The Naomi Judd Interview
by Gary Barg
Raised in the small Kentucky town of Ashland, Naomi first came into
public view as half of country music’s most famous mother/daughter
team, The Judds. In 1991, after selling over 20 million albums and
videos in a mere seven years and at the pinnacle of their
phenomenal career, The Judds’ reign came to an abrupt end. Naomi
was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, a potentially fatal, chronic liver
disease that forced her retirement.
Naomi stepped out of the limelight but has remained a creative force
of nature by writing three books, launching a new skin care line
(Esteem) and creating the Naomi Judd Education and Research Fund
raising awareness of Hepatitis C, as well as research funds for
the American Liver Foundation. Editor-in-Chief Gary Barg recently
sat down with Wynona and Ashley’s mom to share some of her unique
wisdom, wit and warmth.
Gary Barg: I’ve noticed
over the past couple of years a marked increase in the amount of
emails or calls we receive regarding Hepatitis C. Is Hepatitis C
really that prevalent in America?
Naomi Judd:
It will kill four times as many Americans as AIDS will over the next
decade. I feel that what ever kind of disability God has given me,
as an entertainer and as a public figure, it is so I can be a
representative for others.
GB: I
think your latest book, Naomi’s Breakthrough Guide: 20 Choices
to Transform Your Life really speaks to the issue of how
important it is for caregivers take charge of their situation. I
agree with that wholeheartedly, and think we also become more aware
of our own strength. What other advice would you have for family
caregivers?
NJ:
When you’re a caregiver, you need to realize that you’ve got to take
care of yourself, because, not only are you going to have to rise to
the occasion and help someone else, but you have to model for the
next generation. I’ve had women tell me that when their daughters
see them taking care of themselves, and being defined from within,
and thinking for themselves instead of thinking about that silly
culture out there, it’s powerful modeling. I talk to people about
being who they really are, because our culture is ADHD, and the
media is not healthy or good for us. They’re trying to tell us that
we’re not right, so we have to buy their products. The number one
cause of mental illness is not knowing who you are and you can’t
know who you are if you don’t spend time honoring yourself, and
living in the present.
GB:
For several years you have championed the cause of rural caregivers
particularly in regards to end-of-life and hospicee issues.
NJ: I
helped to start a hospicee in the small town of Ashland, KY, because
the Appalachian people where I come from, have no idea of how to
talk about this with their loved ones or friends. I am just such a
fan of hospicee, because my sister-in-law used to run the hospicee of
Kentucky; she’s also an RN. I used to work primarily in the
Intensive Care Unit, so I saw a clinical study for the need for
hospicee. I’d get really saddened and burdened by what I saw in the
hospital. But the good thing is when you say the word rural, it
connotes more of a natural environment. I don’t know what I’d do
without my connection to this farm and any time I’m feeling
burdened, I get outside. I have to go to LA tomorrow for the week,
so yesterday, Larry and I spent several hours in the woods, where I
can literally take these mental snapshots. Before I had to go to the
Mayo Clinic and get up onto an operating table to have a liver
biopsy, I did the same thing.
GB: It
helps you balance things out. I think any caregiver should take
advantage of that
in their own lives.
NJ:
There are certain times when I’m at home, where I’ll come upstairs
for 20 or 30 minutes and I’ll lie down in the dark.
GB: But
you take that time for yourself.
NJ: Oh
yeah.
GB:
There’s a man that I think the world of, Dr. Andrew Weil, and you
are on the board of The Weil Foundation. What role do you see
nutrition and integrative medicine playing in a caregiver’s health
and well-being?
NJ: Andy
and I are trying to get integrative approaches taught in 126
accredited medical schools because we know that stress is
responsible for 85% of all illness. He had me on Larry King Live
with him when his cookbook came out, and he had me on to help
validate for him. I always try to be a translator for the authority
figures, and one of the things I said is that food is like the
medicine of our future; when you open up your refrigerator door,
imagine that you’re opening up your medicine cabinet. There’s two
parts to this, not only the nutraceutical qualities of food in
preventing and assuaging illnesses, and of course we have more
chronic illnesses than ever before, and since there are 78 million
baby-boomers, this is really an issue, but it’s also about
understanding that stress is who you think you’re supposed to be,
and relaxation is who you are. Sometimes, as an RN, I would become
overwhelmed; I would look at my patient load and it would look like
a tsunami wave. One tangent of this and one of my biggest issues
with nursing today is the nurse-patient ratio. When I would feel
this cloak of responsibility, and I was raising two little girls at
home by myself, I had to appreciate that I’m a human being and that
I can only do so much, and that was always a real tightrope for me.
Because I think inherent in a caregiver’s personality and certainly
in a nurse’s personality, is this desire to alleviate or end
suffering.
GB:
What do you say to caregivers who are feeling overwhelmed with these
feelings?
NJ:
When I spoke at the ANA (American Nurses Association), I spoke to
nurses about giving out of their overflow. These gals are
overweight, they smoke, they eat out of the vending machines, and I
want them to do emotional house cleaning. And by that, I mean first
and foremost, if you look at the scriptures in Corinthians 1,
it talks about how your body is a temple, and you have to realize
that the spirit, the mind, and the body are all connected. I want
these women, and I think this would apply to caregivers, to know
that they have to become a detective in their life, realize what the
negatives and the positives are, and you have to get rid of what’s
not serving you. You have to recognize if you have the “disease to
please”, you have to have boundaries. Are you a perfectionist? Are
you attached to your image? Being a caregiver, you have to take care
of yourself, first and foremost, and you have to give out of your
overflow. I just got back from New York, and it hit me when
listening to the flight attendant who said, “If there is a loss of
cabin pressure, be sure to adjust your oxygen mask before attempting
to help others around you.” Now, that was counterintuitive to me and
to a lot of the other people on the plane, but if you’re not
conscious and able to take care of yourself, you’re not going to be
good to anybody else.
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