Becoming Love: A Conversation with Andrea Gibson, Part I
On dog's paws, cancer, loving our bodies, telling the truth, extended bliss, healing protocols, self-love, and truly meeting the present moment. Plus: Beyond's first book giveaway!!
Intimate conversations with our greatest heart-centered minds.
In 2021, Andrea was diagnosed with incurable cancer. Their healing journey has been filled with twists and turns, unexpected delights and some profound challenges. But the greatest surprise has been the extended state of joy they’ve shifted into. A joy that surpasses, well, everything.
Andrea and I spoke for about two hours during which it was clear their heart has indeed blown open and they have become love. At the risk of sounding too woo-woo, there were moments during the interview where I felt I was gently merging with that beautiful love vortex, something I usually only experience with animals and nature. It was an astounding experience. One I’m happy to bring to all of you.
It was impossible to whittle all this wonderfulness down into one interview, so I’ve split it into two: Part I is what you’re reading now and Part II will post tomorrow. The craft portion of the interview will post next Thursday. Each word of each interview is pretty much mind-blowing. And heart-blowing, too.
Andrea lives outside Boulder with their partner, Megan, and three darling rescue dogs.
⭐️ I’m thrilled to share that today’s interview includes Beyond’s first book giveaway! Andrea is generously gifting three readers a signed copy of You Better Be Lightning. If you’d like to be one of the recipients, please add “Lightning” after your comment. The winners will be chosen at random on Monday, March 26th and notified by email. I’m excited for all of you! The book is astoundingly beautiful. (Shipping is limited to the United States)
Enjoy!
xJane
⭐️ In another first, I’m delighted to share this recording of Andrea reading their gorgeous poem, Tincture—which is from our giveaway book, Lord of the Butterflies.
I wanted to start by talking about dogs. I’m always so curious to learn more about people’s relationship with animals. You and Megan live with three rescues. Can you tell us about your relationship with them?
I love that! I wish every interview started with, “tell me everything you feel about dogs.” We do have three dogs. Squash, who’s now twelve. I adopted her when she was three and a half months old. She’s this little terrier that came with me all the years of touring. She was a miracle. For every show that I did, she would sleep in the sound booth. She would know when I was reading my last poem and would wake up and walk around and be like, “Okay, it's over now.” Even if I changed the last poem, she always knew it was the end of the show. It was wild.
She’s also the one who knew I had cancer before I did. A couple of months before my diagnosis, she started following me everywhere. I couldn't take a shower without her standing outside the shower. I think of it as the real PET scan.
Oh, how tender.