A Conversation With
  Janice Wilson

  By Kathryn M. Peters

Dear Friends of In Light Times, Greetings! So quickly, it seems, the seasons are passing. Already we are luxuriating in the warmth of the summer sun as we thrill to the full-spectrum colors of life as it approaches it's yearly zenith. The month of June is named after the Goddess, Juno, who symbolizes the promise of fulfillment and true happiness in marriage. And this month's interview is with a beautiful and talented woman who is well acquainted with the nature and spirit of the blessed Goddess. Janice Wilson has penned a marvel entitled, The Gift from the Goddess - a must read for every aspiring Juno or Aphrodite (and the man who loves her!). With a Masters Degree in Speech and Communications, Janice left behind an incredibly successful career at IBM in order to facilitate seminars aimed at helping women "regain pride in their femininity." As a resident of Las Vegas, Janice shares her life and love with husband, Steve, and their two children, Christopher and Kyra. Janice's, The Gift from the Goddess, radio show can be heard every Tuesday from 4-5 pm on KLAV 1230 AM. Her book is also available at Border's Books. My friends, within the paragraphs below, I am confident that you will find great blessings in the thoughts Janice has so lovingly shared. Enjoy!

kp: Hi Janice, how are you doing this morning?

jw: I'm doing great, Kathryn, how are you?

kp: Very well, thank you. Janice, the first thing I want to tell you is I love your book. I truly enjoyed it and I feel it would, without a doubt, be a blessing in any woman's life.

jw: Kathryn, thank you so much.

kp: You are welcome. Now you begin your book writing about being a corporate high achiever. In fact, you said, "you looked around you at the other women in your position and you saw an undeniable pattern in business. Women were moving up but moving down in self-esteem." In your opinion, how does this happen and why does this happen?

jw: When I was at IBM it was structured that every year you had to produce 20-30% more than the year before.

kp: Obviously you managed to do just that.

jw: Yes and I did because I got smarter. But how I did it was different than the way other women did it. I started connecting into spiritual laws. The other women became so competitive, working so hard to achieve their goals they forget about everything else around them. In doing that they became centered only on self and on moving up in order to achieve the recognition. It's not even the money they sought, it was the status. But becoming so single focused wore them out to the point that they had nothing left for
themselves. So who they were as a person was totally lost.

kp: This is very interesting. When I think about competition, this striving for status and position, all of that is very masculine. When a male achieves all that, he's happy. Yet, what I hear you saying is that when a
woman achieves all that, she's ends up feeling empty.

jw: Yes, she's unfulfilled because she's totally denied her feminine side.

kp: Then it seems as though, as women, we can't win because we were taught growing up that to be a good wife and mother meant you had to deny and sacrifice yourself as well.

jw: Well, yes and I think we weren't taught correctly because it didn't work for our mothers and it didn't work for us. Because it just doesn't work! Personally, I tried it that way and all I did was get sick. I suffered with migraine headaches and wound up having life threatening surgeries. Then I decided to try it another way. I started to say 'yes' to Janice.

kp: What brought about this change in consciousness for you?

jw: I started seeking myself again. I think it was after the children were born and my husband lost his job. I had to move and change everything in my life except where I worked, which was IBM at the time. I found what use to work no longer worked and so I had to seek new answers. I've always been spiritual, and I started reading the works of Catherine Ponder and Marianne Williamson. The old ways of doing things and the traditional means no longer worked in the world in which I found myself. Traditional religion didn't
work, either.

kp: When you say it didn't work, what do you mean specifically?

jw: The rules no longer helped me with my life. The structure didn't allow me to be happy or find fulfillment in the woman I had become.

kp: Janice, what was your traditional faith background?

jw: I was raised Catholic.

kp: So you had to look outside traditional religion to find the peace you were seeking?

