A Pot of Tea and a Huge Surprise: What Hitting the Top 100 Taught Me About Being "Unseen"
I’ll be honest with you—I didn’t get a fancy trophy or a "congratulations" call from some high-rise office.
Instead, it was just me, a pot of tea, and that slightly embarrassing habit of refreshing my phone while I was supposed to be focusing on work. And then, the numbers moved. My book, Quiet All Along—this little piece of my soul I wrote under the name Julia Pax—had actually cracked the Top 100 on Amazon in two different categories: Supernatural and Spirituality/Memoir.
If you know me, you know my brain is usually a series of checklists and data points. I’ve spent twenty years in marketing and clinical psychology, and I’m an immigrant who worked incredibly hard to earn my citizenship. I don't take things at face value. I live in the middle of the New York hustle, and I’m hardwired to look for the "real" reason behind everything. I’m the friend who usually asks for the documentation and the clear logical path.
But as I watched those rankings stay steady, I felt this rush of—well, relief. Not because I’m some big-shot author now, but because it felt like proof. Proof that in 2026, we’re finally done pretending that we don't experience the unexplained. People are tired of the whispers. They’re ready for the truth.
Finding the Pattern
There’s a specific kind of "homework" you do when you move to a new country. You’re constantly scanning for signals. You’re looking for the unwritten rules, the patterns of behavior, and the logical structures that make a society work. You have to be twice as observant just to feel like you’re standing on solid ground.
I realized recently that my journey into the supernatural felt exactly like my journey to citizenship. I spent years feeling like an outsider to my own experiences. I was "naturalizing" my own soul. I had to learn the language of metaphysical phenomena just like I learned the laws of this country.
In New York, we pride ourselves on being "street smart." But I think we’ve forgotten how to be "soul smart." We’ve been taught that if you can't see it, touch it, or put it in a spreadsheet, it’s not real. But as an immigrant, I know that just because you don’t understand the language yet doesn't mean the conversation isn't happening. I decided to stop being a "tourist" in my own spiritual life and actually do the research to become a permanent resident of the unexplained.
We’re Done with Gurus
For a long time, the "spiritual world" felt like it was full of people standing on pedestals telling everyone else how to live. It was all parables, expensive retreats, and "five easy steps to enlightenment" that never seemed to work for someone with a mortgage and a subway commute. There’s always been this distance—this idea that you have to be "chosen" or "perfected" to have a relationship with the unseen.
I don't know about you, but I’m over it. I don’t want a guru; I want a friend who’s been in the trenches. I don’t want someone telling me to "just vibrate higher" when I’m stuck in a Monday morning meeting. I want someone who understands that life is loud, messy, and complicated, and that the supernatural doesn't wait for you to find a quiet mountain top to show up. It shows up in the middle of the chaos.
The fact that Quiet All Along is climbing the charts tells me that we’re all looking for a peer—someone who can say, "Look, I saw this thing. It was weird. I checked my sanity three times, I looked for every possible logical exit, and I still can't explain it away—but here’s the research I found when I dug into it." I’m not here to lead anyone. I’m not here to be the "voice of authority" on how the universe works. I am just a researcher who got tired of the silence. I’m here to share the homework I did while I was trying to figure out my own life. If my findings help you make sense of your own "glitches," that’s wonderful, but I’m not interested in being your teacher. I’m interested in being your collaborator.
The era of the "all-knowing master" is dying. We’re finally realizing that no one has all the answers, and that’s actually the most exciting part. It means we get to explore the science of the inexplicable together, as equals. I’m perfectly okay with being wrong, and I’m perfectly okay with saying "I don't know yet." But I’m finally done being quiet out of fear that my data doesn't fit the "rational" mold.
Searching for the Signal
When I was writing the book, I spent a lot of time looking into the neuroscience of spirituality. I wanted to know if my "weird" experiences were just a glitch in my brain’s wiring. As someone with a background in clinical psychology, I’m very familiar with how the mind can play tricks on us.
I looked at the data on Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and precognition. I read the papers on how the brain reacts during deep states of intuitive awareness. What I found wasn't a bunch of "woo-woo" fluff. I found a mountain of "pure signal"—documented cases and physiological changes that our current medical models can't quite explain yet.
It’s like trying to listen to a radio station with a lot of static. Most people just hear the noise and turn the radio off. I decided to build a better antenna. I used my analytical training to filter out the static of my own fear and ego to see what was actually left. What was left was the truth: that we are much more than our biology.
The "Mystic meets Mad Scientist" Life
People see a "Top 100" badge and think it’s all very polished and zen. The reality? It’s a lot of late nights trying to find a clear signal in a "glitch in the matrix" while sirens are screaming outside my apartment. It’s that "WTF" feeling where you’re trying to balance a very stable, logical day job with the fact that you’ve experienced the supernatural since you were a kid.
