ALIGNMENT

A Divinely Aligned Life & Death : AI rendering for Celeste Barbier

For years, I was tired of setting the same resolutions on repeat.

Lose weight,

Be more successful,

Get organized.

They never quite held and felt more like assignments. So, a few years ago, I shifted my approach. Instead of resolutions, I began choosing intentional words, words that define how I want a year to take shape, how it should move, and how I want to meet it.

Before 2026 even arrived, I could feel the shift. Things were lining up in ways that felt undeniable, calm, and inevitable.

That is when the word arrived fully formed: Alignment.

First, the technical part, the actual dictionary definition of this word...

Alignment, noun

• Arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions

• A position of agreement or alliance.

  
  

Now that we have that "straightened out," here is what alignment means to me.

For me, alignment is when my values, my dreams, my ambitions, my hopes, and my skills come together, when they exist in appropriate relative positions and in agreement and alliance.

Not scattered, non-sensical or separate, but rather unified, cohesive and synergistic.

I Felt The Shift Before The Arrival...

I mean this, there are certain things I have always known I wanted to dedicate my life to. If you have read my past blogs, you can probably trace the arc and feel where it has been heading all along.

To summarize the origin point, my father died when I was 16.

In the days leading up to his passing, I sang to him and watched his vitals change. I held his hand as he made a sudden and unexpected departure from this world. In that moment, something locked into place inside me.

I knew, without language or structure, that one day I wanted to offer comfort and peace to the elderly, the terminal, and those standing at the threshold of life. I knew I wanted to sing during that process.

The jobs did not exist yet. The roles had not been named. The vision was incomplete.

But my heart was tuned in like a compass that would not lead me astray.

Fast forward to my 30s.

I found myself performing regularly for seniors in assisted living and memory care communities. It felt like one step closer to that original promise I had made to

myself at sixteen. I exclaimed regularly to my wife "it feels like I found some weird back door to my dreams even though it's not quite what I imagined."

Fast forward to my 40s.

In 2022, I discovered sound healing, not as a trend, but as a soul calling. I became an Expert Sound Healer through both intuitive led experience and accredited training. It felt effortless, natural, and deeply familiar. I began offering sound healing in peaceful spaces and sanctuaries, supporting family, friends, community members, and strangers alike.

Then, at 44, everything finally started to make sense.

• Last summer, I was invited to the bedside of a stranger to offer transitional support through song and sound. Later, I supported her bereaved loved ones with song, sound, and celebrant services for her Celebration of Life.

• I held my first Grief Support Sound Bath inside a local mortuary sanctuary, offering grace & gratitude to those experiencing grief and it felt profoundly reverent and ceremonial.

  
  

• I was invited to guest on two podcasts where I spoke openly about end of life services and grief, Bridges Beyond Grief with Paula Shaw, author and energy psychologist, and The Neuroaesthetic with Dr. Stacey Denise, a retired surgeon exploring new models of care for neurodivergent individuals, menopausal women, and others underserved by traditional systems.

  
  

• I officiated more memorials, funerals, and celebrations of life. I supported dear friends through devastating losses. And I noticed something unmistakable. These requests were increasing, without advertising, without marketing, without me even naming this work publicly yet.

Then came the final confirmation at the close of 2025.

At the close of the year, I attended a panel on death featuring a Death Doula, a Tibetan Monk, and a New Thought Minister. I was eager to connect with the Death Doula and approached her, only to be met with immediate familiarity.

She already knew who I was as my reputation and preceded me at this sanctuary, both as the new Inner Light Services Director of Meditation & Music and my volunteer work as a sound healer with the Bishwa Seva Foundation.

Before introductions were even complete, I was invited to co-create an immersive public event centered on end-of-life services, not just talking about death, but engaging it consciously, creatively, and holistically as a community.

This collaboration is now unfolding in our co-creation, and I will be sharing more in the coming weeks. For now, mark your calendars.

• February 17th, 10am, Seaside Encinitas: Soulful Sages, The Art of Dying: A Three Act Immersive Experience for Conscious Living and Intentional Death Planning

What is emerging is a collaborative community with a new vision for death, one that integrates ancient wisdom, mysticism, spiritual practice, and conscious planning. A vision that supports the whole person, not just the medical and monetary logistics.

Could I Be A Mythical Sea Unicorn of The Death Industry?

I learned through recent clients that finding a female all-faiths funeral officiant is nearly impossible. Few if any are listed as preferred vendors at memorial parks or funeral homes. Fewer still are soloists and absolutely none, that are also sound healers offering grief support.

I am starting to feel like a mystical unicorn in the death industry, even though I fully identify as a mermaid. Maybe it is something more like a mythical sea unicorn. I know that sounds a little offbeat, but what I mean is this, it feels like something so different and so singular that not only did no one imagine it existed, no one had even considered the possibility of it existing in the first place.

What that means is that there is a completely open sea of space for me to inhabit, without stepping on toes, competing, or comparing myself to anyone else. This is my own ocean in which to exist and offer something entirely new, something magical, something deeply needed, and wholly unique.

Floating Into 2026 With Alignment

My seemingly random skills as a vintage music soloist, all-faiths officiant storyteller, and grief sound healer are not random at all. They are cohesive, creative, and entirely unique within the funeral and death industry.

There is a demand I never knew existed.

There is a desire the industry itself has not fully articulated yet.

And I am here to meet it, exceed and bring nuance never conceived before.

This is my destiny. I think it always has been.

That's why I never really fit quite right into most other spaces.

(I'm a mythical one-of-a-kind Mer-unicorn after all!)

I felt it at sixteen, without language or structure. The vision sharpened in 2025.

It has now fully manifested, and the seed has been planted.

I am ready to grow something beautiful. Something brand new. Something never seen before. And something deeply needed at a soul level.

What I am creating offers comfort, peace, presence, sanctuary, and space, a chamber of light through song, sound, storytelling, and energetic presence.

This work is deeply personal to me. I have experienced over fifty personal deaths in my lifetime, family, friends, and fans. My relationship with death is intimate, shaped by grief and held by spiritual conviction.

I never feel truly separated from the departed. I feel more connected than ever, carrying their spirits forward through inspiration.

• My dad, his unconditional love, laughter, and presence.

• My mom, her opening doors to the world, to other cultures, and to expansive belief systems.

• My great grandmother Joan, sweet, feisty, innocent, and wholly accepting.

• Dr. Kristine Reese, the embodiment of sunshine, living without inhibition or fear.

• My sister-in-law Deneen, our miracle, the party girl, flirty & fun, living every day with gratitude

• Our dearest friend Irene, deeply principled, and passionately devoted to social justice.

And so many more. The list goes on and on. They each are with me like guides, gurus, angels, and candles lighting the way. And because I am a storyteller and I like to learn all the intimate details about the lives and values of everyone I get to officiate for, I learn and carry each of their stories and legacies with me too. What an incredible blessing!!

Alignment, for me isn't a destination this year, it is how I am showing up, existing and synergizing my skills to be not only a leader in my industry, but an innovator and creator of an entirely new space and way of celebrating every unique life. This is full realization.

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

— Rumi

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.”

- Carl Jung

“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.” — Rainer Maria Rilke