Founder, Mayura Storytelling
I grew up in a small town near Utrecht, surrounded by my sisters and the kind of chaos that only a big family can bring. Life at home wasn’t always easy. There were beautiful moments and some difficult ones too but every experience shaped me into who I am today.
I’ve always been a sensitive, curious, and dreamy soul connected to something beyond what most people could see.
From a very young age, I could feel and see the presence of souls who had passed away. To me, it was completely natural they felt kind, loving, and gentle. These souls would visit me like old friends, bringing warmth and comfort, and I accepted their presence with an open heart. I never questioned it; I thought everyone could feel them the same way I did.
But as I grew older, I began to realize that not everyone experienced the world like I did. I learned that seeing and feeling souls wasn’t something people talked about easily. Somewhere along the way, I started to believe that it was something strange even something to be afraid of. The world around me seemed to value logic, control, and sameness, and so, little by little, I closed that door inside myself. I stopped sharing what I felt, stopped trusting what came so naturally, and tried to be “normal.”
And for many years, I succeeded in doing exactly that.
I had big dreams and a strong will. I went to aviation school not without its challenges, but with determination and excitement. My dream was clear: I wanted to see the world, to fly, to experience life beyond the familiar borders of my small town. Eventually, I became a flight attendant, and that felt like a dream come true. I loved the freedom, the rhythm of airports, the new faces, and the endless horizons.
For a while, it was everything I wanted. But a few years ago, something inside me began to shift. The life I had worked so hard for the one that looked perfect from the outside started to feel empty. I was constantly giving, constantly moving, but deep down, I felt disconnected.
Then came my burnout.
At the time, it felt like everything was falling apart. The career I had once loved no longer gave me joy, and I hardly recognized myself anymore. But looking back, that was the moment life began to rebuild itself this time in alignment with my soul.
The burnout stripped everything away: the noise, the expectations, the masks. What was left was just me raw, exhausted, but open. I began to listen again. And in that quiet space, the sensitivity and intuition I had buried for so long slowly returned.
I started to remember who I had always been. The little girl who could sense beyond what was visible, who saw light and love in places others overlooked. I joined a mediumship course, and the connection I had once feared came back stronger, clearer, and more beautiful than ever. What I had once tried to hide turned out to be one of my greatest gifts.
As I began to follow the voice of my soul, creativity found me again as if it had just been waiting patiently for me to remember it. Photography entered my life in full force. I had always loved it, but now it became something deeper: a way to translate energy into image, to capture the emotion behind a glance, to see and show the soul of a moment.
Through my lens, I could finally express what words never could: the connection between people, light, and emotion. It felt like coming home.
During my travels in Thailand, Reiki also crossed my path. I didn’t go searching for it it simply appeared, as if guided to me. Reiki brought together everything I had been rediscovering: healing, softness, trust, and the power of presence. I followed that calling without hesitation, and suddenly everything started to make sense. The energy work, photography, the intuition weren’t separate things. They were all part of the same story.
It was during that period that I truly saw myself maybe for the first time. I remember sitting in front of the mirror one day, really looking at my own reflection. I realized how often I had spoken to myself with judgment instead of kindness. In that moment, I decided to let go of the voice that told me I wasn’t enough. I started speaking to myself with love, with patience, with understanding.
That small but powerful shift changed everything. I began to see myself not as someone who was “too much,” but as someone who was exactly enough sensitive, intuitive, creative, and whole.
Today, I create from that place. Through my energy work and photography, I invite people to see themselves the way I learned to see myself fully, softly, truthfully. My work is about connection, emotion, and soul. It’s about embracing every part of who we are and allowing our inner light to be seen, because my passion and fire are now devoted to helping others discover their own path.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all of this, it’s that real happiness begins the moment you stop trying to fit in and start allowing yourself to simply be.
Love Michelle