I’ve spent forty years trying to keep those two worlds separate. I thought I had to choose: be the "rational professional" or be the "weird one." But hitting this milestone killed that fear for me. It showed me that the world is actually hungry for people who can bridge that gap—people who can keep a clear head and a warm heart at the same time.
Why 2026 feels different
Why now? I’ve asked myself that every day this week. I think 2026 is the year we finally hit "stigma burnout." We’ve spent so long being told what is "rational" and "logical," yet the world around us feels increasingly chaotic and unexplained.
We’re starting to realize that the old "rules" don't cover the full human experience. We’re seeing a surge in spiritual awakening and mental health conversations because the old armor is just getting too heavy to wear. In a city like New York, where everyone is trying to "optimize" their lives, we’re finally realizing that you can't optimize a soul you’re ignoring.
The Only Number That Matters
If I were looking at this through a marketing lens, I’d be talking about conversion rates. But sitting here today, those numbers aren't the point.
The point is how it feels to finally be me. I still have a day job. I still have rent due. I’m an immigrant who built a life here from scratch, and I’m not moving to a mountain top to meditate all day. But allowing this side of me to exist in the daylight—without the "professional armor" I used to wear—feels like a hug from my soul.
It took me four decades to stop arguing with my own experiences and just start listening.
A Little "Tea Time" FAQ
I’ve had so many people reach out with questions since the book started moving, so I figured I’d answer a few here, friend-to-friend.
1. Is the book just scary ghost stories?
Not really. I mean, there are some "unexplained" moments that will give you chills, but I look at them through the lens of my background in clinical psychology. I’m more interested in why we experience these things and what they tell us about who we are. It’s a skeptic’s journey into the unexplained, but told with a lot of heart.
2. Do I need to "believe" in anything to read it?
Nope. Bring your questions and your doubts. I wrote this for the people who are curious but don't want to leave their logic at the door. We look at neuroscience and spirituality and the "pure signal" of experience without all the fluff.
3. Why the secret name, Julia Pax?
Honestly? Because New York is a small world and the professional world can be judgmental. As an immigrant who worked so hard for stability, I wasn't ready to let my career become a debate floor. Julia Pax is me with the filters turned off. Every word is my researched truth.
4. How do you find time for "research" with a full-time job?
You make time for what matters. I don't live in a cave; I live in a city that never sleeps. I do my research on the subway, in the early morning hours with a pot of tea, and on the weekends. It’s not a hobby; it’s an investigation into what it means to be human.
5. What’s the "Quiet" Trilogy? It’s three parts of one big investigation. Quiet All Along is about the realization that the "unseen" is real. Quiet All Around and Quiet All Again dive deeper into how these things show up in our daily lives and across time. It’s my "research log" of the science of the inexplicable.
A Seat at the Table: Let's Do the Homework Together
If you’ve ever felt like there was "something more" but were too afraid to say it out of fear of sounding "crazy"—come find me on Reddit. There is plenty of tea to go around, and the chair next to me is always open for someone who is willing to look at the world with both eyes open.
We need more people who are willing to be logical and open-hearted. You don't have to have all the answers. I certainly don't. I’m still just a researcher sitting in a New York kitchen, surrounded by half-finished books and spreadsheets, trying to make sense of a world that is far wider than our five senses. But I think we can figure it out together if we just stop being so afraid of the questions.
When I say "sit at the table," I mean it literally and metaphorically. I want to build a space where the "mystic" and the "marketer" can have a conversation without one of them feeling like they have to hide. For too long, we've kept our intuition in a box under the bed while we brought our logic to the boardroom. I'm suggesting we bring the whole self to the table. Let's look at the psychology of belief while we talk about that dream you had that came true. Let's look at quantum entanglement while we talk about why you felt your grandmother's presence in the room last Tuesday.
This isn't about forming a cult or following a new doctrine. It’s about peer review. It’s about sharing our "data points" of the unexplained and seeing where they overlap. If you’ve been doing your own homework in secret—reading the books, taking the notes, and having the experiences—you are exactly who I’m talking to. You are the peer I’ve been looking for. We don't need a guru to tell us what to see; we just need a community that won't roll its eyes when we tell them what we've already seen.
What’s Next?
This ranking is amazing, but the story doesn't change. I’m going to keep writing what my soul tells me to, and the rest is out of my hands. I’m already deep into the "homework" for the next book in the trilogy, and I can tell you—the signal is only getting stronger.
I hope this gives you a little nudge to speak your own truth, too. Whatever that "quiet" thing is inside of you—the art, the book, the weird experience—don't hide it. I’m finally doing "me" for the first time, and I promise you, the air is much clearer up here. I’m not going back to the silence.
Here is your "homework" for today: Think of one thing you’ve experienced that you’ve been too "rational" to talk about. Just one. Write it down. Look at it without judgment. Does it feel like noise, or is there a signal there waiting for you to listen?
I’d love to hear about it when you're ready. Until then, keep the tea hot and the mind open.