About Donna

Donna Goddard is an author and shares her love for the Divine and the world with a large international audience. She lives in rural Australia.

Qualifications

1. Bach. of Social Studies, Sydney University
2. Cert. of Existential Metapsychiatry, California, USA
3. Grad. Dip. of Education, Monash University, Melbourne
4. Cert. in Couple Therapy, Cairnmillar Institute, Melbourne
5. Cert. in Family Therapy, Cairnmillar Institute, Melbourne
6. Cert. in Spiritual Healing, United Kingdom National Federation of Spiritual Healing, New Zealand
7. Courses in Metaphysical Healing, Reiki, Sound Healing, Inner Engineering and other healing modalities

Interview

Valeria: In your own words, who am I speaking with today?

Donna: My name is Donna Goddard, and I’m an author of spiritual books—fiction and non-fiction.

Valeria: What is life to you?

Donna: My purpose in writing, and in everything I do, is very spiritually driven. Life, for me, is all about spirit—my spirit, your spirit, everyone’s spirit, and what we’re doing with that in this wonderful opportunity called life.

Valeria: What do you think is the opposite of life?

Donna: The opposite of life is not death because death of the body is inevitable and life carries on. The opposite of life is no energy, no life force, no spirit. Such darkness that no essence of the loving life force can live there.

Valeria: What is the purpose of the human experience?

Donna: Undoubtedly, to evolve.

Valeria: At this time, what is the purpose of your life?

Donna: Certainly, to evolve. Once we become better at sorting out our problems and we understand how to live well and happily, we’re not as driven by suffering as by the desire to fulfil our potential and help others to do the same.

Valeria: What are some of the greatest misconceptions about happiness?

Donna: That other people can make us happy, particularly love relationships. It’s no one’s fault that we think like this. It’s an intrinsic part of the human structure to be drawn to the special type of love relationship. We see it as the source of happiness, but it’s full of problems. If not that, then other things such as money, success, fame, and material things. People build up many incorrect ideas about what will make them happy. None of it does. Lasting happiness comes from within by reaching a certain state of consciousness. 

Valeria: What do you love most about being in a human body?

Donna: When the body is quiet, when it’s not complaining (which is its ideal state), then we don’t need to think about it. It’s there to do what we need and want. It’s a joy to be able to use it, but I don’t think of it as such. I’m involved in dancing and I still don’t think about it—only as much as is necessary to be able to do what I want with it.

Valeria: What is healing to you?

Donna: Healing is getting rid of all those things that cause us to suffer and reaching an equilibrium in our consciousness where grace is present. It is peace, love, happiness, and joy.

Valeria: What is the meaning of freedom to you?

Donna: It’s vital to keep our freedom. Don’t give it away. Don’t give it to parents. Don’t give it to partner. Don’t give it to boss. Don’t give it to anyone because life is not long. We’re all very different, and we’re the only ones who know what we are meant to do with this lifetime, who we are meant to be with, and who we want to be friends with. It’s crucial to live your own life. Don’t give that privilege to anyone else. It’s your life.

Valeria: What is the world’s greatest need, and do you have a vision for a new reality?

Donna: The new reality is a world more closely aligned with spiritual reality. Spiritual reality is not new. It’s what is, what’s always been. The more evolved we become as a collective world, the closer we are to it. The quality which most helps us move in that direction is to care about other people and the earth itself. If people become more caring, many problems instantly disappear. The remaining ones are easily improved.

Valeria: What is your understanding of love?

Donna: Love, in a human way, is many things. It’s sharing parts of ourselves. It’s happiness, humour, and many things on different levels. However, in essence, love is care without conditions. That does not mean we do not have tough love or boundaries or that we do not protect ourselves. We do all those things, but we have a compassionate state of mind and heart because we understand that is the only way that keeps us whole.

Valeria: What is inner peace?

Donna: Peace is a sense of stability. It’s not something that one can achieve or do. It’s a becoming. We become more open to the peace that’s around us, in us, and through us. We become more in touch with the spiritual domain.

Valeria: What, where, and who is God?

