Interview with Robin Korth

10 years ago | Posted in: Interviews | 6872 Views

Robin Korth is a renegade and an outlaw. She is also an international speaker, writer and businesswoman. Number four in a family of seven children, she grew up in the 1960s uncluttered scrub palm neighborhoods of Miami, Florida. In 2013, After years of doing life as she was “supposed to,” she walked away and began doing life from deep inside. She captures her experience in her book Soul on the Run (Balboa Press). Soul on the Run is Korth’s courageously honest exploration of the power and joy that living is meant to be.

In 2013, Korth launched her information and blogging website, which generated  more than 40,000 on Facebook in its first year. She also introduced the “Robin in Your Face” daily motivational app, which has been downloaded thousands of times across the globe. She is a divorced mother of two, has a friendly rescue dog, named Scruffy and a self-assured cat named Sean. For more information, visit RobinKorth.com...

1. Please  tell us  something about your schooling, college/university life?

I was born in Miami, Florida, USA, in 1955, the middle child of seven children who were very close in age. I attended Catholic schools until I was 17. I then went to Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri, where I dropped out after my sophomore year. Formal education was not my passion. Life was.

I returned to Miami and discovered the wonders of book printing and publishing—which would become a lifelong passion for me—by taking a part- time job. I took the skills I learned there and opened my first company. The Korth Company was an advertising agency that focused on the needs of the aviation industry. I was 22 years old.  This was the start of my love affair with advertising, marketing and graphic design. It was also the start of my being a “real” writer and my long career as a sales professional and business-owner.

I eventually finished my BA in English in 1990 at the age of 35. I returned to school in 1994 and received an advanced degree in nursing in 1999. I never practiced as a primary-care provider, but the critical thinking skills of this research-based degree have served me more than well, especially as I have moved into the work I do now.

2. You are a writer, speaker, businesswoman too , how do   you manage all this?

These “roles” you mention are actually just who I am, so I find it very easy to manage all of this. What I do is simply my life. It flows with deep curiosity and passion, dedication, wonder and joy. There is wholeness to it all. My thoughts and daily experiences become my writing. The business end of things is simply the vehicle that holds my books, my events, my students and my speaking engagements.

I also have an amazing team of people who work with me. This group of talented and dedicated people provides the backbone and imagination that support the “Robin In Your Face” brand and products. They also listen and laugh with me, and are there when I am unsure of my next step. My thanks and love for them cannot be measured.

3. When did you think or decided to find out yourself or as you mentioned  to stop play-acting
“Lets pretend every thing is okay”?

It there had been a gun around in the summer of 2006, I would have used it to kill myself. It was that bad. I was 51 years of age and my life was a mess. I was a mess. I was lonely and scared, lost and confused. I was also angry, full of self-pity and blaming everyone else for how I felt. There was nowhere to go and no one to be with but me, because I had alienated everyone in my life who cared about me. It was in this silent, desperate aloneness that I realized I had been “pretending” that everything was okay for years. I had just let my life slide by refusing to look at what was going on. Now, it was time for me to get busy doing my own life—or take that gun and call it quits. I chose life. But this meant I had to do it differently.

Robin Korth

Doing it differently meant getting really, really honest with myself and taking responsibility for the choices that had gotten me to where I was. It meant telling myself the truth—that deep inside truth that hurts—and looking fearlessly at who I was and who I wanted to become. This took courage, willingness and an open mind. It also meant looking for a God—someone other than me to run things, because I surely did not know how. That was the biggest turning point, picking up that amazing and wonderful “God card.”

I don’t think we ever actually “find ourselves,” because we are vital and changing all the time. That is what makes life such an outrageous adventure. To be happy and alive, we need to “come awake” to ourselves. When we do this, we learn how to listen to ourselves, how to love ourselves and how to take the pain and the punch that growing always entails. We also learn to do this with gratitude and a deep faith that we will come out the other side wiser and more compassionate—and with more humor and love for ourselves and those around us.

4. I was going through your article in  Huffingtonpost “ When It’s time to say Goodbye” so in this context can you define ‘what is a perfect relation?

I don’t think there is a “perfect” relationship, because there are no perfect human beings. How boring would that be—a perfect human being? The most important relationship we will ever have is with ourselves. We must come to know and love the person we are. We need to understand and honor our own hearts and souls, and be complete in who we are. Then our relationship with another becomes an open, sharing celebration of two individuals, not an enmeshed and needy tangling of two people who believe the other person will “fix” them.

