5 comments about Love: What Life Is All About.

1. Everyone should read,no make that study Leo's books. This book opened my eyes and softened my heart. Anyone who reads it with an open mind will find themselves transformed. I am someone who grew up VERY ANGRY. My anger caused me problems upon problems and was a contributing factor in the breakup of my first marriage. When I hit rock bottom and knew things had to change, it was then that I came across a worn, slightly abuse copy of a book at a second hand store. The Title on it was simply "LOVE". Don't misunderstand me, I am far from free from my anger. Yet, those who know me will tell you how much I have changed. I feel Leo books, DVD's (I have several), and tapes have been a major factor in that change. I recommend ALL items by Leo Buscaglia.
   
   Leo talks not only about loving others, but loving yourself. Love your face, even if your nose doesn't quite match the rest of your face. Love yourself for who you are, no matter who that may be. It's the funny and odd things about us that sometimes makes us the most loveable. So, buy this book and, if your paying attention to what is said in it, learn to laugh, hug, cry (yes, even grown men can cry), and fall in love with this rollercoster we call life.



2. This book has been in my library for years. I have given copies for gifts many times, I wish I knew how many. The information in this book is so very important for everyone and written in such a way that it can be easily read and understood by everyone. Should be required reading in every high school and university.
   I have read other Buscaglia books and found them all to be well written and filled with beneficial content.
   Thanks for the opportunity to review a winner.



3. This book is one that everyone who is in a relationship..or has children.. should read and pass on to their friends.



4. This is an amzing book to read for all time . Regardless of time ,place & seasons - it is amazing . Leo Buscaglia is one of the brilliant author of all time , an amazing poet of love & an instrument of LIVING & GROWING with LOVE . He is exactly right when he said : IF LOVE IS THE ANSWER WHAT IS THE QUESTION? From the beginning , I learned & read all his books , I cannot stop thinking about what the good & important phrases I ahve learned from him . He inspired me to live , to love & to grow with highest respect of LOVING everyone without any expectation in return . He is one of the KEY of my good & honest relationship to all . His book & all his writing are inspiration of my whole being . I will never forget the person who introduced me to read his books since 1987 , from then on She became the greatest inspiration of my life .
   Leo B. is amazing . He can moved everyone to understand LOVE as the reason of our existence . I compared him to DALAI LLAMA of Love & Spiritual inspiration of all seasons . Thank you LEO B. for bringing your words & wisdom into my life .
   
   With highest respect to you & your writings ,
   
   Noel F. Cruz
   University of Cambridge Teaching Hospital
   Cambridge , England



5. "If he desired to know about automobiles, he would, without question, study diligently about automobiles. If his wife desired to be a gourmet cook, she'd certainly study the art of cooking, perhaps even attending a cooking class. Yet, it never seems as obvious to him that if he wants to live in love, he must spend at least as much time as the auto mechanic or the gourmet in studying love." ~ Leo Buscaglia from "Love"
   
   I smile as I type these words--just having Buscaglia's book, "Love," open in front of me is enough to make me happy. :)
   
   Seriously. This is hands down one of my favorite books. I've purchased at least 250 copies of it. We used to give it away to all of our partners at my last business [...] and I used to bring a copy with me to nearly every business lunch I had. (I'm a little wacky like that. :)
   
   I have no doubt you'll fall in Love with "Love" as well. By the end of reading it, you'll wish you could give Leo Buscaglia--a former Professor of Love at USC--a big ol' hug.

5 comments about The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom.

1. If you're looking for a way to effectively cope with challenges to your health and body as you age, you can add this book to the list, The author takes us through looking at our secret longings and how they shape us. I especially liked the questions and assignments at the end of eacy segment. I enjoyed reading the book more than I enjoyed listening to it --- because some of the concepts are deeply profound, I needed to go back over them and this was easier done with book in hand. Pamela D. Blair, Author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond



2. Dr. Angeles Arrien is a cultural anthropologist who uses images, poetry, metaphor and other forms of symbolic language from world cultures in her work. I have enjoyed and learned from all her books: The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary; Signs of Life: The Five Universal Shapes and How to Use Them; The Nine Muses: A Mythical Path to Creativity; and The Tarot Handbook. They have inspired my writing and the writing I do in community with others. Arrien is a consultant to many organizations and businesses, serves as president of the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research, and is a Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
   
   In her latest book, The Second Half of Life, Arrien invites readers to reconnect and resurrect their dreams that may have been derailed along the way. She describes the thresholds we must cross, in our middle years, in order to fulfil the final stages of our destiny. It is a real honouring of our elder years, which I very much appreciate in a culture that wants us to look and act as if we are not aging at all.
   
   The book was elegantly designed by Bren Frisch and Karen Polaski for Sounds True. The hand images at the beginning of chapters and the foot images at the end of chapters are symbols of entering and leaving the eight gates. They also symbolize much more, including the purifying or marking of hands and feet before or after an initiation, as is done in many cultures of the world.
   
   The eight gates, each with a chapter devoted to it, include "the task," "the challenge," and "the gift" followed by "reflections." As Arrien points out, "Reflection is one of numerous contemplative wisdom practices found in all world traditions." Journaling your insights is suggested as "an old reflective practice" and one that will help you notice "what is arising in the moment." "Practice" follows "reflections" as a way to build upon reflection by taking daily action that supports change. For instance, the Silver Gate (the first of the eight gates) compels you to look back at what you already know of yourself and to begin the "long journey back home to our true selves." The practice is to track the five stages of the soul--the call, the search, the struggle, the breakthrough and the return.
   
