February 19, 2025 • 55 mins
Reverend Tracy Earlywine, our guest in this thought-provoking episode, opens up about her remarkable journey from a nature-loving California girl to a senior minister at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living. Her diverse experiences in hospitality management and extensive travels have shaped her into a seeker of deeper truths. Tracy's path was profoundly influenced by her college years and her mother's engagement with religious science, leading her to embrace an inclusive and metaphysical approach to spirituality. Her story is a testament to the power of curiosity, connection, and a relentless pursuit of understanding life's most profound meanings.
Join us as we explore the heart of spiritual practices and the transformative connections they foster. Reverend Tracy reflects on how therapy and personal introspection have played critical roles in finding centeredness and moving beyond the past. This episode uncovers Tracy's insights on uncovering inner strength, the science of mind philosophy, and the boundless opportunities it reveals. Through her inspiring anecdotes, she emphasizes resilience, love, and the importance of education in opening doors to new possibilities. Get ready for a journey that not only empowers but also invites you to look at life's challenges with fresh eyes and an open heart.
http://claremontcsl.org/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to Soul Sisteries for Spiritual Living,
also just a longtime dear friendof mine and I just love talking
to her always.
She's so inspiring andcentering to me and just so
authentic.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And I love just to hear her, kind of through the
whole interview, talk about joyand the importance of joy and
you know her, her music, herinspiration, her, you know
service is all about joy and Ilove to hear that.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
And those connections .
Didn't you love the littlestory about her as a little girl
connecting with nature,touching all the leaves?
It's just so sweet.
Everybody just listen in.
You're gonna love every moment.
Welcome to Soul Sisteriesmoment.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
Well, it's good to haveeverybody here with us today as
we introduce Reverend TracyEarlywine.
She is the senior minister atthe Claremont Center for
Spiritual Living in SouthernCalifornia.
Tracy describes herself as ateaching minister, in her own
words.
I seek to recognize love andspiritual principle in everyday
life, to reach the deep silenceof spirit and the mystical
(01:32):
heights of transformation.
I value integrity, authenticityand consensus building in all
that I do.
I live life with delight and adeep commitment to empowering
others to live their lives moreabundantly.
Although Tracy is a Californianative, she has traveled
extensively, beginning with heryear as a high school exchange
(01:53):
student to Switzerland and hercollege language studies.
Before becoming a minister,tracy logged over 30 years in
hospitality management andtraining.
She traveled extensively in herprofessional life as a trainer
with Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
Tracy credits her travelexperience as a foundation for
her global perspective andinclusive ministerial style.
(02:16):
We welcome people of all faithsinto our teaching,
understanding that each of ushas what we need within to live
and create our own best life.
Coming together, we arecreating a world that works for
all, and so welcome Tracy, Ifeel like I can get onto the
stage now.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Thank you, amen to all of that.
We're just so delighted to haveyou here.
I mean, I've known you foryears and I love you truly, and
something that I love so muchabout you is that you
demonstrate such beautiful,authentic and graceful living,
(03:01):
so true to the heart and withsuch peaceful ease and grace.
That's the best word I can comeup with and so I just want you
to know that, and I wanteverybody listening to know that
.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
That is who you are Especially on a really good day.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I just love you.
I love you.
So here, obviously, as we justheard in your bio, you've had a
storied and varied career andmany you know.
As one lives a life, there aremany different angles and
corners and turns, and all ofthat collectively has brought
you here and I'm wondering ifyou want to share just kind of
(03:44):
like the highlights.
What is the journey that'sgotten you to where you are
right now doing what you do?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Well, I think, you know, I've always been a
spiritual seeker, I've alwaysbeen curious spiritual seeker.
I've always been curious.
I did not do well with anyreligious organization that told
me not to think or to just do,or no, this is it, no questions.
I don't do no questions verywell.
(04:15):
So it kept me curious, it keptme asking, it kept me looking,
and even as a little girl, justwhen I would walk to school, I
would touch all the plants onthe way to school because and I
would make sure that I touchedevery leaf on the big plants so
that none of the leaves feltleft out.
You know, it's like I had thissense of connection and that
(04:43):
life is life, you know, and Icould never have articulated it
as a child, but I came with that, I really came with that.
So, you know, in my collegeyears I did a lot of exploring
of different spiritualtraditions.
I went to a great, a smallcollege in the Midwest that had
a great, very liberal artsprogram and it had been a
(05:05):
pre-seminary school, so therewere a lot of spiritual classes
offered, taught by scholars, youknow, mostly Christian scholars
.
But I found myself just wantingto know more, always wanting to
know more and really believingthat there was not one way, but
that there was a way tounderstand life better.
(05:26):
And so my mother became aminister, but it was after I had
moved out of the house.
So she found religious science,the science of mind teaching,
which is now called Centers forSpiritual Living, and she and
her husband had done all thestudies and they took on a
church.
And when I would travel forwork I was often on the East
(05:48):
Coast.
They were back in Rhode Island,and so when I would see them on
the East Coast I would attendand, like most of it fit pretty
well with how I saw the world.
It was a very inclusiveapproach, a metaphysical
approach, meaning, just likewhen you take a literature class
.
There are layers and layers ofmeanings in any story.
(06:10):
Beyond the plot, there arelayers of meaning going on, and
I was continued to be fascinatedby that.
So, although I didn't grow upwith her as a minister in the
same house just's not like I wasraised in it it was something
that came to me when I was in my30s, I'd say, and her best
(06:32):
friend was the local minister inmy neighborhood when I finally
returned to California to liveand work and I went to her
church because I loved ReverendJoy.
She was funny she was funnymore than anything and
irreverent and practical andinspiring.
So I continue to be inspired bythe teaching and I don't really
(06:57):
know how I became a minister.
I just kept taking the nextclass.
You know, I kept taking thenext class.
And I remember going toAsilomar, the big summer
conference that we had forCenters for Spiritual Living,
which is all like music andworkshops and people that I
would only see once a yearbecause they're, you know, they
(07:19):
lived on a different coast thanI did.
That I did and I remember goingand I went to the open house
for the college, for HolmesInstitute, which was the process
of becoming a minister of theeducation, and I had never done
that before, I'd been going for15 years, I'd never walked in
there.
I just walked in, startedtalking to somebody, asked a few
(07:40):
questions, and I remember hertelling me I was saying, well, I
, you know, I don't know if Iwant to do this.
I mean, yeah, I know it startsin the fall, I don't know, I was
just curious.
And she said to me well, prettysoon your head will catch up
with your heart.
You just let me know.
And that's that was really thebeginning of it.
(08:01):
So here I am 20 years later, 10, 15 years later as a minister
and, I don't know, 25 years intoscience of mind.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So, and you just kept following your feet and
following your heart.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Exactly, exactly.
Next step what's the next step?
I have no idea what's aroundthe next bend, I just know this
is the next step.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Oh man, that's gorgeous.
I love that.
So you met you in sharing yourstory there.
You use the word connection andI know that when I asked you
about what's your hope throughthat's the that's the word that
you came with.
I know how important that is toyou in your, in your story, in
your journey and how you liveyour life, and I know that
that's part of what you want totalk about today.
(08:42):
That was cool, good example.
By the way, I just visioned youas that little girl and
touching all of those leaves,that connection to plant and to
life, and it's as simple as that, right, yeah?
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, I think it's being able to recognize when we
resonate with something orsomeone.
When we resonate with somethingor someone, you know, and for
me that little walk to schoolevery day was all about seeing,
you know, were the rosesblooming yet, and was the dog in
the yard, and was the littleItalian lady on the corner out
watering her grass in the front,you know, and those were like
(09:19):
just my little touchstones everymorning during the week and,
like I said, I came with that.
It's just kind of how I'vealways seen the world something
to be recognized and appreciated.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Amazing, Amazing Sis, were you?
I'm sorry, you were jumping in.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
No, I was going to let you actually ask the
question, but I, because youknow a little little bit more
about Tracy, that I do know youtoday, tracy, and I appreciate
that.
But I think just hearing thebio, the first thought is okay,
well, we're going to talk about,you know, religion, church,
right, spirituality.
But you shared, donna, the wordconnection and how important
(09:59):
that is.
And I think, talking a littlebit before you showed up, tracy,
we were talking about kind ofthe importance of connection
through challenging times inlife.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Yes and so.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I would love, if you can, to share a little bit about
that, about the importance andthe value of connection during
life.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
And I would.
I will say to your first pointabout you know we're going to
talk about church.
I remember in ministerialschool we would do these mock
panels, so like when you haveyour ordination panels, you're
going to be interviewed byministers and they're going to
ask you questions and you got toknow your stuff right.
And I remember I'm thinking toto myself she's going to ask we
(10:45):
were all sitting in a circle atsome you know colloquium or
something, and the dean isasking uh, everybody, questions,
like you're going to have this.
These are things you're goingto have to answer.
And I'm thinking don't ask methat, don't ask me that, don't
ask me that.
And sure enough, she asked methe one thing I didn't want her
to ask me, which was so tell meabout your spiritual practice.
And I thought I am so bustedbecause my spiritual practice
(11:12):
doesn't always look like aritual or a formula or a I do
this 10 minutes every day and Ido that three times a day.
It doesn't look like that.
My spiritual practice is lookingfor the truth in every
situation, and I don't mean likethe facts of what are happening
(11:33):
, but what is the bigger picture, what else is going on here?
Because I know, when I hearsomebody tell their story of
their difficult relationship ortheir, you know, I do a lot of
counseling with people and maybethey've got a kid that has
addiction issues or maybe, youknow, whatever the trauma is,
(11:54):
maybe for themselves they'regoing through grief story
listening to someone, I don'tsee the whole story.
When I read someone's post onFacebook, I don't, I can't, I
don't from this one place, andso my spiritual practice is to
remember that there is a biggerpicture here, whatever it is,
(12:18):
and so that's what informs how Ifind connection in my life,
because I connect on a.
