I Should Have Been in Rehab
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I Should Have Been in Rehab
…and other realizations along life’s journey
Dear T.R.I.B.E. Friends,
The work of an artist requires real self examination to remain fresh, authentic and relevant. The rigorous and at times scary training I received as an actor/dancer/singer taught me the technique of taking the inner journey, and subsequent studies in religion, ministry and human services gave me tools for the outward one.
But the in- between time for me, between these two disciplines and worlds AND life of an addicted person who used alcohol and stimulants to keep the demons at bay, and the sober Jane, was kind of rough. I should have been in rehab.
But in the years when I entered the recovery rooms, very few rehabs existed believe it or not! People just toughed it out – detoxing on our own and through folk remedies like replacing the sugar loss of using copious amounts of alcohol with choclate…
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What Is Community?
T.R.I.B.E. was created to be an umbrella for community. After a lot of years of leading different kinds of communities, and worrying about things like rent and repairing the roof and fixing the plumbing, making sure the lights were on and the bills were paid, striving to understand WHY people entered and why they left, enjoying the fellowship of denominations but discovering that the values of these corporate bodies sometimes diverge from my understanding about why I have been called to that work…of working with brilliant musicians, with well- meaning, and not so well-meaning boards, it hit me. None of this stuff is what I love about spiritual community. These are the requirements of maintaining a brick and mortar place to gather, an organization, a business, but they too often pull us from really sharing community in the deepest sense.
The work of T.R.I.B.E. has been “ to explore the sacred role of artists as social, spiritual, political and emotional activists in the world.” This work has been important to me for years partly because I am an artist and I honestly believe that our world needs the creative decision making perspective of artists to heal what divides us.. But beyond this, we are all artists...and my hope is to continue to create a place for us to create and synergize in community.
In this monthly newsletter, I’ll be sharing tools and ideas along the way, videos, podcasts and resources for reviving, and my work on Next Stage Recovery. This month we are including a wonderful interview with Sister Jenna, from the Meditation Museum in Washington D.C. I found Sister Jenna’s questions to go do deep, and I hope you find meaning in our dialogue.
I hope you will send me your creative ideas, and I will look forward to hosting your videos and writings and having online conversations too, on the site we are developing. Stay tuned for that!
Let’s create! Let’s connect:)
With love,
Rev Dr. Jane
Janegalloway.com
Words Have Power!
The world seems to be going a bit mad these days.
This is not a political observation. It is way bigger than that. For a variety of reasons, some of which we are aware and many of which we aren’t, a huge tumult has come upon our systems, our planet and our communities, and much that has been hidden is coming to light. Traumas small and large are being stimulated by some of this breaking loose of old material, and when we are “triggered” as humans, we sometimes forget the amazing powers of co-creation we possess…the power of a WORD fitly spoken.
The bible tells us that the WORD becomes flesh. Metaphysically speaking, we know that thoughts are things, and that words are an out picturing of our thoughts. What we tell ourselves resonates at the cellular level to create a vibratory force field that in fact becomes OUR WORLD. What we think, ands what we say MATTERS!!! Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, and verbally repeating old traumas convinces our inner selves that they are happening all over again in the here and now, and perpetuate our trauma on those we tell about it. In other words, if we keep repeating what we don’t want, that is what we are re-creating believe it or not!
I want to suggest some power words to you that you can use to change your experience, and those of our world. Are you up for trying ? Ok, ready?
Here are 10 words to use to build a beautiful tomorrow: Healing, Wholeness, Unity, Strong, Beauty, Creative, Funny, Inspirational, Abundant, Enthusiastic.
See if you can use a few of these words at least once a day for a week. It is really hard to talk about awfulness when you use empowering words, and once you discover how much better you feel…you might add them to your vocabulary permanently.
Ok? Are you up for it? Let’s go for it!!! We can create this thing one power thought, word and vision at a time!! Let me know how it goes. zjaneg@gmail.com, Janegalloway.com…The website is a great place to discover some cool ideas too.
