Barbara Jacksha is a co-founder and editor of the online literary journal Cezanne’s Carrot. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have appeared widely, including the Flash Fiction Forward anthology, Per Contra, The Steel City Review, The Summerset Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, Mindprints, Vox, and the The Talking Stick. Her story “In the Neural Zone,” originally published in Mad Hatter’s Review, is forthcoming in the Snow*Vigate Press anthology, “Online Writing: The Best of the First Ten Years,” and her work has received several awards and two Pushcart Prize nominations. Visit Barbara’s website.

Along with Joan Kremer, you run the online literary journal Cezanne’s Carrot, which “explores spiritual, transformational, visionary, or contemplative themes.” Tell us more about the aim of the magazine.

Before we started Cezanne’s Carrot, we noticed something of a gap between general literary magazines and those that were devoted to literature of a specific religion. Joan and I both have a metaphysical bent, and we’ve found that for some of our own work, the markets are limited. We thought that if we were having this experience, there must be other writers out there noticing the same thing. We hope to be a market for writers on their own spiritual paths or who are writing about these kinds of paths. We also wanted to feature work that offers hope instead of cynicism. Quite honestly, the gritty realism that seems so popular has made both of us weary. It does reflect certain experiences of life on Earth, but they are far from the only ones.

There are many people, Joan and I included, who have experienced things beyond the realm of the five senses; these are the things we write about, and the things that we hope others will write about and submit to Cezanne’s Carrot. Even in this day and age, people take a risk when they talk about their personal spiritual experiences. I’m surprised at how often people share their own experiences after I tell them about Cezanne’s Carrot and what I do. They keep these things hidden, and when they come to me they often preface their stories by saying, “I’ve never told anyone this, but.” It’s a shame, really, for when these experiences are shared, we can all grow and advance in our understanding of ourselves and each other.

Do you consider all of the work published in Cezanne’s Carrot spiritual in nature? What is your definition of spiritual?

Yes, we consider all of the work spiritual to some extent, and we’ve been intentionally vague about what spiritual means, because the definition will be different for everyone who submits. For me, personally, I define “spiritual” as what lies outside the box of this physical world and this physical body. When you begin to question “is there something beyond this concrete reality I walk through every day” or “am I something/someone beyond flesh and bone and mental processing?” to me that is when you enter the realm of the spiritual. I do draw a separation between what is spiritual and what is religious. Many, many people explore their spirituality through the structures of organized religions, which is fine for them if that is their choice. For me, religion is not what spirituality is all about.

Recently, you and Joan decided to cease publishing poetry. Why?

When our original poetry editor left the magazine due to her own time constraints, Joan and I were left with a decision. We debated for a few months, listened to our inner guidance, and finally determined that Cezanne’s Carrot would become a prose journal, at least for the time being. It was a very difficult decision!

Before starting Cezanne’s Carrot, you edited for flashquake. Did your position there help you when it came time to strike out on your own? Why did you decide to start your own journal?

There’s no substitute for experience! I learned a lot from Debi Orton, the publisher of flashquake, as well as the other editors. Publishing a literary journal is a very time-consuming and involved undertaking, and it helped me to learn from flashquake’s streamlined and organized process.

At flashquake, I found the negativity of the submissions increasingly difficult to deal with. It seemed like the majority were about pain, angst, anger, revenge, killing or plotting to kill–all the darker aspects of human nature and negative experiences of life on Earth. It was when I needed to read a story about someone who was to kill puppies at an animal shelter that I knew I didn’t want to keep taking in that kind of energy–not as a writer or editor, and not as an individual.

As someone who often writes about the darker aspects of human nature, I find your perspective fascinating. Do you view dark fiction as unhealthy?

Specific to what I said about flashquake, reading so much darker fiction was unhealthy—for me. As an editor there, you need to comment on every piece you read, so it’s not like you can just read something and give it a yes, no, or maybe. You have to spend time with it, dig into the story, so that you can give helpful feedback. For me it was a matter of making choices about what to bring into my experience, which is something I do throughout each day. I ask the question: does this elevate me, raise my vibration so that I am operating from my own higher aspects, or does this take me in the opposite direction? Is dark fiction unhealthy for others…well, that leads to the same debate as whether or not there is too much violence on television or in the movies. In my perfect world, I would like to see all the darkness balanced with equal amount of light, stories that inspire, awaken a sense of possibilities or wonder, or even just leave you feeling good about being human!