   The task at the White Picket Fence is to "uncover or awaken to the essence of who we truly are beyond masks..." The Clay Gate (the third gate) is "our initiation into intimacy, sensuality, and sexuality." Arrien quotes a wide array of poets, writers and thinkers, including Eduardo Galeano who wrote, "The body says: I am a fiesta." When you think of your body in that way, it helps to embrace it more fully.
   
   The Black and White Gate is a double gate of relationships and the only one you must go through in the company of at least one other person. Relationships (including those between mates and lovers, parents and children, teachers and students), according to the author, "teach us about our capacity for love, forgiveness, and respect for others."
   
   At the Rustic Gate of weathered wood, readers are asked to explore meaningful work, service, and creativity. The challenge of this gate is to stay connected to the Four Rivers of Life and ask, "How will we use our generative energies?"
   
   The sixth gate is the Bone Gate, which brings us to the "bones of who we are"--a metaphor for our authentic self. The Bone Gate urges a development of character, integrity, and wisdom. Again, Arrien passes on the wisdom of indigenous peoples who say "In order to return to our true nature, we must befriend four essential symbolic bones in our body"--the backbone, the wishbone, the funny bone and the hollow little bone. The hollow little bone allows "the Mystery to work us rather than trying to work the Mystery."
   
   The seventh gate is the Natural Gate, where "we are encouraged to come home to our natural rhythm and our internal sanctuary." Many spiritual traditions recognize four natural sanctuaries as the desert, the mountains, the waters, and the woods. In the Practice section of the chapter, Arrien suggests spending an hour outdoors every day and spending at least a half hour every day in silence "to deeply listen to the center of your being."
   
   The final gate in the initiatory process of the "second half of life" is the Gold Gate, the gate of "surrender, faith and acceptance." The challenge is to release critical judgments, accepting circumstances rather than resigning ourselves to them. Theologian Mary Reuter, to whom Arrien refers, "says that we can experience fearlessness through three layers of detachment: detachment from material gain; detachment from self-importance; and detachment from the urge to control or dominate others. To hold onto nothing is the root of happiness and peace." In the practice section of this chapter, Arrien suggests creating a Book of Revelations, including favorite memories, turning points, spiritual practices and important dreams. It sounds like a worthwhile way to assess what one truly values and to acknowledge longings that have not yet been satisfied.
   
   The Second Half of Life is very rich in resources throughout the book and in the extensive bibliography. That doesn't mean it's at all overwhelming. I found the book a very gentle way to initiate oneself into the fullness of our elder years. As wise elders who have honoured ourselves, we can pass along our lessons and unique gifts as a legacy to the generations that follow us.
   
   by Mary Ann Moore
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   www.storycirclebookreviewsorg
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



3. This is the 1st book I've read by Dr. Arrien and I am impressed by the depth of her wisdom and the way she makes it accessible to the lay reader. Here she tempts us to go deep inside ourselves to access our truest being. In this way, each of us has the capacity to "restore, renew, and heal ourselves" and to leave a legacy to future generations.
   
   Arrien introduces the reader to the story of the "8 Gates," metaphorical rites of passage where we confront our demons and our angels. She encourages journaling and contemplation at each gate, as well as daily action to practice those areas that are most difficult for each one of us to attain.
   
   She has organized her book around the 8 gates of wisdom she believes each ofus must open and traverse to reach our potential. In each chapter, she gently guides us to the Task, the Challenges we face, the Gift we recieve once we pass through this gate, what we might Reflect upon and how we can put this into Practice now.
   
   Other reviewers have described the "Gates" well, so I won't do that here. The Second Half of Life is both contemplative and practical. Arrien's work is gives inspiration to people in mid-life to encounter their next decades with anticipation and joy.



4. This is an amazing read. Thoughtful,introspective a real gem for the second half of life. We all can use the gates.



5. A semi decent guidebook of how to handle life at 50 and beyond. I found some of the text stale to get thru. there were some very helpful areas that im sure that i will retain but for themost part i found this ti be a little too fluffy and 'spiritual'.

5 comments about Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth.

1. This guidebook by Dan Millman has useful and wise information for everyone. This book is not your typical trite self-help book that's been rehashed 1000 times.
   
   Dan Millman has done extensive training in meditative disciplines, mystical practices, and other endeavors in the search for enlightenment. While he found these practices to be highly inspirational and wise, he also realized that these practices didn't do any good if you couldn't perform your everyday tasks in an enlightened manner. Thus-Everyday Enlightenment.
   
   The book offers 12 practical and well thought-out-of areas or gateways to pass through for optimal growth as a person emotionally, physically and spiritually. Some of the gateways are: self-worth, money, health, emotions, taming the mind, trusting your intuition, sexuality, love, and serving others. As you apply the suggestions in each chapter you'll find yourself becoming more successful with that particular gateway. When you combine all the insights and wisdom you've learned from the gateways you can't help but live in a more satisfied way.
   
   Dan makes it clear that none of us are ever going to perfect these gateways. They serve as signs and guides to lead us on the path of continual improvement. After all, enlightenment is what you do in the moment. In other words, it's the moment-to-moment awareness and actions that we bring to the present that make us enlightened. No one is ever completely enlightened-they just act more enlightened than others in their day-to-day affairs.
   
   I found many of the anecdotes in the book to be inspirational. Especially inspirational was the chapter about serving others. There are many wonderful stories of people doing extraordinary acts of kindness to help others. If you don't find these moving you might want to get your pulse checked.
   
   The wonderful thing about this book is that Dan writes in a clear fashion that is highly accessible to anyone. He also offers practical examples that aren't just fancy esoteric abstractions. Another thing of importance is that the information in this book doesn't depend on your personal beliefs, sexuality, religion or anything similar. The information rises above factional differences to a unified place that works for all humanity. However, you have to have the effort and willpower to apply the lessons taught.
   
