Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? Did you have any particular experiences/stories that shaped your adult life?

My inner life was always active, but my outer life kept shifting constantly as well. My family moved around the country every two years, following my trouble-shooting management consultant father, who worked for a large corporation. I’ve lived on the East coast, West coast, and all points between—in New York City, on the North Shore of Chicago, and on a farm in Kansas where I briefly attended one of the last one-room country schools. Living in so many environments helped me understand people more than any psychology course ever did.

I always asked Why? and never felt satisfied with superficial answers. I guess I’ve been a spiritual detective all my life—looking below the surface for the hidden dynamics of life, creativity, personal growth, relationships, and identity. When I was young, I didn’t believe that germs made people sick, or that drugs and surgery were the only solutions for disease. I thought there must be deeper causes underneath those pesky germs.

For years—even as a small child—I wouldn’t say the word “God” because I didn’t know what it meant. I couldn’t believe God was an old man with a white beard on a throne in the sky. I mused about why wars were fought over religion and decided I would find the core truths that were present in every religion—and THAT would be what I would “believe”! My mother felt she had had previous lives, which made perfect sense to me. My father was the son of a Baptist minister and had been forced to go to church until he felt suffocated by it. So early on, he told my mother, “Let the girl decide for herself about God.”

I grew up with a strong connection to nature and animals. As a child, I communicated with my pets (dogs, cats, lizards, horses, mice, fish, sheep, and goats) telepathically, and lived for many years in a country setting where I was befriended by old farmers and horse people. I spent hours alone looking out from bluffs, hilltops, and tree branches, or cozied up next to streams, or in temple-like spaces in the woods. At the same time, I was enthralled with art. I drew endlessly and had inexplicable urges to write poems. I’ve kept a journal since I was seven and won a National Scholastic Magazine writing award in junior high. About the same time, a friend and I started a local newspaper for our community.

I began remembering my dreams and talking about them quite early, a habit that continues today. When I was thirteen I woke from a dream about 3 am, got up, went to my desk, drew a diagram of the “space-time continuum,” and wrote a detailed explanation of how the drawing explained reincarnation, psychic ability, and time travel. Then I went back to bed. In the morning, I was flabbergasted. This was the first of many graphic “teaching diagrams” that have poured through me—and many of them are now in my books.

What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?

How to have fun being more extraverted. It’s been a long journey of practicing to be comfortable being in public, on stage, and even at parties! And, I do love people, but not so much in large groups!

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

People are told to imagine putting up mirrors, walls, shields, etc. around themselves to protect them from negative energy. This just promotes the idea of separation and that there is an outside world that’s dangerous. Instead, they can just radiate their own clear energy out from their center and be fully present.

I don’t care for the term “The Law of Attraction” because it also gives the idea that there is an outside world and you must use will power to draw something to you. I prefer to think of it as the “Law of Emergence” where what’s on your own wavelength simply emerges from the field of energy around you.

Many healers say they are sending or transmitting energy from themselves or other beings. As I understand more about how energy works, and we start moving away from linear thinking, I see that energy isn’t transmitted, but activated by attention. It is activated within your own mind and seen as happening in the other person. If the other wants it, they pick up on it and activate it themselves.

I also don’t like the word “intention” much anymore. I prefer “attention.” Intention brings forth the idea of willpower and futurizing something. This is not really the way things work. We focus on Attention, which is present moment-oriented, and see it in our Now. When the body recognizes the feeling state of whatever is desired, the result begins to materialize.

Tell me about one of the darker periods you’ve experienced in life. How you came out of it and what you learned from it?

I had a period of one year where I had betrayals, rejections, losses, and physical traumas—it was like bowling balls kept rolling at me. It was hard to keep my negative responses at bay and turn it into something that I could understand. Eventually, I realized each thing was for my own growth—and it took some time. People who betrayed me were themselves betrayed by others later. And the losses ended up putting me in a better position reputation-wise, as the people who had rejected me and trashed my reputation were soon seen to be flaky and incompetent, so the fact that they rejected me worked in my favor! And I also learned that wallowing in vengeful or victim-y thoughts just made me miserable. I walked through the period and came out clean and much more mature. But it was a day by day practice of staying centered in my own integrity and trust and allow others to have their own ideas and process. I learned to have patience as well since it took time to see why the lessons had occurred. Someone told me that it was if I’d gathered all my karmic ends together, tied them in a bundle, and blown them up all at once!

What is one thing you do that you feel has been the biggest contributor to your success so far?

I have always felt that if you do good work, creative work, consistently, and offer it sincerely to the world, and if you stay saturated in authenticity, people will eventually find you. And word of mouth will build. I never liked the marketeering manner of selling myself and my work—it just felt so artificial and egotistical. I offered myself—I taught workshops, gave lectures, did interviews, wrote articles, worked in partnership with many different collaborators, and recently now, lots of podcasts and zoom experiences. I didn’t hide and didn’t force anything. I just kept on. I allowed opportunities to find me, and to say yes to most things, and I was also generous with my time and energy.

What is your morning routine?

I generally wake up early, between 5 and 7 am. If there are dreams I record them in my dream journal. And just go about the usual morning ablutions before I head to the kitchen for coffee. I feed the birds and squirrels! I’ll watch a little news and then start in the office with the email and tasks for the day. I don’t meditate too much anymore, since I have integrated it into my day in the form of continuous mindfulness practice. And I don’t love exercise, though I do like walking, but usually later in the day as a break from my left brain! I also work in the garden as a way to balance my energy.

What habit or behavior that you have pursued for a few years has most improved your life?

I practice noticing what I notice and dialoguing with myself about why. What am I trying to show myself? What’s the hidden meaning in this or that? I also practice staying in what I’ve called my “home frequency”—my preferred state—and recentering back into it when I get knocked offsides or go unconscious. Cheerfulness works well for me to activate my creative juices. I try not to let myself get lost in negativity or laziness. I also try to ask myself periodically: “What’s my next courageous act?”

What are your strategies for being productive and using your time most efficiently?

I’m a big list-maker and I track accomplishments monthly. Some days I flow from task to task, from computer to housework to garden to research to bill-paying and accounting. Variety helps keep me alert. Too much of any one thing for too long and I get numb. I trust the flow of my interests, mainly because I love productivity and improving things and I rarely procrastinate. When I’m writing I’m exceedingly efficient and don’t like to be too interrupted by other things. I’ll start first thing and often go on, with breaks, even after dinner.

I also like creating systems for taking care of my main income streams. I like to stay organized and have a place for everything so I can find things quickly. Clutter is distracting as I’ve found that I relate strongly to my environment and my consciousness becomes like the space I’m in. With clutter, I become fragmented and more fuzzy-brained.

What book(s) have influenced your life the most? Why?

I have resonated strongly to certain metaphysical and spiritual books that helped me recognize my underlying philosophy. Instead of trying to think of them again, I’ll refer you to Sandie Sedgbeer’s No BS Spiritual Book Club where I write about my 10 Best Spiritual Books; and there is a good interview about this as well.

Do you have any quotes you live by or think of often?

“All things be ready if our minds be so.” —Wm. Shakespeare