Podcast Conversations with Janet Morrow

with Bill Joseph

"That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves.  That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you."  - The Gospel of Thomas (From the Nag Hammadi Library - ancient papyrus manuscripts found around the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.)

This podcast between Janet and Bill Joseph further explores basic themes through intimate sharing of how their parents' marriages (and/or their own) have taught them lessons that were painful at the time but why they are now grateful for what they learned from them which has made it possible for them to receive the blessings that have come from their own personal growth.

Bill’s Story

“My first wife and I were having difficulties and we went to a church counselor and explained all of our various problems. Finally, my wife turned to the counselor and asked, “What am I to do?” and the counselor said “Obey your husband.” At that time I thought that was pretty cool but I later learned that I didn’t deserve to be obeyed. I wasn’t sufficiently developed to be able to shoulder that responsibility and I had to come to that realization on my own.

Now I have been married for 26 years, very happily the second time. We have a wonderful partnership of mutual growth and exploration that includes a spiritual quest for truth and meaning together. It’s just been fabulous.” Had he not come to see his own shortcomings, he might not have been able to let go of the “father knows best” paradigm that’s prevented healthy relationships for so long.

Editor's Note: Our Love Elixir Flower Blend is wonderful for those couples ready to open their hearts to love as it will inspire soul intimacy and trust. Get it here.

Janet’s Story

“The first time I married I knew I didn’t want to marry a man like my father, so I married somebody who I thought was not. Unfortunately, because excessive drinking was normal in my family, I had not realized the magnitude of this problem. So unconsciously I married another alcoholic. What I later also came to realize is that, due to my family environment, I’d become emotionally crippled which meant I wasn’t capable of being emotionally present for my children in a way that they needed and deserved. I’ve had to learn to forgive myself for this.

with Bill Joseph

"Love is the energizing elixir of the universe, the cause and effect of all harmonies."  ~Reinhold Niebuhr

One of the most powerful things you can do is to learn how to steer through life with your heart.

Why give so much credence to a pump?

It is important for us to realize we are spiritual beings and if we don’t begin to transform our consciousness to this we may not be able to do it later on.

This planet offers a very unique experience. As eternal spirits, we have the opportunity to live in third dimension with five senses and experience cause and effect in a relatively condensed space time continuum.

Some say that souls are eager to live on this planet regardless of what they’re going to experience in the physical world, no matter how painful, simply because it is such an extraordinary experience in the huge scheme of things.

Recognizing that spirit is eternal is one of the keys to moving forward towards an innate understanding that we are not just physical beings. Some may say, “You only have one life to live so you better follow the rules because you know what’s coming next.” But this is the dominator model, the “punishment threat.”  

We only have to look around us to see that what we’ve created is not working nor sustainable. This means we have a new opportunity to see this world from a different perspective that brings in not just the egocentric behavior that has ruled the world for the last several thousand years but to grasp this possibly disappearing opportunity to learn how to experience the most positive aspects of human nature, first and foremost of which is love. It is THE energy that is the most powerful force there is for it is what we came from and that force that connects all of creation.

with Dr. John Travis

"A more or less superficial layer of the unconscious is undoubtedly personal. I call it the 'personal unconscious'. But this personal layer rests upon a deeper layer, which does not derive from personal experience and is not a personal acquisition but is inborn. This deeper layer I call the 'collective unconscious'. I have chosen the term 'collective' because this part of the unconscious is not individual but universal; in contrast to the personal psyche, it has contents and modes of behaviour that are more or less the same everywhere and in all individuals."  ~Carl Jung

In this continuing dialogue, Janet opens by telling Jack how much she appreciates having a friend like him who can share in a conversation like this because there are so few. He replies they’re out there but you have to find them in the woodwork which is how the network of people he surrounds himself with has been a compensation for his lack of connection as a child when he did not feel he was part of a family. He has come to see how his gift of helping people came from this wound which has shown him how “the currency of wellness is connection."

As Jack continues sharing his experiences, Janet joins in by telling a similar one of hers that was life changing. It happened when she became the volunteer chairman of the Books and Literature Committee for The First National Congress on Optimum Population and Environment.  That experience taught her the Four (non-negotiable) Laws of Ecology from Barry Commoner’s book The Closing Circle published in 1971:

1. Everything is Connected To Everything Else
2. Everything Must Go ‘Somewhere
3. Nature Knows Best
4. There Is No such Thing As A Free Lunch

with Dr. John Travis

“...But the child's sob in silence curses deeper / Than the strong man in his wrath.” ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Picking up where they left off, Janet and Dr. Travis discuss how he and his new wife had just left the world of individual wellness and moved to Costa Rica in 1980 to experience the simple life he missed out on during his medical training. Around 1983 the peace movement took off in the US, so they decided to come back to the States. Through his wife’s studies of the women’s spirituality movement in the Bay Area, Dr. Travis learned about patriarchy and male domination. They then started doing workshops, “From Domination to Partnership,” for helping professionals in the medical field, one of the worst authoritarian/dominator systems.

