Lynn Serafinn's Garden of the Soul

Interview with a Superhero – Royal Amber Rojas

Lynn Serafinn — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:51:36 +0000

Interview with a Superhero – speaking with Royal Amber Rojas

Show: Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul
Episode 5: Becoming the Hero of Your Own Life
Date aired: Wed 18 February 2009

Last week on my BlogTalkRadio show Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul, I interviewed author and motivational speaker Royal Amber Rojas. Amber shared her story of how, after a lifetime of abuse, rape, gang violence, drugs and depression, she found the inner strength and inspiration to turn it all around to create a model for happiness that she now shares with others who are struggling in life.

Amber told about her travels as a child to different cultures, especially her extended time in Fiji where she learned the value of community and how an entire village is instrumental in raising a child. It was here that she learned about oneness of the human spirit and about the value of unconditional love.

In sharp contrast was Amber’s life after Fiji, when she returned to the US to live in Los Angeles where, by the time she hit her mid-teens, she had already been molested numerous times, raped, involved in gang violence, been shot at point-blank range, gotten hooked on heroin, and landed eventually in jail, where much of her earlier learnings in life started to reappear, and her life began to turn around.

Now 30 years old, married and a mother, Amber has authored the book It Is What It Is, which is a simple to understand guidebook for what she calls the “13 Universal Agreements” that each of us needs in order to live happy, fulfilling lives. Amber beautifully read a segment from that book on the air (you can hear it in the podcast below).

Although she didn’t mention this on the air, one of Amber’s friends once said that she must be a “superhero” to have endured all of those things, and still managed, not only to survive, but also to come out of it with such a positive attitude and love for the world. Many other people would continue into a spiral of anger or self-pity, but Amber’s rebirth into a state of peacefulness is truly inspirational, made only more inspiring by the fact that she now works to serve the world by working as a manifestation coach and motivational speaker. She tells me that her deepest desire is to reach that person who has “hit rock bottom” and who feels there is no way out, and to give them the message that life is there for the taking when we step into our authentic selves.

I have said this before, but it bears mention again. My definition of a hero is one who hears the “call” of their own life and answers it. From so many angles, Amber is a true hero of her own life.

Listen to the show now:

Or listen to/download the MP3:

Subscribe to the podcast for
“Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul:

Read more about Amber on her website at: http://www.royalamberrojas.com/index.htm

Check out Amber’s book It is What it Is: a guide to the universal agreements at:

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/bq5mgc OR
Inner Voice Publications: http://www.innervoicepublications.com/Online_Store.html

AND… you can receive a special gift directly from Amber, and over 20 other mind-body-spirit professionals, when you buy my upcoming book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. Find out how to get these fantastic gifts at: http://www.give-receive-become-be.com/pages/bonus.html

AND… you can meet Amber personally when you come join my online community, Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul at http://gardenofthesoul.ning.com. I call it “a vibrant place for cultural and spiritual creatives.” Come join Amber and the dozens of others who are making it the most colourful place to be on the web.

Creating from Chaos and the Law of Allowing

Lynn Serafinn — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:12:24 +0000

Wednesday evening was episode 4 of my radio broadcast “Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul” on BlogTalkRadio. My special guest was John Levine of Alpha music who composes “Alpha” music that is supposed to put you to sleep. Umm… that didn’t come out the way I meant it… what I mean is, John’s music is intended as a cure for insomnia, anxiety, etc., because it is said to induce Alpha waves in the brain, which actually bring one to a relaxed state. I had spoken to John over the phone before setting up the show, and I thought the story of how he came to create this music was so interesting that I simply had to have him on the show. I was really excited that he was going to be on the air, and we made all the arrangements together.

So along comes Wednesday and I log on to my switchboard for the show. John had agreed to call in at least 5 minutes before air time to touch base before we went live. But 5 min before the start of the show, there was still no one on the guest line. I watched the countdown… 4 min, 3, 2, 1… Suddenly I’m live on the air. The theme music plays. Still no guest. Yikes!

When I was trained in Leadership, we learned that a real leader is supposed to be able to throw out “the plan” when needed, and create something from anything… or nothing, as the case may be. Well, all I had was the title of the show, and little old me. No back-up plan whatsoever.

Hmmm… I thought. So what can I create from this?

Ok, so after the theme music died down, I do my usual spiel to start. I talk about last week’s show, and even the week before. Still no guest. Hmm… we are already 3 minutes into the show. So, I go ahead and introduce my guest anyway, but am completely transparent and tell the audience he’s not there, if you can believe that! I tell them I am just going to talk about the topic anyway, trusting he’ll show up.

