Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts

Women, Writing, and Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine Review

Women, Writing, and Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine
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Women, Writing, and Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine ReviewNot your ordinary how-to manual, Peggy Tabor Millin's Women, Writing and Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine is a unique and inspiring blend of the poetic, spiritual and practical in which the author seeks a balance between "feminine being and masculine doing." Intentionally written in what she perceives is a more feminine form, each chapter spirals back to what has gone before, delving deeper and deeper into each concept. As she explains, "The feminine writes in circles, makes leaps, tells the truth with dream, imagery, and metaphor, and relies on inner knowing. The masculine approach makes outlines, develops linearly from premise to conclusion, and relies on outside authority." Struggling for a structure which honors both, Tabor Millin achieves a synthesis of the intuitive and the cognitive which is the foundation of any creative endeavor.
Unlike many purely intuitive books, Women, Writing and Soul-Making also provides important guidelines that organize and inspire our task of writing more, writing deeper and finding our own voice. She begins with "The Three Steps" of focusing on the sensations of the body to keep ourselves centered, the often recommended free-writing to random prompts, and developing a practice that includes regular writing in a supportive circle of women. She describes an inner being she calls "the observer" who helps us notice without judgment and silences the inner critic who gets in the way of our free expression. She then outlines three obstacles: believing there should be no obstacles, listening to the "I cant's" instead of the "I wills," and searching for an outside authority instead of relying on our own inner guides.
Her "Four Wisdoms" give us access to this inner guidance. "The wisdom of not knowing" tells us we must face our dark and unknown shadow in order to find the truth which will transform our writing and our lives. "The wisdom of the ecology of body and earth" leads us "out of our heads and into our bodies" so we can discover our own voice. "The wisdom of fierce compassion" encourages us to look at the ugly and painful without flinching and to use our anger as motivation for action. "The wisdom of diversity" allows us to tolerate other opinions and helps us make peace with the fact that our writing may not resonate with everyone.
"The Four Paradoxes" teach us to accept that writing is both "pleasure and pain," that we must accept both "praise and criticism," that we desire and simultaneous fear both "fame and disgrace," and that we must reconcile ourselves to both "gain and loss" since we will have to give up an old world view to bring something new into being. "No way exists to make this gain other than to accept that discomfort, anxiety, and insecurity are necessary" she writes. "We consent to uneasiness as motivation for the creative journey--which is no less than our spiritual journey toward self-realization."
As a writer, musician and composer I found Women, Writing and Soul-Making an excellent guide for any creative endeavor. In this wise and wonderful book there is much, much more to inspire not only writers but anyone seeking to heal her artistic self, to explore her inner feminine and find a path to her own voice, her own truth. An absolute must, it deserves an honored place on a nearby shelf beside the likes of Natalie Goldberg and Julia Cameron.
by Lisa Shirah-Hiers
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about womenWomen, Writing, and Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine Overview

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The Christmas Box Miracle : My Spiritual Journey of Destiny, Healing and Hope Review

