Enjoy Part Two of the interview with Jerry Garcia, and everyone have a wonderful weekend. I think Patrick will be posting both days, thank god. Be sure to keep visiting his blog.
Me: Did you gain any insights once you crossed over?
Jerry: My biggest insight is that you can’t do wrong. I was surprised to see, looking back on my life, that I could NOT have done wrong no matter what.
Me: Is that because everything is a lesson, even mistakes, failures and transgressions of any sort, and therefore they have value?
Jerry: They don’t have to be lessons, but they’re definitely valued.
Me: Okay, and how so?
Jerry: They give to the greater cause of what Earth is about.
Me: So every experience—good or bad—helps the individual and the collective?
Jerry: Yeah! There I was on Earth taking my advice from others—mothers and friends and hearing how it wasn’t good and it wasn’t right; it was bad and should’ve been changed. But the moment I arrived here in Heaven, I hear, “All you could have done was good.”
Me: How awesome. That would be a weight off of anyone’s shoulders.
Jerry: I tell you what it did. It took away absolutely all of my regrets. I have none.
Me: Well, there goes my next question, “What was your biggest regret!” You don’t’ have any! Good!
Jerry: I don’t have any.
Me: Now, do you think you were here to learn or teach anything?
Jerry: Looking at my life, if I had to learn anything it would be in a personal—
Jamie (to Jerry): Yeah, it’s okay. Say it in terms of what’s personal, because this is all about you.
Jamie (to me): Erik’s kind of coaching him on what the question is.
Me: Okay.
Jerry: Well, it would definitely be my relationship to addiction: to co-dependent relationships, to cocaine, heroin and marijuana.
Jamie (giggling to Jerry): Just to name a few, right?
Jerry laughs.
Jamie (to Jerry): Wow, I didn’t know you were that bad off!
Jerry: Yeah, I was pretty quick to surrender myself to addiction.
Me: Did you learn anything from that?
Jerry: I learned that I couldn’t ever overcome it.
Me: Aw. Okay. So is the lesson there that you can’t and don’t really need to overcome everything?
Jerry: Correct!
Me: Okay. What were you here to teach?
Jerry: I really wanted to teach about open love.
Me: Can you expand on that? Are you talking about loving everybody and everything—that Love shouldn’t have boundaries? Were you against monogamy?
Jerry: Well, I think that needs to be a person’s choice. By open love, I guess I mean without people placing judgment on it and on what it should look like.
Me: Oh, so without conditions or judgment?
Jerry: Yes. If they want it to be with three people, so be it.
Me: I can barely keep up with one!
Jerry: If they want it to be between a man and his goat, so be it.
Jamie bursts out giggling.
Me (laughing): Oh no!
Jamie: Erik is just beside himself, clutching his belly and laughing.
Me: Jerry, you know this might be going in a book!
Jamie: Jerry and Erik look like they would get along so well.
Me: They probably will from now on, too.
Jamie: Same height, both shaggy with wild hair. It’s kind of cool seeing them together.
Me: I bet! So, Jerry, what do you think your proudest accomplishment was while you were living—besides that wonderful Ben and Jerry’s ice cream of yours! I love that!
Jamie laughs.
Jerry: Oh, thank you! My proudest accomplishment would definitely be the music I left behind.
Me: Of course. And now that you’re in spirit, do you still see that as your biggest achievement?
Jerry: Yes. And the reason is cuz it’s not just a legacy of me; the music seemed to create the results of what my message would have been—that open love, community building.
Me: Okay. Can you share a life that may have influenced your last one as Jerry Garcia?
Jerry: That’s a very good question.
Jamie (to Jerry): You don’t remember that from last time?
Erik laughs hard.
Jerry: No, I don’t!
Me (chuckling): Were you smoking some herbs when we interviewed you the first time? Is that it?
Jerry: There are different things here!
Me: Turnabout is fair play, Jerry!
Everyone laughs.
Me: In all fairness, we may not have asked you about a past life. I had already interviewed several people before adding that question. Okay, so back to the question.
Jamie: He’s talking to me about the shortest life he’s ever had.
