Book Review: Rescued: A Prodigal's Journey Home

I had this great reading plan for break, but I forgot that my mom usually has a huge stack of books waiting for me at her house.  This book was one from her stack.

As you can probably tell from the title, this is the story of one man's spiritual journey and his return to the religion of his youth.  Like, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, this is one person's journey, and it doesn't necessarily reflect my own, but I can and do appreciate reading someone else's story. Those moments of reflection and inspiration give me insight into how other people think and react. And I am of the firm opinion that each person is on their own path.  While there might be similarities in our experiences, each of our spiritual journeys is unique.

Johnston tells his story, focusing on the events surrounding the LDS temple dedication in Bolivia, and his memories of serving in Bolvia many years before.   One of the things that I found fascinating was his description of the people and the role that faith played in their lives. It was

a place where people bore witness to personal visions and prophetic dreams as often as they discussed the soccer scores.
As in the celebrated novels of Latin American authors, the supernatural and natural worlds blended seamlessly in our mission.  And when I went back thirty years later for the dedication, it was still the same.  If a member told you her grandmother had paid her a visit, you never knew if the woman had come from another town or another world.  Daily life push so-called reality into soft focus and brought the inner workings of the heart into high relief. 

The other chapter that I loved tells of his friendship with Neal A. Maxwell that grew from their associations at Desert News.  He had asked Elder Maxwell to submit a list of favorite books for a series that Johnston was writing on the favorite books of prominent people.  He was surprised at one title on the list, first because he too loved it, but it went deeper than that.

The reason I flashed on its choice by Elder Maxwell was I often kept copies of the book around to give as gifts, though I seldom mentioned it when discussing literature with my academic friends.  It was a guilty please.  I was, as I said earlier, still a disciple of the God of Good Taste.  And lofty little tomes of spiritual awakening didn't qualify.
But Elder Maxwell was an academic and knew literature better than I did.  And he had put the book out there for all to see, without a drop of self-consciousness or shame.  He didn't worry about what others thought.  He owned up to the things of his heart.
I had to admire that.  

I had to admire it, too.  In fact, it is one of the things that I have been trying to do more of this year, especially with this blog.  Not everyone will approve of my choice of books, or agree with how they affected me, but I've found much more peace and happiness as I have owned my choices and my responses to those books.

This final book review of 2013 is kind a return home for me too.  The year started out strong.  I was reading a lot and writing a lot.  But life sometimes pulls you in other directions.  This holiday season has given me a chance to jump back into books.  I have two more books that I hope to review before Monday.  And then, it's time to get back into fiction.  Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm Back!

I know that you probably thought this blog died since I haven't posted in months, but I'm happy to report that I've just been busy with other projects.  I'm out of school for two weeks and I hope to get back into my reading and writing habits.

This week I finished reading two non-fiction books.  The reviews will be short, but I will get them done.

Reviews on these books should be showing up soon:
The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution*
Untie the Strong Woman

My biggest problem right now is deciding which books to take with me on my trip.  I'm only taking one suitcase and there is a weight limit.  The good news is, I just figured out how to use my library's eBooks, so I can do some reading and writing without needing to haul all the paper books.

These are the real books I think I will take with me to finish and write about:
Entering the Castle
The Universe in a Single Atom
The Great Hunt

These are the eBooks I'm hoping to read.  
Stitches
Divergent

Book Review: Finding Vocal Artistry

I read a book!  And I wrote about it!  Yippee!

You can read the post here on my voice blog.

(Plus I'm almost done with a fiction book, so watch for something about that in the next few days.)

Catching up (or trying to)

No, I didn't disappear from the face of the earth.  I didn't stop reading.  I didn't stop writing.  I've just had a lot of things on my plate lately, so getting posts done for this blog just didn't happen.  (Why does that sound like so many of my journal entries from my teens and twenties.)  Anyway...

If you are curious about what I've been up to, check out my voice blog and its companion FB page. You'll find me talking about lots of books there.  They are just all music books.  I'm also trying to do Camp NaNoWriMo this month, but I've been blogging so I haven't even started yet.  

When I typed up the tentative calendar for the book group posts for Emotional Freedom, I remember thinking, "This is ridiculous.  I won't need this much time to do these."  Now, months after it was supposed to be finished, I hope to get back to it.  Really, I will.  

And I'd also like to get back to writing reviews of the books I've read, but I'm not sure when it will happen so I'm going to just take some time now to tell you a little about them.  

Books I've finished reading since the last review.  

No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu

This has been added to my list of favorite books ever.  As I mentioned before, it's not an easy read. Some parts will break your heart.  But it is also a book of hope.  A book of what can be.  The final chapter is the most beautiful and moving discussion of forgiveness that I have ever read or heard.  If you don't have time to read the whole book, read Chapter 11 and the postscript.  I promise it is worth it.  

Beyonders

A World Without Heroes (Beyonders #1) by Brandon Mull

Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders #2) by Brandon Mull

Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders) #3 by Brandon Mull

I was a huge fan of Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, so I was excited to find these.  They were enjoyable reads, but I didn't love them the way I loved Fablehaven.  They were inventive and fun.  I liked the variety of the wizard created races.  I was bothered by some of the sexist things in the other world, but Mull had characters comment on the wrongness of that sexism, so I guess we are teaching kids some good things.  Mostly, I laughed when I saw things that reminded me of my own writing.  At one point, the main character is trying to decide what to do and goes into quite a lot of detail thinking his way through each option.  It reminded me a little of when I am doing NaNoWriMo and I don't know where I want the plot to go so I have one character explore all the possibilities just so I can up my word count.  Maybe that's not what Mull was doing, but it made me smile anyway.  Worth reading? Yes, but if you haven't read Fablehaven, I'd go there first because it is better.  

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine by Sue Monk Kidd

This is a beautiful book about one woman's spiritual journey.  She has made some different choices than I have, but I learned so much from reading of her experiences.  

Tai Ji:  Essential Tai Ji by Chungliang Al Huang with photographs by Si Chi Ko

This is one of two tai chi books that I purchased on a trip to the used book store in search of something else.  This books was a quick and easy read, but will be one that I return to often to explore its beauty and depth.  I would recommend it for people already familiar with tai ji.  The language used to describe the exercises is beautiful and powerful, but is not clear enough to really help you in learning the actual movement.  The pictures in this book are wonderful.  

New Spring:  The Novel (Wheel of Time 0.2) by Robert Jordan

I finally got around to starting Wheel of Time.  I've read this prequel and I think about 10 of the other books in the series, but I decided to wait until the series was complete before reading any more.  And of course, I've waited so long, that it was best to just start at the beginning.  New Spring is actually a prequel, written after the first few books, but telling what happened before Eye of the World.  I decided to go with chronological order for my reading rather than the order the books were written in.  I've heard both good and bad reports on these books.  I know I loved them before, but I'm anxious to see how I respond now.  

Since I've spent the last few years studying tai chi, one of the things I really connected with this time was when Jordan wrote about Lan "dancing the forms" as he fought off his enemies.  The names of the forms even sound like tai chi and qigong forms.  I'm also fascinated with the use of the One Power and how the women weave spells.  The way Jordan uses this was actually very influential in some of my own writing. I love the intrigue of the inner workings of the White Tower and each of the individual Ajahs.  