   What makes Dan's writing so impressive is that from these common bonds of enlightenment that apply to all of humanity he elaborates on them in a way that has personal meaning. He doesn't preach to people but accepts them as they are and shows them a path to take. He realizes that everyone's path is a little different but at the same time it's the same as well...The paradox of enlightenment. Read this book for yourself and start applying the techniques and lessons contained therein. This will open up a move vivid picture of reality that creates happiness, enlightenment, and awakening.



2. Dan Millman has placed the most practical guide I have seen for living the ins and outs of the real world. We can't go sit on a mountain or retreat to a lake hideaway to revive ourselves. This book tells you how to live the 8-5, rush hour traffic, life while maintaining yourself physically,mentally and emotionally. This is what everyday enlightenment looks like.



3. This book takes you up the summit of our selves, step by step through well yet openly defined pathways that lead to some consciousness which is all you'll need to keep coming back to-awakening through reading is the ideal experience and why we should do so. Each chapter or gateway has several short to mid size sections that makes it great for commuting and chewing on nuggets of wisdom. This too I found through the library web catalog quite gratefully while this book includes the Peaceful Warrior workout that also makes it worth buying so we can learn and pratice enlightenment through all our day to day actions.



4. I needed this book like a nearly dead,confused,thirsty traveller wandering aimlessly through the parched desert needs water.
   Over the past 2 1/2 years I have read, referenced, and reread this book countless times. I also bought the book on tape and often listen (sometimes just a chapter) for an easy self-centering. Thing is- I'm the sort that rarely watches a movie twice and if I love a book I might read it again- in a couple years. I can't get enough of this timeless wisdom- truly a map to concious living.
   
   All I can say is this is the only "spiritual read" and "self help" book that I gravitate back to time and time again. It truly covers every pittfall and challenge to the human condition.
   
   Thank you Dan Millman- I'm so very gratefull for you!



5. Worth buying and seeing his movie -- a great self-help book for any one of any age.

5 comments about Enzymes for Autism and Other Neurological Conditions (Updated Third Edition).

1. This book, written by a mother of two children with sensory integration and other neurological issues and who has sensory issues herself, gives all the information a parent of a child with autism or other neurological condition needs to start using enzymes, which can be an alternative to the popular gluten-free/casein-free diet. DeFelice details what enzymes are, how they work in the digestive system, how to start using them, what to expect when starting, the myriad benefits of using them, and much more.
   
   After reading the book, I started my 2-year-old son on enzymes. It has been just under 4 weeks, and we have gotten through the "regression/withdrawal" phase and are already seeing good things: more language attempts, sweeter disposition, good appetite. I am excited to see what the next several weeks bring.
   
   Written in easy-to-understand language, this book offers a message of hope to parents!



2. I bought this book because my son has mild Asperger's Syndrome. I had already discovered that vitamins B6 and B3 (niacin) work better for his anxiety than zoloft, so I expected to learn more along the same lines from this book. I had no idea that yeast overgrowth (dysbiosis) caused leaky gut syndrome which results in neurological disorders in the young (which continues throughout their lives) and all kinds of other autoimmune disorders in older people. I made the connection that my lifelong shyness, 4 years of constant yeast infections and 10 years of worsening joint inflammation were caused by dysbiosis when I read this book. I bought the enzymes for my son to take with meals, but he wouldn't take them, so I tried them myself and in two days my hips weren't sore. They had been throbbing constantly for the past year and I assumed that I would have to be on anti-anflammatory meds for life, which I was resisting. So, we are both treating for candida yeast overgrowth and building up our probiotics. I might try again to get him to take the enzymes, but the probiotics produce some results also. Without the enzymes, it will take many months to see the results that we could have if he took the enzymes now.
   This book doesn't cover all aspects of yeast kill, but neither do most of the other books and websites that I've read. I've learned something new from each source. I highly recommend this book as an excellent start for correcting your dysbiosis including products to use, daily maintenance and a timeline. This author could revamp the book to cover B vitamin deficiencies (B vitamins secrete from our beneficial bacteria which is compromised by the dysbiosis) and mention all auto-immune disorders and re-title it: Enzymes for Autism and Other Neurological Disorders plus Over 5,000 Diseases, Syndromes and Symptoms.
   I would also like to mention that congress is on the side of pharmaceutical corporations which have deep pockets and lots of lobbyists to ensure the sales of their products. If the public were well aware of the magnitude of yeast overgrowth and its results so that we could treat the cause and not have to medicate the symptoms of all of these diseases, they would lose billions of dollars in revenue! They know this and they are attempting to eliminate their competition. They have attempted, through the FDA, to make manufacturing requirements so strict for nutritional supplements that it would put alot of companies out of business. Most politicians aren't aware of their real reasons for this. We have to be watchdogs about this, especially with so many of our leaders on the side of government-controlled medicine, it seems logical that government-controlled nutritional supplements would follow if the FDA is pushing it.



3. This book didn't meet our needs. There wasn't much new information that we hadn't gotten in other sources.



4. A good resource and a great book, but this is alot of information. I would recommend getting this book if you are interested in learning more about enzymes and autism but not doing anything without your child's Dr.s advice. Enzymes are not a "cure all" to autism, as all children with autism are different. Many venues must be investigated and discussed with your MD to find the program that is best for your child.