I choose, I consciously chooseto connect to spirit.
That my sense of the divine, mysense of the energy and essence
(12:38):
of all life, that we all share,something animates all of us,
and that something is, althoughwe are unique in how we express
it, that something is the samefor everybody.
We, you know, we all seek love,we all need shelter, we all
want to be safe.
We, you know these are allhuman, these are innate human
(12:59):
qualities and desires, and byrecognizing the bigger picture,
then the circumstances becomeless intense.
It's not to say that it's lessimportant, because what we, what
I experienced on a human levelis very real.
It's absolutely true.
(13:20):
It's what's going on in themoment and you know, I would
never tell somebody that youknow everything's okay when it
certainly doesn't feel okay.
You know so.
So to me the idea of connectionis I connect first with what I
know about the bigger picture oflife, the sense of source or or
(13:41):
spirit, or by any, whatever youcall it.
For some people it's nature,for some people maybe it's music
.
You know whatever you connectwith.
But I also know that I dobetter when I connect with
people in a way that is heart toheart.
And so, whether that's a friend, or whether it's family or for
(14:04):
sometimes, and sometimes it'scommunity, like I want to be
surrounded but I want to be partof a group that's doing
something that excites me ornurtures and feeds me, then
connection happens on all ofthose levels.
And for me, when I'm in a darkplace or when I'm frustrated, or
when I'm overwhelmed whichseems to be happening a lot
(14:25):
lately, and I know I'm not theonly one what moves me forward
is that finding a point ofconnection with someone, whether
it's a conversation or me evenjust hearing them talk and try
to get clear and ask questions,or maybe it's me going off and
(14:47):
getting it.
You know for me, an open road,a full tank of gas and the
stereo up loud.
I'm good.
I'm good, I'm going to comeback all grounded and back in my
body and ready to go again.
So I think that we each have tofind our own way to what we
connect to, because that is whatfills us up, so that we can
(15:08):
show up in the world, so we canparticipate.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah.
So how did you arrive at thissuch clear knowing and such a
clear ability to get to thatgroundedness and to re-find your
center?
How did you get from thatlittle tracy touching the leaves
to here?
What you know, because itbecause, for each of us right,
we can go in differentdirections and we can, um you
(15:35):
know, not find this so centeredplace yeah, well, I, I will
credit some of that, uh, earlyprocess to um therapy.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
You know, learning the value of talking to someone
and being heard, really beingheard and validated, and then,
in that process, being able tolet go of whatever truly is in
the past and no longer has powerover me.
I'm thinking about this somemore, so there's go ahead.
(16:11):
Ask me again how did I get to?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
yeah, how did you get from that little tracy touching
the leaves to this woman who isin the midst of hardships and
challenges and obviously awareof things that go on in the
world that are not filled withlove?
Right, you know, but tomaintain your sense of love and
(16:34):
center and all of that, and Imean therapy is a great answer
therapy is really helpful.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I mean, that really did lay the foundation, you know
, and when I was first thinkingabout going to college, I really
(17:03):
thought I might go intopsychology.
I think it's in some waysstarted with hindsight of being
able to look back, havingsomebody point out to me hey,
let's remember I know you feellike crap right now, but let's
remember when you were in thisother situation and you did this
and this and this and youweren't sure it was ever going
(17:24):
to end, and then it got betterand and you've done that all
along the way.
So being able to look back andsee that I was stronger than I
thought, or I I did have helpers, or I did find a way forward
and I, for me, the, the truththat there is always a way
(17:46):
forward is what allows me tokeep thinking about
possibilities.
And then, honestly, thephilosophy that I teach, you
know, the science of mindphilosophy is, it's not just
positive thinking and, you know,think yourself into wealth, and
that's not what it is.
It really is understanding thatany possibility in life is
(18:07):
available and our choices bringus to the possibilities that are
ours.
To do out that and seeing thelight go on for someone else you
(18:28):
know I had.
I had someone ask me when I was,you know, just taking classes
at the center I was at at thetimes and say, is your life
better when you're in class?
It's like, well, yeah, why?
What makes the difference?
What makes the difference iswhere I'm putting my attention
and and being willing to kind offigure out my attention and and
being willing to kind of figureout all right, well, how does
spirit show up in this situation?
(18:48):
Or how is there a greater truthhappening here?
How, when this looks so dark,can there possibly be any joy in
life?
And and now I see it all thetime, you know it's a practice,
it's, you know, if you, if youlook for something, you will
find it.
You know, I, I, I have a lot offriends that you know.
They think the world is a hardplace and people are going to
(19:14):
take advantage of them andthey're proven right all the
time.
And then I have other peoplewho say life is great and it's
not always easy, but you knowwhat.
I always come out okay and youknow what they always come out
okay.
I think we find what we'relooking for and so I've learned
to look for better things and Ifind them and again it, it
(19:37):
doesn't stop all this otherstuff from coming at us.
You know it's like I go on myFacebook feed, I see all the
stuff that's out there that'shurtful or hateful or angry or
divisive.
You know, but I was Donnie, youand I were talking earlier and
I said you know I was, I had anight.
I was flipping through Facebookat night and you know, looking
(19:59):
for the dog pictures and the catvideos and the and the friends
on trips videos, all thiseverybody's opinion about
everybody else and everythingelse.
And it's just.
You know it's so hard and rightnow it's so negative and so
divisive and people are soanxious and so afraid and
(20:23):
therefore so angry.
And you know, after trying toskip over a bunch of those.
I was like, okay, this is likeno fun, I got to go to sleep to
skip over a bunch of those.
I was like, okay, this is likeno fun, I got to go to sleep.
But then my little two and ahalf year old niece's video
popped up on Facebook becauseher mama had posted it.
And there she is in the parkwith her mama and her Gigi and
(20:43):
she's dancing.
She's bouncing her little kneesand dancing to reggae, and the
three of them are dancing on thegrass to reggae, and the three
of them are dancing on the grass.
And it's like it's not justthat.
That was a happy thing.
What I felt was my entire bodychanged, all that constriction
(21:05):
and that tension and thetightness in my throat and the
headache starting behind my eyes, and, wow, I really need to lay
down and go to sleep.
All of that was gone and it wasjust this joy in this little
package right here of thislittle girl dancing, and what it
tells me is it's a reminderthat that joy is also true and
(21:29):
also happening and also here andso, connecting with the music,
connecting with her joy,connecting with family, those
things refresh me so that, as Ithen continued to scroll through
Facebook because I didn'treally want to go to sleep just
(21:49):
yet, none of that other stuffreally got in.
It's like my defenses were up.
My feeling was better, I couldlook at it, I could have
compassion for people that arereally struggling.
I could see how we are reallyin this huge upheaval of a
process and there is a wayforward, because all of these
(22:12):
other things are also true thatduality right like this is not
negating the reality of thehardships, the challenges, pain
that exists and also littleniece dancing in the park right
right with mom and grandma.
That exists, yes, yeah exactly,and and that's always true and
(22:34):
that's always true and even whenI have a conflict within myself
.
You know, I think I should havedone something differently, or,
oh my gosh, I can't believe Iforgot to respond three weeks
ago to this person and I get inthat whole.
You know that conversation.
You know that conversation inyour head.
I think it was just yesterday Ihad that, and it can go on a
really long time, and especiallyif it shows up at you know
(22:55):
three in the morning, thenyou're like really in for it.
But it's that reminder that Ican choose where to put my
attention.
I can trust that I'm going tomake that right whatever it is,
or I'm going to take the nextstep over there, because there
is a next step and to me that'swhat hope is.
(23:17):
Hope is this knowing withconfidence.
Knowing with trust, expecting agood outcome, expecting that
the right option is available,will show up.
I will know what to do.
I may not see it from here, Idon't even know why or what it
is yet, but I know there is astep.
(23:37):
You know I may not know whatyou need in your life to lift
your depression or help you getalong better with your kids, but
I know there is something andto me, that kind of confidence,
that kind of trust some peoplewould call it faith.
You know it can be a religiousconcept, but it doesn't have to
(23:57):
be.
It is what is in us that keepsus moving forward, and I can
choose where I put my attention.
And when I can't choose where Ican put my attention, I call my
friends.
You know I talk to my spiritualadvisor.
I make sure I get outside.
I do the things that nurture me.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
You know, when?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
when did you know that?
When?
When did you come to thatrealization?
Was that not as the little girlwalking to school?
Was it after the ministerialschool?
Was it when your mom became aminister?
When did you learn that?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
I think I learned it in my own, it was my own
spiritual growth.
I would say as a kid I couldn'tarticulate it, I wouldn't have
said that I knew it then, Icouldn't name it then.
But the combination ofpsychological support and
(25:05):
studying different spiritualpaths and specifically going to
ministerial school, that was abig.
That was a big shift.
That ministerial school gave mea language for it.
I think I'd been discoveringthe concepts all along the way.
Like again I could look back atmy life and see where I had come
(25:25):
through things that at the timeI thought there was no way out,
I was going to be stuck forever.
You know we've all had that darknight.
You know where we just thinkthis is it, it's over.
And looking I could always seethat things happened or people
happened along the way thatbrought me up and out.
(25:48):
And it school taught me torecognize that as living in
possibility.
Like if I could know that atthe beginning of my depression,
if I could see that in themiddle of the trauma or the
sadness or the fear, if I couldremember that in the middle of
(26:10):
something happening to me or thefear, if I could remember that
in the middle of somethinghappening to me, then I could
shorten the time and effort thatit took to get through it.
And you know, not to get rid ofit, not to pretend like it
didn't happen, but to integrateit.
You know all of those thingsshape us.
All of my life experiences haveshaped me and I'm always at
(26:33):
choice on how I want to livefrom this minute forward.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And that's what and what you just said right there.
I think that's the key.