Books I've started reading (even though I already have a huge list going)

The Farmer's Wife Slow Cooker Cookbook edited by Lela Nargi

In the clearance section at Half Price Books, I found this great cookbook of slow cooker recipes that are not all processed foods.  The editor took recipes from The Farmer's Wife magazine published in the early 20th Century and adapted them for contemporary slow cooker use.  The recipes look good, but the best part is the ads and articles reprinted from the magazine.  

Lessons in Becoming Myself by Ellen Burstyn

This was another great find in the clearance section.  I loved the title and this from the description on the back, "What Burstyn learned taught her to stand up for herself, to battle her private demons, and to reach for authenticity in everything she did."  Looking forward to this.  

The Encyclopedia of Energy Medicine by Linnie Thomas

You know how you are supposed to use encyclopedias to look up info on a specific topic.  Well, I'm the nerdy girl that likes to read the whole encyclopedia.  I've already read a huge chunk and I skimmed the rest last night.  (Just bought it yesterday.)  I like how it is not just descriptions, but includes information on training, certification, and licensing for each of the modalities discussed.  I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with this book as I make choices about moving forward with my goals in energy medi

Catching up and plans for summer

With all that's been going on the last few months, reading and writing have fallen to the bottom of the priority list.  I miss them both and I'm looking forward to the slower pace that the summer will bring.  I read because it broadens my views.  I write because it helps me make sense of the world.  But those are not the only reasons.   I need to read and write like I need to breathe. I've had some wonderful and some difficult experiences in the last few months (you can read about them here).  Now it's time to process all of that through a little writing.

I'm hoping to get back to the book reviews and online book club posts soon, but I think that what I am currently reading is going to play a big part in my summer.  I'm re-reading a bunch of related novels and stories that I wrote, but have never revised, edited, or published.  It's interesting to revisit these tales.  Sometimes I am amazed at the clarity of the writing, and other times I'm amazed at how truly awful it is.  The story I'm reading right now will probably just be used as an outline of events.  The ideas are good, but the writing is not.  That's OK.  It served its purpose.  Now it's time to take it to another level.

So here is my summer reading and writing plan.

• Do more fiction writing.  
• Finish the book club posts for Emotional Freedom.
• Finish the book reviews for books that I finished reading in February or March.  
• Read and write about the entire Wheel of Time series.  Mostly I'll be re-reading to get the big picture, but I'm also excited to see what the last couple books of the series reveal.  After thinking the series was almost done several times, I decided not to read any more of it until the series was done and I could read the whole thing.  I'm weird like that.  

What are you planning to read and/or write about this summer?  

Book Group: Emotional Freedom Chapter 3

Dreams and Sleep:  Accessing Revolutionary States of Consciousness

This is one of those chapters that some people might have problems with.  Some scientific studies suggest that dreaming is nothing more than random firing of neurons while we sleep.  While scripture is filled with stories of people that had significant dreams, some religious people are uncomfortable with the idea that anyone can have dreams that are prophetic or offer guidance. Also, I'll be the first to admit that some of the dream interpretation books/websites are just a little too "out there".  

My personal take is this:  Some dreams are total randomness and carry little if any meaning.  Other dreams are your brains way of continuing processing events and ideas that are part of your conscious thought when you are awake.  And yes, sometimes dreams give you important information.  I also believe that while other people can offer suggestions for what dreams might mean, ultimately any dream interpretation has to be determined by the dreamer, taking into account his or her own personal history, desires, and fears.  

Now that that is all out of the way, let's move on to this chapter.  

Orloff starts the chapter with the known physical and psychological benefits of sleep itself.  She then moves into information about the stages of sleep and how to overcome insomnia.  Many of the things she talks about for improving the quality of your sleep were things that I was already familiar with.  One new thing that I loved, but haven't tried yet is visualizing delta brain waves.  Just mentally seeing the picture of the wave can help you relax.  I love that.  

The rest of the chapter covers how to remember your dreams and 3 different kinds of dreams.  Although it wasn't new to me, I appreciate the reminder about keeping a dream journal.  Even if I don't go through the process of analyzing each dream, having that record is kind of fun.  Plus, some of my best story ideas have come from fragments of dreams.  I often have very vivid dreams.  

Orloff first covers psychological dreams, which she says can be both cries for help from something inside you that can't carry a burden any more, and "advocates for your finest qualities."  She has a helpful guide to some of the common psychological dreams and their meanings.  She also lists 5 steps for interpreting your psychological dreams.  

As she covers predictive and guidance dreams, she gives helpful signs for identifying them, as well as ways to learn from them and apply that knowledge.  One of the things that I found fascinating about predictive dreams is that there is a neutrality, detachment, and even calm to the dreams.  She talks of witnessing, rather than experiencing the emotions during the dream. A woman who has distressing dreams about a relationship is most likely having a psychological dream and not a predictive one.  

I love this quote about applying guidance dreams.

Never do anything that feels harmful to yourself or others.  Authentic guidance is always compassionate and will make you emotionally freer, even if it involves tough love.  (page 96)

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  How much importance do you give to your dreams?  Are they merely random thoughts linked together while you sleep, or do they carrying meaning for your life?

2.  Do you believe that the average person can receive prophetic and guidance dreams?  

3.  In what ways has looking at your dreams and their meanings helped you to process life events and/or find more emotional freedom?

4.  How is the quality of your sleep?  What things have you found that help you sleep better?  

Book Group: Emotional Freedom Chapter 2

Chapter 2:  Four Practical Secrets to Empowering Your Emotional Life

This chapter lays the foundation for everything else that is to come in the book.  As mentioned earlier, Orloff believes that emotions have 4 components:  biology, spirituality, energetic power, and psychology and that to really address emotional issues we have to look at all four components.  

In the first section of this chapter, she walks us through how emotions create biological responses, and what the effects of those responses can be.  She talks about the fight or flight response and how it is extremely helpful with dealing with short-term stress and danger, but long term exposure to the chemicals and the hormones that the body releases under stress actually makes us sick.  She then addresses the relaxation response and the positive effects it has on the body.  Most importantly, she points out that stress will come to us, but we have to go looking for calm.  We must actively seek and cultivate it.  

Orloff promotes meditation as a way to deal with the stresses of life.  She also gives directions for a three minute meditation that focuses on breathing.  This meditation is very similar to something I have been doing for years, and it really does help, when I remember to take the time to do it. Sometimes, even when I remember, I feel like I don't have time to do it, but the truth is, you don't even have to do this full 3 minute meditation.  A few low, slow breaths can do a lot to help deal with stress.  Somewhere recently (don't you love those kinds of references) I read that if you have time to meditate, you should spend 20 minutes meditating.  If you don't have time to meditate, spend an hour.  I believe it.  If we took more time to calm ourselves, I really believe that we would be more productive and kinder people.  

Now back to the book...

The second section addresses emotions through the lens of spirituality.  This section is absolutely beautiful and one I need to read frequently for reminders of why I am here.  As a Mormon, I was taught that our purpose on this earth is to learn and to become more like Christ.  Orloff's definition of spirituality fits that perfectly.

Spirituality, as I'm defining it, is a quest for meaning that goes beyond the linear mind to access a vaster force of compassion to frame everything...Spirituality is freeing because it means opening the heart and doing your darndest to see every nanosecond of existence through this aperture.  Always, you must ask, "How can a situation--any situation--help me grow and develop loving-kindness toward myself or others?" (page 42)

When we view emotions simply as negative, we lose the lessons they can teach us.  It is through those lessons that we transform the emotions and refine our souls. Feelings of jealousy can be an opportunity to develop self-worth, depression can help us learn about hope.  