5. I happened upon this book by accident but could not be more grateful for that accident. My son is 2 1/2 years old. He has MANY sensory issues (he is a sensory seeker), he also has apraxia of speech and autistic tendencies. He has been on the GFCF diet for over two months. It helped somewhat, but the diet is so expensive and stressful that I was very open to the idea of an alternative to that.
   My son has been on the enzymes for almost one month now and he has BLOSSOMED! His sensory issues are almost non-existent---and this was a child whose sensory issues seemed to control him. His speech has tripled and he is much more open to trying to say new words and is open more to seated activities such as reading, puzzles and play-doh. He stays still for much longer periods of time. His eye contact was always pretty good but now it is fantastic. He is even calling me Mama for the first time ever....if you have a two+ year old who has never called you Mama or Mommy, you come to be desperate for that...let me just tell you it has been music to my ears. He is better at identifying pictures. He even pointed to a picture of me and said "Mama" without any prompting.
   My son is in speech, occupational and developmental therapies, mostly b/c of his sensory issues. After three weeks on the enzymes, his speech therapist said to me, "you have a new boy on your hands". She and the OT both were shocked at how calm he was, how attentive he was to calm activities. He no longer needed to "crash and burn" during therapy, but could transition from one activity to the next with ease. A child who used to tantrum if he had to leave the sensory room was now requesting to leave halfway through the session in order to go back to the speech therapist's room!
   I will be forever grateful to the author of this book and to the previous reviewers that steered me towards this book. My son is a different boy who has even been able to incorporate some wheat back into his diet without any repurcussions. It is so exciting to look towards the future to see what doors these enzymes will open for my soon. I simply cannot say enough positive things about this book. It has forever changed our lives as it continues to heal his leaky gut.
   If you have a child with gut issues (chronic diarrhea---my son had this and it is now gone!), speech issues, and especially sensory issues, please take the time to read this book!!!!

5 comments about The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living.

1. I believe this may be the first time in years - no, it's the second - I've bothered to return a book. I usually find something redeeming about any book I read. Not this time....well, perhaps as kindling....



2. After reading this book, you will see that you are nothing but an economic slave to the multitudes of businesses who clamor for your dollar each day of each year.
   
   This work shows you how to have more for less and how to have more money while having more at the same time.
   
   Simplify, streamline and downsize and refine your needs is the hallmark of this work. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SUFFER AND DO WITHOUT you just have to revise how you **DO**
   
   My wife brought me this book after she had read it and it changed my entire viewpoint on how we should do things.
   
   After banging our heads against an impenetrable wall to "keep up with the Jonses" and exhausting years of hard earned savings, it was simply time to do something else.
   
   This book illuminated the way for us.
   
   It is an easy read that can be done very quickly. It will show you some things and give you some ideas that may have never occurred to you.
   
   Of course, if you are still caught up in the rat race and live it, then you certianly are not ready for this book.
   
   If you have BEEN in the rat race and have had your measure of success and find that it simply is not enough because you STILL DON'T HAVE ENOUGH then
   
   YOU ARE READY FOR THIS BOOK.



3. I love this book because it said it all. We have different views about simplicity & these are only guidelines not rules written in stone.
   Saving is important because in this country, a lot of people are up to neck about debt, really it is hard to make ends meet, whether one is single or married w/ children. A lot of books are in sync w/ this book like , Richard Foster's " Freedom of Simplicity" or Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. They are also must read. It will really help make a life lighter if we are only content w/ what is basic.



4. This book has changed my life. I re-read it every year for continued inspiration.



5. The author spends too many pages chatting and not enough giving solid advice. The entire gist of the book could be boiled down to one-tenth its current size. Don't buy this book, borrow it.

5 comments about Stop Getting Dumped! All You Need to Know to Make Men Fall Madly in Love with You and Marry "The One" in 3 Years or Less.

1. This book is not what it says it is, and is a waste of time for any intelligent girl, or any one at all really. It basically tells you how to be dishonest and shallow and that is how to get what you want. Not much different from most any other book in this genre, so I would stick with a Vogue style relationship quiz and probably get more out of it than you would out of this book. Or honestly just be yourself and you'll have more luck than any advice you could get here.



2. The good part about this book is that the author really encourages woman to treat themselves better. It is true that once you are comfortable and happy with yourself, it will show through for others to see, thus resulting in more positive attention from the male gender. I can honestly say Thank You to Lisa because it made me realize that I don't have to settle for less in a man than I want.



3. I also highly recommend - How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You by Mandy Simons



4. For information on true love, which is the donation of self to another please check out either John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" or "Love and Responsibility" or Christopher West's shorter versions "Theology of the Body for Beginners"
   
   Thanks and God bless and you all are in my prayers,



5. Even if you've never been dumped before in your life, you should read the book. It's an instant pick-me-up and views relationships in a different perspective. It's a very funny and light and emphasizes the important role women, ahem, pardon me, "dreamgirls" really have.

5 comments about Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story.

1. In a world of advice and new-fangled approaches to timeworn ways, it has been very refreshing for me, and many thousands of others, to remember the ancient, simple way: telling stories. We can begin by revealing our own story to ourselves. Then we can share our story in community so as to find common ground with others.
   
   Christina Baldwin has led the way of story since publishing her first book on journaling thirty years ago. One to One: Self-Understanding through Journal Writing was followed by Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest. (You will find a review of the latter book on this site.) Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture describes the way of council for us to use in whatever context we meet with others. This is the methodology Christina and partner Ann Linnea have shared around the world through their business PeerSpirit, Inc. Christina's fourth book published in 2002, The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These, invites people into a dialogue with soul.
   
   All of these approaches to story have led to the richness of this offering: Storycatcher. The very word invites us to step into our stories and to see ourselves and our story through the "spiral of experience." The spiral is engaged when "something happens to shake up the status quo of our lives." Other tools for storycatchers are charts that describe what "story space" is and "Setting the Space."
   
