Buckle up sweet listeners, this one is extra special. Sarah and Jane sat down with Davis Haines, an artist, musician, and near-death experiencer who is an exceptionally sparkly human. Tear stained and soggy from the conversation, by the end both of us are convinced he is emitting actual light beams.

Davis grew up in a wonderful but chaotic, art-obsessed family in Alabama, an identical twin who found himself through theater, poetry, and a barbershop quartet. Davis he woke up at 5am in High School to rehearse with (the devotion!). He fell in love young, coined his own spiritual identity as a "love-ist" because why not just make up the word you need, and lived that glorious, broke, funk-band-and-feather-boas artist life in Chicago in his early twenties.

Then, on July 11, 2011, a bike ride took a dark turn. Davis went under the back tires of a truck, and was given a 1% chance of survival. During emergency surgery, he died. And what he found on the other side was not tunnels or visions, it was love, love and love capital L.

The rest of the episode is a joyful wander through what Davis calls integration, the long and winding thirteen-year-average process of putting himself back together. There is a vision quest, a skydive, some ayahuasca, a whole lot of learning to just be, a stray backyard cat named nothing in particular, and a soul mantra ("thank you, I love you") that will bring you all the feels.

• Integration takes time, sometimes as long as a decade or more, and there is zero shame in the slow, messy unfolding. Let it be a whole journey, not a weekend project.
• Rest is not the opposite of a spiritual life. It might BE the spiritual life. Chill guilt is real and worth releasing.
• The universe has a flair for the dramatic. When something feels too perfectly symbolic to be a coincidence, it might be worth paying attention to.
• Chasing the big cosmic feeling through extreme experiences often leads right back to something delightfully small, like a baby waving hello or a cat on the compost bin.
• Healing generational wounds does not require a big dramatic showdown. Sometimes it just looks like raising a kid who has never once doubted her own magnificence.
• You do not need a tunnel of light or a dramatic vision to have a real, life-rearranging near-death experience. Sometimes love shows up as pure feeling, no special effects required.

• "God is a feeling... this was one of those things where I was like, oh, oh, oh, God is everything, like everything."
• "It was like sinking into a warm tub after a long cold day in the snow, times a thousand."
• "I say that Art saved my life."
• "Thank you, I love you. Thank you, I love you. That has actually become my prayer, my mantra."
• "Actually, this is it... I can't believe that I am happily living in my hometown doing this."

• Bruce Greyson, After — referenced regarding memory and near-death experiences under heavy medication
• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron — the book that shaped Davis's creative and spiritual practice
• Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning — read during his solo vision quest
• Ram Dass — referenced re: his stroke and the phrase "being stroked"

Davis’s Instagram @davismacleod

Davis’s Website davishaines.com

Come hang out with us here too:

Medium Curious Substack

Medium Curious Website: MediumCurious

Jane’s Website: Jane Morgan Medium

Sarah’s Website: Sarah Rathke

Podcast Instagram: @MediumCuriousPod

YouTube: @mediumcurious

A Vedic astrology reading gave Jane some unexpected clarity, and she brought Sarah in on it too: how do you actually know you're living your life's purpose? The episode was sparked by that reading, where the astrologer named Jane's purpose in a way that felt less like news and more like confirmation of something she already knew in a deep and delicious way.

From there the two dig into why so many people confuse their job with their purpose, and why that framing sets people up to feel lost. Sarah shares how her own sense of purpose has shifted by decade, from partying and playing music in her twenties to raising a family in her thirties to, now, simply becoming the fullest and most unfiltered version of herself. Jane echoes this with her own winding path from wanting to be a teacher, to filmmaker, to medium, to teacher again, full circle.

The conversation moves through some of the most useful, real world tools either of them offers on the show: using tension versus excitement in the body as a compass for decisions, noticing what books are stacked on your nightstand as a clue to what you are actually being called toward, and the idea that reactivity is not something to eliminate but something to move through with more awareness. Sarah lands on what might be the simplest definition of purpose either of them has offered: it is the presence or absence of regret. If a choice brings you closer to joy and further from regret, that is the direction to walk in, even when the decision is small.

