S1:E9 - Jamie Lee is In The Studio With Calamity Jane
In The Studio with Calamity Jane is a show highlighting the incredible women of Las Vegas!
This episode features Jamie Lee, from Animal Bonds..
Jamie Lee began her journey in Animal Reiki two decades ago. She believes our relationships with animals – and how we treat them – opens the door for healing all of us: human beings, animals, and even our planet. Every animal lover and person with pets in their home should watch this episode!
If you're an amazing woman in Las Vegas (or know one), fill out the form for a chance to be In the Studio with Calamity Jane!
Transcript:
Hello, welcome to another episode of In The Studio With Calamity Jane. My name is Jodi, also known as Calamity Jane.
Our purpose with this series it take an amazing woman from Las Vegas and give her the spotlight for a moment.
Joining me today is Jamie Lee, from Animal Bonds.. Welcome to the show, Jamie.
[Jamie]: Thank you, Jodi. It's a pleasure to be here.
Tell us a little bit about Animal Bonds.
Well, what I do with Animal Bonds is I work with the relationship that people share with their animals, because I believe that true healing is found in the quiet bond that we share with animals, and the way we access that is through meditation.
[Jodi]: That is a really unique field.
How did you come to start with this?
Well, there's two things that really happened. My love for animals has been with me since I was born, and I was born into a family with a father who was a bit of a psychopath, really, and so I grew up being very afraid, and I spent my time living in the woods.
Every day, I would go out, I'd hide in the woods, and the animals became my family. They were where I felt safe, and so that's where the love came from. And that's where I believe my purpose came from - that I'm here to help elevate the status of animals.
So I didn't know how to do that, and I went through, and I've done many things and made many mistakes along the way. It was when my girlfriend was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Now, she's still alive today, fortunately, but she had to go away for experimental therapy. She would came back, and they used all kinds of drugs on her, but they also did things like nutrition, color light therapy, energy work.
And she came back, and she said, "You have to learn how to do Reiki." I was like, "I don't even know what that is," but that's what began my search for Reiki, and of course, the teachers appeared.
For over 20 years, I have been studying and practicing with different people, and it has been about eight years ago that I put it together with animals, because they're who I am. So I started doing energy work on animals, and that led to other modalities: color light therapy, essential oils, different things like that, nutrition. I studied as much as I could on how to help them.
What do you feel makes you successful?
For me, success is living my purpose, and I do believe it's taken me a long time to get there and figure out what it was, but I do believe that I am living my purpose. And so when I can help animals, when I can help people, when I can just bring light that we all are into the world, then that's a success.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone watching who may be wanting to start living her life's purpose?
I would tell women to not let anyone steal their dreams. There's a lot of people out there, if you tell them what you want to do, they're quick to tell you why it can't happen. We don't want to believe that, and we don't want to hear that. So don't let people steal your dreams.
And now, the famous questionnaire that was asked for 26 years by the great Bernard Pivot and made famous on In The Actors Studio:
What is your favorite word?
My favorite word is freedom, because I'm a bit of a free spirit, and it's very hard for me to give up freedom. I think freedom is so important for everyone.
What is your least favorite word?
My least favorite word is normal, because it reminds of that's not normal when you behave certain ways or putting you in a box or trying to conform to what society says that you have to do, and so I just don't like "normal".
What turns you on creatively, emotionally, or spiritually?
What turns me on is whenever I'm with animals. I totally get in touch to my spiritual side, whether it's playing with a puppy, whether I'm out in the wild just watching them be present and in the moment and being animals. That really turns me on, and then also being around people who are in touch, that understand that all life is connected, and they're in touch with their purpose. That's a big turn on for me, too.
What turns you off?
Takers, and when I say takers, I'm talking about the people that just are in it for them. As long as they make money, they don't care what they do to the planet, or to the animals or to another person, and they're egotistical. Takers turn me off.
What is your favorite curse word?
Well, I try not to cuss as much, but it seems like whenever you put a word and then say ass, it's just funnier. Like dumb ass, smart ass. I kind of like that, just ass seems to make everything funnier.
What sound or noise do you love?
I love the sounds of nature, so if I'm out in the forest and I can hear the trees, the wind in the trees, I love that song that they make. I love birds when they sing, rain, the soft pitter-patter of rain, so anything with nature I really love.
And then I also the old-time train whistles, when they would blow those, and they still went like that, and it was just so sad and solitary, but it was just so powerful to me. I've always loved that.
What sound or noise do you hate?
It would have to be traffic, sirens, civilization. I just don't really like those sounds at all.
What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?
I don't know, because I've worked in television, and then I had a helium balloon store, and so I did that for a while, and then I went into law enforcement as their videographer, and I went to crime scenes, and I did training tapes.
And what did I do after that?
Oh, I became a body piercer at a tattoo shop, and then I moved, and I came to Nevada, and I worked for a call center. Now, I'm a fire inspector for the county in addition to doing the Animal Bonds business.
So I don't know what else is next, but I know that working with animals is really, will always a part of it. The rest of it is just kind of things I do, but my love is working with animals.
[Jodi]: You literally have tried everything!
What profession would you not like to do, like ever?
Oh, I know that one. Anything that harms animals, so a slaughterhouse or a researcher in a lab where they test on animals I couldn't do, couldn't do.
If Heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
I would like Her to say, "Welcome home," first off, and, "Thank you. "You did good. "You were a light for me."
[Jodi]: Thank you for being with us today, Jamie.
[Jamie]: Thank you. It was my pleasure, Jodi.
Thank you for watching! Join us for the next edition of In the Studio with Calamity Jane, where we put another amazing woman from Las Vegas in the spotlight.
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