   Our lives are filled with stories--television commercials, newscasts and e-mail chains are stories. Coworkers share stories on Monday morning. As Christina points out, "Story is both the great revealer and concealer." Her theme throughout the book is authentic stories. It takes courage to tell them, but sharing our wisdom is what we need for survival. And storycatching is "a skill we can remember and practice and encourage in each other." While an intentional circle may be possible, stories can also be told spontaneously around the dinner table when someone poses a question for reflection and sharing.
   
   All of the charts, tools and prompts come from Christina's own poignant and powerful story in relation to her experiences as a young writer; her family, especially her brother Carl; and world events like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Reading of her own beginnings as well as answering the questions she poses at the end of each chapter, will help you remember what's important to you. You may write those thoughts down and appreciate your own insight as you reflect on your life's story.
   
   As storycatchers, we are practitioners of the heart of language. "In serving as the heart of language, story imparts four distinct gifts." They are: "1) story creates context; 2) context highlights relationship, 3) context and relationship change behavior and lead to holistic and connected action; and 4) connected action becomes a force for restoring/restorying the world."
   
   In the second half of the book, Christina includes the stories of others. A young woman in Africa, a grandmother in Arizona, a visionary Danish friend, two Episcopalian priests. Each has something in his or her life that resonates with our own. The gift is that resonance, but it is also the vision--how they took their stories into the world.
   
   Christina has identified four activities required to work with self-story: linking (to another's story), editing (through therapy or journal writing), disorienting (what could be a "sudden reversal in circumstances") and revisioning (a foundation for our life's work).
   
   The Arizona grandmother Christina writes about is Kit Wilson, a psychotherapist who is an alcoholic and has a family history of addiction. Kit works with her family stories through journaling and time away to grieve and commune with the spirit of her dead mother. As Kit says, "I am contributing to my lineage backwards and forwards, through the personal work I've done to heal myself." The compassion she began to feel for and from her mother is personal work that will help her in her practice. It is also of great benefit to family members such as her grandson, also an alcoholic. In the section titled "Writing and Talking in the Seven Generations," Christina includes a list of what storycatching in the family line requires, including saying what is without drama and being ready to forgive.
   
   From the personal, Christina takes us to the impersonal state of the workplace. But, as she points out, it isn't a place without story. People work there after all, and the organization or institution also has a story. Christina describes the work of Toke Paludan Møller, a Danish man she met through her work with From the Four Directions, and who is "a spiritual warrior for story space." Toke has favorite questions for his work in an organization, and Christina includes a list of them. When Toke works with a group of people, he thinks about three levels of story: "the individual story, the organizational story, and the species story." Christina and Toke, among others, are part of a vision called the Art of Hosting, where a team of hosts volunteer to hold the space for the three levels of story. What results "is a community of people who are practicing the power of conversation to change the world."
   
   From the story of the self that begins with our birth story, we continue through a process of remembering, speaking, writing about our own lives. We decide "what we want our lives to include and what kind of a legacy we want to leave behind, and then we are challenged to act on this story--to become who we say we are." Can we as storycatchers change the world? From my own experience and from the stories Christina shares, her vision and her dedication, I know we can.
   
   Your story begins with a question: How might you help story survive?
   
   by Mary Ann Moore
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   www.storycirclebookreviewsorg
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



2. I've always believed that each life has a very important story, even those that at first glance don't seem glamorous or adventurous. In fact, my favorite memoirs, biographies, and oral histories tend to be more about real people who never consciously realized the importance of their lives.
   
   Perhaps that is why I have always kept a journal. I am ever writing and editing the story that is my life. Trying to figure out how my experiences have made me the way I am. Looking to create the story that I want to be told to my grandchildren.
   
   For those who haven't yet found the power of personal story, Storycatcher is the answer. In each chapter the author shares accounts of individual and family experiences. Then, at the end of these sections, she includes a number of questions to get the reader started on his or her story.



3. "Every person is born into life as a blank page - and every person leaves life as a full book" (p. xi). This sentiment from the preface of Christina Baldwin's new book sums up the overall theme of this wonderful look at the power, creativity, and uses of story.
   
   Broken into ten chapters, this book is chock-full of amazing insights. Nearly every page contains at least one nugget of wisdom. Baldwin focuses on how story connects us, the art of storycatching, why we make stories, creating a story of the self, and finding our place in the order of things. Along the way, she addresses healing, the spiritual, power in organizations, personal growth and power, and ever so much more.
   
   This book speaks to the heart and soul of what makes us human: the ability to tell stories, both orally and in writing, and to share wisdom, make sense of our lives, and move through our time on earth with meaning. "Story is a search for community that allows us to share, build, and learn from each other... We choose whether we want to live in hopefulness or despair. Storycatchers choose hopefulness, knowing that story has the power to change our lives" (p. 236).
   
   The writing here is lyrical and sure, her prose evocative. She's annotated it and included a reading group guide. Baldwin writes with a deep knowledge and wisdom most of us can only dream of being able to describe, and she does it with the grace of an angel. This is a book that should become a classic. Highly recommended to readers, writers, thinkers, and dreamers everywhere. ~Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review



4. I learned of this book through a professor's suggestion and thought that I would put it on a reading list for a later time. Having always been drawn to the power of story, I found myself ordering it and opening the pages earlier than planned. Baldwin's genuine storytelling ability left me smiling throughout the day and hopeful about the benefits story can create in connecting strangers, friends, and enemies alike.
   
   If you've ever sat down at a kitchen table in awe of the stories that are told around it- this book is for you. You will see that storycatching is more than just a pleasurable experience, it has potential to change hearts and minds.
   
