An Evening With Tracy Higgs (aka TJ Higgs)

I recently saw Tracy Higgs (aka TJ Higgs) at the Bristol Hippodrome doing an evening of Mediumship with Colin Fry; she was amazing. She sparkled on to the stage in killer heels and sequins, and proceeded to deliver incredibly accurate messages interspersed with witty asides that had the audience in fits of laughter. It was an impressive performance by any standards, but particularly if you knew that she had lost a close friend two weeks previously, and her beloved Grandmother 4 days before that performance.

When I asked her how on earth she managed she just said “I asked Spirit not to send any Nans because I don’t think I could have coped, and then I got on with helping people.”

She very much believes in “keeping it real” when it comes to her work, acknowledging that life is about laughing and crying and her job is to heal the sadness whilst bringing in a bit of the laughter that is the best medicine.

TJ says that she was a “dormant Medium” until she was thirty years old, she was aware of “things going on” but assumed that everyone had the same experiences and didn’t know what it all meant. Once she did realise what her connection to the Spirit World meant she joined a local circle in which she worked happily until the circle closed down. She tried other circles but just couldn’t settle so she started her own teaching group and developed alongside her students.

She recently opened The Dragon Fly Centre in her home town of Waltham Abbey, where she not only teaches but has also set up a charity to support single parents who would like to train in the psychic field but struggle with finances for babysitting etcetera. The Centre also puts on shows and events to raise money for other charities, something that is very close to TJ’s heart; her students recently raised £900 in one day for the National Autistic Society.

As a single Mother of two children – now grown up - she knows how hard it is to balance the needs of your children with your own interests and she wants to support single parents so that they can pursue the Spiritual path if they want to. She enjoys a very close relationship with both her sons, one of whom often goes out on the road helping with her work; the other is at college studying performing arts. She is extremely proud of both of them. Her oldest son James performs with a group called JB3 and they’ve just recorded their first album called Raised to the Ground, which is available via www.JB3.com.

As a family they were made homeless and ended up living in a hostel and much of James’ current work was written at that time - when he was only 14 years old. TJ feels that his very real experiences have created a depth and compassion that is very clear in his work.

Both her sons are budding Psychic Mediums but TJ has no intention of pressuring them to train and work in the field. She would never stay away overnight when they were small so she only worked away from home when she could take them with her. She feels that this will have resulted in them gaining an early insight into the field and that they will make their own decisions based on their own needs and life path as and when they are ready.

TJ believes in guiding people when they train rather than being directive, she doesn’t want mini clones of her she wants people to realise and fulfil their own potential on their own pathway. She says that the tutors that guided her development always let her be herself and that’s something she wants to pass on to her own students.
As well as the home circle TJ also trained at the Arthur Findlay College in Essex and credits her tutors, particularly Leah Bond, with keeping her going.

She didn’t seek to become a media personality, the opportunity came as a complete surprise on a trip to London to audition for what she believed was a guest spot on Psychic Private Eyes. Instead she found herself starring alongside her good friends Colin Fry and Tony Stockwell on a show that has brought comfort to the bereaved and certainly helped to raise the profile of Mediumship.

She recommends that Mediums just enjoy their work and if fame comes then enjoy the moment. When people ask her how you achieve fame she can’t answer the question because it’s been a natural progression for her. She also warns us that working in the media is very challenging and you need to be a very strong person to cope with it. However, she hopes that in raising the profile of Mediumship the TV Mediums will help to encourage the general public to go and see hardworking local Mediums “who are doing an amazing job, but no one ever hears of them”.

She is known as a Commedium for good reason, and like most Mediums believes that working with laughter is important; although she says that she doesn’t get a choice as “I’m naturally funny”.

From a working viewpoint she believes that her job is to bring Spirit people back to life by accurately reflecting their personality back into this world. “We scream, shout, and cry, have tempers and laugh, and you need to bring them back to life in the proper way. Sometimes that’s with humour. The work is all about emotions, all of them.”
Her audience have described an evening with TJ as an ‘emotional rollercoaster’, and have told her that they’ve felt that they’ve run the gamut of emotions from sadness to joy in the short space of one evening. For TJ the reality of life is that it’s filled with joy and sadness, and we must never forget that the joy exists, to feel it and share it.
One of her greatest inspirations was the American Medium John Edward; to this day he is the only Medium whose books she has ever read. Her boyfriend at the time videoed John for her and it was that video that inspired her to take her first step along the path of Mediumship and eventual fame.

We asked her what was her funniest incident as a Medium and she told us that there were too many things to mention, however at a recent show in Bristol she brought through a mum who knew that her son-in-law had broken a gravy boat during a move and hidden the pieces at ‘the bottom of a wheelie bin’. Eternal Spirit had a person at that show and that message will definitely go down in the annals of Mediumship as one of the best examples that your loved ones never leave you – and never stop dropping you in it.

Her new book “Living with the Gift” is already in the shops and doing extremely well. She has a mini-tour coming up from September to December, which is being hosted by the Marriot Hotel chain. It’s called “Up Close and Personal with TJ” and she’s going to be working with a maximum audience of 200. She wants to do this because people are more likely to get a message and because she enjoys the intimacy of a smaller audience to connect with.

She has launched her 2009/10 Diploma course “Ready and Willing to Work”, and has a residential training weekend coming up at Bucklands Hall in South Wales from 2nd to 4th October 2009. The course is for all levels of development from beginners through to advanced students, and she promises hard work and a lot of fun, but then it would be hard to be with her without having fun.

Watch out also for the new television programme on Living TV – “Colin Fry Live with TJ Higgs” – which will be coming to your screens from September 2009.
If you want to keep up to date with her shows and events you can catch up with TJ on her website http://www.tracyhiggs.co.uk.

We asked TJ what she would say to beginners setting out on the Spiritual path, and her answer was “With our work we’re all individual and we have to go down our own path. Keep it real for you and never lose your own individuality.” Her first circle leader told her “It’s as easy as you make it.” He also said “Go with the flow.” A simple piece of advice that too few of us follow.

This is the legacy she would like to leave behind her, a reputation for keeping it real. “I hope I’ve made a real difference. If we could all say that we’ve helped one person the world would be a better place. I hope that the world is a better place because I’m in it.”

Having seen her demonstrate and spent time understanding her commitment to her work there can be no doubt that she already is making a difference, and we hope that she will continue to do so in her own inimitable way for many, many years to come.

© Deb Hawken - First published in Eternal Spirit Magazine, Autumn Equinox 2009