As I am aware at one point in your life you were a model, radio presenter, music producer...
Actually, while living in Louisville, KY, I was involved in the modelling and fashion industries for seventeen years. Beginning as a model, I worked on the runway, in photography, recorded radio commercials and film voiceovers, appeared in TV commercials and worked trade shows. I had a midnight to three AM radio show on the local easy listening station, WVEZ, called “Music to Dream By.” My on-air name was Julie and my persona was soft and sexy. I received a lot of fan mail particularly from men in prison. From modelling I moved up to event production - both organizing events and serving as mistress of ceremonies, however my claim to fame was my freewheeling, ad-libbing fashion show commentary. After one of our nightclub fashion shows, I was approached by a gentleman from the New York Fur Industry who wanted me to come to New York to commentate a show there. With two young children to care for, I opted not to go to New York although I often wondered...what if? My final stop in the industry was as a modelling agency director. I was part of a team that developed new talent and booked all those whom our agency represented.
Unfilled by the world of fashion, I had begun to explore metaphysics and spirituality. Surrendering my will to that of The Creator – I sought guidance and direction, asked to be of service and was willing to change everything. Within three months, with no musical talent or connections to the music industry, I was hired as Executive Director of The Nashville Entertainment Association. I believe I was brought to Nashville to meet my spiritual teachers and to prepare for the task I would be given, that is, to heal the Earth and to help the People.
“To Heal Earth and to help the People”... You are taking on a huge task ahead of you. What is your vision for that, Connie?
When I was given this task in a series of meditations in the early ‘90’s, I had no idea what that would look like. Not knowing where I was going was no reason not to take the first steps so I started what we in the United States call a not-for-profit corporation, GoodWorks, Inc., in England and other countries, it would simply be called a charity. I knew I was to find a sacred place to restore to its natural state and I was to find a way to help the people native to this land; and in doing those things, I would help all the people who came to be with me live a more fulfilling life. I was told through meditation that “the people will come and the land will reveal itself when the time is right and you are ready” and, further, that this was a task I would accomplish myself. Many times I tried to “give it back” believing it was too difficult and I was too small with too little to accomplish something so big and so impactful. And yet, every time I thought I would fall short, every time I thought I could not take another step, the Universe provided...a door opened, a person appeared, money came and eventually, the way became clear, I followed my heart and lived by my wits. And now, fifteen years later, the prophecy is made real...the people are coming, the time is right, I am ready and the land will reveal itself at any moment.
You have a very colourful personality. Your life experiences do not leave a single stone untouched. How would you describe yourself, Connie?
The first word that came to mind was “wanderer” and the second, “wonderer.”
I wanted to know about so many different things and once I had a smattering of knowledge, found something within it that would lead me in another direction; I never travelled in a straight line.
I was never bound by convention; I danced to my own heartbeat. For as long as I can remember, my mother encouraged me to be my own person (although later in life she may have come to rue that advice). When my teenage friends were learning to smoke cigarettes, they looked so silly I didn’t follow suit. In the early 50’s when rock and roll was just starting out, I became a fan of “black music.” A 50,000 watt clear channel radio station broadcasting from Gallatin, TN played only blues, jazz, and popular black artists. The signal came through only when the atmospheric conditions were just right - usually late at night after other stations signed off the air. Every night I would search the airways and when it was there, put the radio in bed with me with the volume turned low and fall asleep.
I wasn’t one who planned my life. I never had serious career goals or mapped out my future, I expected life to simply unfold. When I was quite small, I read Aesop’s Fables...the story of “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” stayed with me. The fable tells of the grasshopper playing and dancing and having a grand time during the summer months while the ant worked hard to store food for the winter. When winter comes, the grasshopper is left out in the cold dying of hunger and is rebuked by the industrious ant for not saving for the future. The moral of this fable, hard work and saving, was not lost on me but even as a child knowing the ending, I could not be an ant.