They all shape you, but you,you make, you're making
conscious choices.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Yes, I'm still more than that one thing.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Right, as, whatever the hardest thing is, that's
still not the whole story of mylife.
Yeah, you know, and, and therelationship that goes south,
it's like that's still not thewhole story of my life.
Yeah, you know, and, and therelationship that goes south,
it's like that's still not thewhole story of my ability to be
in or have or appreciate arelationship.
Right, even though it's thatrelationship.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
It's that relationship that went south,
still had within it so manybeauties and so many things that
are all to be embraced, andright in the end it went south
and you move forward.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Yeah, right, right and I just see similarities
between kind of what you sharedwith your education, serial
school and mine.
I I did choose that psychologyroute.
So in my training apsychologist and therapist would
always say like, even if Inever did any counseling or any
(27:36):
therapy for anybody, what I cameout of that experience is
phenomenal and I'm a betterperson for it.
I'm a better partner for it, abetter sister, a better mother.
So I love to hear that there'sthis like we don't all have to
go through the same path.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
No, no, not at all, and I really, you know, part of
what we, what I teach, and partof what really moves me is I
really have come to trust thatpeople have their own answers,
(28:16):
given enough space to find them,given enough time, given enough
validation and patience for usto let what's inside of us rise
up, because we do really know.
I had a very distinctexperience in one of my classes,
in part of my trainingcounseling someone, training
(28:38):
counseling someone, and one ofthe ways in which I think is I
see patterns and I makeconnections.
I had a really hard time ingeometry because I couldn't go
step by step through the proof.
I could get to the end and thenI'd have to work backwards to
figure out what this?
Because I just do it, I don'teven I don't know how to explain
it.
So where was I going with that?
I just do it, I don't even Idon't know how to explain it.
So where was I going with that?
So I had an experience wheresomebody was talking about
(28:59):
something going on in their life.
I was counseling them, so I waslistening, right, and I said
something about like what to me,was the obvious next step?
Oh, so that means you willda-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
And the person I was talkingwith or listening to, to their
(29:19):
credit, said no, I don't thinkthat's it.
And they waited a second.
And then they said what theythought and, of course, what
they thought was perfect forthem.
And I never would have saidthat because it was not part of
(29:40):
my framework, wasn't part of myexperience, wasn't part of what
had shaped me in my life.
And that stuck with me.
That whole conversation stuckwith me, because I don't know
what's best for you.
I don't have to know what'sbest for you.
What I do know is that there isa way forward that is best for
you.
I don't have to know what'sbest for you.
What I do know is that there isa way forward that is right for
you.
And if I know that and I livethat way, then I think people
can see that.
(30:00):
People get, you know, they gethopeful for themselves.
You know they think, oh well,there must.
Maybe there's a way forward forme too.
And that's what opens the doorto recognizing those next steps
or those little nudges to go ina certain direction.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Well, let's take that then and make a connection,
because you and I we do knoweach other and we were talking
earlier and I know that part ofwhat you have to share and part
of you know the challenge thatyou've experienced in your own
life is around sort of the theend of life, the later part of
the life for your, your parents,and the challenges in their
(30:42):
health and their care.
And you know that, that, howhard that was, and, and, um,
just how, how, how all of thisapplies to that journey, that
you're not saying, well, oh itwas, everything was just fine
and I just thought my waythrough.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
This is a theory, this is like real stuff, right,
yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
So if you talk a little bit about that and and
this idea of connections, alsoin the hope, through the
connections, if you would yeah,so, uh, my mom and her husband,
um, uh, they the, I should say,her last husband.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
They met later in life.
They had a like 15 yearstogether and the first seven
they they met because my mom wasin rehab.
She'd had a minor stroke, shehad some physical challenges, so
she was doing physical therapyand she met Paul on the rehab
bus.
He was there for back surgery,recovery from back surgery, so
(31:44):
they had the first seven yearsof their lives together.
Was this whirlwind of activityand travel?
And I've never seen my momhappier.
They both adored each other.
He was a staunch Catholic andshe was a science of mind
minister, and they had the bestconversations.
It was fabulous.
And then my mom took anotherfall and had a more serious
(32:07):
injury which compromised herability to communicate, and Paul
took on the main role ofcaregiver, which worked really
well, until his own health beganto decline a bit.
He was in his 80s and it got tothe point where we knew that
(32:28):
they were going to need morehelp at home.
And my stepsister, paul'sdaughter, has a medical
background, lives close by andwould just like stop by and
check in on him.
And you know, we kind of makesure I'll bring dinner one night
.
Hey, can you bring dinneranother night?
And so the two of us would kindof tag team, just making sure
(32:51):
we were there.
Well, as things go, you know,their health continued to
decline and they needed morecare and it got more complicated
and my mom wasn't reallyresponding to therapy anymore,
like speech therapy or you know,just to be able to do practical
things for herself.
She was losing what she'd hadbefore.
(33:13):
And I remember talking to herneurologist and I said you know,
I know that if I could spend acouple hours a day with her on
helping her with herverbalization and vocabulary and
helping her find the words, andI know that if it was more
intense we could make moreprogress.
And I looked at her and I wasso upset I said but I just can't
(33:36):
do it.
And she said one of the mostvaluable things to me.
She said you know, she saysthat's not what you give her,
that's not your role with her,that's not for you to do.
You need to be there becauseshe's your mom.
And that shifted everything forme.
So when I think about the wordconnection with that, I think
(33:59):
about me connecting with alarger community of support that
I wasn't doing it all by myself.
I think about me connecting withmy mom in any and every way I
could, that whatever I did wasenough.
Whatever I did, however Ishowed up was what worked and I
(34:22):
have a very distinct picture ofher coming in early in the
morning to help her get ready inthe morning.
And as we were going, if wedidn't have a caregiver with
them, I was going to put her tobed or I was going to get her up
and you know we were helpedbecause Paul couldn't do the
physical changes and stuff likethat with her.
And I remember walking into theroom and she was just kind of
(34:46):
lying in bed looking at nothing,you know, not really processing
or connected, and she saw myface and her face lit up like
she knew exactly who I was andwhy I was there.
And that recognition that thatconnection is valuable in and of
itself made it possible for meto drive seven days a week at 10
(35:06):
o'clock at night and help herget to bed and go on the
weekends when the caregiverdidn't show up.
And I wasn't the only one, wehad a whole circle of people
doing that and it's human natureto connect.
It's human nature to love.
It's human nature to help.
(35:27):
All you have to do is look atwhat happens when there's any
kind of communal disaster youknow the fires, you know, or the
hurricanes, everybody shows up.
Everybody shows up.
You don't ask the guy next toyou filling sandbags what church
he goes to or who he voted for,or you know that stuff doesn't
matter when we're present toeach other.
(35:49):
And so, had I not been able toreach out when I needed help, or
to ask the questions thatneeded to be asked, or to take a
break, you know to say look,we're going on this trip, this
camp, whatever it was.
We're going to be gone thisweekend.
(36:09):
I'll be back next week to doall the stuff.
You know, if I hadn't been ableto do that for myself, I
wouldn't have been able to bethere for her.
So if we can't, you know golook at the cat video in between
listening to the news.
We can't be present to make adifference or to take care of
ourselves.
Or, you know, put your ownoxygen mask on first.
(36:29):
You can't help anybody if youcan't breathe.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah, kind of bottom line, Just bottom liner right
there, yeah, right, right.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
So true, but what it's also done is it?
I expect to find thoseconnections, I expect to see
those helpers, not that I expectany one person to do something
for me.
It's not like that.
It's just the.
This is how life works, this ishow we are with each other, and
(37:10):
when we're not, then I need totake a step back and breathe or
dance or sing or hide orwhatever it is and then come
back to the world.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, boy, as you said that, your little kid I
love that, that was sweetheartoh she has a little heart on her
forehead.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
That's how she got that name.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
I have two questions I want to ask and I'm wondering
which one I'm going to ask.
Your 13-year-old self, yourlittle girl, your 13-year-old
maybe starting to come into herown there as a teen, what would
she say to you or what would shethink about what you're doing
now and kind of your perspectiveof things now?
What do you?
Speaker 3 (37:55):
think She'd be like Donna, she'd be going.
How did you get there?
How did you do that?
Because at 13, nothing lookedpossible and everybody was
stupid, so it's really hard tosee a way forward.
You know, and the other part ofher would say I told you I was
(38:15):
smart, I told you I could figureit out, because I think there's
, you know, there's something inme I know, and I see it in
other people, whether they do ornot.
There's something in us thatknows, and so I would.
I would, I would go back to herand say, see, I told you you
could do it.
You know, I knew you could doit.
Here we are, here we are.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
How smart that little girl was, cause the story you
told us first was that touchingall the leaves and I'm thinking
of all the research today yes,what it does to touch and talk
to our plants and give ourplants love and how they
flourish.
And so, yeah, before theresearch was out there.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
Yes, yes, I was probably the living example.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
I mean, right when the poop has fallen down, go
talk to a tree.
It cannot fail the whole forestbathing idea.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Well, and isn't it fascinating that what the
mystics of every spiritualtradition come to is the same
place of oneness.
It doesn't matter how they gotthere, it doesn't matter what
path they were on, they get tooneness.
And isn't it interesting thatquantum physics says that the
underlying substance of all lifeis one substance?
And how spirituality andreligion, which had been
(39:32):
together, you know, in theMiddle Ages and then separated,
and is now coming back together.
They're not mutually exclusive.
We're not only building blocks.
We do have a sense of unity andconnection under the surface.
That is measurable, that we cansee and we've always sensed it.
(39:54):
But now we can measure it,isn't that interesting?
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Very interesting.
That's some good stuff.
What was your other question,sis?
I'm curious.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I was wondering if I was going to say what would she
say to her 13-year-old self.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Oh that's good.
That's good.
Yeah, what I said, like youwere really smart, you had it
all along Good job.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
You had the shoes all along.
