Archives for 2018

Deep Peace 2018

Almost every year that I have been blogging, I’ve used this traditional prayer as a way to close the year. Blessings to all, and to all a good new year.

This has been an odd year. I feel like I started out going in one direction. The middle of the year brought a strong stop – as in a stop to cause me to stand in the middle of the road and look around.

The end of the year seems to be a launching off in a different, deeper direction. Let that be in peace.

I’m particularly fond of Donovan’s interpretation this Gaelic prayer on his Sutra’s recording:

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace deep peace
Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you
Deep peace of the wandering wind to you
Deep peace of the flock of stars to you
Deep peace deep peace
Deep peace of the eastern wind to you
Deep peace of the western wind to you
Deep peace of the northern wind to you
Blue wind of the south to you
Pure red of the whirling flame to you
Pure white of the silver moon to you
Pure green of the emerald grass to you
Deep peace deep peace

Best of 2018

Here is a roundup of the various posts over 2018: statistics, counts, and a few other considerations.

Which posts were most popular?

Which are my favorites?

And what movies should you consider watching over the Christmas holidays?

Most Statistically Popular Posts of 2018

These posts got the most traffic, meaning, these are the posts that were most visited, and most read. I don’t think they’re necessarily the “best” posts, though.

5 Questions You Should Ask A Life Coach

Embracing Adventure

Midlife Is The New Black Dress

My Favorite Posts (Don’t Miss These!)

The Shiny Squirrels of Autumn

Despair and the Bright Shining Light of Just Maybe

In Praise Of the Multi-Faceted Self and a Life Well Lived

If you like poetry...

Feeling My Age

Be / Learn / Know

They’re Not Conspiracy Theories

Illusion, the Q Phenomenon, and We the Good People of Earth

Remember the Loosh and the Love!

Movie Suggestions

Above Majestic, PGS Intuition, and InnSaei

Oldies & Goodies

A couple other posts that give you a real sense of who I am and how I write. Let’s start with Shine Your Light – from December 2017.

Shine Your Light

I have to include this. I think it’s one of the best pieces I’ve ever written on spirituality.

The Sacred Waterfall

That’s enough, right? There will be one more post for 2018 – my traditional Deep Peace year-end closing. And then, we vault into 2019 and whatever adventures await.

Books for Christmas 2018

Essentially, this is a round up of all of the books I’ve read this year in one place. Think of it as a yearly review and as a way to figure out what books to give for Christmas. For even more book ideas for Christmas, check out the roundup of all of the books from my old blog, too.

Full disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a link and buy something (even if it’s not the particular book,) I receive a little compensation. I think I’ve made $5-10 over the years of blogging, probably because I’ve clicked on my links – lol.

Mindfulness and Spirituality Books

Mystery School: An Insider’s Perspective by Gayle Clayton. Reading and re-reading books written by your meditation teacher is a very, very good thing. It helps tickle my memories and certainly reminds me of an amazing time in my life. And, if you’ve ever wondered what exactly a mystery school is like, this will help. Your brain will be overloaded with information: exactly what’s needed in this Western world to break through our overthinking over-obsessed-with-details-and-facts-and-figures world. A remarkable accounting.

Mindfulness by Joseph Goldstein. This is a series of lectures by Goldstein, one of the people who brought vipassana (aka mindfulness) meditation to America. Along with Sharon Salzburg and Jack Kornfield, Goldstein founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. When there is a retreat being held at the center, there is always a dharma talk, or lecture, in the evening; this book is a collection of those lectures by Goldstein specifically covering the Satipatthana Sutta, the foundational discourse of Buddha on mindfulness. I find I can only read one lecture a day because each brings so much to ponder. It’s worth it, though, as there are plenty of jewels like this:

An ironic and useless patter that I’ve noticed in my own retreats is that my mind comments on someone not being mindful — or at least not appearing to be in my eyes — all the while being oblivious to the fact that in that very moment I’m doing exactly what it is I have a judgement about: namely, not being mindful! It usually doesn’t take me long to see the absurdity of this patter and then just to smile at these habits of mind. It’s always helpful to have a sense of humor about one’s own mental foibles.

I’ve definitely never been guilty of this, have you?

Mindful Aging by Andrea Brandt. I really tried to like this book, but alas, I can’t do it. The subtitle of the book is “embracing your life after 50 to find fulfillment, purpose, and joy.” It comes off a little too simplistic for me, and probably for you, too.

The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield. As part of the mindfulness certification, I had to read a book or several about mindfulness. Jack Kornfield is a good introduction, and I really liked how he broke down the functions of mindfulness into things I could easily understand and relate. Gentle wisdom and good storytelling combine with modern psychology.

Clear Home, Clear Heart by Jean Haner. Not long ago I watched a video of Jean Haner in one of those free summits I post about on Facebook. I was captivated by her talking about clearing space, so picked up this book, and within a day or so had cleared myself and my cats – thanks to a pendulum and copper dowsing rods. I cleared the house, too, which may explain the whole basement thing; and yes, the house felt different after I cleared it. Hmmm, maybe I should get certified in space and personal clearing, too?