   In one section, Baldwin talks about her experience with posing a question about an individual's first memory of coffee while standing in a long line at a coffee shop. The discussion this created was wonderful- so next time you are standing in a long line trying to pass the time, I would encourage you to take her suggestion. Pose a question and you will be amazed at the results.
   
   This is one of the best reads of the year- prepare to be inspired.



5. "We are the story-making creatures," says Christina Baldwin, and she goes on to inspire readers to locate, articulate, and celebrate their story-making process. Storycatcher is deeply informed by her rich experience as a writer and a teacher of writing. She weaves personal story into collective story seamlessly and beautifully--pointing the way for writers of all stripes. Whether your interest is essay, memoir, novel, genealogy, short story or poetry, there are prompts a plenty. Above all, this book is a companion--the best kind--wise, kind, honest and fun. What a gift to all readers and writers!

5 comments about Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More (Your Coach in a Box).

1. This book really makes each one of us responsible for our lives!!! It is really very informative and gives you tools to work with.



2. Once you get past Joe Vitale's shameless self-promotions, the message of Dr. Len is that we are responsible for our lives and everything and everyone that crosses our path. That is pretty much a universal Spiritual law.
   
   Other than learning the "I love you, I'm sorry, forgive me, thank you" mantra, I don't have a lot to show for this book. I could have learned this off the Ho'oponopono website.
   
   It looks like a Joe Vitale teaser to get you to take a seminar to learn more. I've had some friends take the Ho'oponopono seminar, and they loved it. But unfortunately, the review is for the book which I wouldn't recommend. Take the seminar; skip the book.



3. I really enjoyed this and shared it with a client.She loved it as well.I may go a live seminar based on this.Thanks



4. It's a very good technique, but I have to say that the book is a bit irritating. I can not make it to the end and
   I am not the type who doesn't finish books.
   The technique is beautiful. If you do it without overanalizing it, it changes your vibration. Amazing!
   If you can be in control of your vibration at least some of the time (when you are aware of it) it's already HUGE.
   The writing is really poor though. And there is too much of the writer in this book. It needs to be more of the message itself( in my opinion)
   But...Thanks for making it accesible to us all. Thank you



5. Wow this was heavy. I have listened to the Secret Audio also. Positive affirmations are what I want in my life there is way too much negativity out there I'm tired of absorbing everYone else's stuff you learn to say I LOVE YOU.....................................
   Something you must listen to over and over again to absorb.

5 comments about Anatomy of a Food Addiction: The Brain Chemistry of Overeating: An Effective Program to Overcome Compulsive Eating (3rd Edition).

1. Ironically, it was a negative comment written by another reviewer that told me this was the book for me! They had mentioned the author's prescription of abstinence from sugar and white flour products to stop the carvings. You see, I know firsthand that this is a necessary and extremely effective step in combating food cravings and the binges that characterize a food addiction. (By the way this is not an "Atkins like" diet in any way, shape or form - you are still allowed heatlhy whole grains, fruits etc.) I just didn't know WHY it worked for me. For more than a year, I abstained from eating white flour products, fruits and sugars due to actual food allergies and as a wonderful side effect, all of my cravings for and obsessive thoughts about these foods ceased completely. I was no longer driven to or dependent on food. However, because I wasn't aware of why I had been so dependent on food in the past, I allowed myself to have a slice of cake on my birthday which turned out to be a huge mistake. Bam! I was right back in and I haven't been able to abstain ever since. After reading this book, I uncovered the other more important and insidious reason for my inability to regain abstinence - namely, the emotional issues that drive me to food. This aspect of the book, is the most important of all. This book feels like it was written for me. I've had every thought, every feeling Dr. Katherine relates. Her writing exposes my inner life, a life I thought was mine alone but in reality most, if not all, overeaters share the same experiences! Do yourself, your body, your soul a favor and buy this book! Thank you Anne Katherine!



2. If you want to understand why your eating habits are out of control, this is the book which explains it! This book has really helped me to understand why I am so addicted to sugar and flour, and explains how one needs to abstain from these foods. I still have to rely on O.A. in order to keep the motivation to eat properly, but I come back to this book on a regular basis to keep my mind focused on why I keep returning to bad eating habits and how I am not to blame. GREAT BOOK.



3. I find this book very useful in understanding binge eating disorder. I think its very user - reader friendly and use is very often in therapy.



4. Garbage. 98% of this book is pure, unadulterated, contradictory bull----. First, the author claims in Chapter 2 that food addiction is biological. Although she's got the basic science right, that chapter is SO badly-written that the author, apparently realizing that, felt the need to use another several pages to re-explain the whole thing all over again "in a simpler way" at the end of the same chapter. Slogging through Chapter 2 was akin to reading a third-grader's essay in which the student piece-mealed the information from various encyclopediae and other sources in bits and pieces, but didn't quite "get" it herself enough to write clearly or coherently.
   
   In what seems to be an escape from scientific concepts she doesn't understand, the author then abandons the whole biological aspect for most of the rest of the book, and drifts off into useless psychobabble for chapter after unending chapter of self-indulgent pity-party-promotion.
   
   Most of the other 15 chapters in this book are devoted to statements that the real cause of food addiction is an awful, deprived childhood filled with abusive and mean, neglectful, absent parents. According to Ms. Katherine, all food addicts got that way by being emotional basket cases and pathetic abused wrecks: "Sit back in a comfortable chair with a teddy bear or pillow. Wrap your arms around yourself and the bear or pillow. Close your eyes. Send yourself warm, loving thoughts. Give yourself some sympathy for how hard it's been to handle this difficult problem all by yourself." Or this: "When a child isn't held enough, she experiences a deficit. It's horrible then if the child is ridiculed, ignored, or hit for asking to be held. ... She then learns her need leads to pain and punishment and will likely aim her wrong interpretation against herself..."
   