That's right.
It was in you always, dorothy.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
I love you.
Okay, so, in this varied world,who is it that inspires you, my
friend?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Who inspires me?
Speaker 1 (40:40):
I mean obviously your two and a half year old niece,
for sure any baby, any baby.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Um, you know I'm I'm inspired by, uh, the writers
that I see, the artists that Isee, the artists that I see that
continue to express, not inspite of, but because of, the
(41:08):
fractured culture we are livingin.
It's the folks that canarticulate these ideas.
It's the artists that can bringa sense of beauty to something
that pulls us out of thedifficulty or the darkness.
It's the musicians that write asong that touch the heart about
(41:29):
hey, you know you got this.
It's a deep well, you're okay.
You know I'm not okay.
It's okay to not what is it?
I'm not okay and we're allgoing to be all right.
The country song that's up nowit's like.
So that's what inspires me isthat we all have that in us and
that is the hope of tomorrow.
That is the confidence thatthere is a future and that there
(41:51):
is a way to get there.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Big snaps to that.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
So do you have a life philosophy?
Well, I I kind of teach a lifephilosophy all the time, but if
I had to distill it down, Iwould say that that, um, that
love is the power of life, andthat love is what creates the
path forward.
And there is always a pathforward.
I think that's my biggestmotivator.
(42:27):
There is always a way forward.
I don't have to know what'spossible, but I do know that
something is possible and I'mokay with it.
Coming from an unexpecteddirection, you know, like that
person who thinks they have toget a new job because their job
(42:48):
doesn't pay them enough andthey're not making enough to
live on and they need a new joband they need a raise.
And then it's like or you couldmarry money, you know, or you
could get an inheritance fromsomebody you didn't know, or
it's like, any way it comes, orsomebody could just buy you
lunch every day.
You know that whole idea thatour good comes to us from many
(43:10):
different directions.
I'm just open to it yeah that'sa
Speaker 1 (43:16):
gorgeous'm sorry, sis , I talked right over you.
What were you saying?
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Same thing.
That is a good message fortoday, where we are today Very
helpful.
Thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
There's always a path forward and love is the way.
It's gorgeous.
I'm writing both of those down.
Listen to my sunday talks.
I say them pretty much everytime, perfect perfect, perfect,
excellent, all right, so um letme ask you as, um, you know
(43:55):
there's obviously still muchlife to be lived, and yet, when
the time comes, when thatcurtain is drawn and you move on
to the next, whatever it is,how do you hope that those here
remember you when they think ofyou?
What's that legacy that youhope to leave behind?
Speaker 3 (44:19):
I think that it's a feeling of living with joy, and
let me see if I can articulatethis it's what I've done with my
(44:44):
parents passing and somefriends that have gone.
There's something in me thatknows that I have been shaped by
that relationship and that thatis not lost.
So when I feel that and see itin the present day, even though
they seem to be gone quoteunquote they live, and so what I
would want is that live.
And so what I would want isthat people thinking of me would
(45:04):
have a feeling or a sense ofthe joy and the possibility and
the laughter and the depth oflife that would inspire them to
do the same.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
So beautiful.
Thank you for that, that'slovely.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
I can't help but think.
Your beginning of that responsesaid living with joy going back
to when we asked who inspiresyou?
It was also Reverend Joy.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, she hasn't passed yet, but,
yeah, definitely, joy ispervasive in your life.
(45:54):
One of the things I did when Igot there is I'd found these
like removable stick on the wallposters long skinny posters at
Michael's or someplace with theword joy on them.
And the thing about theHuntington Beach Sanctuary in
the center is that there arethese pillars right in the
middle of the room and, you know, people smack into them.
So I took those long skinny joyposters and put them up on
(46:17):
those pillars so that peoplewouldn't smack into them, and
the word joy was like all overthe sanctuary and I thought this
is my ministry, this is itright here, you know, and the
fact that my first minister wasReverend joy, because I don't
count my mom, she wasn't ever myminister, she was my mom.
We did call her Reverend mom,which she loved, of course, but
(46:39):
yeah, it was all about joy.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Fabulous, all right.
Well, are you good?
I think we've come to the partin our little podcast where we
do our rapid fire questions and,as we say, you don't
necessarily have to be thatrapid or fired, they're just.
We're just the ask questionsand all we just whatever first
comes to your mind.
Okay, rather than deep thought.
Yeah, all right, I'll try.
(47:03):
Okay, you want to take it away,sis?
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Sure, kind of like, if you're walking up to the
stage, what would be yourwalk-in song?
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Three Dog Night.
Joy to the World.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Yep, that was there.
What book changed you, oh?
Speaker 3 (47:24):
I have two.
When I was a kid it was AWrinkle in Time by Madeline
L'Engle, the whole perception,perspective thing, and on my
spiritual path I would say thisThing Called you by Ernest
Holmes.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Both excellent books.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Okay, what movie lives rent-free in your brain?
Speaker 3 (47:50):
Oh, my favorite movie of all times is Mary Poppins
and it's that combination ofimagination and play and music
and I always wanted to jump intoa picture that was painted on
the sidewalk, right, right, andfloat up to the ceiling while
(48:11):
having tea.
I mean that all-time favoritemovie.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
I have hope for us, Tracy.
We will do those things Somehowwe will.
We will do those things Somehowwe will.
We will, it will happen.
Okay.
What did you love doing as akid that you love doing to this
day?
Speaker 3 (48:28):
Anything to do with color.
I like to play with color, so,like coloring mandala, mandalas
or or a magic marker, I write mymy talks on Sunday in color.
Different colors for quotesversus spiritual, versus real
life, versus exam.
I mean orange and blue andgreen.
(48:48):
Um, when I was a little girlthere we had some game that had
these little baby poker chips,you know, with the little ridges
on them, but they were tiny andI used to stack them up in
different orders so I could getdifferent stripes on it.
You know all yellow.
I mean anything to do withcolor.
I still do that.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
That's a fun fact to know about you.
I like that.
I like that.
Was it my question or yours?
I lost track, sis.
Speaker 2 (49:14):
What in your world is lighting you up right now?
Speaker 3 (49:18):
what in your world is lighting you up right now?
What is lighting me up rightnow?
Yeah, there might not be aquick answer to that one.
Again, I think it's this, it'sthis sense that, whatever all
this noise and what feels likedestruction is happening, I
(49:42):
still know that something iscoming forth, and it's because
of the art and the music and thepeople speaking up and the
outrage at inhumanity and theextension of helping hands
wherever possible, whenever Isee that.
(50:02):
I think that's what just makesit all okay, makes it all, makes
progress possible, and I thinkI need that more than anything
right now is to know thatprogress is possible.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
Yeah, 100%, 100%.
What color is hope?
Speaker 3 (50:23):
I think it's yellow, I think it's light, I think it's
cheerful, I think it's look,let me show you the way.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
Yeah, what does hope sound like?
Speaker 3 (50:36):
It sounds like, sound like.
It sounds like the breeze inthe trees and the music in the
distance, and it's whateverdraws you forward down the path.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Oh, wow, okay, I can hear it.
I can hear it right now.
All right, so complete thestatement.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
Connection is the language of the heart I love.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
That Okay, spirit is.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
Everything, the meaning of life is Just a small.
Speaker 3 (51:17):
Meaning of life.
Yeah, is the meaning of life.
Yeah, is the meaning of life.
What does life mean?
Expression yeah, we're here toexpress.
Hope is always possible.
Speaker 1 (51:37):
and on that gorgeous note, I think we've come to a
beautiful conclusion.
Wonderful, it's always possible.
Josh, thank you so much foryour time, your insights, your
wisdom, your heart and your joy.
Speaker 3 (51:52):
It's in fact it has been a pleasure and a little, a
little nerve wrwracking, but butreally just a delight to to
hear, to be asked a question andto realize I do have something
to say about that, and then tohave you receive it in such a
generous way.
You know, this is what we dofor each other and I just I love
(52:16):
it.
I love what you're doing withthe show.
I just think it's fabulous.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Oh, thank you.
I'm soaking that in.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
Well, I'll say for me and I think, donna, I think you
agree that it is kind of likeit's about me, because I want to
know more about you, you know.
So I mean I'm being selfish bysaying, hey, come on the show,
but I want to know more aboutyou, I want to feel more hope.
I, you know.
I think that that is the hopethrough connection is exactly
(52:48):
why we're doing this, becausethese connections somebody Donna
knows well, somebody I didn'tknow as well you know today to
give us that connection, givesus more hope.
Speaker 3 (53:02):
Yes, exactly Exactly, and I will just put in a little
plug, a little commercial formy center.
You can find our Sunday serviceonline.
Go to our web page atclaremontcslorg, scroll down and
there's a link to all the pastSunday Talks, and we are on
Facebook and all of that.
But you know, it's like checkout this philosophy, because
(53:25):
what I'm speaking is a way oflife that is possible and it
doesn't matter what spiritualpath you're on.
You don't have to give up beingwhatever you are.
It's just a different way ofappreciating what life has to
offer and trusting what weourselves have to offer to life.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Absolutely, and I'm glad that you did share that.
We want everybody to know thattoo.
You can hear so much more fromthe fabulous Reverend Tracy all
sorts of wonderful talks and golive and visit and be among
others of like mind and learnand share that joy together and
really share all.
Share the realness, the heart.
(54:08):
Yeah, you know, that's nopretense about where we are and
who just come authentically andand connect.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
Yes and connect.
Speaker 1 (54:18):
And therein is the hope.
Thank you so much, beautifulTracey.
Speaker 3 (54:21):
You're so welcome.
Speaker 1 (54:22):
For being with us.
We love you.
Speaker 3 (54:24):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Love you too.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
Thanks for joining us today on Soul Sisteries.
Speaker 1 (54:30):
And thanks for sharing stories with us.
