An Interview with Julia Heywood

By Colin Whitby

Julia has written a book which wanted to be written, and for me a book that wanted to be read. There is a wonderful energy in Julia’s book ‘The Barefoot Indian’ and when I discussed this with Julia it became clear why.

Colin - Tell us a little about your journey and how you came to write the book.

Julia – Ever since I was a small child I have been aware of what I like to call ‘wise people who are no longer in the world’, I suppose you could refer to them as spirit guides, who have always imparted guidance to me. I found this wonderful and very useful but I have tried to deny that part of me and to lead a normal life. When you talk of 30 or 40 years ago spirituality wasn’t a thing you discussed, so I kept it hidden and very person and private.

My guidance became more frequent and more profound as I got older but I still kept denying it and continued with my career. However the clearer and more profound my guidance became the more disastrous my ‘normal’ life was becoming. Eventually it came to a point where I lost everything, I hit a brick wall and did not know which direction to turn.

I was meditating one night and the book was just there. It wasn’t like I went looking for the book, it found me; it was being played out visually in my mind and I felt I just had to write it. So that’s what lead me to writing The Barefoot Indian, and it was like it was saying to me, ‘stop denying this spiritual life, what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard what you’ve learned is not just for you it’s for everybody’.

It was like I had to come out of the closet and that was my turning point and that was how the book came about.

Colin – So up to that point had you been doing all the usual things like reading books like the Alchemist and things like that, all the personal development stuff.

Julia – Yes that was of great interest to me but it was the guidance that had the most impact on my life, it was very direct and very clear. It’s just that I kept I very hidden and would not discuss it, then suddenly I had to write this book. It has all my thoughts, my feelings and my guidance in there and the most amazing thing is it’s been read all over the world, almost overnight.

Colin – Yes I think that’s astonishing, although it is a very easy read, the concept and the messages come over very clearly, I think it is good for anyone to pick up.

Julia – The book came very easily really, it wasn’t a difficult thing to do, it only took 21 days to write, it was all there in that split second. Everything that happens in the book has actually happened, it’s just written in a narrative and fictitious way. I found it easy to write as everything in the book has been said to me, I would say it came from those ‘wise people who are no longer in the world’, and they have the ability to explain things so directly and simply, and always as an analogy.

Colin – That’s one of the ways I have been writing too, such as my ‘What If’s’, where I try to use an analogy of some kind so that people can get the shape of the thought in their heads, it helps to be able to visualise the idea sometimes.

Julia – My guidance has always been in analogy form and when you look at the teachings of Jesus and Buddha and all the great prophets that have been around, they do the same, they put the teaching in story form so that you can visualise it and see the principle within it.

Colin – It is good you were moved to publish it so that it could be subsequently read, so frequently when we do things so easily we undervalue them.

Julia – Yes it’s true inspiration when it comes through and you’re not really thinking about it, where you don’t have to work at it and the mind has not had that much of a part to play in the process.

Colin – It seems that many people need to experience the brick wall you described in order to achieve this kind of intuitive flow of ideas.

Julia – It’s like a part of you finally gives up to give the other part a chance to flourish.

Colin – How difficult did you find it to publish?

Julia – I must have sent off about 10 manuscripts and O books was the first one to offer so I just went with that and it’s been very successful.

Colin – You mention that you have another two books to come in the series.

Julia – Well although there are three books in the series they all came through on the same night. The second book is a continuation, a direct sequel to the first. I had thought of putting it all in one book but for some reason it had a cut off point, sort of going from level 1 to level 2. There’s quite a lot of things in the first book to contemplate, to think about, to mull over, so it was quite nice to have a break and then the reader moves on to level 2. The third book in the series is more factual, like a conclusion to books 1 and 2.

Colin – For me there were many ‘yes’ moments in your book, especially towards the end where your character goes back to head office and is asked what she will do next, and she said she would just look down and see if there was anyone looking up, and I just thought, ‘yes, absolutely’.

Julia – The thing I found with writing the book was that I was spiritually coming out, I had previously been in the closet with my spirituality. It amazes me that now when I meet people and I think ‘oh they won’t be interested’ but when I start talking they are. Before I had written the book the situation would never have arisen yet here are people who are thinking like me, it’s quite amazing how many people you meet who are interested.

Colin – As well as your books you have been writing for magazines, how did that come about?

Julia – I contacted some magazines to do reviews of the book and some of them came back and said they would quite like an article and it went on from there, once you have written one they tend to ask for more.

Colin – One of the things I am interested in is the energy that something carries, not just the written word. The fact that your book came from that deep place inside it carries that energy and for me that’s coming through very clearly, so that whether I understand the words or not the energy of them comes through. It seems that now it has been released the energy is carrying it forward which is why it has become so popular.

Julia – Yes it was like the book was meant to be written, therefore it’s meant to be read I suppose. How far that will go I don’t know.

Colin – The Barefoot Indian is already being translated into other languages I understand.

Julia – Yes, three countries have already bought it, India, The Netherlands and Germany (it’s coming out in Germany in October).

Colin – It was originally published in 2007, so it is very good to get to this stage so quickly. I suppose from what you have said we could not have had an interview with you without talking about the book, because it was the book that was the key that opened you in a way.

Julia – Exactly, it’s all about ‘The Barefoot Indian’ because the book and my philosophy are one and the same.

Colin – So the Barefoot Indian is one of your guides?

Julia – Yes.

Colin - So how to you perceive your guides, do you see them?

Julia – I do see them yes, and feel them at the same time, and when they speak I don’t hear them with my ears, but I hear the words in my heart, that’s the only way I can describe it.

Colin – Wonderful. Well thank you very much for your time and agreeing to speak to us, it’s been really fascinating.

http://www.thebarefootindian.co.uk/