Chumpi Illumination by Eleanora Amendolara. After my experience at the Sacred Waterfall with twelve crystal Chumpi stones, I finally broke down and bought a set of seven. These are mystical stones from the Peruvian Andes mountains; mine are made of meteorite and are (without a doubt) alive. This deck of cards is helping me understand the basic principles behind the stones I have.

Five Lives Remembered and Between Death and Life by Delores Cannon. If you’re unfamiliar with past life regressions and/or the work of Delores Cannon, these two books are good introductions. “Five Lives” is the retelling of how she and her husband started regressing people and found one person who was particularly good under hypnosis. “Between Death and Life” explores what happens to a soul after it leaves the body.

Writing about American Buddhist Rebel and Unplugging the Patriarchy is a little like writing about the chicken and the egg. They’re so closely related, it’s a bit hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. For example, American Buddhist Rebel is the teacher’s while Unplugging the Patriarchy is the student’s story; the teacher appears in Unplugging but the student doesn’t appear (at least by name) in American.

Regardless, I did enjoy both. I can’t get enough spiritual biographies, and both books are that. American Buddhist Rebel: The Story of Rama – Dr. Frederick Lenz by Liz Lewinson is a more conventional biography albeit written by a student of Rama. That is to say, it’s a flattering biography of an even-to-this-day controversial figure. As someone who’s fairly well versed in spirituality (I spent two years working at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and writing the catalog/course offerings,) I’d never heard of Rama.

I really loved Unplugging the Patriarchy: A Mystical Journey Into the Heart of a New Age by Lucia Rene. This novel reads more like a fictionalized first-person narrative, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Who is the mysterious man in the Pacific? Can he stop the three main characters from dismantling the esoteric rings that bind patriarchy into this world?

While the teacher, Rama, passed away in 1998, and his work is carried on by the nonprofit Rama Meditation Society. Lucia Rene is still very much alive and living in South America. Her website offers classes and other teachings online.

Mysteries

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. This was a fun little read that I picked up on a late summer adventure to Grand Rapids. I went over for the day and hit Nordstrom Rack, thrift stores on 29th street, Trader Joes, and (how could I not) Schuler Books. I ate lunch and gathered a few books including this one purely for the title. The back-of-book blurb attracted my attention too: “Martha Andersson may be seventy-nine years old and live in a retirement home, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready to stop enjoying life. So when the new management starts cutting corners to save money, Martha and her four closest friends won’t stand for it.” This league of septuagenarians gets up to all sorts of hilarious hijinks and you’ll love it. Thank goodness there’s at least one more in the series: The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again!

Raspberry Danish Murder by Joanna Fluke. New Hannah!!! I read this super-cozy mystery in one night and am delighted by the end. I wrote about the recipes on my other blog. Though I’ve been annoyed by plot developments in previous books, this one is sweet and complete, just like the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Christmas Cake Murder by Joanna Fluke. This quick and easy read is yet another in the Hannah Swenson series, and I read it in one night. There are tasty recipes and a lighthearted look back at the beginning of Hannah’s cookie and mystery empire in the small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. Charming, as always. Recipes included are: cocoa-crunch cookies, honey apple crisp, anytime peach pie, melt-in-your-mouth pork roast, ultimate lemon bundt cake, Cool Whip lemon frosting, bacon & sausage breakfast burritos, cashew butter blossom cookies, chocolate hazelnut bonbons, ultimate butterscotch bundt cake, Cool Whip butterscotch frosting, ultimate Christmas bundt cake, Cool Whip white chocolate frosting, and minty dream cookies. If you love old recipes, you’ll thoroughly enjoy my other blog – My Great Recipes Collection.

Curiosity Killed The Cat Sitter by Blaize Clement. Retired sheriff’s deputy turned pet sitter Dixie Hemingway is no pushover – unless there’s dog or cat involved. And there are the dead bodies that (ahem, mysteriously) keep appearing. But Dixie has a complicated history, and solving murders doesn’t help her keep her cool. I’d read more of these. And besides that, reading about hot Florida days is a fantasy in the middle of a Michigan winter.

About A Dog by Jenn McKinlay. Romance, dogs, and small-town gosh-golly-gee are in this delightful story. Throw in three girlfriends and you’ve got a charming tale – or should that be tail? I’m sure the others in the Bluff Point Romance series are just as heart-warming: Barking Up The Wrong Tree and Every Dog Has His Own Day.

To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear. Move over all you other books, private investigator Maisie Dobbs is in the house. I read this in maybe two or three nights of intense reading. I would do it again – probably when the next book is released. My hopes are up that that will be next year.

The Maisie Dobbs series of mysteries stand out because the characters are true-to-life. They’re believable, likable, and tenacious. At this point in the series we’ve seen Maisie and her cohorts through the first World War, personal struggles, and now the second World War is starting. Sigh. If only Winspear could write as fast as I can read.

