Imagination as a Bridge: Where Love Still Meets

I’ve come to understand that beyond familiar after-death signs such as butterflies, cardinals, feathers, or lights flickering on and off—our loved ones also communicate through thought. This is the same inner channel through which many mediums receive information. And yet, even with all I’ve experienced, I still found myself questioning from time to time.

What has changed is my relationship with imagination. I no longer see it as something fragile or dismissible, but as a living bridge, one that connects love, consciousness, and presence in ways our culture rarely names, but many of us quietly recognize.

Last year, I learned more about the role of imagination and accesing connection with the Other Side through the work of Tom Campbell, particularly through his YouTube channel and his book My Big TOE (Theory of Everything). As a physicist, he explains that imagination is not “just fantasy.” In his model, everything is information, and consciousness interacts directly with information. From that perspective, imagining someone is a way of accessing something real through the mind, not making something up.

I sent Tom a question through his Patreon late last year asking whether imagining interacting with my husband Phil meant I was fantasizing. He answered my question on his YouTube channel this year, and his response was supportive and reassuring. He affirmed that these kinds of inner meetings can be real experiences, not imagination in the dismissive sense we often associate with the word.

That said, while I respect Tom Campbell’s work and have explored several of his ideas, his view of the afterlife feels more conceptual than how I experience my connection with Phil. He describes the afterlife in terms of data and consciousness systems and teaches that souls forget their last incarnation. Although I don’t agree with everything he proposes, his perspective gave me the tools—and the permission—to explore connection with the soul of my loved one, which has made a meaningful difference in my life.

My own experience, however, is more relational and lived. I experience my husband as very much alive and present, and I trust that he exists in a loving, Earth-like environment, only more beautiful, where everyone is whole, healthy, and in their prime. This understanding resonates more closely with how Dr. Craig Hogan describes the afterlife in his Seeking Reality YouTube series, as well as with the work of Edgar Cayce, whose work documented continued awareness and identity beyond physical life, based on thousands of recorded readings given while he was in a sleep-like trance.

This sense of connection shows up for me in small, meaningful moments, one of them happened recently:

When I go for walks, I have a little ritual. In my inner world, the soul of my husband, Phil, waits for me partway down the street, near some shrubs by a funeral home. As I approach,

I walk with a sense of anticipation. When I reach that spot, I take a deep breath—and I feel a rush of love and energy, sensing his presence.

A few days ago, a thought crossed my mind: What if there’s a security camera somewhere, catching my big grin and my deep inhale—like I’m greeting someone no one else can see? I looked around, didn’t notice anything, and let it go.

Today, I walked the same route again, ready to meet Phil. I noticed a man approaching from my direction, so I shifted slightly to my right to give myself that private moment near the shrubs. And when I looked more closely and there it was: a small camera hidden right inside the shrub!

Suddenly, that earlier thought made sense. Phil brought this to my attention, knowing I wouldn’t normally think about security cameras in our small, semi-rural town, where many residents still leave their doors unlocked. I truly don’t want such a private, sacred moment between me and my loved one to be on camera but it’s a little too late for that now. :) And yet, I can’t help but feel deeply validated by this experience.

Link to my post: Signs After Death: Communication From Loved Ones