That said, I don’t want to leave the impression I was thoughtless and always on the go for there is a side of me that is quiet and sedentary. My mother often told the story of when I was two or three years old and if she were busy, would sit me in the floor and give me my high top shoes. I would lace, unlace and re-lace my shoes in different ways and patterns until her work was done. Thinking of it now, I feel a “cellular memory” of doing it. I liked to read and was more often than not tucked away in a chair with my nose in a book rather than racing through the house. I liked being outdoors but was not athletic, preferring to lie in the grass watching the clouds or on a blanket with my eyes on the stars.
Have you ever wanted to be one of those stars?
If you were not the one who planned your life, then who did that? It sounds as if you travel through life with the wind - wherever it blows, you follow...
That is exactly how it happened. I was told many times throughout my life by my parents, teachers, employers and others who cared about me that I had to have a plan – and not only a plan but a back-up plan, yet no matter how much I saw the need or how hard I tried to conform, my plans would go awry. Something would come up, get in the way or catch my attention... I suppose “free spirit” aptly fits. Called that by others, I never saw it in myself until later in life when I realized that I am guided by Spirit. My journey was within rather than without. I had to know myself and what I am to do in this life on this Earth. I do believe we have free will to choose the ways in which to learn our lessons and I laugh ruefully when I look back...surely there were smoother paths to follow than the rocky roads I chose!
So many ‘colours’, so many experiences, so much curiosity... Where does it all come from?
The only answer I can come up with for this question lies in the stars. I don’t know much about astrology but this I do know, I was born on December 11, 1941 and am a double Sagittarius, that is, both my sun and rising signs are in Sagittarius. As I understand it, the sun sign represents the face one shows to the world while the rising sign represents one’s inner-self. With expansive Jupiter as my zodiac sign’s ruling planet, my thinking is more matrix-like then linear. A friend once described me as “a non-linear thinker in a linear thinking world” – I smile at that.
To counterbalance this double expansive sign, my Moon, the ruler of emotions, is in Virgo. Virgo is very much the “detail” aspect of my personality, very attuned to correctness and working within parameters, it is she who keeps my feet on the ground. When I realized in the early 70’s that these attributes rule my nature, I learned to “allow” Virgo to take charge when it was to my betterment.
Only through allowing Virgo to be in the driver’s seat was I able to give over my life to Spirit. It was she who had many conversations with my ego self, pointing out mistakes I made and reasons it would be advantageous to put the steering wheel in the hands of my higher nature and for ego to be the passenger.
Who and what is that something you call Spirit? Could you expand on this please?
I believe there is a power greater than our minds can comprehend and use “Spirit” or “Universe” to encompass “All That Which We Can Not Know.” I believe God is “All That is” – we are not separate and apart, we are part of God and God is within us. Years ago during a meditation I realized, “All I am is God, I am not All God Is.” For years it was difficult for me to use “God” because the word brings up many different concepts, most of which do not convey my personal belief. The vision of God as a man with a long flowing beard sitting on a throne above the clouds exacting vengeance upon all who do not obey His demands never sat well with me, especially when those demands are defined by mere mortals, usually men, who seek power and control over the rest of us. They position themselves between us and God and then decide for us What God Is. I don’t believe God plays a role in every element of our lives - deciding who wins wars or football games or who will be a rock star or who will suffer terrible illness. To me, Spirit is that higher aspect of our selves, that part of us beyond ego which is connected to the higher realms of consciousness – that which, with guidance and purity of thought can be accessed in this lifetime.
I am aware that throughout your life you have developed a deep interest in Native American culture. What does it mean to you?
My interest in American Indians came at an early age as the result of having two uncles who were geologists with the US Geological Survey. Both worked a good portion of their careers with the Western tribes in the forties and fifties so I heard stories and received gifts from them over the years. One of my uncles, William Pecora, was Undersecretary of the Interior under Samuel Udall, who is highly regarded for his management of The Department of the Interior.
My paternal Aunt Fern was married to my “other” geologist uncle, Monty Klepper, and she accompanied him when he was assigned to work in Indonesia. When my uncle’s tour ended, my aunt stayed on for another two years travelling around the country with only her manservant. Five feet nine inches tall and quite beautiful, she was often the topic of conversation in the family for her “daring do” so, of course, I found her intriguing. Her adventures piqued my interest in other cultures, as well.