Donna: God is the source of life and us. God is more than us, much more than us. It’s surrendering to an energy. We can talk about God endlessly, but it’s only by experiencing God that we start to know what the Divine and the spiritual domain are. It’s something that must be experienced. Definitely, if people pursue it, it will come their way.

Valeria: What is to be spiritual?

Donna: To be spiritual is to be able to sense more than the physical material domain.

Valeria: What is to be successful?

Donna: Success is fulfilling what is inside us, whatever that may be. It is fulfilling the purpose that we are here for.

Valeria: Why did you choose to do what you do?

Donna: I don’t choose it. It’s just me. It’s in me. Before I became a full-time writer, I had a practice as a spiritual healer and counsellor. Also, I’m a mother. So, a lot of energy has gone into raising children. It got to the point with my practice that I was writing more. I felt that as we have limited energy and time, I could reach more people by concentrating on writing. I decided to put all my energy into writing and the things that go along with it (the different mediums we use). It’s not something that I chose. It’s something I want to share. It’s what is in me, what I have learned, and what I know will help people. It’s a drive to help the world.

Valeria: What were the inspiration, intention, and purpose of writing your book?

Donna: The inspiration, intention and purpose are always the same. It is a desire to share what will help people. In terms of my non-fiction books, my main series is the Love and Devotion Series, which consists of four books. The first two speak about my spiritual journey, my teachers, and what I learned. They are called The Love of Being Loving and The Love of Devotion. The following two books in that series, Love’s Longing and Touched By Love, are a follow-on from the first books in the sense of elaborating on the spiritual path of love, what love means, and how we see that in terms of other people and our own life. 
I have another series, The Creative Spirit Series. It has three books. One is a poetry book. Another is a book about dancing from a spiritual perspective. I’ve been involved with dancing for many years. It has been ballroom dancing for the last 17 years. Before that, it was ice skating. The other book in the series is about writing and how to have a spiritual voice as a writer. 
In terms of my fiction books, I have a series called the Waldmeer Series. It consists of seven books and goes through the lives of various people, their relationships, and their spiritual paths. It’s based in an idyllic coastal village, Lorne (Waldmeer in the series), which is extremely beautiful, with forest coming down to meet the sea. I’m a frequent visitor to it as it’s only a couple of hours from Melbourne, where I live.
My new fiction series, which I started at the beginning of this year, is called Nanima. It’s based in a country town, Wellington, N.S.W. (Nanima in the series), the area my family come from. My grandfather was a pioneer farmer and made his house from the stones of the river. It was an isolated upbringing for my mother and her siblings. Farming has been in the family for generations. The series follows the lives of endearing characters and the ways they need to spiritually and emotionally grow in order to become happier and for their relationships to evolve.
My earlier writing was all non-fiction. I explained what I felt would help people. Then came my creative book series as I wanted to be more creative. It’s only in more recent years (the past six years) that I have been writing fiction. These days, I mostly write fiction. I love the opportunity to delve into what is inside a person and what is inside a relationship. I feel more people can work things out if you give them stories and characters they can relate to and are invested in. Those who would not be bothered to read nonfiction will perhaps read or listen to fiction.

Valeria: If you knew you would die soon, would you make any change in your life or do anything differently?

Donna: Anyone who has had a close family member die when they were young, particularly die suddenly (but it wouldn’t have to be sudden), automatically does not take life for granted. My father died unexpectedly when I was 17, and it impacted my future life immensely. I was already a very spiritual young person, but the awareness of how easily life can be taken away gave me a great impetus to live every day as best as possible, and in the way I wanted to. It was another 5 years until I was making serious decisions about my life and path at 22, and since then (I am now 62), my life has been very much my own and driven by the spiritual path. There isn’t a day when I don’t think, Thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity. What do I want to do with this day? Am I living the way that I want? 

Valeria: What are three things about life you know for sure?

Donna: Three things that I know about life for sure?

1. God loves me. God, the Divine, the Divine energy loves me. I know that for sure.
2. The next thing is that God loves you. God…loves…you.
3. The third thing is that life is precious. Don’t waste it. Be with people you want to be with and do things you want to do. We’re only here for a short time. Make the most of it, friends.