Strength Over Fear
- Oct 3, 2025
- 3 min read
By Danniel Worthen Cullumber, LCSW
I got married at just 19, and at that point, I was already starting to notice my psychic gifts. I’d have moments where I just knew something was going to happen before it did. Sometimes I’d see twinkling lights out of nowhere or hear noises no one else seemed to notice. These weren’t things I could explain away, but they also weren’t things I could talk about openly, especially not with my husband.
He didn’t believe in anything paranormal. Not at all. And because of that, I learned to keep this part of me locked away. I call them my “closeted gifts” because that’s exactly how it felt: like hiding a part of my identity to keep the peace. I was scared to say anything. I thought I might be ridiculed or told I had a mental disorder. Trying to be myself while pretending this huge part of me didn’t exist was exhausting.
As I got older, my gifts didn’t fade. If anything, they became more present, especially after I became a mother. One moment stands out in particular. Just before 9/11, I had a vivid dream where I saw smoke rising from the Pentagon. At the time, I didn’t know what to make of it. It was so specific, so real. When I saw the news about American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon, it shook me to my core. It was a turning point where I realized I couldn’t keep ignoring or minimizing what I experienced.
But living with a skeptic meant keeping that to myself. My marriage became a space where my inner world and outer life were completely separate. Eventually, the marriage ended in divorce, and although that was painful, it was also freeing in ways I didn’t expect. For the first time in years, I could breathe. I could talk about my experiences without feeling like I was risking judgment or rejection.
Before the divorce, I joined a support group for people with paranormal gifts. I didn’t know it then, but walking into that room was about to change everything. It was the first time I was surrounded by people like me. They listened and understood. I found peers and a community.
That’s where I met the man who would become my second husband. From the start, he accepted every part of me, including my psychic gifts. I didn’t have to hide. I didn’t have to measure my words or downplay what I felt. For the first time, I could openly share my dreams, my visions, my sense of knowing.
Being with someone who believes me has been lifechanging. We even go ghosthunting together, something I never could have imagined doing in my first marriage. Having a partner who meets me where I am, without skepticism or judgment, has given me the freedom to be fully myself.
Looking back, I can see how much of myself I kept in the shadows for the sake of someone else’s comfort. It took me years to realize that my gifts aren’t something to hide; they are a part of me like breathing. Divorce gave me the freedom to step fully into who I am, and love gave me the safety to share that openly.
Today, I’m the founder and owner of Willow Medela Wellness LLC, a practice that offers mental health therapy and trauma recovery combined with holistic practices. I can finally share the story of how I first became aware of my psychic gifts, how I developed them, and how I now use them to help others heal and reclaim their own sense of self.
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