Sonia Barrett, Producer of The Business of Disease Documentary
As for the health care of the future, "It's not simply about what's being done to us, but instead we must examine why we become victims and catalysts for the business of disease. We must examine what we can do to change this for ourselves instead of waiting on the system to fix things for us." - Sonia Barrett
Me: What made you want to create the documentary for The Business of Disease?
Sonia: I think it started out when I noticed an overdose of people asking me if I wanted to donate to breast cancer awareness. That's really what happened. I just got tired of every time I went in the store they were asking me to donate. Except I didn’t realize it was the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month! I got irritated with it because I thought you know, they're just marketing this stuff. And so I came back and I sat and I wrote an article: The Marketing of Breast Cancer, the pink ribbon agenda.
It went from there. I wrote this really really long article and it had so many reference points in the article. There was such a huge response to it by people who actually had breast cancer, who have had breasts removed. But it was all incredibly positive. Everybody was really appreciative of the article and some wished they had seen it before they made the decisions they made.
So I thought I should put together a little video with a couple of experts, so it's not just me talking about any of this. I thought I should put something together for You Tube and then it just sort of evolved into a feature film. That's basically what happened.
Me: Wow! I’ve watched it probably four times now. Every time I watch it something different jumps out at me and I’m like wow! I never heard that before or that's really something how that was said.
Me: I know that you were stating that sometimes this type of information, for someone who has never heard it before, could be overwhelming. But for people that are looking to understand just overall, the thought process of “what's it all about” in terms of life in general- I think that everything that was said in the film is like another piece of the puzzle that a person can take and investigate a little further. They can play with the information within themselves a little bit more because it's just another piece of the puzzle as far as I'm concerned.
Sonia: Yes. I think that's what's so interesting about the film is yes, you're right. You do have to watch it several times. And you're watching it several times because there is a tremendous amount of information in it. But I think it’s also because of information that we're not generally exposed to. And so I think that's a good part of it.
Also films like this, certainly because it's called The Business Of Disease; I think there is an instant belief that it's going to just be about the pharmaceutical companies or vaccines or what's being done to us. And so I think that's part of what happens, because we're still programmed to really want to hear what's being done to us. I think we're programmed to embrace being victimized because we know that there's a lot that's imposed on us. But I think people seem to be ready to cure that.
But now we're saying ok. We understand that's what's going on. And that was the intention of the film to say yes. We get it. This is what is going on. Now, how are you going to take control of your life? Your body? Your mind? Your spirit? How are you going to make this happen? And that was the whole purpose of it.
You cannot...you can if you want to- but to sit around and to wait on the system to fix things for you... People fight with the system to fix something for them, and if the system doesn't fix it then what happens to you?
I think that's a question that people have to ask. If I can't get the system to provide health care for me then what are my alternatives? How do I then provide self care for myself? How do I start taking back responsibility?
Me: Yes. And in connection with the film it seems like this is truly a personal customization if you will, model of understanding. Because as you think about yourself, and you think about the different things that may be going on, and just like you said- if you're not sitting around waiting to be diagnosed or waiting for someone to tell you something... because we're not used to trusting what our bodies are telling us- If you're not waiting and you see a film like this, so much of the information that was provided helped me to understand that if I'm feeling this going on in my body, I really can go over here or I can access this information that is assisting me in that area. I don’t have to wait for the doctor to diagnose. I don't have to wait for that.
Let's talk a little bit about the trust or the lack thereof, that people have when they're walking around every single day and feeling the pings or the pangs or whatever is going on, but yet will not make a move unless they go to the doctor to get a specific diagnosis. What do you think that is about?
Sonia: I think it's just conditioning I think that people are conditioned to believe that they are not capable of being responsible for themselves. I believe they're conditioned to believe that someone else out there - somebody else knows what's best for them. And there’s the control over their lives... are really limited, are set boundaries. I don't think they realize that that's what they're thinking or how they're operating but that is classically it. I mean you know we see it every day because we have to abide by rules and laws or else you get in trouble. And so I think people really operate on that platform, abiding by these other regulations. Otherwise if I don't, something may go wrong. I don't know how to diagnose myself or I don't know how to do this, but I have an assigned doctor because what? I have an assigned health care plan and that health care plan is what's in place to be responsible for me. My doctor is responsible for letting me know when something is wrong with me.
So we see this throughout everything. It’s no different with religion. Someone else knows what's best for me and my minister is my go between. And it doesn’t really matter. It could be any form of religion. Someone else is responsible...is my go-between me, and whatever I consider to be my God. But I don't have direct access to anything I need an interceptor.
So I think it’s just the basic programming.
Me: Yes. And that speaks to what was being said in the documentary as well, when you addressed the symbols, core beliefs, and imprinting that is happening in the packaging and branding all around us.Not just specific to how we handle, and what our relationship is in the health care industry. It’s everywhere; Weaved throughout every single aspect of our lives- These symbols, core beliefs, and imprinting. What you just said reminded me of that. The fact that there needs to be an intermediary or go between is ingrained within our core belief system and imprinting.
Sonia: Yes. There's definitely this kind of imprinting and it begins so early. Basically from the minute you get here on the planet your parents are already imprinting, and just keep passing it on automatically in their rearing of the children. In raising our children we can only draw on what we already know and what we have. We're drawing on familiar behavior- just familiarity or commonality- socially accepted or common behaviors. So it’s quite interesting. And it's not necessarily observed or noticed because it's so normal. It's so normalized. Most people don't question it. Even in conversations I've heard people say, I operate this way. I am not at all influenced. And yet I could step back and I can make a list just in observation. So yes. It is definitely interesting.