It’s important to differentiate between fiction that brings dark, difficult subjects to light and that in which the darkness is gratuitous or done for the sake of shock value. I’ve often read books or seen movies that I find uncomfortable, but teach me something about the human condition. I see great value in bringing what has been dark and hidden into the light. For me, a lot depends on the intent of the writer…are they writing to inform or heal some wounds or bring attention to a problem or situation…or is it just to shock people with yet another bloody storyline.

With all that said, every adult on this planet has the right to determine what they pay attention to or not. I do get concerned when people consume any kind of story, in print, on TV, or in movies, without ever considering how it might be affecting them, for better or for worse.

Do you believe that place can be inherently spiritual, or, on the flip side, malevolent?

I look at this in terms of energy, which some people are more sensitive to than others, just as some people’s hearing or sight is better than that of others. I feel most comfortable outdoors, in Nature. For me the natural energies feel spiritual because they make it easier to connect to my guides, to stay aware of who I really am, without any man-made interference. This is one reason I love living in New Mexico…a great deal of open space and very few people around!

In my view, the energy of a place is greatly affected by the people who have been there. People leave behind energy like they shed hair and skin cells. If we go places where others have been happy or content, those places might feel very good or spiritual to us. But if we enter a place where experiences have been bad, painful, or aggressive, we walk right into that residual energy. How much you consciously feel or don’t feel depends on your own sensitivities, but I believe it affects everyone whether they realize it or not.

Currently, you’re working on a non-fiction e-book on crystal healing. How did you become interested in this subject? Can you give us a brief overview of the book?

The nonfiction book involves using crystals with an energetic healing system known as Shamballa 1024. It is similar to Reiki. I’m co-authoring the book with my friend Athena, a woman who saved my life in more than one way. When I was 19, I started having symptoms from a progressive autoimmune disorder affecting my spine, and for almost thirty years, I dealt with nasty chronic pain. I ended up in pretty bad shape, needing to take harsh drugs just to try and function day-to-day. I had to quit working and could only fit in my personal writing when I felt good enough to sit for any length of time at the computer. Then I met Athena, and she was able to heal me to the point where now, I enjoy a normal life again. No more medication, virtually no pain, and no progression of the disease. It is hard to go through a life-altering transformation like this and NOT know with certainty that there are healing forces out there that can “fix” what mainstream medicine cannot.

If that wasn’t enough to convince me, I used one of the crystal techniques on one of my dogs. I’ve never done any kind of healing work, so I was not exactly confident in my abilities! But after one treatment, an egg-sized cyst that had been on my dog’s back for about ten years disappeared. Vets had told me it would always be there unless we had it surgically removed. But it’s been gone for months now, with no signs of reforming. The other cyst on her back, which I did not treat, is still there.

Why an e-book? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

For us, the advantage of the e-book is that we can quickly get information into the hands of people who need it. Though it takes about 6 months to receive all the symbols needed to use the techniques we describe, there are many people who already have them and are waiting for me to finish the book! We will be adding to the book over time, and when it feels complete, then we will offer a second version both in e-book form and in print. At least that’s the plan. We’ll see what happens!

The disadvantage of an e-book is that there is no contract, there is no advance. I know that there is no guarantee I will even break even considering all the time I’ve spent on this project during the last 9 months. But that isn’t the point of this book. It is about helping other people.

What do you say to skeptics of alternative medicine and spiritual practices?

Everyone experiences life here on earth differently; some are spiritual, some are skeptics, some fall in-between. I think everyone has their own path that is perfect for them. I look forward to the day when everyone—including skeptics and many spiritual people as well—will move beyond the need to judge someone for taking one path versus the other.