In retrospect, he saw how the wellness model for the center was based on partnership, rather than the authoritarian top-down model of medicine. They then formed a support network for graduates from the workshops, which blossomed in various parts of the US. During all this, he was growing within himself while simultaneously developing it further. At this point, his depression started to gradually fade away.

with Deanna Rivera

A spiritually optimistic point of view holds that the universe is woven out of a fabric of love. Everything that is happening is ultimately for the good if we're willing to face it head-on and use our adversities for soul growth.  ~Joan Borysenko

Listen to this inspirational conversation with Janet Morrow shortly before medical procedures. Janet spoke to us from Spokane, WA, where she was being seen the next morning for a Gamma Knife Radiation procedure to treat two malignant brain tumors.  It’s yet another chapter in the ongoing saga of physical problems Janet has had to deal with for the last many years.  Janet is very inspirational to listen to and we recommend this podcast for anyone struggling, particularly with illness.

In Janet’s earlier blogs, she shares some of her thoughts on “My Body, My Teacher” and how humbling it is to deal with medical conditions. She jokes, “What is inevitable? Death and Taxes.” For Janet, the lesson is to learn how to live a life that makes the most of the opportunities to experience it all without being fearful of death.

with Dr. John Travis

You are a powerful being in the midst of changes that will bring out the best in human spirit.  ~Barbara Marciniak

In this podcast, Janet is joined by her long time friend Dr. Travis who was a leading figure in the Wellness Movement back in the 1970s. They began by agreeing on the value of 20/20 reflection of one’s life. As Dr. Travis has learned a lot throughout the years, the story of his life has helped to show him who he has become today.  

From Small Town to Big Cities

Dr. Travis grew up in a small town in Northwestern Ohio.  His dad, a doctor was always working and although they were among the last to get a television, it became his escape from loneliness. Following in his father’s footsteps, he went to med school in Boston during which time he married his first his first wife who was programmed to marry a doctor as he was programmed to marry the first woman who loved him. She wanted kids, he wasn’t ready to be a father but because of family values, divorce wasn’t an option, so they had a child.  Dr. Travis remembers the experience as great but also painful. Soon, he and his wife started therapy which helped get him in touch with his inner child. Through his therapy he practiced holding and hugging and as he did this, realized that he didn’t have enough of this affection and intimacy from his family.

with Bill Joseph

“Look at the word responsibility…response-ability…the ability to choose your response.  Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility.  They do not blame circumstances, conditions or conditioning for their behavior.  Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feelings.” – Stephen R. Covey

How did we get here?  It has always been a case of being out of balance and it has just gotten worse.  What has made us who we are and what are the ingredients in our profile?  Those who have power want more and more of it.  The top 1/10th of 1% of people on our planet own half of everything.

Society has been out of balance in this way for thousands of years. It began with brute force even before the Egyptian tombs. In the Dark Ages, it was considered right to do whatever you needed to impose your will upon anyone else. This evolved into large political systems with armies following their ruler’s agenda.

Today a new way of enslaving is more subtle and we’ve made it electronic. Nobody comes to your home and says, “You must pick up this shovel and do what I want you to do.” but they manage to enslave us in a completely different way…and we are willing participants.  We’ve made a science out of influencing consumer behavior in the West. We spend billions and billions of dollars analyzing which entertainment and advertisements will yield the best results in order to command market share and get people to spend money as we want them to. It works incredibly well from influencing our culture to believe that a pill is the cure for all ailments, or that the only way you can win is by fighting and dominating, to believing that happiness can be bought with having things.

with Bill Joseph

"Fascism should more properly called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power."  ~Benito Mussolini, Adolph Hitler's Italian ally

Once you are aware of something you see it all around you.

As discussed in previous podcasts, Author Bill Joseph has been doing research on the Dominator Agenda for his next book. He is amazed at how pervasive this behavioral model is and how it exists in all societies at every level from retail to private homes, government, in churches and everywhere humans live and work.

Iraq as an Example of the Dominator Model

We (America) went into Iraq under the guise of saving the world from a dangerous dictator who possessed weapons of mass destruction. Never mind that Hussein was once one of our allies, who we helped bring into power.

with Solala Towler

In a prior podcast, Janet had a conversation with Mark Lerner that broadened her understanding of astrology as well as illustrating to her how the power of its call had given Mark the courage to follow his bliss against his father’s will. This conversation with Solala Towler reveals a rather similar story but for Solala it was the I Ching that beckoned rather than astrology and through it he found health and meaning for his life.

with Deanna Rivera

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.” ― Wayne W. Dyer

Listen in as Janet Morrow, Chair of Inner Sight, shares her journey of discovery in finding her eternal spirit. One of Janet's core conclusions is that she is a Spiritual Being Having A Human Experience. Below are highlights from her thoughts that we have pulled from the podcast. We’ve nicknamed them "gems".