Brimstone by Cherie Priest is set in the early 1920s where talented clairvoyant Alice Dartle has just arrived at the spiritualist camp in Cassadega, Florida. Tomas Cordero, a tailor who lives in Ybor City, Florida, is struggling with shell shock from his experiences in the first World War and the loss of his beloved wife. The paths of Dartle and Cordero cross in Cassadega and combine to defeat a powerful enemy who loves fires.

The Edge of Dreams by Rhys Bowen. Bowen writes the Molly Murphy mysteries series, set in the early part of the 1900s in the New York City area. Molly’s biggest challenge seems to be balancing what a proper woman should do (stay at home and take care of her young child) versus her natural instincts to solve mysteries as well as any man – including her police captain husband. Charming, if a little predictable.

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen. Bowen is a prolific author, and this book is definitely not a Molly Murphy mystery. It does seamlessly blend the stories of a World War II British bomber pilot and his daughter in with a quaint rural Italian town. Bonus points for delicious food, but like The Edge of Dreams, this is a charming (and a little predictable) read.

If you enjoy mystery and intrigue set in a not-too-dissimilar setting (albeit that setting is industrial revolution England) you just might like this haunting novel by Ian R. MacLeod. There’s a sick child, a manipulating mother, and gritty fantasy. What’s the book? The House of Storms by Ian R. MacLeod

Urban Mystery & Other Fantasy Books

Darker and grittier than your typical cozy mystery, but oh so interesting!

The Greywalker series by Kat Richardson: Poltergeist, Labryinth, Vanished, and Seawitch, and others. This urban fantasy series features private investigator Harper Blaine who just happens to be able to see between the worlds. Start with #1 in the series, Greywalker, which explains how Blaine got these talents, among other things.

On that same trip, I bought Bibliomysteries edited by Otto Penzler. This is a collection of short stories about bookshops, libraries, book collectors, and booksellers. Authors include Mickey Spillane, Nelson DeMille, Anne Perry, and Laura Lippman. The subtitle of the book says it all: stories of crime in the world of books and bookstores.

Seanan McGuire is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. I learned about her from a friend who reads more than me and we both have devoured most of her books – which is saying a lot. The InCryptid series follows professional ballroom dancer turned friend-of-monsters Verity Price as she shimmies at the bar, tumbles across rooftops, and fights the good fight. All that and burgeoning true love. First in the series is Discount Armageddon. I just finished Midnight Blue-Light Special, too.

Stealing Shadows by Kay Hooper. I picked up a series of three Kay Hooper books at the autumn book sale at my local library because they looked interesting: a psychic helps police catch killers. Unfortunately, this got just a little too dark for my tastes, perhaps even a little too unbelievable. I’ll donate this series back to the book sale for next year.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. So many good series, so little money to go and buy all of the books. If you’re a fan of dystopian fantasy, you owe it to yourself to seek this series out. I’ve only read this first book, but it’s worth finding. And as it’s the 2016 Hugo Award Winner, your local library may stock a copy or two. As I said, this is a trilogy, so if you’re able, you can definitely grab all three books here.

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemison (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdom, The Kingdom of Gods, and the bonus material “The Awakened Kingdom.” I’d looked for other books in the Fifth Season at local bookstores, but have had no luck. Finally, I came across The Inheritance Trilogy at a Barnes and Noble; it’s not the same series, but it’s a doozie of a series all on its own. As this is a 1400-page compilation, it’s hard to sum up the plot in a few short sentences. Suffice it to say that the ruling class is deposed, and a new class begins to rise. Oh! And there are gods and goddesses involved, too. Fantasy and storytelling at its very, very best: go read some of this stuff.

The Wall Of Night Series by Helen Lowe: The Heir of Night, The Gathering of the Lost, and Daughter of Blood. If you thought I was enthusiastic about The Fifth Season, you haven’t seen anything. This fantasy series by Helen Lowe blew me away. I gobbled these three up as quickly as I possibly could. That’s saying something because Daughter of Blood is more than 700 pages long. The series is epic – a battle between good and evil led by two awkward teenagers with impressive abilities – and the world-building is magnificent.

The Brightest Fell is the ninth book in The October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire. I really tried to dislike this series, I really tried. At dinner one night I said I thought the first book was well written but just too violent for me. And then I read another two or three and didn’t stop until I finished the whole series. It easily took me less than two weeks to glide through all eight books; and now I long for the magical world of the faerie with all of the political intrigue, infighting, and imaginative world-building. October “Toby” Daye is a half human half fae (as in fairy or fairy-ish) hard-boiled detective type who also happens to have considerable talent with the decidedly not human skill of ‘riding blood.’ When she tastes blood, she sees and experiences the story of whomever the blood has come from; and given that she’s a detective, that blood is often coming from a freshly dead body. If you love fantasy, this is a great series to consider.