Orloff then presents a beautiful heart meditation to help counter negative self-talk.  I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a very similar meditation in a class I am taking right now.  And I have a firm belief that if the same thing keeps popping up in different areas of your life, maybe it is something that you need to pay attention to.   

One of my favorite concepts is that of compassion.  It seems to be at the heart of everything Orloff discusses as well.  I love this quote:

Compassion is the great transformer, of the self and the world.  No matter how things seem, your compassion doesn't fall on deaf ears.  Remember:  Jesus talked about love and the people listened.  Whenever you feel lost, return to your heart.  It's the doorway to heaven. (page 47)

Energy.  This is one of those topics that some of my friends think is a little to "out there" or weird for them.  That's fine.  I respect the place you are in your journey.  The more I study and the more I learn, the more I come to believe that I have to address the energy components of all things.  It affects me and I know it.  Positive emotions create a different kind of energy than negative ones do.  Like stress, negative emotions (and the energy they carry) deplete us physically and energetically.  They are also easy to find and often more powerful than the positive ones, so once again, we have to seek out positive energy.  Again, she chooses to focus on kindness, love, compassion, and empathy.

When you are coming from a conscious, empathic place, that energy fills you and extends to others.  This won't make you into a Pollyanna or a pushover.  Rather, you can get across almost anything if you  say it the right way.  ( page 50)

I'll be honest, I didn't do the action step for this section.  Actually, it might be more correct to say that I didn't do it when I read the chapter.  I've been doing the second part of it for most of my life. To help you feel the difference in the energy that positivity and negativity can bring, Orloff asks you to stand in front of a mirror and say positive things to yourself about yourself and feel what that feels like. (This is actually a great exercise for any day.)  She then has you say negative things to yourself and feel and see how you change.  Like I said, I've been there and done that, and have no need to feel that again.  Personally, I would recommend doing it in the opposite order so you end feeling good about yourself.  I'm not a fan reciting meaningless affirmations. (Positive stuff that someone else says I should say even through I don't believe any of it.) Believe me, I've tried.  That type of therapy never worked.  But finding some little thing that is good and positive and reminding yourself of that frequently can work.  

In the final section of this chapter, Orloff addresses psychology.  To truly understand who we are and why we respond the way we do, we need to look at the people and situations that influenced us, both for good and for bad.  We inherit our virtues and our vices from our parents.  Here she has us list both the good and bad qualities we see in our parents, making them human, neither demons nor angels.  Then she has you take a close look at those lists.  Do you see yourself in any of those things?  If you are always criticizing, is that because it is how you want to be or because it is what you saw from a parent?  By viewing these traits from the outside, we can see which things from our parents we need to let go of, and which we need to embrace.  

"Who is reacting--me or my parents?" (page 59)

Wrapping up the chapter, Orloff reminds us of the awakening to consciousness that is the path to freedom.  

In all circumstances, make this your mantra: "I will keep moving toward the light, toward compassion." (page 59)

Compassion--for me, for who I used to be, for who I am becoming, for those I love, for those I don't understand, for those who seem to fight against me.  I can choose.  And I choose compassion.  

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:  

1.  Stress can contribute to hypertension, heart disease, some cancers, and depression.  What are you doing to help calm the physical responses of your body?

2.  What do you think about meditation?  Does the word itself turn you off?  Do you associate it with weird things you don't understand?  (Yes, at one point that was me).  

3.  Some people meditate through movement (dance, running, tai chi, yoga, etc.)  Some people meditate through prayer.  Some people meditate by spending quiet time in nature.  How do you meditate, or if you don't like that word, how do you calm and/or focus yourself?  

4.  How does your spirituality tie in to how you deal with emotions?  

5.  Talk to me about compassion and the place it has in your life.  Go here to read about a few things that I learned.  

6.  I believe in energy and that our energy can affect those around us.  What do you think?  How do you cultivate energy?

7.  For awhile (too long in fact) it was fashionable to blame all your problems on your parents.  I love that Orloff doesn't do that, focusing on both the good and bad that we can get from them.  She also emphasizes that although we are influenced by the way we were raised, we are not our parents, and we don't have to react in the same way.  We can choose.  What things about your parents have you chosen to emulate and which things have you chosen to move away from?  

Book Review: Not My Apocalypse

Not My Apocalypse by Devon Harnois

At first, you might think that this book is a lot like Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Like Percy, Alex Holden is a demigod, the child of a god and a human.  Like Percy, Alex has anger management issues, and hangs out with a bunch of other demigods.  But that is where the similarities end.  

Although written as YA Fantasy, I'd be careful which young adults I recommended this to.  In addition to his temper problem, Alex also drops the f bomb a lot.  Granted, in the situations he finds himself in, it fits, but if that word offends you, skip this book.  One of the funniest parts of the book is when he is hanging out with Jesus (who goes by Joshua) and has to keep rephrasing his sentences to eliminate the swearing.  

Alex has a hard life, which is quite understandable considering the fact that he lives with his Satanist mother and stepfather, and Lucifer, his father, drops by occasionally to beat him.  Alex knows that he is the Antichrist and he understands the role he must play according to the prophecies, but he wants nothing of it.  In fact,  he and his demi-god friends save the world 3 times, twice preventing Ragnarok, and finally stopping Satan from destroying the world.  

One of the fascinating things about this book is the way the author pulls in the gods and legends of many different cultures.  You get a little bit of Norse mythology, the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Christians.  Excalibur even makes an appearance, and when that sword has to be returned Japanese spirits make Alex a new sword of his own.  The gods cannot interfere with the workings of the other pantheons, but these rules do not apply to their demi-god children who use whatever tools then can acquire to save the world.  

I read this book because I know the author.  I've read chapters of her other works in the writer's group that I used to attend.  Although her work is a little more edgy that what I usually read, it is also wickedly funny in places and very interesting.  I love seeing little bits of her personality coming through in the writing.  Most importantly, I want to read the next book in the trilogy.  (As you know, my two big criteria for judging a book are 1.  Does it keep me interested? and 2.  Do I want to read more about these characters?)

Book Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

I broke one of my rules in reading this book (and the book that precedes it).

Never read a book that is part of a series or trilogy until all the books are done and you can read them one after the other.  

I think that my biggest criticism of the book would not be an issue if I had read A Discovery of Witches  recently and hadn't read 40,000 other things in between the two books.  As I writer, I know that one of the hardest things to do when writing a sequel is to remind readers of all the important information from the first book without sounding like you are trying to remind them.  Harkness does get the reminders in there, but like I said, it's been awhile since I've read the first book, so those little hints weren't enough to bring back all the detail from the first book that I wanted and needed.

Overall, I found the book fascinating.  How could it not be?  It has all the elements of my favorite stories--spies, history, magic, even a little science.  Diana (a historian and witch who doesn't know how to use her powers) and her husband Matthew(a vampire and geneticist) go back in time to Elizabethan London in search of a book that holds the secrets of the creatures (vampires, witches, daemons) and may be the key to discovering how they were created and why they are now dying out.  In addition to the dangers of the possibility of changing the past and thereby changing the future, they must deal with dangers from other creatures and the fact that in both times, their marriage is a violation of an ancient agreement.

But they are not without allies.  They travel to a time and place where Matthew lived, so his friends and associates (all the big names of the Elizabethan era, and in this book, many of them vampires or daemons as well) form a circle of trusted companions.  I was excited to see John Dee in this, but disappointed that he didn't have a larger role.  Shakespeare's role is also minor, but he does get the last scene of the book.