And while you are at it, check out my book: The Gateways- The Wisdom of 12-Step Spirituality/ Sacredstoriespublishing 2016. You can order it on Amazon and other booksellers worldwide, in paperback or on Kindle.
The work in The Gateways is a great support for what I have come to call “Next Stage Recovery”. What is that? Well, We are all recovering from something, and part of the challenge in life is to keep moving after we have rebounded. The Gateways is a Wellness approach to a life of resilience, and is full of tools and ideas and inspirations for supporting your journey.
OK!!! Let’s change the world! Power up!!
Sending love from the quantum field,
Jane
Think of THIS Instead!!
Hello T.R.I.B.E. Friends and Fellow Travelers,
Almost a decade ago I entered into an intense learning cycle that involved facing some of my deepest fears. (Spoiler alert- I made it over 
).
This is of interest because there really is something to be said for getting brave and plunging into places we have avoided, IF we are able to stay connected to our deeper truth and our super powers while on the journey.
It isn’t easy, but it is worth it.
This is the essence of the Hero’s/ Heroine’s Journey Joseph Campbell teaches about. The pitfalls we encounter along the way…are almost laughable from the other side of the scary ravine we have conquered.
We are in a pretty tumultuous time right now on Planet Earth, and I suggest that the tools that are required for navigating what often feels like madness, come from taking that depth journey within. Paramahansa Yogananda said “Pick a Path, ANY Path, and go deeper”. Jesus says “The TRUTH will set you free”. And it always does.
I would like to share a technique with you, from the wisdom of Emmett Fox, my favorite teacher of what is called New Thought. He calls this The Golden Key.
Here it is:
When you are facing any difficult situation or circumstance, rather than struggling through the intricacies of the “problem”…Think of God instead.
That’s it!
You might call God The Universe, or your Higher Power, Jesus, Great Spirit, The Tao, Buddha or Mohammad…but the point is to get beyond personality and debate, and think of this force that breathes us instead.
I find that the Arts…singing, dancing, painting, composing, writing, photography, spiritual gardening…also add BEAUTY to the mix, and connect us to something eternal. And beauty is an elixir for despair. The Native American Beauty Path has recognized this for Millenia. Walk…with beauty.
The hermetic abstract expressionist painter Alice Martin said it this way: “Beauty is the Mystery of Life”.
I agree beauties.
So…Try it!
It works.
Stay strong:)
Think of God instead.
Peace out… and love,
Jane
P.S. You can access some spiritual practises and ideas from the world’s religions in my book- The Gateways- The Wisdom of 12-Step Spirituality. And, as Ram Dass reminds us- “We are all just walking each other home.”
xoxoxoxo J
Me Too…too
Me Too…too
I was raised to defer to men.
I learned that lesson well, as did so many women I know.
We are the ones who behaved as nice friendly girls in the company of men, long after we had become adult women.
This way of navigating the world is a skill set that comes as second nature to many professional women…and is not one that we learn in MBA or Conservatory programs. It is a way of being taught to us by other women, by television and film and advertising norms, by fashion magazines.
I can say “Me too” a hundred times, and many of you can too…
Right now we are in the middle of a giant cultural shift, and a collective voice is beginning to emerge. Some of us are hearing our own voices again for the first time in many years!
And that voice is connected to our soul. We are retrieving our souls.
The process of soul retrieval is one that shamans have enacted through ceremony, and the idea is to call us back from the false self…through the personas that we have thought we needed, and back to our original life path.
Think of the process of soul retrieval using the 12-Steps as a kind of lock system…like large boats utilize as they navigate an elevation.
If you have ever seen this amazing process, you know that the final body of water the boat is going to join seems impossible to reach at the start. But the lock system slowly fills up the section supporting the boat at one level, and section- by- section, the boat rises…fully supported by water…until it easily sails into the higher body of water.