Beach Read Books

Sourdough by Robin Sloan. Yes, sourdough bread and San Francisco, but also high-tech, grazing goats, farmer’s markets, and cricket cookies. There’s a visit to a Chez Panisse look-a-like restaurant, and an appearance of the owner who resembles Alice Waters, the legendary founder of Panisse. There’s a robot that makes bread, too. Sourdough is a quick read with a good story. It didn’t take me much longer than making a loaf of bread from scratch to read.

The Last Girls by Lee Smith. If you got together with college roommates, you’d have a lot of fun, right? I would! But these roommates and friends seem more bent on destroying each other, or at least hurling insults and mean glances. There is fun, to be sure, as the women recreate their trip down the Mississippi, but I wouldn’t want to be along for the trip.

Summers at Blue Lake is the first novel from Jill Althouse-Wood. Take one miserable divorce, two grandmother lesbians, and fond memories of summers spent at the lake…then combine with the pieces of a puzzle coming together in one bittersweet picture. It’s a darned fine summer read.

Looking for a heart-warming novel about girlfriends? Add a little knitting into the mix, and that’s exactly what you get in The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. There’s friendship, love, secrets, and miracles – everything you’d really want or need in a chick-flick book.

The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig. This is a pleasant, predictable read based in the gilded age of New York City. You know this story: servant girl falls in love with a wealthy boy and there are complications. Yawn. How three successful authors can write such an average story, I’m not sure, but they definitely pulled it off here.

The Lost Carousel of Provence by Juliet Blackwell. Cady Drake is a social misfit and down on her luck: her adoptive mother has passed away, and now Cady is alone in the world. She moves forward in her life through her old cameras and photographic skills. When a friend urges Cady to accept an assignment photographing the old carousel’s of Paris, the adventure truly begins. If you’ve ever loved riding on a carousel and fallen in love with the gorgeous sculptured creatures, be sure to add this to your reading list. History, mystery, and a little bit of love are included, too.

Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen. This is more of ‘love’ story that I like. A famous female photographer based in New York City, newly divorced and financially unstable, rents her fancy loft-like apartment and escapes to a small country town. Naturally, she falls in love with a local boy, because doesn’t that happen to everyone? Fortunately, Quindlen adds just enough twists and turns to make this book charming.

History and Other Non Fiction Books

The Memory Code by Dr. Lynne Kelly. As I write this, I’m about halfway through this book, subtitled “The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island, and Other Ancient Monuments.” It’s incredible. She’s explored how Australian Aborigines encode memory (events, people, seasons) into places, and then extrapolated and applied to her own life. In one chapter she takes the reader on a walk around her neighborhood. She uses the objects and places to help her remember geological and archaeological history.

As Epsi [her dog] and I walk down the drive from home, the first life – the first photosynthesis- is happening… We walk through geological eras and eons, one per house: Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, and into the Mesozoic. The last house on the block has a very messy garden, which makes remembering that this is the Mesozoic very easy. For a reason I have never been able to discern, Epsi doesn’t like the Mesozoic and tries to head back home when we get there. I pick her up and nod to the dinosaurs as I carry her through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. From the Pliocene on, she is perfectly happy to walk, even though the big noisy dogs are at the house with Lucy, the famous australopithecine from the Pliocene who has no idea the stir her skeletal remains will one day cause when they are found over three million years later. I turn the first corner in the Jurassic, 200 million years ago. By the time we reach the next corner, now well into the Cenozoic, we have encountered many long-extinct hominid species. Homo erectus stands upright just as I get to the last house on this block. The corner is one million years ago, which I decided was the best place to change from geologic time to archaeological time and enter the Paleolithic.

But what really kept me reading is the fact that she has applied this knowledge of encoding memory into many other ancient monuments around the world – including Stonehenge and New Grange. Fascinating!

Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon by David McGowan. If you don’t know it already, I love me a good so-called conspiracy theory. I even wrote a little bit about the whole QAnon stuff going on this past year. QAnon and David Wilcock both posit that something much bigger is going on covertly and that we’ll all know about it soon enough. So it’s the perfect time to read this little collection of stories from McGowan who wrote about a lot of very interesting things. This book explores the Laurel Canyon scene in the 60s and 70s that spawned a whole hoot of musicians: the Byrds, the doors, Buffalo Springfield, the Monkees, the Beach Boys, the Turtles, the Eagles, and more. And it especially delves into the underbelly of that scene (think Charles Manson connections) and a lot of military connections.

A World Without Whom by Emily J. Favilla The subtitle for this book is “The Essential Guide to Language in the BuzzFeed Age,” and it should come with an English teacher alert: you won’t like this one bit. I did, but perhaps that’s because I am online so very, very much. This truly is a guide for the new way of writing that has developed online. It’s not about proper sentence structure or well-developed thesis; instead, it’s about accessible, friendly writing. And she likes the Oxford Comma – hallelujah!