The author, a professor of history herself, weaves an intricate tale, leaving the reader (or at least this nerdy reader) wondering how much is history and how much is fiction.  Luckily, at the end of the book is a list of all the characters with the names marked that have been acknowledged by historians.  It tells you who was real, but not how much of what they did in this book is actual history.  I guess that is what google is for.

My favorite part of the book is when Diana is meeting with the witches of the city and learning about her magic and witchcraft.  I found it interesting that Diana noticed that although she had been taught that the craft was more important than inherent magic, these women focused on the elemental magic within them. I also loved that Diana's familiar is a fire drake.  I also found familiars to be different in this book that what I had encountered in other books.  Another thing to look up more information on.

My second favorite part was when Diana was spending time with Mary Sidney working in her alchemy lab.  I love these portrayals of strong women from a time when many women were not allowed much freedom.

Was this an absolutely amazing, can't put it down book?  No.  Was it good enough that I'm annoyed that I can't just jump right into the next book.  Yes, especially since we're back in the present time and DNA will be playing a big part again, I hope.

Book Group: Emotional Freedom Chapter 1

This chapter is still pretty much introductory material.  The author present a little more detail about why we should want to find emotional freedom.  And once again, she emphasizes that it is about helping our love to evolve.  It's also about connecting to who we really are inside.

She shares stories, including one about her own experiences as a patient in a mental hospital.  In another story, she tells us of learning to trust her intuition.  She had been in a session with a patient and had a feeling that the women would attempt suicide.  Because there were no other indications beyond her own feelings that this was the case, she ignored it, and the woman did try to take her own life.  From this, Orloff learned that she had to trust her intuition, even if it seemed contrary to everything else.

Orloff tells of her experiences of finding a spiritual teacher, and finding her own voice and power.

The chapter wraps up with an emotional freedom test that allows you to assess how you are doing right now, and a short and very careful discussion of how men and women generally respond differently.  Any discussion of differences between men and women has the potential to blow up in your face, but I felt like she did a great job here of explaining general tendencies and the fact that these tendencies occur with "many (but not all) women" and "many (but not all) men".

I liked the emotional freedom test.  It consists of "20 questions for reflection." (I love that focus on reflection).  You respond to each question by checking Not true 0, Sometimes True 1, or Mostly True 2, and then adding them up to get your score.  It was interesting for me to see how much different my answers are now than they would have been 10 or 15 years ago.  I'm moving in the right direction.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.  Would you be more or less likely to trust a former mental patient as a dispenser of wisdom about emotions?   Why?

2.  How do you feel about intuition?  What does intuition mean to you?  Is intuition different from promptings from the Holy Ghost?  If so, how?  

3.  Who have been the spiritual teachers in your life?  Is there someone that you go to for guidance and instruction that is not part of your Sunday worship experience?  

4.  Are there areas in your life where you think you have found emotional freedom or are moving towards it?  Are there times that you still feel trapped by your emotions?  

Book Group: Emotional Freedom Introduction

In her introduction to Emotional Freedom, Judith Orloff defines emotional freedom by framing it in love and compassion, for ourselves and for others.  She had me right there.   Even if the "how to" of emotional freedom hadn't made sense to me, the focus on love and compassion did.  One of the other things I loved right away was that she didn't talk about eliminating negative emotions;  she talks about transforming them.  Think about that for a minute.  This isn't about making bad things go away; it's about taking something negative and transforming it into something better.  

Orloff then goes on to explain a little about her journey, and the way she approaches psychiatry. Dreams, intuition, energy, and traditional medicine all feed into her practice.  Our emotions change our energy, and that energy moves beyond us to influence others.  Your spirituality is also tied in with your emotions and energy.

It is impossible to grasp how we tick emotionally without a cosmic perspective; everything about us, including our biology, is an expression of the divine.  Seeing emotions as a training ground for the soul frames every victory over fear, anxiety, and resentment as a way to develop your spiritual muscles and be better able to love and cultivate goodness.  Anything that keeps you from your light distances your spiritual connection too.
(page 4)

Emotions as a training ground for the soul.  I love that!

She gives a brief outline of what she will cover in the book.  She also encourages readers to make small and simple changes.  Do little things that move you in the right direction.

Small changes.  I'm getting better at that, but it still needs work.  I'm going to move through these chapters at a pace of about one chapter a week, focusing on 1 or 2 small things the week after the post.  You don't have to follow any particular schedule.  Move at your own pace.  The posts will be here when you are ready to discuss or reflect.  And as always, you're free to comment on something in the posts, even if you haven't read yet.

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  What emotions are you interested in transforming?  

2.  What do you think about using dreams and intuition as sources of wisdom?  Is that completely natural to you, or does that feel like weirdo, out-there, crazy stuff?  (By the way, there is plenty of good advice from Western medicine and psychology in this book too, so if the other stuff is too much for you, you can still get something from the book.)

3.  How have your emotions affected your spirituality?  

4.  What did you like in this Introduction?  

5.  What things didn't sit well with you or bothered you?  

Book Review: Emotional Freedom

I am seriously in love with this book!  Emotional Freedom by Judith Orloff was the perfect book at the perfect time for me.  A friend had recommended another book by the same author, which I immediately added to my reading list.  But then I was at the airport and needed something to read, and this book was there, waiting for me.

Judith Orloff coined the term Energy Psychiatry to describe the kind of psychotherapy she does.  She takes the best of several different worlds and brings them together.  As she approaches what we often think of as negative emotions (fear, frustration and disappointment, loneliness, anxiety and worry, depression, jealousy and envy, and anger), rather than talking about getting rid of them or suppressing them, she teaches people to transform them.  She gives information and solid advice about how emotions affect us physically and what we can do about it from a medical standpoint (drugs, etc.).  But that isn't the end of it.  She also talks about how to deal with these emotions using  spiritual, energetic, and psychological tools.

I knew when I picked up the book that the real test of Orloff's approach would come in what she said in her chapter about depression.  I'm pleased to say that she passed with flying colors.  She acknowledges that feeling a little depressed and major depression are different things.  I've had too many people tell me that I just needed to think more positively and it would go away.  Even cognitive behavioral therapy can't fix everything on it's own.  She gives real tools, using medicine, spirituality, energy, and psychology together to tackle the problem.

I'm excited to explore these chapters again in the chapter by chapter book group posts.  I know that I've already forgotten much of what I found so enlightening in the first half of the book.  I am looking forward to applying her ideas to help me feel more empathy and compassion for those around me (and act accordingly) without being overwhelmed by the suffering of the world.

Book Group: The God Who Weeps Wrap-up

On the Book Group page, you will now find my initial review, all the chapter posts, and links to other reviews of this book.  I want to declare this done, but it's not.  I'm taking a break for awhile, but I think this is a book that I will come back to at some point in the future.

One reading was not enough.  I found new and different things to like the second time around as I re-read in preparation for the chapter posts.  The second reading was a much more positive experience for me.  As I mentioned in my initial review, when I have heard amazing things about a book, sometimes I go into it expecting too much.  And because I'm expecting wow, wonderful, take your breath away experiences, I miss the tiny miracles.  And maybe that is the lesson that I needed most from this book.  I need to dig deep.  I need to look twice (or three times or four times).  I need to be open to all the joy and love that the world holds.

Thank you for being part of this book group.  Although we really didn't get any discussions going (yet), this has been a very good experience for me.

