Interview with Julie Krull, founding steward of The Good of the Whole (a URI Multiregion Cooperation Circle), and Sally Mahé, Senior Consultant URI
Julie Krull, Ph.D. has over thirty years of experience as a spiritual teacher, healer and psychotherapist. She is the founding steward of URI Cooperation Circle (member group) The Good of the Whole, a global community stepping up to co-create a world that works for all. She hosts the Dr. Julie Show, All Things Connected, that reaches an expanding radio/internet audience. Julie is author of an award-winning book, Fractured Grace, How to Create Beauty, Peace and Healing for Yourself and the World.
Julie, thank you so much for participating in this Inner Voice of Leadership Interview. I’m delighted to learn about the transformational work you are involved in. You reach people with your remarkable ideas using different pathways. To begin, I would love to hear, what is your core message? What is the heart of your calling?
The heart of my work is helping humanity remember our wholeness and/or holiness. I like to think of holiness and wholeness as interchangeable. It is a collective awakening for us to remember unity. All of the peace movements and unity movements won’t move forward until we understand this fundamental truth that we are one, undivided, interdependent, and interconnected planetary body. It is that, it is remembering our wholeness, remembering our oneness.
How did you find yourself feeling compelled to bring this message into the world?
It goes back to my childhood, to a near-death experience when I was four years old. Then, and with subsequent mystical experiences in my childhood, I was shown this prior unity. I was shown the evolution of consciousness and what is happening on the planet. I felt compelled from a young age to be a part of that. I remember a vision of seeing points of light all around the world. Then they began connecting and weaving together. I saw that we were creating a new, evolved planetary body. We were giving birth to ourselves as One.
I was shown the evolution of consciousness in terms of how we have grown as a species. We have seen ourselves as separate. Literally every system: education, health, government, commerce, trade, etc. was created from a worldview of separation. We believed we were separate from each other, even that our body, mind, and spirit were separate. We thought we were separate from God, Creator, Source. So, we created the world, the best we knew how, from that worldview. We did everything from that place of separateness and separation, which led to great consumption, great competition, and a lot of fear and anxiety. We have mastered that stage of our development and we are at the end of it now. Naturally, those systems and structures are breaking down because they don’t serve us anymore. They don’t serve humanity.
We’re not separate from Earth, God, Creator, Source. Not separate from one another, from plants and animals. We are interdependent and interconnected as one planetary body.
That is literally the truth that fuels what I do in so many ways. How do we help ourselves see ourselves as whole - as One? It happens though personal experience and through receiving these ideas and information. It is a remembering—an awakening. Most people, when they hear this idea that we are all One, they respond, “Oh yes, I know that.” Then they listen to the news and see all the calamities in the world and retreat and say, “No way, this cannot be true!”
My motivation now, especially when systems and structures are breaking down is to help people remember this prior unity by teaching the evolution of consciousness. Elizabeth Sahtouris, an evolutionary biologist, says that the next phase is about “creating cooperative communities that care for all life.” I like to say, for all life and future generations.
New systems and structures are emerging everywhere…on every continent, almost every country. There are amazing initiatives, different programs, organizations and services. Groups are creating solutions for every problem that exists on the planet. For every challenge we have, whole-systems solutions are emerging.
I’m drawn to that pinnacle place, that place where fear and anxiety meet new insight. If we can help people calm their parasympathetic nervous systems, and help each other come into our heart space, we’re more likely to remember our wholeness and see from that whole world perspective. That naturally brings us into greater calmness, inner peace, and unity.
We are now asking what is my soul’s purpose and how do I contribute to the good of the whole? How do I contribute to this healing and to this shift and change on the planet?
What drives me to help quell anxiety and fear is to see that now, not only from an evolutionary or visionary perspective, but that real cutting-edge science is matching our ancient spiritual traditions and ancient wisdoms. Science is now clearly demonstrating what we have always known. It is a good thing to let the old paradigm go and watch old systems break down. We can “gentle it”, we can guide it, we can do it in a healthy way moving forward.
Why did you choose the paths of expression that you have?
The why?? Whooh, that’s a good question. Part of me always knew I would be a speaker and a teacher. So, eight years ago I found myself with a radio/podcast, “The Dr. Julie Show, All Things Connected,” I love interviewing the world’s most interesting people, global leaders, change agents, way-showers. The people who understand the ancient spiritual traditions and modern contemporary science help us make sense of what’s going on today. I ask my guests the question, “What does all things connected mean to you?” Eight years ago we were still trying to prove that all things are connected. We needed the oomph of scientific research. Now, when I ask the question, people respond, “Well, it’s the truth; it’s just the way it is.” We don’t have to prove it anymore. That’s exciting to me!
I know there are listeners who totally appreciate this view and that there are people who don’t have this awareness yet. We reach people who don’t know that we are in a major evolution of consciousness on the planet. They feel the anxiety and fear but they don’t have the science and the ancient wisdom that helps to make sense of things. I feel I’m at my best when I’m speaking and sharing that vision. I have a way of bringing it down to earth and helping it ”land” for people so that it doesn’t feel too ‘sciency’ or too ‘woo-woo.’