   It only gets much, much worse from there.
   
   Inconsistent with her own early chapter about the bio factors in food addiction (which frankly she doesn't seem to quite understand herself), the author advocates STAGED abstinence - abstain from sugar for a full year, THEN begin abstinence from refined carbohydrates. Meanwhile, it's ok to eat more of other things as long as you're not eating the sugars. Oh, puhleeze!! This is like telling an alcoholic: "Ok, first you have to abstain from hard liquor for a year, but you can keep drinking beer and wine, even more of them if you need to. Meanwhile we'll discuss all the ways you were abused as a child. THEN you can stop drinking for real." Yeah, right.
   
   Addiction is addiction, period. You are simply not going to deal with the biochemical processes involved in food addiction unless you eliminate the chemical triggers completely - ALL sugars, refined carbs, wheat, and high-fat foods.
   
   This author's "plan" is tortuous and unrealistic. She discusses a conversation you are to have with family members, in which you are to state that you will not be capable of making decisions for at least 3 weeks after starting your sugar withdrawal. Hello? Stop real life, just like that, while you walk a cravings-crazy chemical tightrope of half-abstinent hell.
   
   Don't waste your money on this book. Instead, get real information and real solutions from a true expert, someone like Kay Sheppard in Food Addiction: The Body Knows: Revised & Expanded Edition, and From the First Bite: A Complete Guide to Recovery from Food Addiction, in which the genetic tie-ins and biochemistry of food addiction are simply explained, and immediate total abstinence is recommended, along with providing a detailed, real, workable plan which really does work to eliminate cravings fast and promote clear thinking and recovery.



5. I am a male in my early 40's and despite that the book was geared towards females, I thought the book was excellent. I could relate to just about everything she wrote about and agree with it. I was extremely pleased to discover this book, it help me understand the problem with food addiction. I got a lot out of the book, it was worth the small price, even if you got just a one or two little thoughts out of it.

5 comments about Truth vs. Falsehood: How to Tell the Difference.

1. I really have come to love David R Hawkins! He has answered so many of my spiritual questions that no one else could! This book will differently be controversial...mainly by those who didn't read the beginning or understand "how" David got the answers. He has a question, asks it, gets answer, then gives it to a team of others to have them ask, get answer, and only the answers that many teams get the same response for...is published! Not just one question and answer from one guy...but tested over and over to make sure get the same results!
   I believe in consciousness and that every-body is a frequency of energy and every thought, memory is recorded in time and can be found if you know "How" to find it:)



2. As a spiritual student of Dr. Hawkins since 2001, I want to encourage people to understand that Dr. Hawkins doesn't teach kinesiology. Truth is absolute yes, but this type of research is not linear. Think about it. Can you prove that you love your child? How much? Can you even prove that you had the dream you dreamt last night? Consciousness is subjective and non-linear folks! The scale of consciousness that Dr. Hawkins has developed is a relative scale. It's a tool. It's the map. Don't confuse the map with the territory. Also in regards to politics, Dr. Hawkins points out that extremism on both the left and the right side are dangerous. Too far to the left, you have Marxism; too far to the right you'll find Fascism. In Truth Vs. Falsehood, Dr. Hawkins provides you with a re-contextualization of many belief systems that we take for granted. For instance, you can't get a scorpion not to sting you by just being nice to it. Likewise, extremist radical terrorist groups will not embrace peace just because America tries to make nice. Another example, giving poor people and poor nations more money actually doesn't make them more affluent. I originally approached Dr. Hawkins' work with only the deep appreciation for the resonance of truth I felt with every message he conveyed. I tried kinesiology myself without a great deal of luck. I didn't lose interest in his teachings because I couldn't master his technology. Later, I found a kinesiologist who I worked with for almost 5 years. She was able to confirm truths for me that sometimes took years for me to substantiate experientially. I owe a great deal of my successes at avoiding big pit falls in my life to her ability to calibrate things. After a while, I noticed that I would get a gut feel on every question I asked her. I would hear a yes or no in my head the moment I asked a question. My stomach would tighten up when thinking of non-integrous thoughts or situations. I've come to rely much more on my own intuitions about things. All along, I've aligned myself more and more with Dr. Hawkins' teachings. If you focus too much attention on the kinesiology bit, then you will miss the rich, deep, and profound wisdom that he can share with you about the spiritual path. His teachings helped lead me straight out of a hellish existence into a place of joy and abundance and sincere happiness. I've learned to live my life like a prayer. I've let go of positionalities and learned how to forgive people in my life. Dr. Hawkins has such a way of synthesizing his teachings that I believe that his insights make up for thousands of books on religion and God one would have to read in one lifetime. I am deeply grateful for his work.