Book Group: The God Who Weeps Epilogue

Help Thou Mine Unbelief

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this epilogue is one of my favorite parts of the book.  Maybe it's because the authors have the courage to say what so many of us are frightened to admit.  Some of us feel like outsiders.  Some of us  feel like there is something wrong with us because everybody else seems to get it and we don't.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a church of testifying.  Once a month, an entire worship service is devoted to members of the congregation standing and saying, "I know."  We are told that as we testify, our knowledge and our testimonies grow.  But what if you don't know?  What if you have doubts?  What if you believe and want it to be true, but you can't proclaim it with certainty?  What if we will never know in this life?  Does that mean we have no place at the table?

The authors share that many people will live in doubt, but that doubt does not mean that we can't experience miracles.  In Mark, we read of a father who brought his son to Jesus to be healed.  Jesus didn't say, "Sorry you don't have a perfect knowledge so I can't do anything for you."  He said,"If though canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."  To which the father replied,"I believe; help thou mine unbelief."  Essentially, he said, here's what I can bring to the table now.  Help me to gain more. Help me to believe enough that my son can be healed.

There may even be advantages to doubt.  If your knowledge has never been tested, how do you know how strong it is?  If you take things for granted, do you completely realize the miracle?

Perhaps the world cannot be so readily divided into believers and doubters.  We may be closer tot he truth in recognizing that most individuals are divided in their own souls between belief and doubt, just as the father Mark describes.  We certainly do not profess any certain knowledge and confess our kinship with Keats.  Like him, we know we are "straining at particles of light in the midst of a great darkness."  And yet, what we have presented is a version of life's meaning that makes sense to us.
(page 123)

I've tried to make these chapter posts about the book and about my responses to the ideas in the book, but today, I need to link to a post by someone like me, who has doubts and struggles, but is finding that she is where she needs to be.  Read this.

Personally, I know very little.  But as I've accepted doubt, I've grown immensely.  I know that I have a divine destiny.  I know that there is something bigger than me, something that calls to me with love and compassion.  Something that calls me to love and compassion.  Beyond that, I'm not so sure.  But I choose love and that is making me a better person.

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:  

1.  What do you know?

2.  What do you doubt, but choose to act on?

3.  How can we make the church a safer place for doubters?

4.  What did you love about this epilogue?

5.  Was there anything that you didn't like or that made you uncomfortable?

Book Group: The God Who Weeps Chapter 5

Chapter 5 is a beautiful exploration of what heaven is.  Heaven is a process.  (Love that!)  Heaven happens as we work towards achieving the kind of love and relationships that God has.  

The authors refer frequently to Enoch and his vision and the city of Zion.  One of my favorite scriptures about Zion is Moses 7:18.  

And the Lord called his people Zion, beacause they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.  

Heaven, Zion, love, and relationships need to be about the here and the now, not about a reward that we will get if we check off a list of things to do a certain way.  If we don't get the love part right, none of the rest of it matters.  

Nietzsche was right when he said Christians had a tendency to turn away from this life in contempt, to dream of other-worldly delights rather than resolve this-wordly problems.  We humans have a lamentable tendency to spend more time theorizing the reasons behind human suffering, that working to alleviate human suffering, and in imagining a heaven above, than creating a heaven in our own homes and communities.  (pages 111-112)

The authors don't bring up 1 Corinthians 13 in this chapter, but I need to.  

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.  2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.  3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.  

I love verse three, because most people think that charity is feeding the poor, but it's not. Feeding the poor, while a good thing, doesn't make you a better person unless it comes from love.   

Achieving heaven or Zion requires that we live according to celestial laws, and at the core of all celestial laws is love.  We become like God as we learn to love like God loves.  

Holiness is found in how we treat others not in how we contemplate the cosmos. (page 113)

We can create heaven, here and now.  There need not be any separation between the ordinary, everyday and holiness, or the physical and spiritual, or science and God.  

What if in our anxious hope of heaven, we find we have blindly passed it by, like Wordsworth blazing past the alpine summit?  What if the possibilities of Zion were already here, and its scattered elements all about us?  (pages 120-121)  

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:  

1.  Do you view heaven as something to attain at some future point, or as a journey we are on right now?  

2.  How are you building Zion or heaven in the here and now?

3.  If heaven is about relationships, what are you doing to build those relationships?  

4.  What are you doing to relieve suffering?  In what ways can talking about suffering be part of relieving it, and when to we need to quit talking and start doing?  

5.  How do you find holiness in everyday things?

6.  What ideas spoke to you in this chapter?  

7.  Were there things that bothered you or that you didn't agree with?  

Book Group: The God Who Weeps Chapter 4

Welcome to the Book Group discussion of Chapter 4 of The God Who Weeps.  This was a tough chapter for me, not because of the way the authors covered the topic, but because I really struggle with understanding it.  I am an intelligent person, but for whatever reason, I simply cannot wrap my brain around the ideas of repentance and the atonement.  I can draw diagrams and teach a lesson on it saying all the right words, but I don't feel it.  I don't understand it.  That being said, this chapter reviewed a few ideas that have helped me in the past and it allowed me to look at a some things in new ways. This post may have even more quotes than usual as I point out the things that stood out to me.

The heading for this chapter includes this quote

God has the desire and the power to unite and exalt the entire human family in a kingdom of heaven, and except for the most stubbornly unwilling, that will be our destiny.
(page 77)

I love this idea.  God wants me to succeed and I will succeed.  (I'm stubborn, but I wouldn't say stubbornly unwilling).

The authors spend a few pages discussing the fact that God does not punish us for our sins.

The pain associated with sin is the natural consequence of our choices; it is not God's retribution upon the wicked.
(page 80)

I'm totally onboard with this.  Every action has a consequence.  Each choice we make creates ripples of effect in other areas of our lives.  When discussing the unhappiness of sin, the authors say,

We have fallen out of alignment with ourselves, and with our God whose love we crave and whose nature we share.
(page 82) 

As a voice teacher, I talk a lot about alignment.  Proper alignment allows us to breath better, gaining the necessary energy and power needed for singing.  Proper alignment allows the body to function correctly.  Proper alignment releases the voice without any interference.  I've also been thinking a lot lately about aligning my spirit with my mind and my body.  When all three work together, things are good.  When I forget to listen to and really connect with one of them, there is pain or unhappiness.  I'm totally stealing the line, "We have fallen out of alignment with ourselves," and posting it where it can remind me not to lose that alignment.

They also talk a little bit about guilt.  Guilt is a tricky subject.  Too many people in the world now suffer from pathological guilt, guilt that is unnecessary, unwarranted, or not theirs to claim.  And I think it is extremely difficult sometimes to decide if the guilt we feel is godly guilt, intended to set us back on the right path, or guilt that just beats us down and damages us.  I'm not exactly sure how I feel about their discussion of guilt (page 80).  It is marked with a note to come back and think about this more.

As in other chapters, the authors reaffirm here that this life is an educational experience.

How much more meaningful is a life designed for spiritual formation, rather than spiritual evaluation.  All tests evaluate, and life is no exception.  But the most meaningful and productive tests are those that assess with an eye to improvement, that measure in order to remedy, and that improve and prepare us for the next stage in an upward process of advancement.  For these reasons, all talk of heaven that operates in terms of earning rather than becoming is misguided.  Such ideas misconstrue the nature of God, His Grace, and the salvation he offers.
(page 87)

The rest of the chapter digs into the topics of repentance, atonement, and salvation, topics that as I said earlier, I don't really understand.