We'd love to hear your storiesas well and keep the
conversation going, absolutelykeeping the hope going.
So we're really hopeful thatyou'll connect with our guests
as well, who have great storiesto share.
Go ahead and follow them invarious social media platforms
or live venues, wherever it isthat they're performing and
(54:54):
sharing what they do.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
We would love to have you follow us on all of our
social media platforms,subscribe and rate, as that will
help us get our message of hopeout to others.
Thanks for listening to.
Speaker 1 (55:05):
Soul Sisteries.
Welcome to Soul Sisteries for Spiritual Living,
also just a longtime dear friendof mine and I just love talking
to her always.
She's so inspiring andcentering to me and just so
authentic.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And I love just to hear her, kind of through the
whole interview, talk about joyand the importance of joy and
you know her, her music, herinspiration, her, you know
service is all about joy and Ilove to hear that.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
And those connections .
Didn't you love the littlestory about her as a little girl
connecting with nature,touching all the leaves?
It's just so sweet.
Everybody just listen in.
You're gonna love every moment.
Welcome to Soul Sisteriesmoment.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
Well, it's good to haveeverybody here with us today as
we introduce Reverend TracyEarlywine.
She is the senior minister atthe Claremont Center for
Spiritual Living in SouthernCalifornia.
Tracy describes herself as ateaching minister, in her own
words.
I seek to recognize love andspiritual principle in everyday
life, to reach the deep silenceof spirit and the mystical
(01:32):
heights of transformation.
I value integrity, authenticityand consensus building in all
that I do.
I live life with delight and adeep commitment to empowering
others to live their lives moreabundantly.
Although Tracy is a Californianative, she has traveled
extensively, beginning with heryear as a high school exchange
(01:53):
student to Switzerland and hercollege language studies.
Before becoming a minister,tracy logged over 30 years in
hospitality management andtraining.
She traveled extensively in herprofessional life as a trainer
with Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
Tracy credits her travelexperience as a foundation for
her global perspective andinclusive ministerial style.
(02:16):
We welcome people of all faithsinto our teaching,
understanding that each of ushas what we need within to live
and create our own best life.
Coming together, we arecreating a world that works for
all, and so welcome Tracy, Ifeel like I can get onto the
stage now.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Thank you, amen to all of that.
We're just so delighted to haveyou here.
I mean, I've known you foryears and I love you truly, and
something that I love so muchabout you is that you
demonstrate such beautiful,authentic and graceful living,
(03:01):
so true to the heart and withsuch peaceful ease and grace.
That's the best word I can comeup with and so I just want you
to know that, and I wanteverybody listening to know that
.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
That is who you are Especially on a really good day.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I just love you.
I love you.
So here, obviously, as we justheard in your bio, you've had a
storied and varied career andmany you know.
As one lives a life, there aremany different angles and
corners and turns, and all ofthat collectively has brought
you here and I'm wondering ifyou want to share just kind of
(03:44):
like the highlights.
What is the journey that'sgotten you to where you are
right now doing what you do?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Well, I think, you know, I've always been a
spiritual seeker, I've alwaysbeen curious spiritual seeker.
I've always been curious.
I did not do well with anyreligious organization that told
me not to think or to just do,or no, this is it, no questions.
I don't do no questions verywell.
(04:15):
So it kept me curious, it keptme asking, it kept me looking,
and even as a little girl, justwhen I would walk to school, I
would touch all the plants onthe way to school because and I
would make sure that I touchedevery leaf on the big plants so
that none of the leaves feltleft out.
You know, it's like I had thissense of connection and that
(04:43):
life is life, you know, and Icould never have articulated it
as a child, but I came with that, I really came with that.
So, you know, in my collegeyears I did a lot of exploring
of different spiritualtraditions.
I went to a great, a smallcollege in the Midwest that had
a great, very liberal artsprogram and it had been a
(05:05):
pre-seminary school, so therewere a lot of spiritual classes
offered, taught by scholars, youknow, mostly Christian scholars
.
But I found myself just wantingto know more, always wanting to
know more and really believingthat there was not one way, but
that there was a way tounderstand life better.
(05:26):
And so my mother became aminister, but it was after I had
moved out of the house.
So she found religious science,the science of mind teaching,
which is now called Centers forSpiritual Living, and she and
her husband had done all thestudies and they took on a
church.
And when I would travel forwork I was often on the East
(05:48):
Coast.
They were back in Rhode Island,and so when I would see them on
the East Coast I would attendand, like most of it fit pretty
well with how I saw the world.
It was a very inclusiveapproach, a metaphysical
approach, meaning, just likewhen you take a literature class
.
There are layers and layers ofmeanings in any story.
(06:10):
Beyond the plot, there arelayers of meaning going on, and
I was continued to be fascinatedby that.
So, although I didn't grow upwith her as a minister in the
same house just's not like I wasraised in it it was something
that came to me when I was in my30s, I'd say, and her best
(06:32):
friend was the local minister inmy neighborhood when I finally
returned to California to liveand work and I went to her
church because I loved ReverendJoy.
She was funny she was funnymore than anything and
irreverent and practical andinspiring.
So I continue to be inspired bythe teaching and I don't really
(06:57):
know how I became a minister.
I just kept taking the nextclass.
You know, I kept taking thenext class.
And I remember going toAsilomar, the big summer
conference that we had forCenters for Spiritual Living,
which is all like music andworkshops and people that I
would only see once a yearbecause they're, you know, they
(07:19):
lived on a different coast thanI did.
That I did and I remember goingand I went to the open house
for the college, for HolmesInstitute, which was the process
of becoming a minister of theeducation, and I had never done
that before, I'd been going for15 years, I'd never walked in
there.
I just walked in, startedtalking to somebody, asked a few
(07:40):
questions, and I remember hertelling me I was saying, well, I
, you know, I don't know if Iwant to do this.
I mean, yeah, I know it startsin the fall, I don't know, I was
just curious.
And she said to me well, prettysoon your head will catch up
with your heart.
You just let me know.
And that's that was really thebeginning of it.
(08:01):
So here I am 20 years later, 10, 15 years later as a minister
and, I don't know, 25 years intoscience of mind.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So, and you just kept following your feet and
following your heart.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Exactly, exactly.
Next step what's the next step?
I have no idea what's aroundthe next bend, I just know this
is the next step.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Oh man, that's gorgeous.
I love that.
So you met you in sharing yourstory there.
You use the word connection andI know that when I asked you
about what's your hope throughthat's the that's the word that
you came with.
I know how important that is toyou in your, in your story, in
your journey and how you liveyour life, and I know that
that's part of what you want totalk about today.
(08:42):
That was cool, good example.
By the way, I just visioned youas that little girl and
touching all of those leaves,that connection to plant and to
life, and it's as simple as that, right, yeah?
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, I think it's being able to recognize when we
resonate with something orsomeone.
When we resonate with somethingor someone, you know, and for
me that little walk to schoolevery day was all about seeing,
you know, were the rosesblooming yet, and was the dog in
the yard, and was the littleItalian lady on the corner out
watering her grass in the front,you know, and those were like
(09:19):
just my little touchstones everymorning during the week and,
like I said, I came with that.
It's just kind of how I'vealways seen the world something
to be recognized and appreciated.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Amazing, Amazing Sis, were you?
I'm sorry, you were jumping in.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
No, I was going to let you actually ask the
question, but I, because youknow a little little bit more
about Tracy, that I do know youtoday, tracy, and I appreciate
that.
But I think just hearing thebio, the first thought is okay,
well, we're going to talk about,you know, religion, church,
right, spirituality.
But you shared, donna, the wordconnection and how important
(09:59):
that is.
And I think, talking a littlebit before you showed up, tracy,
we were talking about kind ofthe importance of connection
through challenging times inlife.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Yes and so.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I would love, if you can, to share a little bit about
that, about the importance andthe value of connection during
life.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
And I would.
I will say to your first pointabout you know we're going to
talk about church.
I remember in ministerialschool we would do these mock
panels, so like when you haveyour ordination panels, you're
going to be interviewed byministers and they're going to
ask you questions and you got toknow your stuff right.
And I remember I'm thinking toto myself she's going to ask we
(10:45):
were all sitting in a circle atsome you know colloquium or
something, and the dean isasking uh, everybody, questions,
like you're going to have this.
These are things you're goingto have to answer.
And I'm thinking don't ask methat, don't ask me that, don't
ask me that.
And sure enough, she asked methe one thing I didn't want her
to ask me, which was so tell meabout your spiritual practice.
And I thought I am so bustedbecause my spiritual practice
(11:12):
doesn't always look like aritual or a formula or a I do
this 10 minutes every day and Ido that three times a day.
It doesn't look like that.
My spiritual practice is lookingfor the truth in every
situation, and I don't mean likethe facts of what are happening
(11:33):
, but what is the bigger picture, what else is going on here?
Because I know, when I hearsomebody tell their story of
their difficult relationship ortheir, you know, I do a lot of
counseling with people and maybethey've got a kid that has
addiction issues or maybe, youknow, whatever the trauma is,
(11:54):
maybe for themselves they'regoing through grief story
listening to someone, I don'tsee the whole story.
When I read someone's post onFacebook, I don't, I can't, I
don't from this one place, andso my spiritual practice is to
remember that there is a biggerpicture here, whatever it is,
(12:18):
and so that's what informs how Ifind connection in my life,
because I connect on a.
I choose, I consciously chooseto connect to spirit.
That my sense of the divine, mysense of the energy and essence
(12:38):
of all life, that we all share,something animates all of us,
and that something is, althoughwe are unique in how we express
it, that something is the samefor everybody.
We, you know, we all seek love,we all need shelter, we all
want to be safe.
We, you know these are allhuman, these are innate human
(12:59):
qualities and desires, and byrecognizing the bigger picture,
then the circumstances becomeless intense.
