Izettl Interviews W. B. Isley
A thoughtful Hubber shares a thing or two about unconditional love, spirituality, and a thirst for knowledge
Introducing W.B. Isley! This man is as talented and intelligent as he looks- OK that was a wise crack, but I know he will appreciate it. Who really knows what intelligent looks like right? I think what intrigued me most about William is he's a walking contradiction- in a good way. The first time I read one if his thought-provoking comments on one of my Hubs, I had to go read his profile page. I did a double take at his profile picture, read a few of his Hubs, because I really wouldn't have matched him to his writing. Here is a man who looks like he could win a strong man competition! Yet he is intuitively in touch with his wife and his spiritual side, introspective about his role in this world, with a wonderful sense of humor as well. Some of his Hubs will make you laugh and others will make you think.
I am truly humbled by this wonderful introduction. I live here and do not see my self as anything special. So, you realize that by choosing these questions, this won't be a short interview, right?
1. This is a burning question for me! You obviously adore your wife (also on hubpages as "F. K. Isley") and have a happy marriage. Can you let us all in on the secret?
This will make a great Hub, I think. We'll try to make it a short answer. lol
To give you something else to think about. When we first met, we were both mature enough to be satisfied with the idea that I was just going to be the boy toy. After enough people told us that if we weren't married we needed to be, I started listening to my heart, and realized that I was in love with her. She was just a little slower than I in this one case. (Bad marriage 20 years earlier. No desire for another one. Blah, blah, blah.)
I've been through therapy. She got her therapy from life itself. We had no baggage to speak of when we came into this relationship. I was complete in myself. She was complete in herself. We came to together to make another complete entity called the relationship. We both understand and practice unconditional love. Whatever the other person does, we know that we are loved by the other. We don't have to act a certain way to be worthy of the other's love. We don't have arguments because of this. When something happens that would set off an argument for most people, we mentally step back and remember the love thing. We are big enough to apologize right then, if the need arises. So, we have not had an argument in the 4 years we've been together, because of this.
There is a spiritual aspect to this as well. We are soul mates. We complete the Alpha and Omega aspects of each other's personality. My make up is 40% masculine and 60% feminine. Hers is 60% masculine and 40% feminine. We balance each other. This also contributes to the no argument thing. We are best friends and never run out of things to talk about, even on 12 hour car trips. We are interested in what the other is doing, most of the time. I want to learn about her and she wants to learn about me. We each have different talents and like to know about them, even if we can't do them ourselves.
The no argument thing is amazing. What is truly special is how interested you two are in each other. I run out of things to say to my husband on a 20 minute car trip! We're trying to work on this and are going to marriage counseling.
2. You say you were a food addict, but have overcome that for many years now. How did you do that?
At the request of Kimberlyslyrics I started writing a Hub about this. I have not finished it, as you all can tell (because it isn't here on HubPages yet. Smirk. It will be. Spirit has other things for me to say first.)
In summary, I found Overeaters Anonymous, got a sponsor, worked through the 12 steps a few times, re-defined my view of God (my higher power) many, many times, learned that I am MORE than an addict, learned that I am MORE than my addiction, learned that I do not always have to be an addict, learned that I can simply BE and be okay with that. When I am letting Spirit flow through me, my cravings for more food than my body needs move to the background.
When I stop letting Spirit flow, sometimes the cravings try to have their way with me. When I stop remembering that I am more than my body, and I start identifying my self as my body, my cravings can come back. Does that mean I beat my self up for it, no. Because of this, today, I can have some of my old trigger foods in the house and forget they are here. I can also just have one or a bite and not go nuts for more.
This interested me about you because I went through a tough time in my life and turned to food. Not sure why it just stopped about a 1 year later, but everything you said about learning to just BE makes sense to me now. It is a great feeling to have a bite or two and not go nuts, Isn't it?
3. I've been told my Hubs range from oranges to orgasms (seriously what somebody said- lol). Your Hubs have as much range as well- from feather boas to finding God. Where does your inspiration come from because your topics are so diverse?
As you said in your interview, my mind runs 24/7. I don't get up in the middle of the night to write a Hub, though. I really am interested in many things. For the last few years I've been working on the history, characters, and world for a 6 book scifi book series. I'm supposed to start writing it in the near future. I have studied so much in the last 18 years that it would probably boggle most people's minds. I am always reading something and/or listening to it. I love audio books!