This specific question is timely, as I just recently wrote an article for Huffington Post called “Falling in Love.”  In that article, I expand on these thoughts. This is one of those wonderful non-coincidences that life so often brings me now. I love it when this happens!

5. We all have  failed in different ways in our daily  life one way or the other  and  we  take  a longtime to overcome the failure and  cannot get rid of its effect. When you failed as you mentioned how did  you manage  and convert it into a  motivating force to achieve what you want to achieve?

I love this question! Because, guess what? We never have a failure in our lives. Things just did not go the way we expected them to go. The adventure of living—the ups and downs and our face on the floor–is what this whole thing is about. We get angry and upset at things that are really just wonderful learning curves and practice for what is to come. Do you think anyone learned to ride a bicycle without falling off a few times or slamming into a tree? It is from these places of hurt and loss, disappointment and damage that we understand who we are and what we are capable of. It is also the place where we learn to be grateful for the laughing and loving gift that is life. Being alive is the most wonderful journey we will ever have. Taking each moment as a gift and honoring it for the learning and wisdom it brings, is how I turned my “failures” into growth spurts of joy.

Also, the things we like least about ourselves, those things we want to hide from others or run from—things like dishonesty, impatience, fear, selfishness, resentment, anger—are the “growing field” of our lives. As we work diligently to put these things aside, we become stronger, more available and more understanding. Putting these things aside is not about being “perfect or wonderful.” It’s about relieving ourselves of the pain and grief this type of behavior causes us.  Doing our lives well is not about the “other guy”—it is about us.

6. How can us normal individuals explore ourselves?

First, let me talk about why exploring our inner selves is of value. What I have discovered is that most of us wander around believing that life happens outside of us and that we have to make ourselves “fit” into it somehow. This is not correct. All of life really occurs in the way we think and feel about it. It is our thoughts and feelings about ourselves that create our reality—how we look at things and what we consciously bring of ourselves to the experience of living. When we understand this, it becomes imperative that we begin to know ourselves. Otherwise, we are robots wandering around bumping into outside stuff, thinking it is a valuable experience.

Exploring our inner being takes the desire to do it. We need to slow down as we realize that what is going on right here and now is all there really is. We cannot experience anything but the moment we are in. It simply isn’t possible. Learning who we are is about being with ourselves in honesty and acceptance. What do I really feel? What is really going on with me—deep inside where the quiet inner me lives and breathes? We each must find our way to this place. It is a journey of one and must be done alone. There is no right or wrong way to do it.  The joy and wonder of finding this place—of going on this journey—is endless, amazing and never boring.

The best way I know to explore ourselves is to get busy exploring new ideas and thoughts about who we are and why we are here. Reading is what I suggest. Find a book that catches your interest and read it. If we are open and searching, the next book we need to read always just comes to us. It just works this way when we are in “search and grow” mode.

As it turns out my new book, “Soul on the Run” is being hailed as just such a self-exploration tool by book reviewers.

7. When it comes to “Love” every second person complains that we did not find “True Love” in our life,and    some say that these days Love is a kind of commercial  relation, what  do  you think, are we really linking Love like feelings to  commercial status,  why are there  so many  complaints about True Love, or  is there a lack of understanding of this feeling and the way we express  it?

Gee, this is a big question! This need to fill our loneliness permeates culture and society worldwide. We are strangers in the land of ourselves. We think that someone else is going to magically come along and “presto!” this lonely hole in us will be filled. We eagerly buy into this fairy tale because we don’t know any better. We are taught to believe that love is an “outside coming in” sort of thing. It’s not. Love is an “inside flowing out” sort of thing. We primp and prod ourselves, dress and decorate ourselves, wine, dine and place ourselves out there, hoping to be “found” by someone else and made whole. Does it dawn on anyone that this person who will “find and fix” us is just as outward-oriented and confused as we are?

Because of this, love has become an industry. Dating sites and do-over plastic surgery, no-diet, instant weight-loss programs and “how-to-attract-your-soul mate” seminars abound. We have been sold the idea that if we look just right, smell just right and do things just right, Prince Charming or Princess Perfect will show up, and we will live “happily ever after.” This is a downright lie. It won’t ever happen this way.