jw: Yes, and I found that all the books I read had reinterpreted the structure of religion more than the teachings. Consequently, I started  incorporating those teachings on love, in it's truest sense, into the corporate world. I found that it worked for customers and it worked for my circle of friends but not within the corporation. Now this was so very interesting to me and it was obvious it didn't work there because that
structure was too inbred with competition. Which meant, "I win and you lose."

kp: Instead of a win/win situation

jw: Exactly, and I realized the burgeoning of a burning passion within to teach what I was learning to everyone I encountered within IBM and within my own immediate circle of influence. That corporate office had not achieved 100% of its' quota in four years and when I arrived there sharing those kinds of principles, it was the first year they achieved it.

kp: Were you giving formal seminars then?

jw: No, all I was doing was walking the talk. I was teaching by example. And sharing these principles within a group setting during brown bag lunches.

kp: One person can make a difference! Janice, you also wrote in your book that the women who are successful, happy and balanced are beginning to make new choices and setting new priorities. How did
you reprioritize during this time of awakening?

jw: I started to become conscious of what worked for me. And Kathryn, I went back to meditating. I also began to walk and to exercise. In a nutshell, I began to say yes to things that made Janice happy. Whether that meant going to a concert, or lunching with a girlfriend. By making my happiness and well-being a priority once again, I found that my my husband and family, even my work balanced out. Everything flowed more effortlessly when I first thought of me and it wasn't selfish. I was always taught that it was selfish to think of yourself first once you had a family. In reality, it is the healthiest thing a
woman can do for herself. When I'm healthier I'm happier and when I'm happier the whole family
structure blossoms. Plus I can bring joy to everyone else I touch.


kp: Because now you are giving from a full cup, right?

jw: Right! And I'm stronger and more self-assured. My intelligence is allowed to shine rather than coming from this weakness where I am always playing catch up.

kp: Along this same line, I love this quote from the book, "when you do what you love you will always draw towards you, like a magnet, the people, situations and resources you need to express your talents.
When you communicate your true self through the expressions of your natural talents you become happy. It is your language of love, your antidote to fear, it is your gift for life." So, Janice, here is the big question: can a woman truly have it all? Can she be a top executive at IBM and also have a successful marriage, a happy family and satisfying relationships?

jw: Yes, if that's where her true love is. Absolutely loving what you are doing is the key and the essence.

kp: Why it is that we end up doing things we don't love?

jw: Because we're listening to authorities other than ourselves.

kp: So, Janice, how do we reconnect with that inner authority?

jw: You get quiet again. You reconnect to yourself and you do that by journaling, by walking, by asking questions of yourself and everyone else until you get the answers that feel right. We have an internal thermostat that is made to be set on our happiness. And when you're doing something that doesn't feel right or does not create that great sense of joy within, you have to reset the thermostat.

kp: What are the symptoms? How do you know when you are disconnected from your magnificent self, Janice?

jw: You will experience it as a sensation in your gut or your throat or your heart. But when you're busy, busy, busy, doing, doing, doing there is no way that you can feel what's not right because you're too busy. You're too distracted with all the trivia and details of life. You're distracted by the thought of having to do all this 'stuff '.

kp: I remember reading that overwork is a definite giveaway for low self-esteem.

jw: That's probably true or maybe it's not even low self-esteem, but a lack of connection to the true self. Remember, we're created magnificently when we come into this life. So when you connect with that magnificence, you feel great about who you are because that's your essence. Then if you decide you don't like some of the choices you've made up until that moment, you can re-choose.

kp: That's the beautiful part of life, you're always free to choose again.

jw: You can choose from this moment to feel good about where you are or you can choose to feel unhappy about it. In that moment of choice, if you can just change your view 10 degrees, a whole new world with a completely different perspective, instantaneously becomes available to you. And no one has to give you anything.

kp: You're saying that nothing in your external world has to be altered.

jw: Exactly! Kathryn, nothing needs to change aside from your understanding of that concept.

kp: Why does that appear to be so very difficult for most of us, Janice?