Please tell me a story about when your gifts really came through. What made you soar with the validity of your work?
I love this story to this day. Just before the Covid lock down, I was invited to offer a two-week program for seniors. The organizer told me beforehand, “We just need some hope. We need good news.” This was a group that didn’t have an awareness of an evolution of consciousness. They were skeptics and came with the attitude like, “What’s this woman going to teach us?” Many were retired college professors. They were bright and many were active community volunteers. An amazing group!
I offered several threads of scientific research but in the final class, I showed them lots of examples of the good emerging on the planet. Literally, I opened my computer and projected a virtual tour on the big screen. I showed them various programs and initiatives from all over the world. Among the virtual tour of the world, I included projects and organizations from our local, central Nebraska area. Their eyes lit up, their hearts lit up.
“Oh, we are all in this together. Look how it’s happening everywhere and we are a part of it!”
That moment was transformative. They all wanted to know more about the good emerging. They wanted to be part of the solutions. They saw themselves as part of the interconnected web of life. When people find themselves within the greater whole, they relax, they belong, they expand into their fullest potential. In that moment they claimed their own sense of activism. They signed up to help facilitate a global project. It was beautiful.
Tell me more about your book. The title, Fractured Grace, caught my attention. What inspired that title?
That title literally emerged in the process of writing. I had a freak accident where I slipped on a grassy hill, twisted, fell, and snapped six bones in my leg. I was in a chair with a full leg cast and in need of lots of healing. After I was able to manage the pain, the “voice” just started writing itself. I heard the book is to be called, Fractured Grace. I didn’t know what it meant. As I started listening to the inner voice and allowing the book to emerge, the writing began to define what fractured grace means. I had never imagined the connection between personal healing and collective healing. When we look at the world we see it fractured, so broken. Hopefully, the book moves the reader back into hope, back into their own sovereignty and an empowered sense of their wholeness and how they can make a difference. The book is my journey that tells ordinary stuff going on in everyday life, my struggles with my healing process, and there are mystical stories: an out of body experience, my near-death experience, and being visited by an angel.
I thought that as a healer I should be able to bounce back and be as good as new. That didn’t happen as quickly as I expected. It was a several-year journey because of complications and misdiagnosis. Listening to my own voice, I learned lessons like, “The doctor isn’t listening to me…oh, how am I not listening to me.” Our healing journey can be filled with myriad layers of social, emotional, spiritual, physical and relational healing. It also is a mirror of what’s going on around us. That’s grace. It takes us from where we are and leaves us in a place we can’t imagine. Often, when we think of grace, we think of it as holy and whole. “Fractured Grace” has a deeper meaning that weaves throughout the pages. At the end of the book, and this particular healing journey, I discover the meaning myself. Hopefully, you will read it and see what “fractured grace” means to you.
I look forward to it! I would love to know more about what you call “inner voice.” Please tell us more about how you understand how your inner voice leads you and guides you.
Thank you. It’s been a journey. Obviously, “the voice” is with each of us from the beginning. The journey is how do we clearly tune ourselves into that voice. How do we allow that voice to lead and not allow the rational mind to interfere? The mind tends to argue and try to make sense of the information.
That voice has always been with me since childhood. But back then, I recognized it as outside of myself. Like it would “drop in” and I knew it was “the voice” because it came out of nowhere. I would think, “Where did that come from?” Now, I’ve learned that it is a part of my higher self and I’ve learned to use it more intentionally.
For me, that voice went along with a multi-dimensional way of living from a young age. I had a near death experience when I was four. At the time, I experienced a disembodied consciousness that was watching over everything. There was a big difference between being in the disembodied consciousness and being in my body. And I began to communicate with the other realms—the divine—from that young age.
I learned how to harness the information that came from that unified field of consciousness, and learned to trust it and see all aspects of intuition in a more integrated way. So often, we are taught to dismiss intuitive ways of knowing. We are told that if we can’t prove it, if we can’t see it, it isn’t real.
But I have these gifts of knowing - I am a “seer,” a “hearer,” and a “knower.” Clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clair-gnostic or claircognizant. As a teen I used to think I was a fraud. I didn’t know how I knew things that were not taught in school, etc. I would always wonder and think, “I don’t know how I know it, I just know it.” Overtime time, these three ways of knowing strengthened and began to work together. All three weave together so well now. I know that my inner voice comes from tuning in. When I ask for guidance, these ways of knowing bring wisdom and truth.
My group on FB is called “Daily Dose of Soul Care.” The quote I posted this morning spoke to finding ourselves in that Infinite voice of the soul, that infinite space of connection with the divine and all that is. I realize it’s not me; it’s the designing intelligence of the universe. It’s not me, its God, Creator, Source. It’s the impulse of evolution creating through me. When I land in this place I’ve learned, “Why argue with it? It knows so much more than I.”
I’m making connections with what we are saying. What I am calling the inner voice of leadership, might also be called one’s soul’s voice. It’s not exactly mine; it is coming through me.