• Your purpose is not required to be one fixed thing or your job title. It can shift by season, decade, or chapter of life, and all of those versions still count.
• A useful test for whether you are living your purpose is regret, not accomplishment. Ask which choice leaves you with less regret rather than which one looks more impressive.
• The body is a reliable compass. Notice whether a decision makes you feel tense or relaxed, exhausted or excited, and let that inform which direction you move in.
• Reactivity and hard emotions are not the opposite of purpose. Moving through them with a little more awareness, rather than suppressing them, is part of the path.
• Small, unglamorous signals, like what is stacked on your nightstand or what you keep circling back to for fun, often say more about your purpose than a big dramatic decision does.
• Being fully present in ordinary moments, rather than living in the future or the past, is often where purpose actually shows up.

• "A lot of us think that our job has to be our life's purpose. And I don't think that's the case." — Sarah
• "The word that's coming through for me right now is living without regret." — Sarah
• "You just point your compass toward what brings you a little bit more joy." — Sarah
• "Does this make me feel exhausted, or does this make me feel excited?" — Sarah, on using the body to make decisions
• "My bedside table is telling the story." — Jane, on noticing what she was drawn to reading before she changed careers

• How to Love Better by Yung Pueblo, the book Jane references throughout the episode: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/736336
• Pluribus, the Apple TV+ series Sarah mentions in the conversation about individuality and collective consciousness
• Jane Morgan Medium, including her free animal communication class: janemorganmedium.com
• Clair Club, Sarah and Jane's ongoing intuition development gathering, with upcoming dates on the Medium Curious website
• Vedic astrology reading referenced from Dr. Katy Jane
• Come hang out with us here too:
• Medium Curious Substack
• Medium Curious Website: MediumCurious
• Jane’s Website: Jane Morgan Medium
• Sarah’s Website: Sarah Rathke
• Podcast Instagram: @MediumCuriousPod
• YouTube: @mediumcurious

And if you enjoy listening, downloading the episode and leaving a review really helps us more than you know 💛

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Our last replay for the summer is one of our favorite Sarah and Jane episodes from 2025.

The word awakening is everywhere lately. People talk about spiritual awakening, consciousness shifts, dark nights of the soul… but what does any of that actually mean when you’re living it in real life?

In this episode of Medium Curious, Jane and Sarah talk about what awakening has looked like in their own lives, how mediumship and intuition can open us up in unexpected ways, and why waking up isn’t usually one big lightning bolt moment.

More often, it happens slowly.

Through challenge. Through connection. Through grief. Through healing. Through those moments where life cracks you open just enough that you start seeing things differently.

We talk about the strange and beautiful human experience of remembering who we really are, how nature constantly brings us back to ourselves, and why sometimes the hardest seasons of life end up becoming the biggest catalysts for growth.

A few things we explore in this episode:

✨ Why awakening is a process, not a destination ✨ How mediumship can deepen intuition and self-awareness ✨ The role connection and community play in spiritual growth ✨ Moving through the dark night of the soul ✨ Why your body is constantly communicating with you ✨ The healing power of being in nature ✨ Learning how to trust yourself more deeply ✨ Finding joy, even while you’re growing through hard things

A few favorite moments:

“We are brave for being human.”

“Your body is the tuner.”

“It’s all just a play.”

Resources mentioned:

Andy Byng on Medium Curious

Gaia: What is Spiritual Awakening and What Are Its 5 Stages

Kelly Kolodney: Archangel Raphael

Next Level Soul

Come hang out with us here too:

Medium Curious Substack

Medium Curious Website: MediumCurious

Jane’s Website: Jane Morgan Medium

Sarah’s Website: Sarah Rathke

Podcast Instagram: @MediumCuriousPod

YouTube: @mediumcurious

And if you enjoy listening, downloading the episode and leaving a review really helps us more than you know 💛