In January, HealthyLife.net, where I do my monthly radio show, did this interview. I thought you’d like to read it. I’m also writing my newsletter today, “The Charmed Monday Minute.” If you’d like to receive it, you can subscribe on my site.

Host of the Month Interview:
PJ Grimes Interviews Victoria Moran

HL- What is a charmed life? It’s finding the magic in every
day, even the days that aren’t all great. People who create charmed
lives for themselves can spot the scraggly little flower that pushed
its way up through old concrete, or see the one seemingly scraggly
little opportunity that could, if pursued, change everything..

HL- How does someone handle adversity? With faith, friends,
and patience, I think. For me, having some kind of spiritual connection,
whether that’s traditional religion or something else, is really
vital. If what you see is all there is and you’re seeing a lot of
adversity, it’s really hard to go forward. When you have a worldview
that includes some kind of plan or purpose, it’s easier.

Friends
are a big deal for everyone, and friendship may be especially essential for women (they
did that study at UCLA that showed that woman have a “tend
and befriend” response to stress as well as “fight or
flight”). I have one special friend who’s my “action partner”
(Broadway singer and very spiritual person, Sherry Boone, shown above with pianist/composer Sean Jeremy Palmer). We talk early every morning and let each other know what actions
we’ll take that day to make our lives better. It makes a huge difference.

And finally: patience. I don’t like having to wait (I’m an Aries,
for any astrologers reading this), but patience is such a grace.
Most things do work out, but it takes as long as it takes. If you
can be at peace during the process, you get to have some lovely
days, even before the problem you’ve got your eye on has been fully
resolved.

HL-Why is humor important? It puts things in perspective.
Besides, it’s good for you. When you laugh, you get the same endorphins
that come from heavy exercise. It’s your body’s way of giving you
a boost.

HL- How does Victoria relax?I love to read — spiritual books
(I just finished rereading Brian Weiss’s classic Many Lives, Many
Masters), health books (I’m reading The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia
Rose), and when I’m on a long trip, there’s wonderful fiction to
move into and become a part of. I also love hot baths— in fact, they inspired the chapter in my upcoming book, Living a Charmed Life, called “Identify and Indulge in Your Simplest Pleasure.” And I meditate. I’ve had
a morning practice for a long time, and one of my goals for 2009
is to get a second meditation in every day in the late afternoon.

HL- What gives you inspiration? A lot — I’m kind of an inspiration
junkie actually. New York City inspires the heck out me — the diversity,
the wonderful, walkable way of life, the level of excellence all
around me in art and theater and design. Animals inspire me: they
know how to live and they have a lot to teach me. And my wonderful
friends. I have so many co-mentors, people I respect and who can
show me a different way to look at things.

HL-What kind of guests do you like to interview on your show?The
kind I want to learn from myself. I figure that if a guest is fascinating
to me, he or she will be equally fascinating to the listeners.

HL- How is your message universal? We’re so much more alike
than different. We all want to feel good about ourselves, love and
be loved, use our talents and be recognized for them, and ultimately
to find meaning in life. My major in college was comparative religions,
and I loved scribbling in the margins “I just read this same
point in my Taoism class” or “This is also in the chapter
on Judaism.” These underlying truths that are in every spiritual
tradition are what Aldous Huxley called The Perennial Philosophy.
I think that the more we look at those underlying connectors, rather
than at our differences, the better off we’ll be.