Whoever you are, it is likely that there is something to be learned from a woman who, in the sunset of her life here on earth, has completed a 360 degree turn from the beliefs of her childhood and opened her mind to not only the vastness and mystery of our universe, but the vastness and universe existing inside herself.

with Bill Joseph

"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." ~Mark Twain

Picking up where they left off, Bill and Janet delve further into what Bill has termed the Dominator Agenda which, once he recognized it, he now sees how pervasive it is throughout the world in all social systems and even into architecture.

The way Bill describes how to identify it is to look at how it lays on us the acceptance of the dynamic that there is always someone else above us who’s in charge and whose approval we must seek. It’s very subtle and can be seen as the mental support for hierarchy.

They return to the role that EGO plays and how much of our behavior it controls especially when it is out of balance and operating out of its desire (conscious or unconscious) for superiority. What has happened is that the heart, which is needed for balance, . . .

with Bill Joseph

To access our spiritual power we must surrender which means letting go of our ego and its need to hold on and control.  Tho surrender feels like death, it is actually the opposite for it moves us toward the assimilation of all of our dimensions - i.e.  "The universe within."  ~Unknown

Given what’s going on at our state levels, in Washington and around the world Janet and Bill felt that they could have a rich conversation around the topic of freedom.

In Part 1 of this discussion they touch on the motivation for founding our country which was freedom of religion and this is still an issue today as religions still seek to impose their beliefs on others. Self determination was another high value of our founding fathers but these founding values appear to be in conflict with one another like the right to carry a gun versus the freedom to protect our children from violence. The battles over whose freedom will prevail are played out across the board in the political arena and motivated by special interests, ideologies, religious beliefs and basic human nature all of which want to prevail. Due in part to this, we’re losing our freedoms in many subtle ways we don’t even see.

with Deanna Rivera

This is a continuation of a previous podcast, titled "The Three MEs" found here.

Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body without soul. -Mahatma Gandhi

Highlights:

• The Third Me is the more spiritual Me -- My energy or soul.

• For Janet, she came to know this part of herself after many life experiences, including a past life recollection. This led her to see a grander scheme, a bigger picture than she'd previously acknowledged or was ready to accept.

• We are much more than we can imagine or grasp as is our world. In fact, there are infinite possibilities for both . . . .

with Deanna Rivera

"At the center of your being you have the answer: you know who you are and you know what you want." - Lao Tzu

Janet Morrow leads us in to the process of self-discovery in this podcast discussion, the first in a two part series.
"The older I get the more I’m learning how much I don’t know and that what I thought I knew couldn’t be true." While at first amusing, this statement describes Janet’s process of self discovery and reflection. What it has called into question for her is "Who Am I Actually?"

Janet’s sharing shows us that there are three "Me s" to discover.

 1. There is the Me as I define myself by my place of birth, my appearance, my job, my interests, my affiliations and titles. I'm a mother, sister, brother, son, aunt, professional, fan, etc. It is all about what I believe in or what I've done. Some are choices I can change and some aren't . . . .

with Deanna Rivera

"Pioneering is done as far as new lands on earth are concerned. There are no new seas to cross, no new continents to explore, no new hemispheres to conquer, but the spiritual pioneering is only starting." ~ Annalee Skarin, Ye Are Gods

with Mark Lerner

"As the sun illuminates the moon and the stars, so let us illumine one another" ~anonymous

In this podcast, Janet Morrow and Mark Lerner explore how Mark came to choose his career in Astrology and how it has influenced his life. Mark describes the role of divination tools in understanding the world we live in and how the wisdom derived from them embodies our past, present and future as individuals and cultures.

"You make a choice in your life, and it affects your life in all the ways, good and bad." ~John Mayer

with Deanna Rivera

“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.” ~Jiddu Krishnamurti

Welcome to a conversation between Deanna Rivera and Janet Morrow. This is the beginning of what we hope will be a series of shared wisdom from the Chair of Inner Sight. In this first podcast, Janet discusses her belief that loving ourselves is the key to loving others. She explains how this conclusion came from a lifetime of experiences in this school of life that's been her best teacher.

with Tara Falkner

After a six-week absence from podcasting due to health-related challenges, Janet Morrow weighs in with the latest lessons from her body as teacher. In the context of this exploration with close friend and colleague, Tara Faulkner, Janet shares Barry Commoner’s 4 Laws of Ecology: 1) Everything is Connected to Everything Else; 2) Everything Must Go Somewhere; 3) Nature Knows Best; and 4) There is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. In the final analysis, according to Janet, nature will have the final say – and that’s a good thing.