This statement, however, is beautiful and the perfect way to wrap up this chapter post:

If God's dominion does not end with our death, why should the progress of the human soul?
(page 98).  

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  What are your beliefs about Heaven and how we get there?

2.  Do you use guilt in healthy ways to get you back on track, or does guilt seem to trap you in the negative situation?

3.  What does salvation mean to you?  

4.  What does exaltation mean to you?  

5.  How does the atonement help you?  

6.  What things spoke to you in this chapter?

7.  What things bothered you or left you with questions?  

Emotional Freedom: A mid-book update

When I first read Daniel Amen's book Healing ADD, I was most impressed by the fact that he believes in a comprehensive, holistic approach to dealing with ADD.  It's not just about drugs, or just about diet.  It's about drugs, diet, supplements, behavioral therapy, exercise, etc.  Approaching something from more than one angle, and admitting that there isn't one magic bullet that works for everyone makes sense to me.  That is one of the reasons that I am so exciting about the book Emotional Freedom by Judith Orloff.  She approaches fear, frustration, loneliness, anxiety, depression, jealousy and anger by showing us how they function and affect us on physical level (hormonal and biological changes), a spiritual level, an energy level, and a psychological level.  The solutions must also take place at each level.

I still have 140 pages left to go, but I am so excited to start talking to people about this book. There are ideas presented here that clarify things that I've never quite been able to grasp before.  Because I have gained so much from re-reading to create the chapter by chapter posts for The God Who Weeps, I've decided that Emotional Freedom is the book I really need to study next.

So...

Emotional Freedom will be the next book in the online book group.  I'm hoping to finish up all the chapter posts for The God Who Weeps in a couple more weeks, so you can look for the first post on this book sometime around Feb. 9.

Book Group: The God Who Weeps Chapter 3

Chapter 3 may be my favorite chapter in this book.  This is the part of Mormonism that I love.

1.  Mortal life is not a fall, but an ascent, a chance to grow and progress.  

Mormon's have a different view of The Fall.  Some people believe that because Eve was tricked by the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit, that they were expelled from The Garden as punishment for the sin.  Had Eve not chosen wrongly, we would all be living happily (without sin, pain, or sickness) in The Garden.  Mormon's don't see it that way.  Adam and Eve were given options and warnings. They chose this world.  By leaving paradise, they had a chance to grow in ways that they couldn't if they had stayed there.  Receiving a mortal body, and all that is associated with that, is a necessary step in our learning and progression.

At Eve's courageous instigation, they opt to lose paradise, hoping to eventually regain heaven--but transformed and ennobled by the schoolhouse of experience that comprises mortality.  Mortality, therefore, immersion in bodily, earthly experience, is vital to becoming like God.
(page 59)
Kabbalists such as Moses de León agreed that birth is ascent, not fall, and life's purpose is educative, not punitive.
(page 60)

The authors do wonderful work here, and every page is filled with beauty and clarity.  I could read the first half of this chapter over and over again and never tire of it.

2.  "The natural man is an enemy to God" DOES NOT mean that our bodies are wicked or a curse.

Unfortunately, for too many years I took the words of Paul and  King Benjamin to mean that our bodies were naturally bad, our enemies, and something that had to be conquered if we wanted to be spiritual.  Only in the last few years have I realized how important it is to listen to what my body is trying to tell me.  My body is my friend.  It will tell me what I need to know and do if I listen to it, really listen, and not just notice the most obvious surface details.  The authors speak of "a body that enhances rather than hinders our spiritual progression." (page 69)


3.  It is through our bodies that we can experience the most joy and happiness.

We therefore should not see the body and spirit in opposition.  The fact that Christ chose children as a model for moral goodness means socialization, not incarnation, is the source of our ills.  When Paul condemned the "natural man," he specifically associated it with an acquired, not an innate worldliness. "Human wisdom" and "the spirit of the world" are its hallmarks, he said, not the senses and passions.  Our task is to school our appetites, not suppress them, to make the work in concert with a will that disciplines the spirit as much as the flesh.  For desire has both spiritual and bodily expressions, and our life is a journey to purify both.  Along the way, we discipline and honor the body, even as we aspire to perfect the soul, finding in the end that the body and spirit, fitly framed together, do indeed provide the deepest joy.
(page 72)

Much of this paragraph is highlighted in my book.  In the margin in florescent orange is the word, "Yes!"  Then in blue (from the second reading) is "Chocolate cake principle."  My Chocolate Cake Principle is really about synergy, when two things working together accomplish more than the sum of their individual efforts.  You can read here about how I use it in voice lessons to explain that technique plus interpretation create a better performance than either could alone.  In much the same way, the spirit and the body together can do more, experience more, learn more than either could ever do alone.  The body is not a punishment or a hindrance, but a key component in the development of our souls.

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  Do you view this life as a punishment, a learning experience, or something else entirely?  

2.  Do you read the story of Adam and Eve as literal history or allegory?

3.  Is your body a hindrance or an educational tool?  

4.  What does the "natural man" mean to you?  Click on the links above for scripture references.  

5.  How has your body helped you experience joy lately?  

6.  What spoke to you in this chapter?  

7.  Were there things in this chapter that bothered you or that you don't agree with?

Books for Children and Young Adults: My Favorite Series

When I read, that world becomes my home.  The characters become my friends.  I want to know more about them and their experiences.  Therefore, I love it when a great author decides to write a series.  Sometimes I prefer to wait until the whole series is out before reading it.  (I did that with Harry Potter).  Sometimes I'm that crazy person anxiously awaiting the release of the next book.

Children's books and Young Adult books are perfect for me.  I love the quick, easy reads, and I don't think a book has to be boring for adults in order to be good for kids.  Some of the best plots and characters that are being written right now are showing up in books for children and teens.

As you can see from the lists, I like fantasy.  If a book takes a myth or legend to a new place, I really like it.  I'm not going to say a lot about most of these books because I want you to go looking for them and see what you think.  I will include a few reasons that I liked them.

My Absolute Favorites

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

A brother and sister visit their grandparents and discover that the area surrounding their home is actually a sanctuary, a haven for the protection of mythical creatures.  This series is extremely well-written and very enjoyble.  

Artemis Fowl by Eolin Colfer

A brilliant (we're talking mega-genius here) kid discovers that fairies do exists, as do many other creatures of legend, and are actually a technologically advanced civilization.  Artemis begins as the kid you love to hate, but actually becomes a decent human being.  I love his body guard, and Holly, a member of the LEPrecon Unit.

Septimus Heap by Angie Sage

Septimus is the 7th son of a 7th son, and thus is considered to be extremely strong in magic.  The midwife declared him dead on the night of his birth.  Really he was stolen.   

Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede

You know the story about the princess that is kidnapped by the dragon and someone has to go rescue her?  Well, this story turns that all upside down.  

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Percy goes to camp with the other demigods, kids who have one parent that is mortal and one that is a Greek god.

You Can't Write a Post on YA Books Without Including These

I do have to talk a little bit more about these, especially since they have become such huge movie hits.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

When the first Harry Potter books were released, there was an uproar among some parents concerned about promoting magic.  But there were also kids that were picking up huge books and enjoying reading for the first time.  Now that all the books and all the movies are out, the general consensus seems to be that they are good books and good for kids.  I really enjoyed them, but I think I like Fablehaven more.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Is there any one who doesn't have an opinion about these books and movies?  Most people I know seem to either love them or hate them.  I'm going to be really honest here.  I enjoyed the books. Are they great literature?  Probably not.  Do they model healthy relationships?  Probably not.  I think they are fluff and were fun to read.  I liked that Meyer created something different than your typical vampires and werewolves.  I'm not a fan of the movies.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Years ago a friend told me about a book she was reading in her mother and son book group.  She said that it sounded really awful, but it was really good.  She was right.  I loved it and not only finished that series, but read other books (Underland Chronicles) by the same author.  I like her style, and the stories keep me interested which is my number one criteria for whether or not a book is good.