It's not to say that it's lessimportant, because what we, what
I experienced on a human levelis very real.
It's absolutely true.
(13:20):
It's what's going on in themoment and you know, I would
never tell somebody that youknow everything's okay when it
certainly doesn't feel okay.
You know so.
So to me the idea of connectionis I connect first with what I
know about the bigger picture oflife, the sense of source or or
(13:41):
spirit, or by any, whatever youcall it.
For some people it's nature,for some people maybe it's music
.
You know whatever you connectwith.
But I also know that I dobetter when I connect with
people in a way that is heart toheart.
And so, whether that's a friend, or whether it's family or for
(14:04):
sometimes, and sometimes it'scommunity, like I want to be
surrounded but I want to be partof a group that's doing
something that excites me ornurtures and feeds me, then
connection happens on all ofthose levels.
And for me, when I'm in a darkplace or when I'm frustrated, or
when I'm overwhelmed whichseems to be happening a lot
(14:25):
lately, and I know I'm not theonly one what moves me forward
is that finding a point ofconnection with someone, whether
it's a conversation or me evenjust hearing them talk and try
to get clear and ask questions,or maybe it's me going off and
(14:47):
getting it.
You know for me, an open road,a full tank of gas and the
stereo up loud.
I'm good.
I'm good, I'm going to comeback all grounded and back in my
body and ready to go again.
So I think that we each have tofind our own way to what we
connect to, because that is whatfills us up, so that we can
(15:08):
show up in the world, so we canparticipate.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah.
So how did you arrive at thissuch clear knowing and such a
clear ability to get to thatgroundedness and to re-find your
center?
How did you get from thatlittle tracy touching the leaves
to here?
What you know, because itbecause, for each of us right,
we can go in differentdirections and we can, um you
(15:35):
know, not find this so centeredplace yeah, well, I, I will
credit some of that, uh, earlyprocess to um therapy.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
You know, learning the value of talking to someone
and being heard, really beingheard and validated, and then,
in that process, being able tolet go of whatever truly is in
the past and no longer has powerover me.
I'm thinking about this somemore, so there's go ahead.
(16:11):
Ask me again how did I get to?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
yeah, how did you get from that little tracy touching
the leaves to this woman who isin the midst of hardships and
challenges and obviously awareof things that go on in the
world that are not filled withlove?
Right, you know, but tomaintain your sense of love and
(16:34):
center and all of that, and Imean therapy is a great answer
therapy is really helpful.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I mean, that really did lay the foundation, you know
, and when I was first thinkingabout going to college, I really
(17:03):
thought I might go intopsychology.
I think it's in some waysstarted with hindsight of being
able to look back, havingsomebody point out to me hey,
let's remember I know you feellike crap right now, but let's
remember when you were in thisother situation and you did this
and this and this and youweren't sure it was ever going
(17:24):
to end, and then it got betterand and you've done that all
along the way.
So being able to look back andsee that I was stronger than I
thought, or I I did have helpers, or I did find a way forward
and I, for me, the, the truththat there is always a way
(17:46):
forward is what allows me tokeep thinking about
possibilities.
And then, honestly, thephilosophy that I teach, you
know, the science of mindphilosophy is, it's not just
positive thinking and, you know,think yourself into wealth, and
that's not what it is.
It really is understanding thatany possibility in life is
(18:07):
available and our choices bringus to the possibilities that are
ours.
To do out that and seeing thelight go on for someone else you
(18:28):
know I had.
I had someone ask me when I was,you know, just taking classes
at the center I was at at thetimes and say, is your life
better when you're in class?
It's like, well, yeah, why?
What makes the difference?
What makes the difference iswhere I'm putting my attention
and and being willing to kind offigure out my attention and and
being willing to kind of figureout all right, well, how does
spirit show up in this situation?
(18:48):
Or how is there a greater truthhappening here?
How, when this looks so dark,can there possibly be any joy in
life?
And and now I see it all thetime, you know it's a practice,
it's, you know, if you, if youlook for something, you will
find it.
You know, I, I, I have a lot offriends that you know.
They think the world is a hardplace and people are going to
(19:14):
take advantage of them andthey're proven right all the
time.
And then I have other peoplewho say life is great and it's
not always easy, but you knowwhat.
I always come out okay and youknow what they always come out
okay.
I think we find what we'relooking for and so I've learned
to look for better things and Ifind them and again it, it
(19:37):
doesn't stop all this otherstuff from coming at us.
You know it's like I go on myFacebook feed, I see all the
stuff that's out there that'shurtful or hateful or angry or
divisive.
You know, but I was Donnie, youand I were talking earlier and
I said you know I was, I had anight.
I was flipping through Facebookat night and you know, looking
(19:59):
for the dog pictures and the catvideos and the and the friends
on trips videos, all thiseverybody's opinion about
everybody else and everythingelse.
And it's just.
You know it's so hard and rightnow it's so negative and so
divisive and people are soanxious and so afraid and
(20:23):
therefore so angry.
And you know, after trying toskip over a bunch of those.
I was like, okay, this is likeno fun, I got to go to sleep to
skip over a bunch of those.
I was like, okay, this is likeno fun, I got to go to sleep.
But then my little two and ahalf year old niece's video
popped up on Facebook becauseher mama had posted it.
And there she is in the parkwith her mama and her Gigi and
(20:43):
she's dancing.
She's bouncing her little kneesand dancing to reggae, and the
three of them are dancing on thegrass to reggae, and the three
of them are dancing on the grass.
And it's like it's not justthat.
That was a happy thing.
What I felt was my entire bodychanged, all that constriction
(21:05):
and that tension and thetightness in my throat and the
headache starting behind my eyes, and, wow, I really need to lay
down and go to sleep.
All of that was gone and it wasjust this joy in this little
package right here of thislittle girl dancing, and what it
tells me is it's a reminderthat that joy is also true and
(21:29):
also happening and also here andso, connecting with the music,
connecting with her joy,connecting with family, those
things refresh me so that, as Ithen continued to scroll through
Facebook because I didn'treally want to go to sleep just
(21:49):
yet, none of that other stuffreally got in.
It's like my defenses were up.
My feeling was better, I couldlook at it, I could have
compassion for people that arereally struggling.
I could see how we are reallyin this huge upheaval of a
process and there is a wayforward, because all of these
(22:12):
other things are also true thatduality right like this is not
negating the reality of thehardships, the challenges, pain
that exists and also littleniece dancing in the park right
right with mom and grandma.
That exists, yes, yeah exactly,and and that's always true and
(22:34):
that's always true and even whenI have a conflict within myself
.
You know, I think I should havedone something differently, or,
oh my gosh, I can't believe Iforgot to respond three weeks
ago to this person and I get inthat whole.
You know that conversation.
You know that conversation inyour head.
I think it was just yesterday Ihad that, and it can go on a
really long time, and especiallyif it shows up at you know
(22:55):
three in the morning, thenyou're like really in for it.
But it's that reminder that Ican choose where to put my
attention.
I can trust that I'm going tomake that right whatever it is,
or I'm going to take the nextstep over there, because there
is a next step and to me that'swhat hope is.
(23:17):
Hope is this knowing withconfidence.
Knowing with trust, expecting agood outcome, expecting that
the right option is available,will show up.
I will know what to do.
I may not see it from here, Idon't even know why or what it
is yet, but I know there is astep.
(23:37):
You know I may not know whatyou need in your life to lift
your depression or help you getalong better with your kids, but
I know there is something andto me, that kind of confidence,
that kind of trust some peoplewould call it faith.
You know it can be a religiousconcept, but it doesn't have to
(23:57):
be.
It is what is in us that keepsus moving forward, and I can
choose where I put my attention.
And when I can't choose where Ican put my attention, I call my
friends.
You know I talk to my spiritualadvisor.
I make sure I get outside.
I do the things that nurture me.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
You know, when?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
when did you know that?
When?
When did you come to thatrealization?
Was that not as the little girlwalking to school?
Was it after the ministerialschool?
Was it when your mom became aminister?
When did you learn that?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
I think I learned it in my own, it was my own
spiritual growth.
I would say as a kid I couldn'tarticulate it, I wouldn't have
said that I knew it then, Icouldn't name it then.
But the combination ofpsychological support and
(25:05):
studying different spiritualpaths and specifically going to
ministerial school, that was abig.
That was a big shift.
That ministerial school gave mea language for it.
I think I'd been discoveringthe concepts all along the way.
Like again I could look back atmy life and see where I had come
(25:25):
through things that at the timeI thought there was no way out,
I was going to be stuck forever.
You know we've all had that darknight.
You know where we just thinkthis is it, it's over.
And looking I could always seethat things happened or people
happened along the way thatbrought me up and out.
(25:48):
And it school taught me torecognize that as living in
possibility.
Like if I could know that atthe beginning of my depression,
if I could see that in themiddle of the trauma or the
sadness or the fear, if I couldremember that in the middle of
(26:10):
something happening to me or thefear, if I could remember that
in the middle of somethinghappening to me, then I could
shorten the time and effort thatit took to get through it.
And you know, not to get rid ofit, not to pretend like it
didn't happen, but to integrateit.
You know all of those thingsshape us.
All of my life experiences haveshaped me and I'm always at
(26:33):
choice on how I want to livefrom this minute forward.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And that's what and what you just said right there.
I think that's the key.
They all shape you, but you,you make, you're making
conscious choices.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Yes, I'm still more than that one thing.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Right, as, whatever the hardest thing is, that's
still not the whole story of mylife.
Yeah, you know, and, and therelationship that goes south,
it's like that's still not thewhole story of my life.
Yeah, you know, and, and therelationship that goes south,
it's like that's still not thewhole story of my ability to be
in or have or appreciate arelationship.
Right, even though it's thatrelationship.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
It's that relationship that went south,
still had within it so manybeauties and so many things that
are all to be embraced, andright in the end it went south
and you move forward.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Yeah, right, right and I just see similarities
between kind of what you sharedwith your education, serial
school and mine.