“The 12-Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are an authentic spiritual path. They are an organic, developmental healing process, a series of inner moves, first discovered by a group of hopeless drunks in the mid-20th Century United States, who became the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous They have evolved to become a part of a much larger cultural/spiritual shift, and have birthed a kind of 12-Step Nation.”
(The Gateways- pg xiii)
The Gateways adds to the process of 12-Step spiritual work, many Inter-Spiritual Body/Mind/Spirit tools for practicing that spirituality individually or in community.
I hope you will find power and healing in this system if you are seeking to retrieve the deep and resonant sound of your own soul’s voice.
From victimhood and identity theft, to reintegration and full expression…filling in the empty spaces one step at a time.
Welcome home!
Happy to be on the journey with you.
Jane
You can find The Gateways- The Wisdom of 12-Step Spirituality- Dynamic Practices that Work (Sacred Stories Publishing 2016) on Amazon.com, through SacredStories Publishing.com, and other online Booksellers Worldwide
Big Mistake on Page Fifty-nine!!!
I wrote a book- The Gateways- The Wisdom of 12-Step Spirituality Dynamic Practices that Work
It took me 3 full years to write and format the book, and a large investment of money, hours and hours of time, passion, heart, soul and hard work…major hard work.
My book was picked up by a wonderful publisher, and launched in September of 2016. What an exciting time that was!! I was a nervous wreck and had a panic attack trying to figure out how to do a podcast. Sacredstoriespublishing.com.
The Gateways is not targeted at people recovering from addiction so much as those of us who missed some developmental steps along the way, and are always trying to fill those in. It does use the wisdom of the 12-Steps as a wonderful infrastructure/ladder for anchoring our internal structures. My first inspiration in this idea came from my years of studying Early Childhood Education, and the trailblazing work in developmental psychology, of Jean Piaget, and I have been working with these ideas ever since. You see, I am one of those people who had some filling-in of the infrastructure to accomplish in order for me to really contribute. So this book is about tools I used to support my journey home…to myself, in the hope that some of those will work for you too.
I have received many interesting comments and questions about The Gateways over this year, but one that really woke me up was from someone who lit into a list of typos she found…some of which were actually typos and some that were not.
But one of them really bothered/bothers me. One of my absolutely favorite quotes is MIS-ATTRIBUTED on Page 59!! I have no idea how this slid by our myriad edits, but the truth is, it happened.
I will tell you what it is in a second, but this whole situation has really brought forth so much great learning for me…and here is the big take away:
Shame is toxic, freaking out over mistakes …especially typos- is ridiculous, and sometimes pointing out these things allows others to do as we have done…BE HUMAN!! Also, one of my favorite lessons from the wise ones in my life is this: “We grow stronger in the broken places.”
So how about that? Where do you feel broken and maybe unable to just say it, admit it, even flaunt it? What are you hiding about yourself because you feel that if that secret you are carrying were known, you would lose credibility or love or approval?
The funny thing is that my book is so full of Inter-spiritual, psycho-spiritual tools and wisdom and humor and beauty…and the promotion of it has in some ways almost made me forget the miracle of my giving birth to it!! So I am glad this “mistake” conversation arose!!
The challenge of creating any thesis that pushes the conversation about spirituality/religion, psychology/holistic healing forward, is that every new idea threatens the status quo. But thank God for the dreamers and visionaries!! We need to keep moving and to live the lives WE are created to live…not a carbon copy of somebody else’s dream.
And creating can be messy! Actually, it is by definition -birthing something out of nothing- and that is…well, MESSY!!
So as this very strange and challenging year draws to a close, my wish for you…for all of you- is to make LOTS OF MISTAKES in the service of a Big Vision. And while you are creating, see what grows stronger in that place where the break happened…the one where you got fired, or broke up with somebody or …you know …the big stuff we all deal with in life. But really…the VISION is the thing…Jump into the vision!!! We so need your beautiful voice. Let me say this again: WE NEED YOUR VOICE!!!