Series that I Liked Enough to Keep Reading 

(I would also read other books by these authors).

The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris d'Lacey

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Mortal Instruments, Immortal Devices by Cassandra Clare

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud

Protector of the Small, Immortals, Song of the Lioness, Beka Cooper, Daughter of the Lioness/Trickster, Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce

Princess Academy, Books of Bayern by Shannon Hales


What are your favorite series written for children or teens?

Reading the Classics

Last night I read this article challenging us to included the classics in our reading for this year.  He challenges us to read one classic for every new book we read.   I love that idea, but there are so many newer books that I want to read too.  I guess I'll just have to read faster.

At this point, there are 6 books on my "currently reading" list and 28 books on my "to read" list.  Of those 28, only 2 are classics.  That means that if I don't read any other newer books this year, I still need to decide on 32 classics to read.  I really think that Les Miserable and Resurrection should count for more than one book each, but I'm going to try to get through 32 others too.

So now I have to choose.  Which ones do I want the most?  I want to include some books for children and young adult, partly because I enjoy them, and also because they are quick reads and will help make up for all the time that Les Miserables is going to take to get through.

I haven't yet decided how exactly I will define "The Classics", but the general idea is that I want to read  books that are at least as old as I am.

Here are a few I may consider.  Some I will be re-reading and some I will be reading for the first time.


Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (not fiction, but definitely a classic)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

What do you think about the books on this list?  Which ones did you like?  Which ones should I skip?  What other books should I add?

Book Group: The God Who Weeps Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of The God Who Weeps deals with our existence before this life.  While the authors and I agree that we did exist before we were born on this earth, we have apparently come to that conclusion through different processes.  The bulk of the chapter deals consists of the authors explaining that if we feel X, then a pre-mortal existence is the best explanation.

The authors speak of a longing and of feeling lost, not quite at home in this earthy sphere.  They ask,

Who has never felt the utter inadequacy of the world to satisfy the spiritual longings of our nature?
(page 40)

The answer is me.  Maybe I misunderstood the question. I've often found answers in the world that satisfy my longing and make me feel not so lost.  Nevertheless, I can see how a longing for something more might reflect a memory of something we once had.

One idea that I do agree with is the feeling that I am more than just this body.  There is something that is beyond my body and my mind that is the real me.

The discussion of free will and guilt as evidence of a pre-mortal life did not connect with me.  Again, for some people, and obviously for the authors, this makes sense.

The strongest, most powerful parts of this chapter come at the end when they stop trying to convince us of the pre-existence and just state how we benefit from that belief.  On this, we are in full agreement.

...it suggests that birth into this world represents a step forwarding an eternal process of development and growth, not a descent or regression from a primal goodness.  God's work is therefore first and foremost educative and constructive, not reparative.
(page 52)

We are here to learn and progress.  We are not here because Adam and Eve messed up and because of that all mankind must be punished.  Leaving the garden was a chance for them to grow to progress.

If we existed before, if God did not create the essence of who we are, but merely gave us a chance to move forward, it changes everything.

Soberingly, if we are co-eternal with God, then it is not God's creation of the human out of nothing that defines our essential relationship to him.  It is His freely made choice to inaugurate and sustain loving relationships, and our choice to reciprocate, that are at the core of our relationship to the Divine.
(page 53)

God chose to love us, and we choose to love him, setting love at the center of everything.

Questions for discussion and personal reflection

1.  Do you believe you existed before you were born?  What experiences or ideas brought you to this conclusion?

2.  Do you feel like you have lost something?  Do you have a longing for wholeness that is best explained by a belief in a pre-mortal life?

3.  Do you feel that there is more to you than just your body and mind?  

4.  How do you feel about the idea that God's work is primarily instructive rather than reparative?  

5.  How can God be both co-eternal with us and our creator?  

6.  What things did you like about this chapter?  

7.  What things didn't sit well with you about this chapter?  

Books about Writing

My favorite books on writing are not necessarily the ones that tell you how to be a good writer.  My favorites are the ones that inspire me.  My favorites are the ones that say things about writing that also apply to other areas of my life.  My favorites are the ones that give me a glimpse of the real life of the author.

If You Want to Write:  A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit

When I first started grad school, my voice teacher recommended a book that has become my favorite book on writing.  In her instructions, my teacher said, "Just substitute sing every time she uses the word write."  It worked.  Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write changed the way I look at singing and at life.  A few years later, when I decided to really jump into writing, it was one of my guideposts.  My copy now shows the markings of several different highlighters and colored pencils indicating the places that spoke to me each time I read it.  Here is one of my favorite quotes:

I want to assure you with all earnestness, that no writing is a waste of time, --no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work.  With every sentence you write, you have learned something.  It has done you good.  It has stretched your understanding.  I know that.  Even if I knew for certain that I would never have anything published again, and would never make another cent from it, I would still keep on writing.
 (pages 15-16)

I love this.  It's been so long now, that I can't remember if I felt it before, or if I learned it from her.  It is part of me now, though, and gives me a lot of peace.  All my blogging and all of the writing I do each year during NaNoWriMo helps me grow.  I want to do it--I need to do it--even if no one ever reads it.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott's book Bird By Bird came to me in a similar manner.  A woman who was speaking at a major voice convention read passages from it and recommended the book, again stating that you just needed to substitute singing for writing and it all applied.  This book is wonderful, but the most important thing I took from this book was a love of Anne Lamott.  I have since read several of her other non-fiction books and they have changed how I view writing, spirituality, and life.  I love this quote about perfectionism:

Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.  Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground--you can still discover new treasures under all those piles, clean things up, edit things out, fix things, get a grip.  Tidiness suggests that something is as good as it's going to get.  Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation, while writing needs to breathe and move.
(pages 28-29)

As I've participated in NaNoWriMo, this has been particularly helpful.  If you are trying to be perfect, you are never going to get those 50,000 words in one month.  It's just not possible.  You dump everything you can think of into the novel, and sort the mess later.  The beautiful thing is that when you let yourself just write, sometimes when you go back and re-read, you discover that it wasn't as awful as you thought, that there really are gems sprinkled through the mud.

No Plot? No Problem!

And since NaNoWriMo keeps coming up, maybe it's time to introduce Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem?, written specifically for participants in NaNoWriMo.  The first section of the book gives general hints and tips for getting through, I mean succeeding and having a great time with NaNoWriMo.  My favorite quote from this sections is:

The quickest, easiest way to produce something beautiful and lasting is to risk making something horribly crappy.
(page 32).

The second sections gives week by week advice on how to keep going with your novel.
He perfectly describes my NaNo experience with this paragraph from the introduction.