The way to true love is to truly love ourselves. The way to being complete and happy is to honor who we are and learn the inner reaches of our own hearts and souls. We are amazing and beautiful creatures, we humans. We have a powerful love that is innate to our spirits. But we must give ourselves this love first. Then it becomes a natural and healthy out-flowing of who we are. This also takes work. It takes the willingness to go through the pain of deep self-honesty and the courage to become a self-loving spirit. The results of this work will make all the difference in our lives. We will know and love ourselves. Then we shall never be lonely or unloved again. We shall also be healthy, happy and openly loving partners and friends.

8. There is an argument we read and hear that “ the more technologically advanced we are becoming the more spirituality and originality is decreasing “ what are your observations?

I do not think this there is true at all. In fact, I think the total opposite is happening. With the growth of technology we now have more time to devote to creativity and spirituality because so many of our basic needs are met in a quicker fashion. The biggest part of the techno-growth is communication—the Internet and cellular devices. This puts the world in our hands. We are able to learn about others, to speak to others and to connect as never before in the history of man. Also, we now have online access to an enormous portion of the knowledgebase of our entire species.

Creativity and spiritual growth rise from the need of the human spirit to know and express itself. It is the aching search for meaning and hungry desire to know ourselves as the echo of the power that has called us to life. There are those who are willing to go on this journey to find the joy and the wonder that life holds. And, there are those who do not. I think it has always been this way. We now have the communication tools and technology to seek and find other like-minded people wherever they may live. We can share, support, empower and inspire one another in a fashion never even dreamed of 50 years ago.

There are more than 7 billion people on this planet. I think that there are probably more of us now looking for a more deeply-centered life than ever before. There is a shift and an awakening happening across this planet we call home. We are an entire world at work bringing ourselves to the next phase of human evolution.

In fact, this interview is a prime example of what is going on. Don’t you think?

9. What is “Soul on the Run”?

“Soul on the Run”is my latest book. It holds the thoughts, insights, ideas and questions that drove me—that rose from me—as I was calling myself awake. I never set out to write “Soul on the Run.” It pretty much wrote me. There is pain and grief in the book. There is growing and spirit-stretching in the book. There is laughter, joy and love in the book. It is not a regular sort of “self-help” book in any way. I do not give my readers the answers. I offer the questions and the thoughts that I had as I turned from a “Let’s Pretend” life and began really living my own.

Here is a video called “A Piece of my Soul,” that introduces “Soul on the Run” in my own words. I recorded it with my heart wide and my soul open, looking to give my readers a true feeling of what the “Soul on the Run” experience is all about.

10. When did  you decide  to write a book and do  you have any plans  for more books after this one?

I actually decided to collect, organize and publish “Soul on the Run” because my fans on Facebook, my audiences, my friends and support staff kept asking me to. People wanted to be able to hold my words in their hands as a body of work. This was a surprise to me. “It’s just short blurbs, ideas, laughter and insights,” I said. “How can this be a book?”
Well, like so many things that I end up creating, I decided to just do it. So, I got an editor to assist me, came up with a format and added the meditations and the challenges. My wildly talented art director, Angie Gago, went to work, creating the cover and the artwork for the book.  And, “Soul on the Run” came to be.

With the amazing reviews and deep thanks I have gotten for “Soul on the Run,” I will be putting out another book. I am not sure if it will be in the same vein as “Soul” or not. But for sure, another book will be published. Besides, I am a very prolific writer. Trying to keep the words from coming out of me would not be a pretty sight. I am smiling at what a frustrated image of me this would be.

11. You are a writer, international speaker, a Philosopher, how do  you define success?

I cannot answer this question as a writer, international speaker and philosopher, but I can answer it as a human being—for that is all that I am. I am a lady who lives on a quiet lake in Miami, Florida, who has come to know that life isn’t about “success” in a money or power fashion. It is about a soul that dances with joy and a heart that is willing to go on the journey to learn the power and wonder of this gift of life.

For me, success is a driving spirit and an open heart. It is a willing soul and a courageous mind. Success is being of use and service to the person beside me. It is calling the truth of what I know and the joy of what I see to the world. It is asking that we each love this planet and honor one another. It is having an honest life of actively seeking to always be more brave and alive than I was the day before. Success is loving this gift that is my life and being grateful for it with every breath that I take.

