OCALA, FL (352today.com) – It was some three decades ago that Joanie Floethe Morrison first sensed and recognized the voice of an animal in need.
She was working as a veterinary technician in South Pasadena, CA, when she “heard” (felt?) a pleading voice to which no one else in the room seemed to react. She followed that voice to “a very sick Chihuahua named JJ.” When Morrison asked the dog what was wrong, she replied simply that she was scared. Again, no one else seemed to hear it.
That seminal experience set Morrison, a lifelong equestrian and professional animal communicator based in Ocala, on a 30-year journey to understand and refine what she calls her “abilities,” and use them to strengthen the bond between human and animal by acting as a sort of translator and facilitator of healing processes.
That journey, and her reflection upon it, forms the basis of “Are You Talking to Me?“, Morrison’s new book. Published last month, “Are You Talking to Me?” is part memoir, part explainer, and part inspirational narrative. It’s by turns witty, heartbreaking and courageously candid.
The book not only recounts many of her experiences engaging with animals (including JJ) but also chronicles her reckoning with her gift.
“I searched for years to understand my abilities because, as I touch on in the book, I didn’t know that not everybody operated the way I did, you know, as a child,” said Morrison during a recent phone interview. “Everything was alive. Everything talked to me. I just thought that was normal, you know?
“And then as I got older and the abilities got a little bit stronger and messages were coming in and I didn’t know how to control it, and you start searching for answers.”
She also puts forth the idea that anyone who cares for their animals can create a stronger connection by nurturing their own innate, energy-conscious sense of empathy.
“Everybody has these gifts, by the way,” she said. “It’s just a matter of kind of tuning in and having this open heart and quiet mind.”
Today, Morrison has undertaken well over 5,000 “readings,” during which she has endeavored to enhance that connection, often with the goal of uncovering what is “wrong” with an animal—a mystery illness, an unanticipated change in behavior or personality, a sudden onset of pain or tenderness—so that its owner can, not just fix it, but understand their animal’s needs on a deeper level.
“What I typically like to do is, I really want to know what is most important to your animal first, so I let [the animal] tell me what’s important to them before addressing any specific questions or concerns,” said Morrison. “You know, everybody comes at it from a different perspective, their own emotional lens—’my horse is X, Y and Z’—and that might not necessarily be where the horse is coming from. And I want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth,” she laughs, “or, you know, dog or cat or whoever I’m connected to. But I would say that I do a majority of horses.”
Morrison doesn’t advertise; she gets most of her business via recommendations from customers. That’s a lot of good word-of-mouth for doing a job that attracts more than its fair share of skeptics eager to reveal “the pet psychic” as a charlatan (and also one that some people aren’t willing to admit they paid for). In her book, Morrison writes that she doesn’t mind the skeptics, or even all the folks who reach out to her as a kind of hail Mary, a last-ditch effort to figure out what’s wrong with a horse that’s defied all traditional medical diagnostics.
“I almost find it flattering, like, ‘OK, we’ve exhausted every other avenue, we are skeptical about an animal communicator and what they might be able to do, but we’re gonna try it anyway,’” she said. “And you know, it’s extremely rewarding because I’m usually able to help them get to the bottom of what’s going on and help to rectify it.”
Morrison didn’t write “Are You Talking to Me?”, a book 30 years in the making that, in her words, “came when the time was right,” to convert those skeptics, or teach everyone about spiritual energy, or promote anything. She’s got a rewarding job, a satisfying life, and nothing to prove. She’s also got an interesting and insightful story that anyone—skeptical or not—might find well worth reading.
“It’s been an amazing journey, I feel like a lot of soul growth has happened,” she said. “I’m not trying to convince anybody of anything, you know? I’m just letting you know, these are my experiences. This is what I went through.”