Yes, you asked why I chose different modes of expression for this work and the answer is because I am just a voice for that inner voice, just a channel for that voice to come forward. That’s exactly it! It is the soul’s voice in the evolutionary process.
Did your family upbringing play a role in this work?
Thanks for asking. There was chaos in my family. There was divorce, a lot of shuttling back and forth, abuse, alcohol, poverty, welfare. There was a lot of dysfunction and I felt pretty much alone into pre-pubescent years. My mother was a bit mystical but we were never connected in a way that I could share my experiences. And, this was a beautiful part of my journey that I wouldn’t trade for anything! Those adverse experiences are what led me to the prophetic vision that I had when I was eleven.
I went out on the lawn and was having a conversation with God like I always did. I said to God, “I don’t get humans. I don’t understand why they treat each other the way they do. I don’t want to be here. I want to go back home.”
I didn’t understand violence, war, things that were plaguing humanity at that time. And I didn’t understand all the adversity in my family and around me.
Those childhood family experiences led me to my first prophetic vision where I saw how we are as one planetary species and how the healing would take place. I clearly saw the illusion of separation and was shown conscious evolution. I was also shown my role in the planetary healing. I always knew I would be in my fifties; I always knew I would be speaking and teaching. I studied, became an artist and psychotherapist. I went on my journey, but those childhood experiences guided me and informed my work. It’s at the heart of why I do what I do. My heart was broken open, not just for me as a child, but for all those suffering on the planet and those who continue to suffer.
Your story can be a universal story. From chaos, you were given a response, a solution. As you say, it’s a journey to learn how to listen. Do you get off track? Do you have practices that help you stay on track or get back on?
I did get off tack recently. My mother always used to say, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Her second mantra was, “Kill them with kindness.” My mother lived like that, and I wanted to be like that too. Those closest to me were telling me I was being “too nice.”
The getting off track was that instead of being grounded in my sense of sacred authority and strongly leading—from the front—for the good of the whole, I held back, not wanting to hurt someone.
As I navigate this evolutionary edge, I try to empower and uplift other leaders into a distributed leadership model, helping people tap into collective intelligence and lead for the good of the whole. I found that my inclination of not wanting to harm someone was taking me off track from considering what was good for the whole. Being too nice, and encouraging distributed leadership, I was ignoring a bigger problem that was developing. A wise elder said, “Julie, it’s not your job to worry about how that one person will feel, it’s your job to stand in this truth, and lead from this place, for the good of the whole.” It was a moment that woke me back up!
Another way to stay on track is to create “heart space” or resonance in every group experience. When we come together in a gathering of any kind, we literally drop into our “heart space.” We do an attunement to align with our heart energy and inner voice - and we trust! I love this idea, that when we attune with that divine intelligence and with others who are attuned with that, then we are truly co-creating with that designing intelligence. If we separate, go into ego, then we’re back into how a lot of leadership functions today in a top-down, dominator, leadership model.
Co-creation asks, “Am I in my own heart listening? Am I in my own heart attuning to divine intelligence?”
Also, when I get off track, the first places I go is to the arts and to nature. I go outside, connect with Mother Earth. I paint or write or cook a good meal. It’s always arts and nature that brings me back.
What gives you your deepest joy and satisfaction?
It’s hard to say, I’m in a place of awe so often but I think it’s helping others find their joy, their wholeness. It’s when I help a client who wants to harness these gifts, who wants to make a difference, launch an innovation or an initiative.
When I’m working with individuals or groups, there are moments when I just see the spark. I see their joy and excitement, they say, “This is real - I’m not alone!” It’s like this innate capacity to live for the good of the whole wakes up in them. It’s so exciting when people say, “There’s a different way and I like it! It feels good. I don’t have to be scared. I can live from my heart space and have a really good life.” I love those sparks! In a room when one person gets it and then another, it’s a domino effect, like passing 4th of July sparklers when we were kids. One lights up with a spark, and you can watch people lighting up all over the place.
I love the idea that everyone has a spark to be lit up. Are there words of advice you would like to share?
As you asked this question, I saw a bunch of paths converging. There are many paths all going to the same place. The most important piece of this experience is to come back to the truth of who you are in your soul’s purpose, in your evolutionary purpose.
My core message that you asked me to speak about at the beginning is concise. There is an important new way of looking at life that is not the linear, rational way we used to think. That developed during the phase of separation consciousness—the illusion of separation. The old linear way of separation is gone. Perhaps our most important action is volunteer-activism where we can create the brand new world, with a consciousness of unity and wholeness, right now. It’s messy. It’s fun. It’s like a big collective art project. We’re all putting paint on the canvas creating this new world and telling this new story, and we are going to do it in myriad ways. Trust that. It’s not going to be perfect. Even if you are feeling stuck in a 9-5 job, there are still ways to tap into the evolutionary purpose and feel your alignment with it.
I’m delighted to have had this interview with you. Truly, you have touched sparks in me and I’m sure people who see this interview will feel transformed.
It was a joy, Sally. I feel so honored and appreciate this invitation. Thank you!
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