I I did choose that psychologyroute.
So in my training apsychologist and therapist would
always say like, even if Inever did any counseling or any
(27:36):
therapy for anybody, what I cameout of that experience is
phenomenal and I'm a betterperson for it.
I'm a better partner for it, abetter sister, a better mother.
So I love to hear that there'sthis like we don't all have to
go through the same path.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
No, no, not at all, and I really, you know, part of
what we, what I teach, and partof what really moves me is I
really have come to trust thatpeople have their own answers,
(28:16):
given enough space to find them,given enough time, given enough
validation and patience for usto let what's inside of us rise
up, because we do really know.
I had a very distinctexperience in one of my classes,
in part of my trainingcounseling someone, training
(28:38):
counseling someone, and one ofthe ways in which I think is I
see patterns and I makeconnections.
I had a really hard time ingeometry because I couldn't go
step by step through the proof.
I could get to the end and thenI'd have to work backwards to
figure out what this?
Because I just do it, I don'teven I don't know how to explain
it.
So where was I going with that?
I just do it, I don't even Idon't know how to explain it.
So where was I going with that?
So I had an experience wheresomebody was talking about
(28:59):
something going on in their life.
I was counseling them, so I waslistening, right, and I said
something about like what to me,was the obvious next step?
Oh, so that means you willda-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
And the person I was talkingwith or listening to, to their
(29:19):
credit, said no, I don't thinkthat's it.
And they waited a second.
And then they said what theythought and, of course, what
they thought was perfect forthem.
And I never would have saidthat because it was not part of
(29:40):
my framework, wasn't part of myexperience, wasn't part of what
had shaped me in my life.
And that stuck with me.
That whole conversation stuckwith me, because I don't know
what's best for you.
I don't have to know what'sbest for you.
What I do know is that there isa way forward that is best for
you.
I don't have to know what'sbest for you.
What I do know is that there isa way forward that is right for
you.
And if I know that and I livethat way, then I think people
can see that.
(30:00):
People get, you know, they gethopeful for themselves.
You know they think, oh well,there must.
Maybe there's a way forward forme too.
And that's what opens the doorto recognizing those next steps
or those little nudges to go ina certain direction.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Well, let's take that then and make a connection,
because you and I we do knoweach other and we were talking
earlier and I know that part ofwhat you have to share and part
of you know the challenge thatyou've experienced in your own
life is around sort of the theend of life, the later part of
the life for your, your parents,and the challenges in their
(30:42):
health and their care.
And you know that, that, howhard that was, and, and, um,
just how, how, how all of thisapplies to that journey, that
you're not saying, well, oh itwas, everything was just fine
and I just thought my waythrough.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
This is a theory, this is like real stuff, right,
yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
So if you talk a little bit about that and and
this idea of connections, alsoin the hope, through the
connections, if you would yeah,so, uh, my mom and her husband,
um, uh, they the, I should say,her last husband.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
They met later in life.
They had a like 15 yearstogether and the first seven
they they met because my mom wasin rehab.
She'd had a minor stroke, shehad some physical challenges, so
she was doing physical therapyand she met Paul on the rehab
bus.
He was there for back surgery,recovery from back surgery, so
(31:44):
they had the first seven yearsof their lives together.
Was this whirlwind of activityand travel?
And I've never seen my momhappier.
They both adored each other.
He was a staunch Catholic andshe was a science of mind
minister, and they had the bestconversations.
It was fabulous.
And then my mom took anotherfall and had a more serious
(32:07):
injury which compromised herability to communicate, and Paul
took on the main role ofcaregiver, which worked really
well, until his own health beganto decline a bit.
He was in his 80s and it got tothe point where we knew that
(32:28):
they were going to need morehelp at home.
And my stepsister, paul'sdaughter, has a medical
background, lives close by andwould just like stop by and
check in on him.
And you know, we kind of makesure I'll bring dinner one night
.
Hey, can you bring dinneranother night?
And so the two of us would kindof tag team, just making sure
(32:51):
we were there.
Well, as things go, you know,their health continued to
decline and they needed morecare and it got more complicated
and my mom wasn't reallyresponding to therapy anymore,
like speech therapy or you know,just to be able to do practical
things for herself.
She was losing what she'd hadbefore.
(33:13):
And I remember talking to herneurologist and I said you know,
I know that if I could spend acouple hours a day with her on
helping her with herverbalization and vocabulary and
helping her find the words, andI know that if it was more
intense we could make moreprogress.
And I looked at her and I wasso upset I said but I just can't
(33:36):
do it.
And she said one of the mostvaluable things to me.
She said you know, she saysthat's not what you give her,
that's not your role with her,that's not for you to do.
You need to be there becauseshe's your mom.
And that shifted everything forme.
So when I think about the wordconnection with that, I think
(33:59):
about me connecting with alarger community of support that
I wasn't doing it all by myself.
I think about me connecting withmy mom in any and every way I
could, that whatever I did wasenough.
Whatever I did, however Ishowed up was what worked and I
(34:22):
have a very distinct picture ofher coming in early in the
morning to help her get ready inthe morning.
And as we were going, if wedidn't have a caregiver with
them, I was going to put her tobed or I was going to get her up
and you know we were helpedbecause Paul couldn't do the
physical changes and stuff likethat with her.
And I remember walking into theroom and she was just kind of
(34:46):
lying in bed looking at nothing,you know, not really processing
or connected, and she saw myface and her face lit up like
she knew exactly who I was andwhy I was there.
And that recognition that thatconnection is valuable in and of
itself made it possible for meto drive seven days a week at 10
(35:06):
o'clock at night and help herget to bed and go on the
weekends when the caregiverdidn't show up.
And I wasn't the only one, wehad a whole circle of people
doing that and it's human natureto connect.
It's human nature to love.
It's human nature to help.
(35:27):
All you have to do is look atwhat happens when there's any
kind of communal disaster youknow the fires, you know, or the
hurricanes, everybody shows up.
Everybody shows up.
You don't ask the guy next toyou filling sandbags what church
he goes to or who he voted for,or you know that stuff doesn't
matter when we're present toeach other.
(35:49):
And so, had I not been able toreach out when I needed help, or
to ask the questions thatneeded to be asked, or to take a
break, you know to say look,we're going on this trip, this
camp, whatever it was.
We're going to be gone thisweekend.
(36:09):
I'll be back next week to doall the stuff.
You know, if I hadn't been ableto do that for myself, I
wouldn't have been able to bethere for her.
So if we can't, you know golook at the cat video in between
listening to the news.
We can't be present to make adifference or to take care of
ourselves.
Or, you know, put your ownoxygen mask on first.
(36:29):
You can't help anybody if youcan't breathe.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah, kind of bottom line, Just bottom liner right
there, yeah, right, right.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
So true, but what it's also done is it?
I expect to find thoseconnections, I expect to see
those helpers, not that I expectany one person to do something
for me.
It's not like that.
It's just the.
This is how life works, this ishow we are with each other, and
(37:10):
when we're not, then I need totake a step back and breathe or
dance or sing or hide orwhatever it is and then come
back to the world.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, boy, as you said that, your little kid I
love that, that was sweetheartoh she has a little heart on her
forehead.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
That's how she got that name.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
I have two questions I want to ask and I'm wondering
which one I'm going to ask.
Your 13-year-old self, yourlittle girl, your 13-year-old
maybe starting to come into herown there as a teen, what would
she say to you or what would shethink about what you're doing
now and kind of your perspectiveof things now?
What do you?
Speaker 3 (37:55):
think She'd be like Donna, she'd be going.
How did you get there?
How did you do that?
Because at 13, nothing lookedpossible and everybody was
stupid, so it's really hard tosee a way forward.
You know, and the other part ofher would say I told you I was
(38:15):
smart, I told you I could figureit out, because I think there's
, you know, there's something inme I know, and I see it in
other people, whether they do ornot.
There's something in us thatknows, and so I would.
I would, I would go back to herand say, see, I told you you
could do it.
You know, I knew you could doit.
Here we are, here we are.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
How smart that little girl was, cause the story you
told us first was that touchingall the leaves and I'm thinking
of all the research today yes,what it does to touch and talk
to our plants and give ourplants love and how they
flourish.
And so, yeah, before theresearch was out there.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
Yes, yes, I was probably the living example.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
I mean, right when the poop has fallen down, go
talk to a tree.
It cannot fail the whole forestbathing idea.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Well, and isn't it fascinating that what the
mystics of every spiritualtradition come to is the same
place of oneness.
It doesn't matter how they gotthere, it doesn't matter what
path they were on, they get tooneness.
And isn't it interesting thatquantum physics says that the
underlying substance of all lifeis one substance?
And how spirituality andreligion, which had been
(39:32):
together, you know, in theMiddle Ages and then separated,
and is now coming back together.
They're not mutually exclusive.
We're not only building blocks.
We do have a sense of unity andconnection under the surface.
That is measurable, that we cansee and we've always sensed it.
(39:54):
But now we can measure it,isn't that interesting?
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Very interesting.
That's some good stuff.
What was your other question,sis?
I'm curious.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
I was wondering if I was going to say what would she
say to her 13-year-old self.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
Oh that's good.
That's good.
Yeah, what I said, like youwere really smart, you had it
all along Good job.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
You had the shoes all along.
That's right.
It was in you always, dorothy.
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
I love you.
Okay, so, in this varied world,who is it that inspires you, my
friend?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Who inspires me?
Speaker 1 (40:40):
I mean obviously your two and a half year old niece,
for sure any baby, any baby.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Um, you know I'm I'm inspired by, uh, the writers
that I see, the artists that Isee, the artists that I see that
continue to express, not inspite of, but because of, the
(41:08):
fractured culture we are livingin.
It's the folks that canarticulate these ideas.
