How you can grow younger in the second half of life
When you do things from your soul,
the river itself moves through you.
Freshness and a deep joy.
-Rumi
When Susan Matyas sent an email inviting me to speak at her “The Ageless Woman” summit, I started laughing.
Not at her. Or at her summit. But at this crazy synchronicity.
For the past two years, women have told me over and over again that I need new photos because I look so much younger than the photo taken when The Lotus and The Lily came out.
Every time someone said this, I’d take another look at me in that orange jacket and wonder: is this really happening? Am I really getting younger? How is that possible?
But I didn’t do anything. The thought of getting new photos. Ugh.
That is, until I met with Amy Isaman last September to plan my new website, and she flat out ordered me to get new photos.
Amy said she wouldn’t make the new website without new photos. “You no longer look like that," she said, "you’re growing younger!”
What? How is that possible?
Well, I think I know.
I think I know not only that aging backwards is possible, but I think I’ve been given some insights into how it happens. And—the most important part—I think I know what you can do to experience it for yourself.
All of this fits perfectly into Susan Matyas’ very fun and potentially transformative telesummit, The Ageless Woman, so I said yes. And boy, am I glad I did.
Because Susan and I had the BEST conversation I’ve ever had on a summit.
If you’ve been to any of these summits, you know I get just a little excited talking about deep soul writing and the wonders of the theta brain wave state, and hundreds of people invariably download my gift. You may be one of them.
But this time something more happened.
In our video recording, Susan asked me to talk about my radical overnight transformation from a writer to a Prayer Artist. (People do find that story inspiring. And I love telling it. Each time I hear myself tell it, it re-inspires me!)
But then, she asked me to BE a prayer artist!
She asked me to give the viewers an EXPERIENCE of one of my new “original prayers”—prayers that transcend any patriarchal definition of prayer.
I wasn’t expecting that!
I grabbed “There You Are” from a fat notebook of new prayers and walked the viewer through not just listening to the prayer, but experiencing it, noticing how their body responds to the prayer and what it awakens in them.
Susan was floored. I was, too! My whole body radiated with love for this gorgeous work I have been given.
When we finished, I looked in the mirror, startled to see a young, vibrant, glowing woman radiating out of my own eyes.
In that moment I remembered all those requests to get new photos. You know what? They were right. I am younger now.
So what’s the secret? How does this work? I think it’s really quite simple.
It’s a matter of living at the threshold of the visible and the invisible, the physical world and the imaginal realm, the world of logic and the world of mystical intelligence.
Matthew Fox nailed it in the subtitle of his book on creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet.
When you bring forth that which is yours to bring forth, your entire being—body, mind, psyche, soul—is flooded with divine energy.
I picture it as Janet in her limited self with her limited picture of what’s possible, being suffused with the unlimited Divine Feminine.
I know—and I know that I know—that I do not write these prayers. I receive them. They are handed to me on a silver platter with strict orders to bring them to life. Nor do I decide on the next prayer intensive. It is given to me. With orders to invite the world to pray.
People ask me all the time: How do you do all that you do? And I am always a bit flummoxed. I turn inward and ask, “How do I do all this?”
And the answer, the only answer that makes sense, is: I don’t do it all. I am fed and led and supported and pushed and cajoled and advised.
My job is simply to put my hands and heart and feet in motion to bring all that I hear and receive into form. And I am always surprised at the results. Always.
You may be wondering: How can I tap into this “fountain of youth?”
Well, that’s what all my intensives are about. That’s what my whole life as a “prayer artist” is about.
The gold key is finding the personal practice that taps into the infinite for you.
For me that is daily—and I mean daily—deep soul writing, deep soul reading, deep soul reflection (aka staring out the window). And constant prayer. Not patriarchal prayers of supplication, but prayer in its most ancient and modern form: love songs.
As long as I’m singing my love songs to Life, Life will sing her love songs to me. And, just like a teenager, head over heels in love, I glow.
That’s my answer.
But I want to hear what the 22 other women Susan has gathered have to say about their own path to vitality, purpose, and joy.
I've never been invited to a seminar with this delicious topic. Perhaps it's a first for you too.
Come and play with Susan Matyas and me. There's no cost. You just have to register and you'll receive emails announcing each guest. The seminar opens March 18. And this will be your only invitation.
to growing younger each day as we sing our love songs to life,
Janet
PS: I have two BIG love songs to share with you. (They're keeping me very young!)
Ho'oponopono for Mother Earth opened yesterday. Lahela led us in a glorious meditation into the heart of Mother Earth where we received a personal gift, then she taught us a version of Ho'oponopono designed to cut the aka cords of greed wrapped around our sacred home. Finally, we prayed together. No one could even talk afterward.
What a sacred thrilling love-filled experience. And the miracle is: as we heal our mother; we heal ourselves.
Join today or Monday and you won't miss a thing.
Second, watch for a special newsletter this Thursday, March 14, announcing the birthday of my new podcast, a work of pure love: Praying at the Speed of Love!