—we can begin to connect with spirit and guides on the other side.

HB: You’ve structured The Guide(s) Book as a spiritual road trip. What was happening in your own life that made this metaphor feel essential?

MD: My whole life was moving around, shifting, and changing. I worked with my guides to understand what I was feeling. For one, it was the resistance to moving which caused me stress and anxiety because it brought up things from being a child and moving a lot. Until we transition, we don't quite reach a destination. But I decided to make stops along the way, understand the scenic route, and allow myself to embrace it differently. I was making these road trips back and forth to my new destination down in Florida from New York over and over again, and it was stirring up a lot within me. I worked with my guides on it, and they were like, 'Let's write about this.'

HB: Many people struggle to trust their intuition, even if it feels loud. How do you suggest they differentiate between true spiritual nudges and ordinary thoughts or fears?

MD: A great way to make this discernment is to start learning about claircognizance, or your inner knowing, and intuition. What is your gut telling you versus what is your head telling you? Our human self wants to speak in terms of doubt, fear, and feelings of hesitation. If we can reach a point where we are going inward and listening to the story that we know is true, we will feel that flow. We must nourish that muscle and allow it to grow, and the spirit will give us validation to move into spaces of trust.

HB: You speak of 'honouring the pause', a profound idea in a culture obsessed with productivity. How can we begin to see stillness as sacred, rather than stagnant?

MD: I move into spaces of gratitude. I thank them for allowing me the time to pause so that I can welcome reflection into my mind, body, and soul. It's a time when I know that it is a moment of co-creation. I used to think I was stuck, but I moved on from 'I am stuck' to 'I am creating'. I am receiving instead of reaching. And I started to be really grateful for that. I realised how powerful these pauses are.

HB: When you're in that space of gratitude, what's the mental shift that takes place, and what's the physical manifestation of that mental change?

MD: It's clarity. Your physical self might still feel angst, but the knowing calms you. And you're not only able to communicate with your guides, but also hear your higher self. The reassurance of your own true story that lies within you becomes crystal clear. Our perception in these moments is key to the change. How we choose to look at it and how we speak about it will allow the information to flow to us more easily, or we can create resistance. If you could shift into gratitude and start to look at this as the most wonderful and creative time, even though you might be in a space of the unknown, you are trusting that the universe is showing you something far better than you could have imagined for yourself.

HB: Some might think connecting with spirit guides requires a rare gift or lifelong spiritual practice. What do you say to people who feel they’re 'too late' or not 'spiritual enough' to begin?

MD: It is never too late to lead into the most authentic parts of your soul ever. It is a choice, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. It's never too late. And every year that I'm alive, I discover a new way of connecting. We are always learning. If you're willing to learn, you will always be able to receive new information for yourself. So it's never, ever too late.

HB: Can you share a moment from your own journey when working with your guides shifted the direction of your life in a way logic alone never could?

MD: Well, most recently, going through menopause. I realised that if I started working with my guides to understand the hormonal angst I was feeling, it would be life-changing. It brought me to a beautiful place of wisdom. I could have looked at it and said, "This is terrible, I'm hot flashing, and I feel that I'm gaining weight", but then I started to shift that, asking my guides to show me how to better take care of myself. I was able to be grateful for all the wisdom from all these years.

HB: You’ve taught countless students and worked with many clients. What are some common spiritual blocks that you see?

MD: Fear is the biggest one. Fear of the unknown, fear of not making connections, fear of never receiving information, fear of not accomplishing things. Fear, in all its various forms, is one of the biggest lessons that people work on trying to understand, especially when they come to me. Some people are even afraid that they'll never figure out what they have been feeling their whole life, and that they know they have this connection, but don't quite know how to grasp it. They feel like they'll never get the tools to understand it. I love to get them out of that space of fear and give them the power to understand it better.

HB: If readers could only walk away with one enduring lesson from The Guide(s) Book, what do you hope it would be?

MD: It would be that they are never alone. That even though we are technically walking through this (life) journey all by ourselves, we have a whole spiritual team on the other side that's here to help us. If we just say yes, we can help create many beautiful things in our lives, we can understand the hard times with a healthier perspective or a more healing perspective. That they can take away with them the feeling that anytime they want, they can hear the journey that they came here to experience and that their guides, their loved ones, their angels on the other side are cheering them on and that they want us to succeed.

I always say, "We sign up for the lessons, but I don't know that we sign up for the experience of how those lessons come into fruition". But I believe that they are cheering us on, and I think that they have always been with us. Even if you haven't believed in them or felt them, they believe in you, and they've been there for you. My hope is that people lean into that thought process and allow themselves to make the most beautiful connection that they could ever have while they are here in this space to help change their lives. I think it's extraordinary how they work with us. And so, I hope they find that magical miracle for themselves.

Lead image: MaryAnn DiMarco  
 

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