Books........
by Barbara Kummer
27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home
By Tisha Morris
Turner Publishing
Clean it! Clear it out! Rearrange it! Tisha Morris advocates utilizing the ancient art of Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) and space clearing to shift the energy in your home and therefore in your life. Since one's home is a reflection of oneself, space clearing can have a significant impact. Readers are provided a logical order of things to clean and clear out, paint and rearrange, to facilitate those changes.
Take cleaning out a closet. Basically, Ms. Morris is recommending that if you don't love it, lose it. The reader can start with baby steps by asking "Do I use it? Do I love it?" Be present to the answer and if the answer is "No" the item can be recycled or regifted.
Getting rid of unwanted gifts is also addressed. Removing unwanted gifts and releasing the emotional energy attached to them can recharge the space. Other actions to help refresh a space include adding a mirror or enhancing the room's lighting. Ms. Morris suggests having an intention whenever cleaning or space clearing. She provides several techniques such as using sound or sage to smudge a space afterward to remove stagnant energy.
A Chinese proverb states "If you want to change your life, move twenty-seven things in your home." So, go ahead and pick one thing or all twenty-seven. The checklist included at the end of the book can help the reader decide.
The Council of Dads:
My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me
By Bruce Feiler
William Morrow
After learning he had a rare form of cancer, Bruce Feiler confronted the possibility that he may not be around to help his just-turned-three twin daughters grow up.
In The Council of Dads he describes a year of chemotherapy, reconstructive surgery, and rehabilitation while his left femur was salvaged. Additionally, he identifies six men he'd have representing the different parts of him to be present through the passages of his daughters' lives and fill the Dad space for them. He describes the men he had known since childhood and through all the passages of his life so far; men who really knew him. He called these men his "Council of Dads."
He asked his council, "Will you be their dad?" In this true story, the reader is provided their answers and a look at Mr. Feiler who is recognized as "a master storyteller confronting the most difficult experience of his life and emerging with a book of wisdom, comfort, and hope that will change the way parents relate to their children, their friends, and their own lives."
Throughout the book the reader is encouraged to address those issues we rarely want to discuss, but will be enriched by once done. Mr. Feiler intimately describes how to live your life and cherish friendships. Now, who would you ask to be on your council?
Begin Here: Helping Survivors Manage
By Kat Reed
Legacy
After her mother died, Ms. Reed assisted her father with the funeral details and then she assisted him with the other details. Details that overwhelmed families may not even realize needed attention, like canceling magazine subscriptions. A self-proclaimed "organizational freakazoid"
Reed created a spreadsheet to help manage the logistics and paperwork. That spreadsheet was used again a year later when her father died.
Ms. Reed recognized that others may be unprepared as her family was the first time. She provides a resource list in workbook format that clearly identifies the various responsibilities a death in the family may entail, such as sample letter templates that can be used to notify businesses and guidelines for closing out a home or apartment. The author also provides gentle support to families and outlines the many duties that can be delegated.
Begin Here is described as "Part checklist, part appointment calendar, part address book, all you will need wrapped up in one book." Readers who want to make it easier for those they love and will leave behind can "Begin Here."
The Green Devotional: Active Prayers for a Healthy Planet
By Karen Speerstra
Conari Press
Ms. Speerstra contends the Earth is in crisis and we should have paid closer attention to the warning signs. In The Green Devotional readers are called to action and urged to assume the "elders" role regardless of their actual age and stop waiting for others to do what's right to help the planet. The problem is identified in sections with essays including Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Time, Space and Essence. Each essay is followed by select bits of devotional wisdom, Green Voices in Concert, written by some of the most noted experts in their respective fields.
The book concludes with 16 prayers for the planet and its inhabitants and recommended reading for those who want a deeper understanding of the specific issues. All this, Ms. Speerstra reminds readers, echoes what Kermit the Frog said: "It's not easy being green."
Have a book you'd like to share with our readers? Contact Barbara at barbara.kummerreviews@gmail.com.
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