Jamie listens.
Jamie (to Jerry): Really? Because, well, I’m hesitant, because I think you guys are playing a joke on me.
Me: That would be typical of Erik.
Jerry: Not a joke!
Jamie: He’s talking about being a butterfly. Big yellow-orange Monarch. He says he’s—huh? Birds do that, but not butterflies! He’s saying something about migration.
Erik: Jamie, you can do your research or you can listen to Jerry!
Jamie: Okay, okay. He’s telling me the big butterflies have migration pattern and they can fly from one country to another!
Jamie giggles in suspicious disbelief.
Me: Yeah, they can! Monarchs fly to and from Mexico. It’s a huge migration. I think it’s a bit of tourist attraction, even.
Jamie: I didn’t know butterflies had migration!
Me: Yep, they sure do—at least some of them.
Jamie: He’s talking about that flight and the wind and the struggle to innately know where you need to be without an inner voice for guidance. There’s communication between animals that is so subtle and so pure and it’s never mis-translated—not like human emotions and speech.
Jerry: I so very much wanted a life where I innately knew where I should go, and that life was based on it, but my problems with addiction sabotaged it. I think my only innate sense was my need to create harmony and music. That was the only pure thing in me that I knew how to connect with.
Jamie (with jaw dropped): Wow.
Me: Very poetic! Anything else you want to share with the world, Jerry?
Jerry (looking squarely at Jamie): You know, I do remember that question about past lives from last time!
Jamie laughs.
Jerry: I do want somewhere in there how much I love my “Dead Heads.”
Me: Aw, your fans! How nice!
Jerry: I’m just so grateful for them.
Me: Mm.
Jerry: But my message to the world is: Gratitude should often supersede Love, because without it, you can’t understand what it is to feel Love.
Me: Aw. Well, that’s probably why you named the band The Grateful Dead!
Jamie: Oh my god! Grateful Dead!
Me: And you’re still grateful even as a dead person.
Jamie: I so didn’t catch on to that.
Me: Pretty cool, Jerry. Erik, do you have anything you want to ask Mr. Garcia?
Jamie (giggling): He looked at me and said, “No, we’re going to be catching up later.
Me: Oh, okay.
Jamie (to Jerry and Erik): You hang out?
Erik: Yeah, from time to time.
Me: Oh, that’s awesome! Well thank you for everything, Jerry.
Jamie: Aw, he’s giving you the peace sign.
Me: Great. Now I’m hungry for ice cream.
Jamie: Mm mm.
Me: Thanks again. I’ll be careful with this recording; I promise!
Jerry: Peace out!
Me: Peace out, back atcha!
Jamie giggles.
If you enjoyed this two-part interview, please vote for Channeling Erik in the 2013 Bloggies along with my daughter’s amazing fashion blog, Pretty Shiny Sparkly. Remember, Kristina is the one who designed both blogs, so Channeling Erik wouldn’t exist without her! I’ll reattach the instructions below. For those of you who haven’t voted yet. you might as well give in and do so, because I’m just going to hounding you until you do. (haha). Seriously, it would mean a lot to me, and it’s important for the future os what I consider to be “our” blog.
1) First, click here: VOTE
2) Scroll down to the Religion and Spirituality category and enter the blog name (Channeling Erik) and URL (www.channelingerik.com) You’ll need to fill in the other two spaces with obscure sites. Here’s a site that might give you some easy choices. SITES FOR THE OTHER TWO SPOTS
3) Repeat the procedure for “Weblog of the Year.” I used “The worst cheese blogs” in the other three spaces. Hee hee.
4) Have your friends and family do the same or get permission to use their email addresses and do it for them. REMEMBER, YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE VOTE PER EMAIL ADDRESS.
5) My daughter would be delighted if you’d nominate her blog, www.prettyshinysparkly.com, for the “Best Fashion Blog” category. Click here for blogs to put in the other two spaces. OTHER FASHION BLOGS
Be sure to check your email as instructed after you vote in order to click on the link to make the vote count. If you don’t receive it, check your spam folder. That’s exactly what happened to mine and nearly every other person with a gmail account.