jw: Well, you know what, it's because we are so busy.

kp: So, do you feel the answer is just a matter of getting quiet within through prayer and meditation?

jw: Yes, and I don't know if people understand what it means to pray. It really is a conversation. It's asking questions and listening. Kathryn, sometimes I think language has lost its meaning so, we have to reinvent what those words really mean. For me, prayer is listening, asking and waiting. However, the most important part of the process is trusting what you hear in response.

kp: I think you are so right. So many times we get an intuitive prompting but we don't trust it, and therefore fail to act on it. Later, we invariably kick ourselves for not listening.

jw: You know what happens when you lose trust with someone. How does that make you feel? It just absolutely devastates you. Now imagine losing trust with yourself.

kp: Oh, that's a true spiritual violation, isn't it?

jw: Yes, and how many people really connect with that and begin again to trust themselves? We must learn to listen to that voice within. We must listen to what our desires are saying.

kp: I know that is hard for a lot of women because they feel it's selfish and insensitive to the needs of others if they give in to their own desires.

jw: That's right and we have to change that. Our family needs to see us strong, happy and fulfilled
because we are their role models.

kp: Indeed! That reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi's quote, "your life is your teaching."

jw: That's right and how can our families be whole and functional if we're not? It's our responsibility as women to heal ourselves first and then the world can be healed. All this giving, giving, giving is very depleting. You can't run your car on empty. How can you expect to run a household, a business and most especially a life on empty?

kp: Janice, what can women do to fill up their tank, their joy tank, specifically?

jw: Specifically, I would suggest understanding what makes them happy.

kp: You suggest doing this by writing down what made us happy when we were children.

jw: When you were a child it was easy. At that point in time you knew what made you happy and you just did it naturally. For example, I used to love to play house. So now, when I clean my house I say I'm playing house.

kp: Janice, I love it. What a delightful idea!

jw: And after I finish I appreciate it because it's been play for me. As I create play it refuels me instead of running around doing this, this, and this with all my circuits burnt out. So you can take  the same list of things that you have to do but with just a little change in how you approach it, you can appreciate it and enjoy doing it in a way that fills up your tank with joy and happiness.

kp: So, absolutely everything gets done simply from a deliciously different mind-set.

jw: Right, and it gets done from a set that energizes you rather than depletes you. You know, sometimes you have to say yes to yourself, and no to others.

kp: Now, in your book you write that it is a necessity to regain our right to be Goddesses. As you're out and about promoting the book, do you find that women have resistance to calling themselves Goddesses?

jw: Well, actually the initial resistance was with myself. I was trying to find a word that really encompassed who we are as women and feminine didn't really embrace all that. It didn't embrace the spirituality as well as the fullness of who we are. Now I find women intuitively identify with it and when they hear it their heads go up and down. I do it really light-heartedly so it's not like ego. It's coming from a place of wholeness.

kp: Do you find men have any resistance to referring to their women as Goddesses?

jw: Actually, no. They embrace it, I think, even more quickly. I wear my Goddess sweatshirts and guys will say, "yeah, you're right!" Men sincerely want us to be whole and to be feminine and to be happy.

kp: I believe that wholeheartedly

jw: They really want to see that in us because when that happens for us, they get to be who they're suppose to be. Because they take their cues from us.

kp: I think many men have no idea how wonderful their lives could be if only they could encourage the women in their lives to discover the Goddess within. For when we are not coming from our power we can
become clingy and demanding, expecting to derive our happiness from our partners. As a result of wanting to please, our men often wind up not paying attention to their own personal growth and both partners ultimately suffer.

jw: Exactly! In fact, my husband has said time and time again, "the whole mood and health of the family is depended on you, Janice."

kp: OhI know that. I'm aware of that fact as I begin each new day with my children. As the day wears on, my mood will become theirs. And if you've ever lived with five young women you understand why it behooves me to remain as cheerful and calm as possible! (Laughter...)