Inspired and Unstoppable: Wildly Succeeding in Your Life’s Work by Tama Kieves. On the journey from employee to entrepreneur…. (Wait, did I just call myself a business owner? I guess I did, didn’t I? I’m still getting used to that…) Anyway, while on the journey from employee to creating a dream job/life as a life coach and writer, Tama Kieves has been consistently inspirational. This book is full of sound, heart-centered advice. I have her new book, Thriving Through Uncertainty, loaded onto my Kindle to read, too.

The Conquer Kit: A Creative Business Planner for Women Entrepreneurs by Natalie MacNeil. I bought this on a whim more than a year ago, really before I realized I was truly starting a business. I couldn’t work with this book at all. But then, gradually, as I became more aware of the business that was emerging from my consciousness, this book became an inspiration. It is a business plan, but it’s not stodgy or boring. It causes you to brainstorm and apply solid business tactics in creative ways. There are still parts I haven’t been able to work through. I think that’s the point, though – as I develop as a business owner, I can see returning to this book over and over again to discover fresh perspectives.

The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin. I love a good autobiography and, for sure, this is one. It’s filled with anecdote after anecdote about celebrated chef Pepin’s life, and a handful of recipes. There is a grueling old-fashioned apprenticeship in France, and then Pepin arrives in America. The rest, they say, its nothing but history, and the story-telling is charming.

Even More Fiction Books

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. It’s deep winter and a small village in the medieval Russian wilderness is beset upon by pagan demons. Or is it beset upon by a monk from far away Muscovy attempting to impose new religious beliefs? Tensions are high in this imaginative retelling of a classic Russian fairy tale. Thank goodness Vasya, the land owner’s wild-child daughter is around to save the day…or does she? I suspect the sequel, The Girl In The Tower, will have just as many twists and turns.

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams. If it wasn’t for the hurricane, this would be a wonderful summer beach read. And that hurricane is ever-present because the reader knows it’s sneaking up on the characters, yet they remain blissfully unaware of what’s on the way. The story twists and turns to unravel Lily Dane’s family mystery and slowly winds up to that hurricane. The final chapter is thrilling, and the epilogue shows how love stands the test of time. Sigh.

The “Honor Harrington” novels by David Weber. Also recommended by a friend, this is another sci-fi epic space odyssey of novels. I chunked my way through ten of them and had to stop – not because they’re not good, mind you. Instead, I got tired of the militaristic (warmongering?) focus. But if you love sci-fi, don’t let that stop you from trying these out; I suspect I’ll be back into the series at some point. Start with the first in the series – On Basilisk Station – to get a real feel for the brilliance of Honor Harrington.

Featuring two sisters who are (seemingly) totally opposites, The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman is tasty. And the novel is not so much about the sisters as it is how they find their way in the world, and how one of them discovers her true passion in some old cookbooks.

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber A thriller with books, bookstores, book writers, and book restoration? Yes, please. There’s a secretive twist on Shakespeare, too. This book spans centuries and continents and is a truly fun read. I’d read more by Michael Gruber.

I keep wondering why so many post-current society stories are filled with tragedy and struggles. I always imagine the opposite of that: a bright and beautiful future for all. Nevertheless, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is a different kind of dystopian story filled with a traveling band of actors and musicians, and an entertaining one at that. A flu pandemic ravages the world, and -twenty years later- we travel with the troupe through what used to be known as Michigan. There’s a violent prophet, and a city growing where there once was an airport. And if you’re a Shakespeare fan, there’s King Lear on stage in Toronto all those many, many years ago – and that is the special twist.

Artemis by Andy Weir. Yes, the guy who wrote The Martian in his spare time while working a computer programmer is back with another book set off-planet. This time we’re on the moon and all sorts of adventure is afoot in the domed city. The main character is just as sharp as The Martian’s Mark Watney, and in about as much trouble, too. I hope Andy Weir has a few more books like these to write!

Peace Like A River by Leif Enger is Midwestern to its core, and dripping in the possibility of miracles that float through this novel like snowflakes. The novel is gripping, haunting, and all of those things you and I love about a well-written piece of fiction. It covers one short year in the life of eleven-year-old Reuben Land and his small, broken family as they race across the cold north searching for his renegade older brother. Fresh like winter snow, treacherous like an ice storm, and tragic and beautiful all at the same time.

In the aftermath of Germany’s World War Two defeat, a lonesome woman and her two boys return to the castle of her husband’s ancestors. There, a disjointed group of women gathers and rebuild their lives. The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck was inspired by tales told by the author’s relatives and took more than seven years to write. Grim and gripping, shimmering and bright, this novel tells stories and reveals secrets for everyone.

For even more book ideas for Christmas, check out the roundup of all of the books from my old blog, too.

What books are you giving for Christmas this year?

Reading Soothes My Soul (December 2018)

It amazes me to no end that 2018 is almost over, and that I’ve barely posted on this blog. My recipe blog is going great guns, but here – where I share spiritual insights and books and other intriguing stuff – nothing. Sigh.

I’ll keep writing here, that’s for sure as spirituality and books and other stuff are important to me. As usual, I’ve been reading up a storm over the last few months. How about you?