It's the artists that can bringa sense of beauty to something
that pulls us out of thedifficulty or the darkness.
It's the musicians that write asong that touch the heart about
(41:29):
hey, you know you got this.
It's a deep well, you're okay.
You know I'm not okay.
It's okay to not what is it?
I'm not okay and we're allgoing to be all right.
The country song that's up nowit's like.
So that's what inspires me isthat we all have that in us and
that is the hope of tomorrow.
That is the confidence thatthere is a future and that there
(41:51):
is a way to get there.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Big snaps to that.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
So do you have a life philosophy?
Well, I I kind of teach a lifephilosophy all the time, but if
I had to distill it down, Iwould say that that, um, that
love is the power of life, andthat love is what creates the
path forward.
And there is always a pathforward.
I think that's my biggestmotivator.
(42:27):
There is always a way forward.
I don't have to know what'spossible, but I do know that
something is possible and I'mokay with it.
Coming from an unexpecteddirection, you know, like that
person who thinks they have toget a new job because their job
(42:48):
doesn't pay them enough andthey're not making enough to
live on and they need a new joband they need a raise.
And then it's like or you couldmarry money, you know, or you
could get an inheritance fromsomebody you didn't know, or
it's like, any way it comes, orsomebody could just buy you
lunch every day.
You know that whole idea thatour good comes to us from many
(43:10):
different directions.
I'm just open to it yeah that'sa
Speaker 1 (43:16):
gorgeous'm sorry, sis , I talked right over you.
What were you saying?
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Same thing.
That is a good message fortoday, where we are today Very
helpful.
Thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
There's always a path forward and love is the way.
It's gorgeous.
I'm writing both of those down.
Listen to my sunday talks.
I say them pretty much everytime, perfect perfect, perfect,
excellent, all right, so um letme ask you as, um, you know
(43:55):
there's obviously still muchlife to be lived, and yet, when
the time comes, when thatcurtain is drawn and you move on
to the next, whatever it is,how do you hope that those here
remember you when they think ofyou?
What's that legacy that youhope to leave behind?
Speaker 3 (44:19):
I think that it's a feeling of living with joy, and
let me see if I can articulatethis it's what I've done with my
(44:44):
parents passing and somefriends that have gone.
There's something in me thatknows that I have been shaped by
that relationship and that thatis not lost.
So when I feel that and see itin the present day, even though
they seem to be gone quoteunquote they live, and so what I
would want is that live.
And so what I would want isthat people thinking of me would
(45:04):
have a feeling or a sense ofthe joy and the possibility and
the laughter and the depth oflife that would inspire them to
do the same.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
So beautiful.
Thank you for that, that'slovely.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
I can't help but think.
Your beginning of that responsesaid living with joy going back
to when we asked who inspiresyou?
It was also Reverend Joy.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, she hasn't passed yet, but,
yeah, definitely, joy ispervasive in your life.
(45:54):
One of the things I did when Igot there is I'd found these
like removable stick on the wallposters long skinny posters at
Michael's or someplace with theword joy on them.
And the thing about theHuntington Beach Sanctuary in
the center is that there arethese pillars right in the
middle of the room and, you know, people smack into them.
So I took those long skinny joyposters and put them up on
(46:17):
those pillars so that peoplewouldn't smack into them, and
the word joy was like all overthe sanctuary and I thought this
is my ministry, this is itright here, you know, and the
fact that my first minister wasReverend joy, because I don't
count my mom, she wasn't ever myminister, she was my mom.
We did call her Reverend mom,which she loved, of course, but
(46:39):
yeah, it was all about joy.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Fabulous, all right.
Well, are you good?
I think we've come to the partin our little podcast where we
do our rapid fire questions and,as we say, you don't
necessarily have to be thatrapid or fired, they're just.
We're just the ask questionsand all we just whatever first
comes to your mind.
Okay, rather than deep thought.
Yeah, all right, I'll try.
(47:03):
Okay, you want to take it away,sis?
Speaker 2 (47:06):
Sure, kind of like, if you're walking up to the
stage, what would be yourwalk-in song?
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Three Dog Night.
Joy to the World.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Yep, that was there.
What book changed you, oh?
Speaker 3 (47:24):
I have two.
When I was a kid it was AWrinkle in Time by Madeline
L'Engle, the whole perception,perspective thing, and on my
spiritual path I would say thisThing Called you by Ernest
Holmes.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Both excellent books.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Okay, what movie lives rent-free in your brain?
Speaker 3 (47:50):
Oh, my favorite movie of all times is Mary Poppins
and it's that combination ofimagination and play and music
and I always wanted to jump intoa picture that was painted on
the sidewalk, right, right, andfloat up to the ceiling while
(48:11):
having tea.
I mean that all-time favoritemovie.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
I have hope for us, Tracy.
We will do those things Somehowwe will.
We will do those things Somehowwe will.
We will, it will happen.
Okay.
What did you love doing as akid that you love doing to this
day?
Speaker 3 (48:28):
Anything to do with color.
I like to play with color, so,like coloring mandala, mandalas
or or a magic marker, I write mymy talks on Sunday in color.
Different colors for quotesversus spiritual, versus real
life, versus exam.
I mean orange and blue andgreen.
(48:48):
Um, when I was a little girlthere we had some game that had
these little baby poker chips,you know, with the little ridges
on them, but they were tiny andI used to stack them up in
different orders so I could getdifferent stripes on it.
You know all yellow.
I mean anything to do withcolor.
I still do that.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
That's a fun fact to know about you.
I like that.
I like that.
Was it my question or yours?
I lost track, sis.
Speaker 2 (49:14):
What in your world is lighting you up right now?
Speaker 3 (49:18):
what in your world is lighting you up right now?
What is lighting me up rightnow?
Yeah, there might not be aquick answer to that one.
Again, I think it's this, it'sthis sense that, whatever all
this noise and what feels likedestruction is happening, I
(49:42):
still know that something iscoming forth, and it's because
of the art and the music and thepeople speaking up and the
outrage at inhumanity and theextension of helping hands
wherever possible, whenever Isee that.
(50:02):
I think that's what just makesit all okay, makes it all, makes
progress possible, and I thinkI need that more than anything
right now is to know thatprogress is possible.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
Yeah, 100%, 100%.
What color is hope?
Speaker 3 (50:23):
I think it's yellow, I think it's light, I think it's
cheerful, I think it's look,let me show you the way.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
Yeah, what does hope sound like?
Speaker 3 (50:36):
It sounds like, sound like.
It sounds like the breeze inthe trees and the music in the
distance, and it's whateverdraws you forward down the path.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Oh, wow, okay, I can hear it.
I can hear it right now.
All right, so complete thestatement.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
Connection is the language of the heart I love.
Speaker 2 (51:04):
That Okay, spirit is.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
Everything, the meaning of life is Just a small.
Speaker 3 (51:17):
Meaning of life.
Yeah, is the meaning of life.
Yeah, is the meaning of life.
What does life mean?
Expression yeah, we're here toexpress.
Hope is always possible.
Speaker 1 (51:37):
and on that gorgeous note, I think we've come to a
beautiful conclusion.
Wonderful, it's always possible.
Josh, thank you so much foryour time, your insights, your
wisdom, your heart and your joy.
Speaker 3 (51:52):
It's in fact it has been a pleasure and a little, a
little nerve wrwracking, but butreally just a delight to to
hear, to be asked a question andto realize I do have something
to say about that, and then tohave you receive it in such a
generous way.
You know, this is what we dofor each other and I just I love
(52:16):
it.
I love what you're doing withthe show.
I just think it's fabulous.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Oh, thank you.
I'm soaking that in.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
Well, I'll say for me and I think, donna, I think you
agree that it is kind of likeit's about me, because I want to
know more about you, you know.
So I mean I'm being selfish bysaying, hey, come on the show,
but I want to know more aboutyou, I want to feel more hope.
I, you know.
I think that that is the hopethrough connection is exactly
(52:48):
why we're doing this, becausethese connections somebody Donna
knows well, somebody I didn'tknow as well you know today to
give us that connection, givesus more hope.
Speaker 3 (53:02):
Yes, exactly Exactly, and I will just put in a little
plug, a little commercial formy center.
You can find our Sunday serviceonline.
Go to our web page atclaremontcslorg, scroll down and
there's a link to all the pastSunday Talks, and we are on
Facebook and all of that.
But you know, it's like checkout this philosophy, because
(53:25):
what I'm speaking is a way oflife that is possible and it
doesn't matter what spiritualpath you're on.
You don't have to give up beingwhatever you are.
It's just a different way ofappreciating what life has to
offer and trusting what weourselves have to offer to life.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
Absolutely, and I'm glad that you did share that.
We want everybody to know thattoo.
You can hear so much more fromthe fabulous Reverend Tracy all
sorts of wonderful talks and golive and visit and be among
others of like mind and learnand share that joy together and
really share all.
Share the realness, the heart.
(54:08):
Yeah, you know, that's nopretense about where we are and
who just come authentically andand connect.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
Yes and connect.
Speaker 1 (54:18):
And therein is the hope.
Thank you so much, beautifulTracey.
Speaker 3 (54:21):
You're so welcome.
Speaker 1 (54:22):
For being with us.
We love you.
Speaker 3 (54:24):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Love you too.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
Thanks for joining us today on Soul Sisteries.
Speaker 1 (54:30):
And thanks for sharing stories with us.
We'd love to hear your storiesas well and keep the
conversation going, absolutelykeeping the hope going.
So we're really hopeful thatyou'll connect with our guests
as well, who have great storiesto share.
Go ahead and follow them invarious social media platforms
or live venues, wherever it isthat they're performing and
(54:54):
sharing what they do.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
We would love to have you follow us on all of our
social media platforms,subscribe and rate, as that will
help us get our message of hopeout to others.
Thanks for listening to.
Speaker 1 (55:05):
Soul Sisteries.
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