The biggest success stories of Nation Novel Writing Month, though, are rarely the published ones.  These are the stories of everyday people who, over the course of one frantic month, discover that literature is not merely a spectator sport.  Who discover that fiction writing can be a blast when you set aside debilitating notions of perfection and just dive headlong into the creative process.
(page 20)

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

I loved this glimpse into the mind and history of Stephen King.  The man is brilliant.  I love many things about his writing, but I haven't read much of his fiction in several years, mostly because it is so real, and I just need more positive stuff in my life right now instead of things filled with darkness and swearing.  (I looked for the place that he talks about why there is so much swearing.  I couldn't find it, but the idea was that you write what you know, and in real life, people swear. On the positive side, I don't think he just throws it in for no reason.  It fits.  It creates the characters and the situations.) I haven't read this book in a long time, and it's clearly time to pull it out again.  The first time I read On Writing, I checked it out from the library.  Bad idea.  There is so much wonderful stuff in here that it really needs to be read with a highlighter in hand.  

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:  read a lot and write a lot.
(page 139)

Zen and the Art of Writing:  Essays on Creativity 

This is another book that I really need to re-read.  (I love how this post just keeps adding things to that list!)  Ray Bradbury writes in ways that make me listen.  He teaches me to trust the process and to trust myself as a writer.  I think that this paragraph is quite insightful, even out of the original context.  

I went back to collecting Buck Rogers.  My life has been happy ever since.  For that was the beginning of my writing science fiction.  Since then, I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas.  When this occurs I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.
(page 52)

This quote is one that I actually had posted by my writing area for quite awhile.  I'm not sure what happened to it.  Maybe it's time to make a new sign.  

So again and again my stories and my plays teach me, remind me, that I must never doubt myself, my gut, my ganglion, or my Ouija subconscious again.
From now on I hope always to stay alert, to educate myself as best I can.  But, lacking this, in future I will relaxedly turn back to my secret mind to see what it has observed when I thought I was sitting this one out.
We never sit anything out.
We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled.
The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.
(page 111-112)

Letters to a Young Poet

This small book containing the letters of the great German poet Rainer Maria Rilke to a young poet who had asked his advice, was also recommended by my voice teacher.  I read this translation.  Choosing a favorite quote from these letters is not easy, but here is one that speaks to my heart today.

How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the begin of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses?  Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just one, with beauty and courage.  Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.
(page 92)

The Right to Write

I picked up this book because it was about writing AND it was by Julia Cameron.  I have a couple of other books by her that I really like.  In the introduction, she explains that this book isn't really a book explaining how to write, but it is a book explaining why we should write.  

We should write because it is human nature to write.   Writing claims our world.  It makes it directly and specifically our own.  We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful form of prayer and meditation, connecting us both to our own insights and to a higher and deeper level of inner guidance.   

We should write because writing brings clarity and passion to the act of living.  Writing is sensual, experimental, grounding.  We should write because writing is good for the soul.  We should write because writing yields us a body of work, a felt path through the world we live in.

We should write, above all, because we are writers whether we call ourselves writers or not.  The Right to Write is a birthright, a spiritual dowry that gives us the keys to the kingdom.  Higher forces speak to us through writing.  Call them inspiration, the Muses, Angels, God, Hunches, Intuition, Guidance, or simply a good story--whatever you call them, they connect us to something larger than ourselves that allows us to live with greater vigor and optimism.
(page xvi)

The Rest of the Library (in no particular order)

 How to be a Bestselling Novelist:  Secrets from the inside  by Richard Joseph

How I Write:  Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich with Ina Yalof

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

Writing Fiction by Gotham Writers' Workshop

Fingerpainting on the Moon:  Writing and Creativity as a Path to Freedom by Peter Levitt

The Midnight Disease:  The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain by Alice W.
Flaherty

Writing Down the Bones:  Freeing the Writer Within & Wild Mind:  Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg

What are your favorite books on writing?  

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2013 Book-related New Year's Resolutions

1.  Buy another book case, or figure out a way to use the under the bed bins for paperback books.

Seriously, I have a problem with book storage.  Once again, the shelves are beyond full.  But I can't get rid of anything.  Books are knowledge.  And besides that, every time I have given away or sold my books, I've regretted it later when I wanted to look something up.  Nope.  I'm not getting rid of them.  Maybe I will need to get rid of a few other things though to make room for more books.

2.  Read books daily.

I am a reader.  I read everything, including shampoo bottles and the backs of cereal boxes.  If there are words on it, I read it.  Unfortunately, I've let myself spend too much time on FB and other online groups.  It's not totally a bad thing, but I've let my personal reading slip as I've kept up with other peoples' lives.  I'm going to try more scanning of FB for things of interest to me rather than reading every little thing.  Then the time I save will be put back into reading real paper books (OK, and a few Kindle books too. They are easy to haul around.)

Since I started this blog and have made myself write about my reading, I have read more and felt more energized and less stressed.  I need this.  I don't care if nobody ever reads this blog.  It is good for me.
Speaking of blogs...

3.  Do at least one short blog post per week.

These may end up looking more like Facebook or Twitter posts, but writing something, even a little bit, helps me process, remember, and learn from what I am reading.

Do you have any book-related New Year's Resolutions?

Book Group: The God Who Weeps--Chapter One

It's taken me awhile to get back to the book group postings for this book, and I think that was a good thing.  I needed a chance to live with what I had read.  I needed a chance to re-read.  Each time I read a book, I use a different colored highlighter to mark things as I go.  This chapter is now orange and purple, and many of the things I marked this time were not the things I marked the first time.  Once again, I'm shown that we learn what we need to know when we are ready for it.  But enough about me.  Let's talk about the book.

Chapter 1 begins with exploring reasons for believing or not believing in God.  Then the authors ask an important question:

If God exists, does He deserve our worship?
(page 14)

Then they explore beliefs about God through the ages, and ultimately come to this:  the God that we can worship, that deserves our worship, is not a god of violence and punishment, but a

more perfect embodiment of the morally good that we recognize and seek to emulate
(page 18)

They then go on to explain that our god is a god of tenderness, sensitivity, compassion, and empathy.  He is a god that feels our pain and weeps with us and for us.  His vulnerability, His weakness (or what our world sees as weakness), is what draws us to him.

For God the Father, as for the Son, whatever power or influence He wields over the hearts of men, it is not the power or influence known to the world...God draws men to heaven "by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;  By kindness, and pure knowledge."
(page 32)

I've often thought that one of the reasons we see such a difference between the vengeful god of the Old Testament and the message of love and compassion in the New Testament is that life here on Earth in a mortal body gave Christ an understanding of our suffering and struggles that he could not have completely understood before.

Christ's life in the flesh gave Him an empathy transcending the theoretical...Christ's empathy then is not some inherent attribute of the Divine.  It was dearly paid for, each day of His mortal life...
(page 27)

The final section of this chapter is about joy, God's joy, and the joy we can experience.  The authors quote this beautiful thought from Rachel Givens:

God's power rests no on totalizing omnipotence, but on His ability to alchemize suffering, tragedy, and loss into wisdom, understanding, and joy.
(pages 33-34)

God doesn't purposely put us into horrible situations to teach a lesson.  But He can helps us to learn something from any experience.

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  Why do you believe in God (or gods, or goddesses, or the Divine, or universal energy)?  How did you come to your beliefs?  

2.  Do you worship because you are supposed to, or because you are drawn to someone or something bigger than yourself, someone or something that you want to become like?  Is there some other reason you worship?  

3.  Does the idea of a vulnerable god scare you or empower you?  

4.  Even Jesus Christ had to learn empathy.  Where are you in this learning process?  Are you quick to judge, or can you see those you disagree with as Children of God, and feel compassion for them?  

5.  What other ideas from this chapter spoke to you?