There will be one more book post this year that rounds up all of the books in one big gift giving extravaganza. That should be live next week.

The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin. I love a good autobiography and, for sure, this is one. It’s filled with anecdote after anecdote about celebrated chef Pepin’s life, and a handful of recipes. There is a grueling old-fashioned apprenticeships in France, and then Pepin arrives in America. The rest, they say, it nothing but history, and the story-telling is charming.

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemison (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdom, The Kingdom of Gods, and the bonus material “The Awakened Kingdom.” Back in April, I told you about The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison; since then I’ve looked for other books in that series at local bookstores, but have had no luck. Finally, I came across The Inheritance Trilogy at a Barnes and Noble; it’s not the same series as The Fifth Season, but it’s a doozie of a series all on its own. As this is a 1400-page compilation, it’s hard to sum up the plot in a few short sentences. Suffice it to say that the ruling class are deposed, and a new class begins to rise. Oh! And there are gods and goddesses involved, too. Fantasy and storytelling at its very, very best: go read some of this stuff.

In the aftermath of Germany’s World War Two defeat, a lonesome woman and her two boys return to the castle of her husband’s ancestors. There, a disjointed group of women gather and rebuild their lives. The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck was inspired by tales told by the author’s relatives and took more than seven years to write. Grim and gripping, shimmering and bright, this novel tells stories and reveals secrets for everyone.

Christmas Cake Murder by Joanna Fluke. This quick and easy read is yet another in the Hannah Swenson series, and I read it in one night. There are tasty recipes and a lighthearted look back at the beginning of Hannah’s cookie and mystery empire in the small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. Charming, as always. Recipes included are: cocoa-crunch cookies, honey apple crisp, anytime peach pie, melt-in-your-mouth pork roast, ultimate lemon bundt cake, Cool Whip lemon frosting, bacon & sausage breakfast burritos, cashew butter blossom cookies, chocolate hazelnut bon-bons, ultimate butterscotch bundt cake, Cool Whip butterscotch frosting, ultimate Christmas bundt cake, Cool Whip white chocolate frosting, and minty dream cookies. If you love old recipes, you’ll thoroughly enjoy my other blog – My Great Recipes Collection.

What have you been reading?

The Classy White Elephant Gift Exchange for Christmas

the classy white elephant gift exchange

A couple of years ago my mom and nephew devised a clever version of a holiday gift exchange. The two collaborated on a fun and classy twist to an old game that has become a Christmas Eve tradition.

The game is also known as a White Elephant exchange or (much to my mom’s chagrin) Dirty Santa. Everyone brings a wrapped gift and there’s a monetary limit of $10 or $20 These are quite often inside jokes or silly gifts.

But because my mom is a classy lady, she buys all of the gifts in early December. What kind of gifts does she get?

A bottle of wine
Mittens
A beautiful scarf
Little plants
Kitchen tools
Warm socks
Two scone mixes
A real lump of coal
Kitchen towels
A new book
$20 cash
$50 cash
A coffee mug

See? Those are nice gifts. They are placed in paper lunch bags, and then the game begins.

Supplies Needed

A deck of cards
Two (2) gifts for each person
Plain paper bags, or small decorative bags of your choice
A friendly and festive attitude

Buy the gifts and place them in plain paper bags. Fold the tops of the bags over (or seal) so no one can tell what’s in the bag.

Play The Classy White Elephant Game

There are two “rounds” in this Christmas Eve Gift Exchange: a round of cards, and an exchange round.

The Card Round

Place all the paper bags in the center of the floor.
Pick someone to be the dealer.
The dealer shuffles the cards and gives each person two cards.
The person with the total closest to 30 wins this round, and picks one bag to open.
The person who won the round shows the gift so everyone can see. This becomes important in the exchange round.
Continue dealing cards until all bags are picked and opened, and everyone can see all gifts.

The Exchange Round

Everyone decides if they will keep all of their gifts or if they’ll exchange.
Most likely, anyone who gets cash is going to keep that one item. If I ever get the cash, I WILL be keeping it – you hear that, mom? Let’s make a deal so that I get the cash next year!
The dealer does one more round of card dealing.
The person closest to 30 goes first.
They can keep both their gifts or exchange one gift for someone else’s gift. For example, “I’m exchanging my scarf for your book.”
We do two to four exchange rounds to be sure everyone has what they really want

We have fun with this Christmas Eve Gift Exchange every year. One year I wasn’t able to be with family on Christmas Eve, so we used Face Time for me to fully participate.

Feel free to change the rules to meet the needs of your family, and most importantly, have fun!

Above Majestic, PGS Intuition, and InnSaei

spiritual movies

Above Majestic and PGS: Intuition are two movies that I have wanted to see. InnSaei is a movie I stumbled upon while browsing suggested films on NetFlix. I watched all three recently, but not in a traditional format in a movie theater.

