Inessa Freya

25 years today my beloved grandmother passed. She was poised, kind and altruistic. My first 4 1/2 years were spent in her care. I miss her dearly.

Hard to believe I was smoking a pack a day at 20. I loved my Malboro Ultra Lights. I thought I was cool, and the attitude showed—but really, I was just using ci******es to avoid myself and my true feelings.

Four years later, after this photo was taken, I was sitting at a Starbucks in Seattle, chain-smoking, when a transient man with a backpack sat next to me. Out of nowhere, he said, “You know, for the work you’re going to be doing in the future, you’re going to have to quit. You’re creating a smoke screen between you and others. You’re going to be helping and healing a lot of people.”

I blew smoke in his face and said, “Oh really? OK,” with a laugh and smirk. He looked at me and said, “Yeah. Really.”

Something about that stuck. It planted a seed.

Two weeks later, I had another encounter—this time at Target. A man pulling an oxygen tank stopped me because I was wearing a red shirt and he thought I worked there. We got to talking. He spoke through a microphone-like device. He told me he’d smoked his whole life and now needed oxygen just to breathe.

Unmistakably, these were signs.

I began meditating and visualizing myself quitting. The nicorette gum and patch helped. Then, one perfect morning, after nearly nine years of smoking, I woke up and didn’t want a cigarette. I never smoked again.

I moved to LA, dove deep into psychology and spirituality, and became a feng shui expert and a spiritual psychotherapist.

Angels show up in mysterious ways. Sometimes wearing backpacks. At other times, an oxygen tank.

This isn’t the time for toxic positivity, and please stop posting about how this was the universe’s way of “clearing the dark out of LA” or some kind of spiritual purge. The people who have lost their grounding, their shelter, their animals, and safe space, don’t need spiritual mumbo jumbo right now. I’m pretty woo-woo myself, but this is a moment to drop the woo and instead show up with empathy and an attitude of, I’m here for you, whatever you need.

Let’s focus on being human—providing comfort, not offering spiritual explanations about how this was “meant to happen” or part of the “new earth.” There’s a time and place for those conversations, but right now, what’s most needed is empathy and compassion and prayers. If you want to use your spirituality visualize water in and around Los Angeles putting out the fire!! See helping hands and hoses with water coming from all directions !!