And that's The Business Of Disease. That’s the purpose. To shake people. The film is to shake people out of that kind of thinking or just become aware that this is the platform that they're standing on. I became aware, even though I definitely always went left instead of right, or right instead of left. Always going in the opposite direction. But at the same time waking up to realize the influence of the world, the environment around me. That was huge!
Me: Yes and that is such a major part of the understanding, or a person's ability to become aware- is just being aware. When we go back to The Business Of Disease, as I’m looking at the film and I'm listening to everything that everybody is saying - again I'll say it's a piece of the puzzle. But it’s interconnected and inter-relatedness to just life, our overall lives - I was getting information in that regard as well in what everybody was saying. It wasn't just about health care for me.
There was one young lady. I don't remember her name but she talked about how fifty two percent of the antibiotics that are given in this country, are given to our livestock, which in turn gets passed down to us through the chicken, beef, eggs... and she talked about the connection with the gastrointestinal tract - and seventy five percent of our immune system. I was like wow! The major interconnectedness of what she said, that we truly do not understand - our connection to everything. Are people really seeing it that way? The interconnectedness of all of it?
Sonia: No. I think that we operate from a very fragmented standpoint and it goes back to that same formula of going to the doctor. They're looking at one thing. They're curing one thing. But they're not looking at the whole person. So that seems to be the mental model for everything. Let's just work on this thing over here but we're not looking at how it's all connected. So I think that's why people operate that way. That's why they think that way.
Me: How do you see the future of what the medical model is going to look like?
Sonia: Change appears to be on its way. And it's this kind of thinking, this kind of medicine that I was mentioning and that's being mentioned in the film. I think that is what's coming. I think that's the wave of the future. Now how long it'll take to get there?... We see it even in movements about organics. Even though it's taken a long time for people to really get it and catch on; the movement about organics, and of course genetically modified food- which was not an issue a long time ago. But now it's an issue because of all that they're doing. But I think people gradually are waking up more to the fact that there's something called genetic modification and what that means for them.
There is one more thing I wanted to add. This is really not new. We're going back to what was and what used to be really normal. We didn't use to have to hunt for our food like we do now. We have to go to the supermarket, whether it's the whole food store or not, and you have to look at what's on the label. What am I eating? So we are looking for real food. And it is the education and getting the information out there more. I think that is going to make those changes. And I think to some degree, some aspects of the system is afraid of people becoming aware because it is a money maker. It's interfering with the cash flow which is one reason why you see some of the companies that were definitely far away from operating this way, suddenly decide that they're going to get in on the organic stuff. Suddenly they're selling organic food. They’re suddenly jumping on the bandwagon. Is it because they're interested or concerned about people? No, because they see that there's money in it. They know that this is what's coming so they're trying to line themselves up to somehow manipulate some of that. Even the word organic. What does that really mean?
Me: How does society decide to become more open minded to alternative practices? And should we really call it alternative or are we actually creating yet another division if you will, or opportunity for people to come down on (so to speak) what we're calling alternative?
Sonia: Technically it's not alternative. It’s just the normal natural way to operate because it's next to nature. It’s like everything that is more nature based has suddenly become the alternative. Then since you put that spin on it, for many people alternative is now an option to the traditional, or what's become traditional medicine; because western medicine for them, had become the norm and the priority medical option. So from that aspect, I guess it's an alternative for other people. But technically nature shouldn't be alternative.
We're nature based and the body wants to deal with nature. It wants to deal with substances that are natural because natural substances align with the chemical function of the body. Simple. It goes in the body and the body can process it because nature knows the body's design. It knows the chemical makeup of the human body. But when something is taken, which is typically what happens with pharmaceuticals and so on; it's derived from something natural, but then it is chemically processed and made into something else. So the chemistry has changed and the body takes it in and recognizes it as a foreign substance. And it goes against the chemical makeup of the body- of the chemical factory. That's when the body rejects or has a reaction to it because it can't process it. That's generally pharmaceuticals or any kind of pharmaceutical-based or chemical compound. But people aren't aware of that. They don't understand that because they've been encouraged to go for a quick fix, to take a pill. They don't even realize that wait a second, this pill isn't really curing anything really. I may feel better but nothing is cured. It just covered up the symptoms. And I'm OK with that as long as I don't feel it. Then I'll just pretend that it went away. They don't realize that they’re suppressing the body's signals saying there's a problem here, by blocking the signal that’s telling you there's a problem. So over time the excessive use of medication will eventually create problems in the process. Then when it develops into something else, the doctor will not connect any of what we just said.
Me: When you said the pharmaceuticals that are being put into the body are actually suppressing the signals that your body is trying to give you, nobody is seeing the medication as a suppression. However people have been trained to see it, it is definitely not the terminology that you're using in terms of suppressing the body’s signal(s).
I think it’s phenomenal to keep having these types of discussions and keep educating because you have to say things many times before somebody actually hears it.
Me: Thank you so much Sonia.
Sonia: Thank you so much. Definitely a pleasure.
Sonia Barrett is the executive producer of the award winning documentary The Business of Disease. She is also the author of The Holographic Canvas, the fusing of mind and matter, A Journey of Possibilities, Health; An Inside Job An Outside Business, Stepping outside of your comfort zone, letting go of an outdated life, a 7 Day Program. Theoretical Physicist Dr. Amit Goswami refers to her as a true mystic. Her work bridges the gap between science and spirituality while addressing the programming, beliefs and concepts by which we have lived our lives both individually and collectively.
Sonia Barrett has been a Keynote speaker at a number of Conferences. She has appeared in a number of documentaries and on panels with such visionaries as Bruce Lipton, Ph.D, Dr. Jacob Liberman, Amit Goswami Ph.D, Rev. Michael Beckwith and others.
To find out more about Sonia Barrett's work please visit www.therealsoniabarrett.com
Interview was recorded and transcribed using freeconferencecall.com.
Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this post.