More and more we are seeing the decline of traditional, controlled methods of sharing information. The internet has virtually decimated the legitimacy of traditional network news – I certainly don’t watch NBC, ABC, or CBS, do you?

And I absolutely do not watch the so-called news networks; they focus far too much on fear mongering for my tastes.

I don’t read a newspaper either or buy magazines – unless it’s second hand at the thrift store or an estate sale. I do read big books!

Frankly, I get more of news and information from Twitter, Facebook, and various blogs than I do through any news outlet – other than public radio which I definitely listen to in the morning and occasionally at other times.

Still, this lack of following traditional news media makes it challenging to find reliable information.

Regardless, I had heard about Above Majestic and PGS Intuition and learned I could simply stream them via my Roku.

PGS Intuition

I tried to bring PGS Intuition to Mount Pleasant through Gathr films, but that didn’t fly. So I was elated when I learned that the movie was now available on Amazon, iTunes, and more. I watched it over the weekend, and let me tell you, it’s fantastic – just watch the trailer:

PGS Intuition is like the next evolution from “The Secret” or “What The Bleep Do We Know.” It’s a true exploration of and demystifying of a system that is innate to all of us — intuition. Loved this movie – it’s the best $16 I’ve spent in quite some time. And bonus — there’s also a book available from Amazon (affiliate link.)

Above Majestic

Above Majestic covers so-called conspiracy theories and those can be pretty hard and heavy to swallow.

(Also remember that ‘conspiracy theory’ is a term invented and proliferated by the CIA in an attempt to discredit anyone who put forth narratives that disagree with the preferred narrative. To me, a lot of the theories are plausible, and heavens knows they’re researched.)

So, on one hand, it’s a tough red pill to swallow, but it opens your mind to possibilities.

(Red pill – as in Neo taking the red pill in The Matrix and finding out just how deep the hole goes. Let me tell you, it goes and goes and goes.)

via GIPHY

Above Majestic is more than two hours long. And in that two hours, you’re hit by every conspiracy theory out there: aliens, adrenochrome, pedophilia, torture, the cabal/illuminati, evil, banking scams, secret space programs, secret cults, and more. It’s a rough ride.

The movie bombards you with everything I’ve been reading about for years.

It was hard for me to sit through, mainly because taking in that much information in sitting is exhausting. I felt like falling asleep multiple times – and not just because it was getting late – but because the sheer volume of information being thrown at me was astounding.

You could take just one piece of that information and research for a long time.

Seriously. If you searched on adrenochrome alone, your mind will be blown – in more ways than one.

You know how when you pull a carton of milk out of the fridge you sniff to ensure it’s fresh? When I sniff around Above Majestic, there’s something that’s off. Not that it’s “gone bad” like spoiled milk, but that something isn’t quite right.

If any of this entices you, watch the trailer. Rent the movie from Amazon or ITunes, etc. because it’s not available in regular movie theaters or Netflix — yet.

InnSaei

This is yet another “spiritual’ movie I watched recently, and it’s available on Netflix now.

InnSaei is the Icelandic word for intuition, though it has multiple meanings:

{InnSaei} can mean “the sea within” which is the borderless nature of our inner world, a constantly moving world of vision, feelings and imagination beyond words. It can mean “to see within” which means to know yourself, and to know yourself well enough to be able to put yourself in other people’s shoes. And it can mean “to see from the inside out” which is to have a strong inner compass to navigate your way in our ever-changing world.

Watch the trailer, and go search for this on Netflix – it’s well worth 90 minutes of your time!

Have you seen any interesting “spiritual” movies lately?

The Shiny Squirrels of Autumn

I really don’t know where to begin, so I will start writing and see where it leads. Starting is easy; staying on any track long enough to finish the job is a challenge as shiny squirrels are so enticing.

Shiny Squirrels?

Ahh, your local squirrels aren’t shiny? Mine either. In Brevard, North Carolina, there are white squirrels. But I’ve never seen a real shiny squirrel – other than as a Christmas ornament. On the other hand, I have definitely seen beautiful, sparkly objects and activities and possibilities that attract my attention. Yes indeed I have.

I’ll bet you’ve seen a squirrel scurrying around your yard, too. They appear to zoom from one thing to another with no rhyme or reason.

I watch them dig under fallen leaves, then zoom over there for something.

They cross the power lines way above the ground here, scoot down the tree there, and then deftly navigate the narrow top of the fence to another secret cache of nothing at all under the leaves.

Shiny squirrels are distractions.

Shiny squirrels are master magicians tricking you into paying attention over here while something else is happening over there – where you *should* be paying attention.

You’re busy paying attention to:

that damned iPhone,
the latest news about–
rumors,
gossip,
TV shows,
talk radio,
news,
celebrities,
politics,
the entire internet–
scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling on that damned phone, and
everybody but you.

We’re scrolling and scrolling as if the next scroll will save our souls or answer the one big question, or fix the issue of the moment, and then everything will be OK.

