We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Barbara Heller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Barbara, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Ever since I was a toddler I looked for the sunlight through the curtains in my cold Long Island split level house. I have always been drawn to light and creative spiritual things. I collected miniatures as a kid and still do! I knew the name of every Muppet in Jim Henson’s creature shop and to this day I can’t watch violent or sexually explicit content. I have always known that I was a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and thus I choose to surround myself (as much as I can) with uplifting books, music, media, and people. I love to study Classical Jewish Wisdom and Mysticism. I make sure to pray and meditate every morning and evening. I have a very structured morning routine-shaped by Julia Cameron’s The Artists Way, Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning, and the Jewish Prayer Book-that consists of meditation, writing in my journal, breathwork, affirmations, yoga, and walking for 30 minutes. Also my grandmother always told me to “look for the good.” Basic healthy eating and drinking water also helps me stay positive. There was a time in my life when I didn’t feel like I was in control of my eating habits and that did a number on my body and my mind.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Barbara is an award winning songwriter, podcaster, filmmaker, and performer. Her One Woman Musical entitled Messianic Moments & Cosmic Conversations won a Producer’s Encore Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival & at the United Solo Fest in NYC in 2023. Based on her Documentaries & podcasts the show is usually followed by a Q and A about “How a 5 Minute Conversation Could Save A Life” She is committed to making this world more mentally well, and peaceful for all! Find out when Barb’s next show is here: BarbHeller.Com/SoloShow. And you can listen to her podcast at: www.SeeOneBeautifulSoul.com be inspired by the most amazing stories of forgiveness.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Forgiveness-the day I learned how to easily forgive my parents and anyone else who hurt me and asked G-d to forgive them too was the day I stopped holding onto anger and suffering. I used to suffer a lot because I would hold onto anger. Thank G-d I learned how to ask the question “What can I learn from this?” and that opened up my whole world to the idea that we are all here to learn and grow not just “get stuff and have the most fun we can.”
2) Prayer-a Rabbi once dared me to “talk to Gd like Gd’s your best friend” and I did for 90 minutes the first time and I haven’t stopped since. Just the practice of talking to G-d throughout my day makes everything seem like a blessing and each moment suddenly becomes packed with meaning. Especially when I’m growing through a big challenge prayer helps me tremendously along the way. NSP-Never Stop Praying.
3) Turning any challenges into a work of Art-I have always found a way to turn the most difficult challenges in my life into paintings, songs, short films, or plays that I create. I teach a class called Making Space for the Magical which is all about turning our messes into magnificent pieces of fine or performing art or writings. I have seen my students come up with the most magical creations.
I would tell my 19 year old self who just dropped out of college to audition for Broadway the following: You don’t need to be in a rush to get to the finish line. Make sure to eat healthy and drink lots of water, have a balanced and structured morning routine and don’t be afraid to toss all of your plans. Stay open to the life that G-d has created for you and together co-create it. Don’t be married to outcomes because you might just miss a huge opportunity for tremendous blessing!
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Prayer and Torah Study-I don’t know what I would do without daily prayer-morning and night and throughout the day. I also don’t know what I would do without the joy and comfort of living in my jewish community here in LA. I have the most amazing framily-friends that are like family. We take care of each other, check in on each other and grow through great joys and tremendous pain together. Everyone needs a community. I think spiritual communities are the best.
I also think is important to not be afraid to ask friends for advice or feedback as you create the art that you love. Test it out and don’t be afraid to iterate and feel like a failure sometimes. Its ok to do thing messy and start ALL over again or take a new road with something and completely toss out the original idea. Especially in writing-everything is a re-write.
Be kind to yourself and take time to have down time in which you are not productive. Get off your phone. I need to have shabbat-a whole 25 hour period each week when I force myself just to sit, pray, sing, laugh, and eat with friends and take long walks outside and not look at my phone.
Contact Info:
- Website: barbheller.com
- Instagram: Barbieheller
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraHellerArtistandEducator
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbheller/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbIsFunny
- Youtube: @BarbaraHellerArtistandEducator
Image Credits
Photo by Elisabeth Caren / Wardrobe by Shani Grosz / Makeup by Zara Kaplan
