I want to thank all of you for joining in and providing support for Erik’s interview yesterday. God, it was so fun. For those of you who missed it, don’t worry, because I plan to share the download with all of you. The host, Sharon Crawford, is an amazing spirit, sure destined to do great things for humanity. I know Erik feels it too and wants to help her accomplish what she’s here to do. And now, take the stage, Ms. Janis!
Me: I see. Now, was there a past life that most influenced this last one you had?
(Long pause)
Jamie: She’s showing me two.
Me: Okay.
Janis: I was a candle maker, a man.
Me: Yes.
Janis: I would put herbs into the candles.
Jamie: This was in olden days. It’s almost like the candles were burned to make the place smell better, like because you needed it.
Janis: A lot of them were used to burn in—
Jamie: She’s saying a word, and I don’t know what it is. It’s where the dead people are, where you store the bodies.
Me: Oh, okay.
Jamie: They would leave them exposed for so many days before they put the lid on. It’s a big place where all the family members are buried together.
Me: Mausoleum?
Jamie: I keep hearing a word that sounds like it’s a sarcophagus, but that’s not what she’s saying.
Me: Catacomb?
Jamie: That’s it!
Janis: I enjoyed that, because I was bringing the smallest element of beauty to death.
Me: Wow!
Janis: It was to take away the smell of it, that raunchy smell.
Me: I guess it did get pretty ripe in there!
Janis: Yes, it did. But that really stuck with me—finding small elements of beauty in such a wretched life. And I needed that lesson in this life. I came in with so many physical struggles of not looking right, not behaving right, not acting happy, not being what my parents and my family wanted me to be.
Me Um hm.
Janis: And so breaking out and away from that allowed me to find that small spot of happiness in all that turmoil.
Jamie: I asked her if she wanted to talk about that other past life.
Me: Oh, yeah.
Jamie: The only image I get is picking potatoes out of the ground. Or maybe they’re rocks; I’m not sure. But she says it’s okay.
Me: What, not to go with it? Not to share it?
Jamie: Yeah.
Me: Okay, that’s fine. So, what was your proudest accomplishment while you were in the physical world, Janis? And has that changed since you’ve been in the spirit realm?
Janis: Proudest accomplishment. No, it hasn’t changed. Why should it? Just because of our perspective as growing from where we are, it’s not going to change who we were in that moment when we did it.
Me: Okay. That makes sense.
Jamie (laughing): She’s suggesting that you might want to just take that question off your list!
Jamie and I laugh.
Jamie: But you don’t have to!
Janis: My proudest accomplishment was when my music starting to become famous.
Me: Oh, yeah, of course.
Janis: When people started listening to it, and they could recognize me as someone who was accepted, that my music was accepted, that was just great.
Me: Aw, Honey, of course that was! So do you have any messages for us? Is there anything else you’d like to share with the world?
Janis: There has to be balance in everything you do, but don’t let society fool you; balance doesn’t always have to be fifty/fifty.
Me: Ah! Very deep, Janis!
Janis (chuckling): Let’s write a song about that one!
Me: Very poetic. You’re just awesome.
Jamie (giggling): She’s singing your song.
We all start singing a few lines of Mercedes Benz, and I’m struck by the surreal nature of the fact that I’m jamming with the great Janis Joplin herself despite my horrible vocal abilities. After we finish, I ask Erik:
Me: Erik, how about you, Sweetie? Do you—
Jamie is still singing.
Me (laughing): Jamie, you and I need to go on tour with Janis! Erik, you can be our guitarist!
Erik laughs.
Me: Do you have any questions for Janis, Erik?
Erik: Nope.
Me: Nope? You’re being awful tight-lipped today!
Erik laughs.
Jamie: Janis just said goodbye.
Me: Goodbye. Thanks so much for your time, Janis.
Jamie: She’s gone.
Janis Joplin
Enjoy some of the best of Janis. I hope you honor her for her work and send her love.