I hope that people look at alternative medicine with an open mind. A closed mind is a good way to ensure that any therapy won’t work, even in mainstream medicine. When my mother was diagnosed with lymphoma in the brain last summer, she went through traditional chemo and radiation treatment. I knew it was a waste of time because her mind was completely closed to healing. She never believed it had a chance of working; she insisted that she was dying from the day of her diagnosis, and sure enough, in four months time, she proved herself right.

Some alternative practices that used to be pooh-poohed have now been brought into the mainstream. Meditation is now widely recommended for a host of reasons, including plain old stress relief. Acupuncture works by manipulating the energy in the body, and now look at the all the insurance plans that cover these therapies! Crystal healing works with energy as well, just in a different way, so who knows what kind of acceptance it may one day get. In the meantime, those who are drawn to it will enjoy its benefits.

Three of your screenplays have won awards or been named as finalists in competitions. Have any of them gone on from there?

Not yet. With these screenplays, one feature-length and two shorts, I’ve received good, additional feedback. I want to tweak them each a bit before sending them out again. Screenplay competitions are pricey, so I want to send the best possible script out that I can! I’m also waiting until I have two completed feature-length screenplays in hand, and then I will begin searching for an agent.

You have two screenplays in the works right now. What are they about?

“Lac Mirage” is the screenplay that won the Southwest Writers national competition. It’s a mystery set in the odd world of northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. (This world is familiar ground for me. I’m a native Minnesotan and my husband grew up on the Iron Range.) The story sets the main character Hatcher Kohl on a road to redemption while he solves the mystery of his uncle’s death. The second screenplay, “Bridge of Darkness, Bridge of Light,” is a new age thriller involving the death of one twin, the strange transformation of the other, and the remaining family members’ journey to uncover the purpose of it all.

Besides your work at Cezanne’s Carrot, your non-fiction book, and your screenwriting, you also find the time to write poetry, flash, and novels. Is there a particular form you enjoy more than the others?

I will always love flash for the intensity it can bring, the way just a few words can convey a much larger story. I also enjoy screenplays for the way you must tell a story visually. But probably my greatest love is the novel, which allows for greater exploration and depth. I’ve drafted two magical realism novels during NaNoWriMo, and am still very intrigued by the stories and characters that emerged. I hope to get back to these soon.

Tell us more about those magical realism novels.

The more recent of the two is about a group of ordinary people who discover they are incarnated angels and come together to fight a dark entity and help save a missing boy. This story has elements of magical realism, fantasy, slipstream, and mystery–hard to categorize at least after the first draft! But that’s half the fun of the first draft, especially during NaNoWriMo, to just let the story flow and see what happens. What I enjoyed most about this story was seeing how ordinary people find they can make a difference.

The older story is one I am most eager to go back to. It’s about the relationship of a teenage daughter and her terminally ill mother, set against the backdrop of a catastrophic hurricane, similar to Katrina. I rarely write about my own family, but when I wrote this, much came up about my relationship with my mother who (at the time) was a cancer survivor. I think I knew that I couldn’t finish this book until after my mother was gone and I’d had time to process all that our relationship had been. And since Mom passed away on Halloween, this book and its varied and fascinating characters keep coming to mind. So I think the time to re-embrace it is coming very soon.

Looking through your publication credits, I noticed you’ve entered (and placed!) in many contests. What do contests offer that regular publication can’t? Is it just the possibility of prize money, or do contests gain a writer more exposure to the publishing world than they might have otherwise?

Contests are another entry point to the publishing world, and the entry fees, the price of admission. I’ve spent far more on entering contests than I’ve ever received back in prizes, so I don’t do it for the money! Especially when you’re first starting out, you just need to get your work out there–however you can do it. I’m a lot picker now on which contests I enter.

Tell us something unusual you’ve done.

Probably the most unusual thing I’ve ever done is what I’m doing now. And that is living in the now, the present moment, trying to experience each aspect of it, all the while feeling my connection to the totality of what is out there in the universe. Marcel Proust said it best: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.” With this attitude, every small action, every small interaction can take on tremendous depth and meaning. It’s a wonderful way to live.