Ready for the quote? It is, as I have said, one of my FAVORITES!!! It is by T.S. Eliot, NOT W.H. Auden Whew…Both great writers…but this one is by Mr. Eliot…in the green colored box at the bottom right of Page 59…final quote of three:
“We shall not cease from exploration, and in the end of all our exploring we will arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
Isn’t that so fantastic? It really speaks to the spiral growth we engage as we journey deeper into the not obvious truths. And it affirms the journey of exploration while at the same time, reminding us that the real journey is home…to ourselves, and to truths hidden in plain sight. Just LOVE this idea!!
I honestly thank the person who took the time to go through my work so carefully and point this HUGE mis- attribution to me. I am honored that they are interested enough in the work to look for inconsistencies, and then to help me to think about these things.
Happy New Year T.R.I.B.E. friends and fellow travelers. Please check out the work on Janegalloway.com. My plan is to create a rich and inspirational resource for you at that address. As Ram Dass reminds us “We are all just walking each other home.”
So happy to be on that journey with you.
With love,
Jane
How to have more in a have not world…create it!!!
The world seems to be going a bit mad these days.
This is not a political observation. It is way bigger than that. For a variety of reasons, some of which we are aware and many of which we aren’t, a huge tumult has come upon our systems, our planet and our communities, and much that has been hidden is coming to light. Traumas small and large are being stimulated by some of this breaking loose of old material, and when we are “triggered” as humans, we sometimes forget the amazing powers of co-creation we possess…the power of a WORD fitly spoken.
The bible tells us that the WORD becomes flesh. Metaphysically speaking, we know that even thoughts are things, and that words are an out picturing of our thoughts. What we tell ourselves resonates at the cellular level to create a vibratory force field that in fact becomes OUR WORLD. What you think, matters. What you say MATTERS. Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, and verbally repeating old traumas convinces our inner selves that it is happening all over again in the here and now, and perpetrates our trauma on those we tell about it.
I want to suggest some power words to you that you can use to change your experience, and those of our world. If you keep repeating what you don’t want, that is what you are re-creating believe it or not! Are you up for trying ? Ok, ready?
Here are 10 words to build a beautiful tomorrow: Healing, Wholeness, Good, Strong, Exciting, Creative, Funny, Inspirational, Abundant, Enthusiastic.
See if you can use these words at least once a day for a week. It is really hard to talk about awfulness when you use empowering words, and once you discover how much better you feel…you might add them to your vocabulary permanently.
Ok? Are you up for it? Let’s go for it!!! We can create this thing one power thought, word and vision at a time!! Let me know how it goes. zjaneg@gmail.com, janegalloway.com, Tribealive.org…all places to discover some cool ideas.
And while you are at it, check out my new book too!! The Gateways- The Wisdom of 12-Step Spirituality./ Sacredstoriespublishing 2016. You can get it on Amazon, and learn so many tools for changing the vibe you won’t believe it. Actually, if you want to get at the stuff that is holding you back, understand it and let it go for good, you need The Gateways. It’s a Wellness approach to the deep work that is actually fun.
OK!!! Let’s change the world! Power up!!
Sending love from the quantum field,
Jane
Hello Out There!!!
Dear T.R.I.B.E. Friends!!
It is my GREAT PLEASURE to invite you all to take a look at the work I have been completing for the past three years …Well I have been developing it for way longer than that, but the actual writing and compiling of this work has taken three years of steady writing, editing, physical therapy from sitting too long,
Please take a look at the GoFundMe Link below, and if you are able, make a donation.
Can’t wait to see you all at some Book Signing or Teaching event in your city SOON
https://www.gofundme.com/mv2ervf4
With love and appreciation across the quantum field.
Jane
There is nothing that can separate us really
And this is the the point of realizing that we need to get over ourselves and just love one another.
T.R.I.B.E. 