TALK?? On what? I ask myself …This is supposed to be an INTERVIEW.”

Anyway, I took the topic of the show, “Using Creativity to Heal the Self” and just started “winging it”. I started talking about my own journey of creativity and how it helped heal me (or not). I ended up talking about my own creative process in writing the book (at least part of it). I spoke about how I let go of control of the need to create and allowed things to just evolve, and how this actually opened up not only my creativity, but allowed me to “heal” from many wounds from the past. I spoke about how different characters appeared for my book, how I “allowed” the characters to write the stories, and how this bought me to a deeper understanding of the story I was writing. I spoke about my story “Learning to Breathe” (part of the section on the “Iris” in The Garden of the Soul) where I wrote about my mother’s death. I spoke about my character “Crow”, who was inspired by an actual crow who came to my window one morning about 2 years ago, and prompted the flow and meaning of the story. I spoke about how Crow asked me questions to which I didn’t premeditate the answers, and how I simply allowed the conversation to unfold in the book. I spoke about the wisdom and the healing this kind of organic creative process brought me regarding many pivotal events in my life, such as my mother’s death.

Then, just as I was “sort of” making a point, and with a whole 14 minutes left to the show, my guest John Levine finally shows up. Apparently, he had been trying to call in for half an hour but couldn’t get through to the call (bless him!). But, as fate would have it, he came in right at a moment when I was just completing the idea of “allowing” things to evolve naturally (but where I would have gone after that, don’t ask me!), so I just sort of used the moment to create from whatever showed up and said something like, “We’re going to be creative right now and allow this moment to happen exactly as it is.”

Now, one would think that this is probably a host’s worst nightmare. It’s like all those dreams where you are pushed out on stage without ever having had a rehearsal (ever have those?). But you know what? I felt perfectly calm. I was well aware that I probably babbled my silly head off for 16 minutes. But I didn’t care. I felt connected in some WEIRD way, and simply remained open and fully transparent. Now, I find this a very strange thing to have done, and regardless of how “good” the babble ended up being (hahaha… I haven’t listened to it yet! Maybe YOU could listen to it and let me know!), I still feel pretty proud that I was able to hold the room for 16 minutes solo, and actually stay somehow on the topic of the show.

Even though we only had 16 minutes, we managed to have just enough time for John to briefly tell how he first embarked on his journey to producing Alpha music. He spoke a little bit about how being the witness to his father’s lifetime of stress-related illnesses compelled him to find answers to the mind-body-spirit connection, which ultimately led him to use his musical talents to create music that can alter the alpha waves in the brain to restore health and wellbeing to listeners. He told me about his secret desire to record an album in the Taj Mahal some day. Paul Horn did that in the 70s on his album Inside, but all he had was a flute. Bringing in a grand piano would undoubtedly be a little bit more challenging! Unfortunately, we only had time for a small excerpt of one of John’s track on the air, but if you go to his site at www.silenceofmusic.com, he’s got loads of clips for your to hear. Of course, I will have John on the show again sometime soon. He’s a lovely person with a great story and a MASSIVE repertoire of Alpha wave inducing music. So and I really want to have the chance to present him properly on another show.

By the way, John will be appearing LIVE here in Bedford at our Global Wellness Circle evening this Monday 16 February at the Park Road West Church Hall, just off Roff Avenue. CLICK HERE for full details, or visit http://www.global-wellness-circle.com and click “events”.

So the question is, I wonder why the Universe wished this to happen? I trust I shall find out eventually.

But I must admit, I now have a real appreciation for the role of a co-host!

Be SURE to check out John’s site at http://www.silenceofmusic.com. He has a MASSIVE amount of music there, and you can here samples online.

Warm wishes,
Lynn

P.S.: Have a listen to my own creative process while I was creating from chaos:

AND it would be great if you gave it a little heart to mark it as your favourite! It will help me get higher in the ratings.

OR… subscribe the podast HERE:

P.P.S.: Next week’s guest is Royal Amber Rojas who has an amazing story of survival to tell! Make SURE you all tune in on Wed 18 Feb at 6.30 PM UK time to hear her incredible story on the air. You can listen to the show online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn, either live OR “on demand”.

P.P.P.S.: Come on over and join Amber, me and lots of other colourful people on my new social network “The Garden of the Soul” at http://gardenofthesoul.ning.com

Lynn Serafinn's Garden of the Soul

Interview with a Superhero – Royal Amber Rojas

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