Then there is the spiritual aspect. I have been working on becoming one with my higher self during my morning meditation for the last few months. Some of my Hubs are from this higher self, they come through me. Some of my Hubs I simply typed what I "heard". I wasn't really paying attention to what I was typing. After I was finished, I read what I'd typed to F. K. and said, "Wow, that's great. Where did that come from?" My higher self has a lot to say to the world through me. I am becoming the open door for this. It has quite a sense of humor and a very serious side, too.
It helps to have a lot of interests- that's what it so interesting about you.
4. I absolutely love your view of God. Can you explain to us all what he means to you in your life? Who is God to you?
Blasphemy Warning, don't read this if you have a closed mental box about religion and spirituality.
First off, to me, God no longer has a gender. I've come to see God as everywhere and in everything. I have read between the lines of John 1:1-3 in the Christian Bible. As someone once said to me, I believe that I am made of "God stuff". They just couldn't come to say that, that made them God too. I am learning to think differently.
In my morning meditations, I am coming to believe that in order to become one with God, I have to literally see my self as God. Please make note that, I have learned that there are different levels of this path to oneness. Didn't Jesus say, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and body? To me, the only way to do this is to become God. This way my expression of love is the Creators expression of love, unconditional love.
Who is God to me? It is the force responsible for everything in the material plane and yet is not part of the material plane. Why do you think there are angels? They and we are God's representatives here in the material plane of existence. At the same time, an aspect of God IS the material plane and we are all made from that aspect. So, what God means to me in my life, is that I can be MORE all the time. God's purpose in creating this plane of existence, is to become MORE than it was before through us and our path back to God.
Clear as mud, huh?
Clear to me. Makes a lot of sense actually.
5. I've read many of your Hubs with various topics pertaining to helping people get through tough things in life and how you've overcome many things. Care to share some of those tips for us right now?
When I make a mistake I admit that I made it. I remember that it isn't the end of the world (that is much worse). I figure out how to clean up the mess. If I can't, I am man enough to ask for help. I don't hide the fact that I've made a mistake. I remember that is part of the human experience. (I have ADHD (Attention Dialed to a Higher Dimension) so mistakes happen regularly, keeps me humble.)
6. I really enjoy your poetry mostly because I respect a person who can write a style that I suck at. How long have you been writing poetry and what got you started?
I first tried my hand at poetry when I was in grade school english. I guess I was good at it. My teachers didn't complain. When I was working my program in OA, years later, I wrote a few more when I was journaling regularly. So, now, many years later, I have started doing poetry again. This time though, the poems that come out are from my higher self. I like playing with words, so it isn't hard to put into english what comes to me from higher self. I just published another one. A friend of mind commented on it. I had to re-read it to see what came out so I could make an intelligent comment to them. It sounds nuts I know. If someone had told me a few years ago that I'd be doing stuff like this, I'd have told them they were nuts.
7. Your funny Hubs are about your everyday observances. Give us something funny now that you've observed lately.
We still live in a construction zone. We are still constructing portions of the inside of the house and barn. Tonight we were putting the panelling on the front hallway. The barn is still mostly open. We still have spiders in the barn, spiders who laid eggs last year, and those eggs are hatching now. We have thousands of tiny spiders everywhere. They leave webs alllllll over the place. F. K. is a city girl at heart. She hasn't found that zen spot to be at peace with the bugs. I grew up with them. They don't "bug" me. smirk
So, tonight she is going to look at something in a corner that only has insulation and studs in the wall. She reaches out confidently to check something in the corner, then, draws her hand back like she just touched wet jello. She has this look of horror on her face. A spider web had touched her wrist, for she had gloves on, thank God. It would have been much worse otherwise. Off this hallway is the mudroom/bathroom. She looks in there to see if we had some toilet paper, and we didn't. Oops! To which she replies, "I'll be right back." I said, "What, did it scare the pee out of you?" She says, "Yes!" in that whiny way city girls do when they've just seen a mouse and expect you to do something about it for them. It might be mean, I had a good laugh over this, though.
That is my funny for the day.
That is funny! I can totally relate to your wife about spiders, except I usually pee a little when I laugh way too hard.
Well, William I had so much fun reading this as others will too. I am looking forward to your sci-fi book series! You've got to be one of the most self-actualized people I've come across and I am happy to have done this interview on you. Please thank your wife for lending you to me and taking the time to answer these questions. Ladies and Gentleman Hubbers, this man has a lot we can learn from and I hope you take the time to stop by his corner of the HubPages universe- you won't be disappointed.
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