What Really Matters

These past months I thought I was going in one direction. But then the movie PGS: Intuition failed to sell enough tickets to be shown in Mount Pleasant, and I stopped.

I’d say that was the turning point for me, but that would be a lie. Two trips to the local emergency room on two consecutive days is a more accurate assessment of when that bottom hit this time.

[Total non-sequitur: I’m fine, in a future post I’ll write more about exactly what happened – then break down how I reacted. So no need to call or write or wonder why I have only told a couple people. Stop worrying!! If I’ve had dinner with you recently or talked with you recently, and didn’t mention it, there’s a reason: I’m fine. The details about this are on the way, provided no more shiny squirrels show up…

Oh wait.

What was I writing about?]

Shiny Squirrels Do Not Matter

Shiny squirrels are in cahoots with your ego mind, that part of you that wants to be in control of everything all the time.

The ego mind corrects you, criticizes you, and always has an answer to everything – except when it really counts.

My mind was attuned to negativity, I was overwhelmed with taking in too much information, I was on the computer 15 hours a day, I was reading big books, and was feeling way out of sorts. To top it off, I wasn’t eating well. I wasn’t caring for myself.

That is, I was showering and doing *that* kind of self care to maintain, but not celebrate. I wasn’t doing things that matter to me:

Spending time with friends and family
Loving on my furry friends – Ivan and Nebula
Walking in nature (I barely worked in my garden at all this summer)
Doing things that are fun
Laughing out loud
Listening to music that I love
The list goes on…and on…

So Just Stop Already

Whatever you’re doing right now, just stop it.

Take a deep breath in and look around you. Give thanks.

Pause just a bit longer, and take a darned good look inside yourself.

Have you forgotten to do something that feeds your soul?

Has a shiny squirrel distracted you? Have you wavered in your deep love for yourself, others, and this magical world of ours?

Breathe.

If you can change course right now, do it.

If you can’t, pull out your calendar and make plan an escape plan. My coach talks about finding joy in micro vacations – little escapes through the day.

Can you find five minutes?

Life is not about shiny squirrels. They’re cute little devils, and devils is the optimum word here.

Beware those cuties!

Beware the shiny thing that just caught your attention!

And breathe.

You can do this Monday, this week, this life just fine.

Creativity and Intuition Are Partners Made In Heaven

creativity and intuition are partners made in heaven

Creative intuition is the ability to quickly identify valuable or useful creative ideas without conscious thought. As with all intuition, it is described as instantaneous without any conscious understanding of how the mind created the idea. –Simplicable

Intuition is Creative

Back when I was first truly starting on my spiritual journey, I worked through Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way with a small group of women. Cameron encourages you to slowly begin exploring your feelings about creativity.

I’d done fairly well in art classes in middle school. But by high school I was a typically petulant teenager and stopped taking art classes: I had to go to college and get a job, after all. Art was not for people like me.

But by the mid-90s I had started meditating regularly, and used the gentle nudging of Cameron’s writing to explore creativity. Sure, Cameron made suggestions, but it was up to me to decide what to try. A friend suggested craypas, and boy, that was all it took.

I created craypas drawing after craypas drawing – just playing with the texture and colors, not following any specific rules and not hoping for a really good grade or someone’s approval. Remarkably, most drawings explored the images and feelings that came to me during meditation.

It was purely intuitive drawing. Listen to what Picasso said about intuition:

I don’t have a clue. Ideas are simply starting points. I can rarely set them down as they come to my mind. As soon as I start to work, others well up in my pen. To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing… When I find myself facing a blank page, that’s always going through my head. What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas. -Picasso

You may not be Picasso, but you can definitely be creative. Grab some crayons and paper. Sit quietly, and then just color. Ignore the rules, and just do what feels right.

It OK to do what feels right to you. The idea is to figure out what you do all on your own, without an art teacher grading you or friends critiquing you.

Poetry is Heaven Whispering

I’ve always been a poet; heck I even won a poetry award in high school. But in my 30s, fell in with some amazing poets in Athens, Georgia, and created remarkable poetry.

In poetry, words slip and slide like colors on a painting, like craypas or watercolor. I just followed what was my unique way of using words and fellow poets encouraged me to “just do me.”

The ‘Morning Pages” technique of Julia Cameron gets me going. I simply sit down, take a pen in my hand, and start writing whatever shows up. Usually I’m whining about the fact that it’s early and I’m tired and don’t know what to write or why I’m bothering to write.

But then magic happens, and the voice shifts.

There is a marked shift in the writing. It’s whiny and then -poof! It’s clear and beyond competent. Look at these divine words that simply flowed out of me one morning on it’s own.

Creativity Is Intuition

Once you’ve tried your hand at a little creativity (whether it’s craypas or poetry – or your favorite creative endeavor,) it eventually becomes easy to intuit everything and anything. Want to add a garden to your back yard? Sit in the backyard at different times of the day and feel what would make you happy. Just listen to your heart, and you’ll know exactly what to do.

What creative practices do you do? How do you use your intuition when being creative?