jw: Well, that responsibility alone demands we be complete with who we are. I agree with you, Kathryn, and I've seen it happen. If I'm cranky or whiny, the whole household falls apart. And when I'm centered in joy, the whole environment blossoms.

kp: Janice, in the book you recommend that women "think magic and mystery." Exactly what does that mean to you?

jw: I encourage women to think beyond where they are right now. I want them to think of extraordinary things happening. Think of "what if." What if today I could do for myself something I've always wanted to do, what would it be? Go beyond your box, think of something miraculous happening. Just think about it and that whole energy creates a magic inside you that kind of makes your toes curl and makes you smile and the next person you see catches it. Then, who knows what's going to come in the mail or who
might ring your doorbell or call on the telephone who knows?

kp: So life becomes that bumper sticker "expect a miracle" and we just begin to expect it?

jw: Right, let's expect it!

kp: Do you feel that opens the door for it to truly happen?

jw: Yes, because you begin to allow it. You're open to see it. You could be missing it. I mean it could be happening and you just never noticed it! So, think magic think mystery think miracles. It us just one small step that gets everything flowing. You'll look better. You'll even have a glow about you. I call it the Goddess glow, and it comes from the inside out.

kp: That is proof positive of the reality of the ancient axiom, "as within, so without." Everything we see in our external environment is a direct reflection of what's going on inside us. The awareness of this gives us the responsibility for creating our own reality. In your book, Janice, you write awareness is having the courage to act upon our desires.

jw: And you know what, it requires taking just one little step. You can only do baby steps because if you start jumping you'll trip, fall and you'll hurt yourself. So, everyday I take just one step in the direction of my desires. When I get comfortable with that step, I'll take one more. From each step, I find courage and from that courage I acquire joy and with that joy I learn to dance.

kp: So it's a matter of consciously taking one step everyday that brings joy, and expresses our natural creativity. Janice, you write that we are all uniquely special. What do you mean by that?

jw: We each have our own imprint of creativity, our own way of being and contributing. How we express this is not only different, but extremely valuable. There is no one that can add value to life the way that you can add value no one. How you say something, how you laugh, how you write, how you talk to your kids no one can do it with your special signature.

kp: That precious combination is unique unto each of us, right?

jw: That is right. We are each one of a kind, and any one of a kind denotes genuine value.

kp: As we come into the awareness that we all possess something uniquely special, don't we also need to realize that we have a responsibility to God to express these natural and special gifts?

jw: Yes, and not only is it our responsibility to God but also to all those around us. When everyone else can experience who you are they then evolve from your experience.

kp: Isn't that such a blessing?

jw: That's the blessing because life is all about evolving and making it better so that those around us can have more joy, fun, love and laughter as learn to evolve, and move forward.

kp: So one of our responsibilities in this process of evolvement is to become the Goddesses that we have always been.

jw: Right, and as we accept this responsibility we heal and become whole. You know, I love the word responsibility because it means truly to respond or to respond to your abilities.

kp: Janice, you feel that when we are in alignment with our true selves, expressing our unique creativity, that inner stress in life is eliminated?

jw: Well, what is stress? It's struggling against who you naturally are. For me personally, I haven't had a migraine headache since I started this spiritual path.

kp: And when did you start all this?

jw: Four years ago. I started studying and researching probably about 10-12 years ago. But I started the seminars four years ago.

kp: Now, as we bring our interview to a close today, I'd like to go back to the title of your book, The Gift from the Goddess. Janice, what is the gift the Goddess bestows?

jw: It is the enjoyment of our lives.

kp: So the Goddess desires us to see life as a gift and to fully enjoy it as such.

jw: The Goddess wants us to share the gift of life with love and enthusiasm as we celebrate the strength of being a woman.

kp: I think that's perfect. Thank you so much for taking time to do this interview today.

jw: Oh, thank you for this opportunity. This was delightful. You have such a love and concern to share this knowledge with your readers. Thank you again. 

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