3. After reading several of Dr Hawkins's books, I had almost convinced myself that his teachings and discoveries were infallible. But when I read this particular book, everything I had not adequately questioned in his earlier works came to light. Dr Hawkins presumes that applied kinesiology is a science. To be classified as scientific, these experiments and calibrations would have to prove reliable test after test with various practitioners. Many agree, that kinesiology can be a useful tool when used in conjunction with other tests. Furthermore, kinesiology is often considered more of art than a science. Its results vary and differ under many conditions. If the tester and/or testee or environment are emotionally, physically or energetically out of balance, results can be quite random. Also unconscious, but strongly held belief systems can interfere with reliability. My first clue that something "smelled fishy in Denmark" were some of the results of Dr Hawkins's testing. There are too many examples to cite, but to mention a few: Wal-Mart calibrates unusually high in the 400 range in spite of its many unethical practices. The film, "WalMart: The High Cost of Low Prices" does a superb job of covering Wal-Mart's less than savory business practices in the marketplace and frankly I would place more stock in this kind of journalism than in Dr Hawkins's calibration. Unexpectedly, TV talk show host, Bill O'Reilly, calibrates once again in the 400's and is praised by Hawkins as being the pulse of conscience.Oh, brother! If one considers the inflammatory, toxic, argumentative, condescending speech and remarks of O'Reilly's commentaries accurate and unbiased, then maybe Hawkins has a point. But personally, most negativity is going to weaken a person rather than showing them to be empowered and get a strong muscle test by listening to a TV commentator who supposedly calibrates in the 400's. Doesn't ring true, Dr Hawkins! Sorry! And the left leaning political activists like Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn calibrate just on the margin of integrity or just below 200. Give me a break, Dr Hawkins!
   Overall, there is a very right wing bias to Hawkins calibrations. Bush's decision in invade Iraq? 400's! Maybe the group of testers and testees that Hawkins employed to carry out his so called objective calibrations were all Republican hawks? The results of alot of Hawkins calibrations along with his positive praise of some really right wing ideology would lead one to conclude this. Who were Hawkins testers and testees? He doesn't say. How were the questions addressed? Verbally or non verbally? How did he screen for political biases including himself? With so much of his calibrations, it is difficult to discern just how much stock to place in his results. Do spiritual sages like Nisargadatta and Gandhi really measure higher than Ramana Maharshi? Who's to say? Most of these folks are now out of body, so it is impossible to validate. But the reader is advised to use common sense while reading this book and not take anything as "gospel" because the team of Dr Hawkins's calibrators came up with these figures. Who tested their integrity? Big question! Even the scientific integrity of applied kinesiology is in question. It's one thing to use it on personal health matters on a bioenergetic level of resonance, but when it is transposed to the subjective/objective world of politics, spirituality and sociology, there are so many variables that it is difficult to assess. I found this an interesting book, but unfortunately I found myself suspending my belief during much of it and in the final analysis found the premise of this particular book deeply flawed. But definitely it compels to reader to either implement one's own critical thinking or be a sucker for all Dr Hawkins's philosophical constructs and biased perspectives. In many ways, reading this book reminded me of reading Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". Although I appreciated the beauty of her idealism and logic and narration, in the end I found it philosophically flawed. Take this book with a grain of salt. It is definitely a provocative read and food for thought. I personally tried to replicate some of Hawkins's calibrations with an experienced kinesiologist and there were virtually no matches. In fact, wide discrepancies in his calibrations and my own existed in several tests. Until others can replicate and validate Hawkins's experiments and calibrations wholesale, they comprise a convenient theory for those seeking a short cut to the truth, but nothing more. I think it is revealing that Dr Hawkins's makes no mention of the methods he used to reach his conclusions and calibrations and any of his political bias which seem presently evident. I recently read 2 excellent books by Gary Renard, where in the second book, Your Immortal Reality, his Ascended Master guide briefly discusses the fallacy of Dr Hawkins system. Both Renard's books expound on the teachings found in A Course of Miracles (ACIM). Non-dualistic in scope, ACIM teaches loosely along the lines of Advaita Vedanta from a metaphysical Christian perspective where it is recognized that the so called world of form based on perception, is illusory in nature. Only Spirit can said to be Real because it represents the changeless, eternal and Perfect. Form as impermanence is temporal and therefore unreal. In Renard's book, Ascended Master Arten explains all Dr Hawkins is doing is using illusions to measure illusions making his tests flawed by definition. Arten concludes his brief treatise by stating, "Spirit and enlightenment has no levels, and all conflicts arise from the concept of levels. Your either Whole or your not whole." There is nothing in between. Thus Hawkins using form (the body)to measure the formless. Hawkins system can therefore act as a distraction to sincere students looking for a lie detector to guide their actions and discern Truth. Unfortunately, discrimination must be honed and tuned with diligence and hard work through one's Higher Self, the true lie detector. It appears there are no quick easy short cuts when it comes to discerning the Truth for one's own life. 'To Thine Own Self Be True' appears the be the operating axiom instead. Incidentally, I find it curious that Dr Hawkins calibrates his books close to 1000, while A Course in Miracles, dictated by the voice of Jesus to a scribe calibrates at a mere 600. Go figure!



4. Let me be clear of the fact that while I may offer some criticisms of Dr Hawkins, by no means am recomending against reading him. I'm certainly not going to stop buying his brilliantly written books. He offers an expanded world view not seen in today's publication dribble.
   
   There are some inconsistencies between volumes of his books.
   
   Power vs. Force/ Truth vs. Falsehood
   Zohar 730 pp.274/ 905 pp 367
   
   Enlightenment 700 pp 93/ 600 pp 416
   
   Kabbalah 720 pp 274 / 605 pp 366
   
   Koran 720 pp 274 / 700 pp366
   
   Torah 770 pp 274 / 550 pp367
   
   Further, he states that animals level of consciousness advances by 5-10 pts. By being in the proximity of humans. But later in another place he states that human consciousness is fixed at birth.
   
   Israel calibrates at 190 and Palestine at 185. Same place different name depending on your loyalty to Islam.
   
   Dr. Hawkins has a very classy cover design. His sentence structure is highly developed. His premise is interesting, is it true, I don't know. But I do know that despite what seems to be numerous discrepancies, I still enjoy reading his work. People know that Santa isn't real but they still go to the movies every Christmas. Which I don't recall seeing ranked in his Truth vs Falsehood. Perhaps the low ranking would effect book sales I suspect.



5. I wish every religious, spiritual, and political person would read this. Not only is the True real, it's verifiable. Thank you David Hawhins.