One of my friends, a Cherokee elder, told me that the souls of some Native Americans come back into the bodies of compatible spirits, oftentimes “whites,” to walk their beloved Earth once more. I don’t know if that is what happened to me or, perhaps I had a past life as a Native American but in 1971, when I tried to read, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” a documented account of the systematic plunder of American Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century written by Dee Brown, I couldn’t read it then and I can’t read it now. Emotions well up that I can not control or put aside.
It is difficult for me to read the words of Chief Seattle, who as a young boy on Puget Sound witnessed the arrival of the first white explorers in 1792. He spoke many memorable and painful truths on the fate of his people: “...And when the last red man shall have perished from the earth and his memory among white men shall have become a myth, these shores shall swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children’s children shall think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway or in the silence of the woods, they will not be alone.”
Reading this and knowing this causes my heart to break. We have discarded and wiped from our memories the relationship Native Americans and other indigenous peoples had and have with the land. I want us to remember and restore this love for the Earth to the collective consciousness of all people.
Is that why you so determinedly worked in creating a special retreat named GoodWorks so that you could preserve Native American’s culture, their ways of living and history?
Yes. During my self-imposed five year long retreat, I was blessed to spend a great deal of that time with Native Americans, learning their ways, participating in ceremonies and coming to know their relationship to the land. The teaching, “The Earth is our Mother,” resonates deeply with me as does the lesson to respect all things that “walk, crawl, swim and fly.” When humans disengage from being one with nature is when we disengage from one another. When we no longer respect the Earth, we no longer respect our own mothers leading to the breakdown of family and tradition. Our intention at GoodWorks is “to mend the old with the new,” that is, to bring forward from our hearts and our history those things which have value and make us compassionate humans then to integrate those values with modern ecology and technology in an effort to save the planet. As a people, Americans have a disgraceful history in the way our indigenous tribal nations were torn asunder. We systematically usurped their land and decimated their culture. I believe it is important to remember and honour Native Americans and we will do that through enriching experiences at our retreat, giving voice to American Indians to share their history and love of the land and through that, apply “the gratitude principle” in our own lives. Of course, Americans are not the only ones to heap distain on indigenous people as inferior beings. Therefore, our further intention is to become a world centre, to bring our efforts to the world stage, to raise the consciousness of all who come to be with us.
Your vision for GoodWorks is absolutely inspiring. I am with you on this. So tell me please, when is the launching of GoodWorks, how to find it and what program did you create and plan to begin with?
Thank you for asking this question, Jolita. I appreciate the opportunity to invite everyone to visit our website www.goodworksinleipersfork.org and also to visit our Facebook page, ‘GoodWorks in Leiper’s Fork’ there they will find the back story of GoodWorks, Inc. posted. We have also recently added a Blog linked to both sites. We are launching our efforts with our first annual “eco-experience” weekend retreat to introduce our concept and programs. The retreat opens Thursday evening, September 30 and ends Sunday afternoon, October 3 of this year. Our schedule of activities is complete and we are now launching our marketing and promotional campaigns. Our participants will be very busy with experiential opportunities in organic farming, sustainable construction and lifestyles, historic and environmental preservation, personal development and Native American culture, all of which are infused with group discussions and ending with a caucus and call to action. The details of the event will be posted on our website, Facebook and Blog. All expenses, including GoodWorks’ Onyx Level membership benefits, overnight accommodations, food, transportation (excluding arrival and departure), multiple activities and learning experiences are part of the package price. To keep the “eco-experience” weekend retreat affordable, we are launching a fund-raising campaign to underwrite the costs, donations can be made on our website and Facebook page. We are interested in feedback on this innovative approach to whole life living and hope your readers will visit our sites to do just that. While there are many places which offer one of the areas of our interest, we are unique in that we practice the teaching that “we are all related.” We believe more is gained from experiencing the whole – as Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
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Thank you, Connie, for sparing some precious time of yours in answering all the questions. I invite everyone to be generous and donate towards this noble cause.
Blessings, Jolita Kelias
Copyright © Jolita Kelias, August 2010
All Rights Reserved