The Christmas Box Miracle : My Spiritual Journey of Destiny, Healing and Hope
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The Christmas Box Miracle : My Spiritual Journey of Destiny, Healing and Hope ReviewIt says something about Richard Paul Evans that he is one of the few authors whom I will buy new and in hardcover. After the disastrous events of 9/11, I felt severely in the need for some kind of inspirational comfort, so I picked up "The Christmas Box Miracle." Unlike his prior books, this is a an autobiography of Evans, and simultaneously a very unique success story -- not just because the book became popular, but how it affected the people who read it.
Evans was born into a middle-class Mormon family with several kids, who moved to Utah when he was still quite young. We get both visions of his family: the lighter side, with his rambunctious siblings and childhood antics, and the darker side, how his mother miscarried when he was a toddler, and suffered from severe depression that resulted in a failed suicide attempt.
A great influence on Evans was his grandfather, an immensely faith-filled man who predicted once that Evans would "walk with the royalty of this earth and be known as one who loves God." A prediction which has since come true. The book then follows Evans in his careers as a missionary, a member of a newspaper staff, working for a tux rental agency, and so forth. It also follows him into his marriage with Keri, his wife (an interesting detail is who her crotchety father inspired *wink*). But after two of their children were born, it turned out that he was "trading diamonds for stones," working too hard and missing out on his children.
Then, after the folding of his agency, Evans wrote a short novel that has now become famous, reaching across political, religious, age and financial barriers. "The Christmas Box" strongly affected everyone who read it, to the point where people were sending orders into bookstores for a novel that had, technically, never been published. His trip into publication was more than a success story, when it became a helping point for those who had lost a child.
It may be viewed as a mere coincidence that this book came out around the time of the WTC attack, but I doubt Evans' grandfather would see it so. This book is truly inspiring, especially given the short letters from people whom it has deeply affected, from across the world. (I, personally, have never lost a child but I was deeply traumatized by the loss of a baby brother, and "Christmas Box" helped me through that rough time) We are also given a look inside Evans' head, and the power of God that he's felt in his life.
As in his fiction, Evans is very spare and evocative in his descriptions, and very poetic in his speculations. There's an undercurrent of wry wit to this book, such as the passage where he relates how his brother got him to read classic authors by saying, "Chicks dig Shakespeare." He also displays that success has not swelled his head, as he seems to have no problem relating that So-and-so and Such-and-Such did not like him, his problems and insecurities.
The book also gives background into the many people who were deeply touched by the Christmas Box (including the person who said that he was too young to have written such a book), and to the Angel Statues. I hadn't previously understood the meaning of these statues, and it's very moving when I did learn what they were for.
Maybe this story is even more inspiring than the Christmas Box, because it is REAL. I strongly advise everyone -- especially people who have read his other books -- to read this book.The Christmas Box Miracle : My Spiritual Journey of Destiny, Healing and Hope Overview

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Off to First Grade Review

Off to First Grade
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Off to First Grade ReviewIf a youngster is feeling trepidation about taking the big step from kindergarten into first grade, here is a cheerfully imagined chronicle of the thoughts and words of 23 students who will be in Mrs. Miller's class at Elm school.
Youngsters are mentioned alphabetically, so we begin with Anna who tells her little brother, Ray that she will bring home a lot of books to read to him. Dee waits for the big yellow bus and hugs his mom good-bye.
Ignacio is not only going to a new school but he's also in a new country. Although he met his teacher and the principal last week he still holds tight to his papa's hand as he practices his English.
Ramon's fifth grade sister puts a blue dot on his right hand so he will remember to turn right not left at the end of Elm school's long hall.
Positive traits are emphasized in the brief experience of each new first grader - from helpfulness, to reassurance to friendship.
- Gail Cooke
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Yay, You : Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On Review

Yay, You : Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On
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Yay, You : Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On ReviewThis is a great book for a new graduate or anyone embarking on a new life style. Even though I'm not thrilled with the spelling of the title I still liked this book enough to give it as a graduation gift. It's short but sweet, and covers just about everything, from careers to friends. I especially love the page where you may choose to ponder your thighs (although men may not relate) and the pages about many friends or only a few or some with a different point of view. The illustrations are adorable (they are definitely what made me take a second look). If your looking for a graduation book other than the old stand-by this could be it for you.Yay, You : Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On Overview

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Gift Experience Review

Gift Experience
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Gift Experience ReviewThis was the best, first, erotic short story I have had the pleasure to read! I loved it and the ending...well, I wont spoil the fun for you but I will say this is a must read. The Author brings humor and beauty into this well written tale of "what do you give for the one you love?"Gift Experience OverviewAn Erotic Short Story.WARNING: This book isfor 18+ Adults ONLY. It contains sexually explicit scenes and graphic language,which may be considered offensive by some readers.

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