12. We were going through your facebook page, which is very informative and you have lots of followers,  and there are lots of lines and pictures which are very inspirational and motivational too,what is the secret of  writing  such insightful quotes?

Ever since that day in 2006, when I consciously and very purposefully began this journey that I am on, my life has become one of active seeking, conscious awareness and a profound stretching of my inner spirit to a “connected” and always-growing way of being. This means that all that I experience—every single thing—is part of this journey. So, there is not a moment that I am not feeling, aching and loving this gift of my life. And this is what I share.

There is an enfolding of my spirit in life, a curious, always-learning and grateful dance of joy, pain and love happening all the time. And so, the words just come. The concepts, the humor, the questions, the “truths” seem to rise up from inside of me. Sometimes I laugh out loud as another one comes through. Or I cry, as a memory or a grief becomes known and honored. Often, you will find me on the side of the road—where I have pulled my car over or stopped my bicycle under a tree—with my phone in my hand writing another “Robinism” to go up on Facebook. There is another piece of my heart and soul that I want to share with the world.

The most beautiful thing for me about sharing what I do on Facebook and in my writings, is the responses I get. That is the joy of this work. When I hear the voices and the hearts coming back to me, “I feel the same, Robin. Thank you for putting into words what is in my soul. Please continue to do what you do. It matters.”

These heart-holding words that come to me from across the world bring a smile to my soul, and quite often tears to my eyes. That I am allowed to do what I do, that I am of use to others, is the power that holds my heart and puts laughter and love beneath my spirit. In this, I am so very blessed and profoundly grateful.

13. What are your plans for the future?

I’m not really big on “plans.” I am very much better at letting life happen and going along for the ride—putting one foot in front of the other and waiting for the universe to show me which path I should take. With this said, here are a few of the possible futures I am looking at.

With the success of “Soul on the Run,” we have thoughts about doing interactive Webinars where viewers can work on the concepts in the book with me. We are looking at doing a speaking/workshop tour through India, Pakistan and the Philippines–with possible stops in many other countries, including Australia. We are actively seeking partners and sponsors for this. A series of small and intimate “salons” are being considered. These would start in the beginning of 2015. As these are held in private homes, we are reaching out to friends and supporters who might want to host them.

Our free mobile app “Robin In Your Face” is growing by leaps and bounds, having now been downloaded in more than 123 countries. So we are considering using it as a platform to launch worldwide, interactive motivational podcasts. These would be driven by questions and feedback sent in by the app users.

We are becoming much better—and quicker—at creating short videos with enhanced content about ideas and “Robinisms” presented in “Soul on the Run.” These will be showing up on a fairly regular basis at my “Robin In Your Face”  channel on YouTube.

There will be speaking engagements on the calendar as they come in. We are looking specifically to cooperate with and support women’s’ groups around the globe—working to enhance, empower and engage in the growing awareness of the place of women in the evolution of our world’s future.

I am also looking to learn how to skydive. And I would love to learn ballroom dancing. These two are pretty much “definites” on my list.

14. What do you do in your free time?

I don’t have a real schedule, per se. So the idea of “free” time is kind of funny to me. I have time and it seems always to be enough. I let it unfold with quiet purpose, and the hours are filled with richness, creativity, love and laughter. Included in this is being with friends and family, playing the piano, listening to music, writing, reading and watching a bit of television.

Walking “Scruffy, the Wonder Dog” is a gift, especially when “Sean, the Too Cool Cat” joins in. Then there is my bicycle! I love my bike. I ride about two or three days a week—sometimes as much as 30 miles at a time. I explore this city that I so love. Miami has hidden secrets and soft byways, canals, the bay, mangrove forests and old estates to explore. Riding a bicycle is mediation and joy on two wheels.

15. Do you have a final message for your fans and readers?

My message is simple. Please, please live your own life. You only have this one. It is an amazing gift of power, joy, wonder and love—and it is yours. Be heart-courageous and soul-big! Learn to love yourself and don’t be afraid of inner pain. Pain is the calling card of the universe asking you to come nearer. Find a God, a God that calls your name, knows your heart and can show you the secrets that are meant to be yours. Be passionate! Be curious.

You are beautiful, amazing and glorious. You are a human being and you are meant to be  here.

I wish you joy!

[email protected]
www.robininyourface.com
www.facebook/robinkorth

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