Archive for the ‘Trend Watch’ Category
Don’t Worry, Be ‘Appy
Danielle’s iPhone is protected by bright purple rubber while mine is encased in matt red metal. Cynthia’s iPhone chirps with the sound of a hundred cicadas when she gets a call, Bernie’s buzzes like a small frustrated toy, and Rachel’s chimes like a Buddhist monk’s bell. But one thing they do have in common is our shared love for the handy dandy Notes from the Universe On the Go app.
As a self-professed addict to Mike Dooley‘s daily email of “Notes from the Universe” (and yes, one of the women who may have been a little raucous at his Bagdad show here in Portland recently…) this app makes me so happy!
I am not the most technically savvy person in the office, but I have been getting used to the world of ‘apps’ from my friends here. Karen showed me the Battery Power app that can let me check how much more talking time I have on my phone, and Bernie introduced me to the movie app which has ALL the info on movies now playing — times, reviews, trailers, etc. I even have one for recipes. But my favorite has to be Mike Dooley’s Notes App! (more…)
Why Self-Improvement Fails
Try the exercises in this terrific essay by Dr. Stanley Block, one of the co-authors of Come to Your Senses. (I just did the first one, and loved it!)
You, like most everyone else, have experienced the difficulty in making life changing self-improvements. It’s not hard to believe that the failure rate is 65% to 90% (Sellman, D, 2009).
The reason for this astonishingly high failure rate is that your brain has already decided to continue the compulsive behavior that you want to change. In fact, medical research shows that up to ½ second before you make up your mind to improve yourself, your brain has already decided against that change. By trying to improve yourself, you are waging war against your brain. When only using your willpower or positive thinking you are bound to lose the war. Even your spiritual practice has an uphill battle! (more…)
Jessica Maxwell on Coast to Coast
It is always exciting when one of our authors is on George Noory’s radio show Coast to Coast, and just last week the delightful Jessica Maxwell took the audio-spotlight to talk about her memoir Roll Around Heaven.
Roll Around Heaven is an all-true accidental spiritual adventure that led one nonbeliever to lunch with Deepak Chopra, dance with Stephen Hawking, heal animals with Yogananda, sing Christmas carols with an enlightened rabbi, banish evil spirits with a Himalayan Rinpoche, talk all night with the daughters of Islam, find true love in a Presbyterian choir, share Celtic visions on the isle of Iona, and learn an abiding respect for all paths to God.
Jessica has received some terrific reviews for her book. More magazine wrote:
If you want laughs, you don’t usually turn to spiritual memoirs. But Jessica Maxwell’s Roll Around Heaven is so full of LOL moments, it fits the bill…. Maxwell is exuberant, grumpy, skewering, wise and so gosh-darn good-hearted in her quest to understand the universe, I couldn’t help wanting to tag along for the ride—er, roll.
To hear more from the author who the great Tom Robbins once described as “Empress Tizzie Izzie of adventure writing,” click here to listen to the Coast to Coast episode.
A storm in God’s tea-cup perhaps?
Jessica Maxwell’s essay for Powells.com has provoked some lively discussion in the comments section. It is terrific actually, and as Jessica herself responded: “Thank you all for your clearly passionate interest in Roll Around Heaven, and for jumping into this lively dialogue with both hooves.” Read the essay here and join the debate!
Even better, join us at Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, Portland, OR, on Friday, November 13 at 7:30 PM where Jessica will be reading from Roll Around Heaven and encouraging a passionate and fun discourse!
Plenty of Good Stuff for Book Groups Big and Small
The Huffington Post carries an article by Joan Gelfand, president of the Women’s National Book Association. She writes, “What we’ve discovered these past two years is that book groups are to reading what slow food is to the food industry. In this fast paced world, book groups give people a chance to connect, join in community and listen and learn in intimate environments.” (You can read more of her post here).
I’ve been a member of several book groups, and was a facilitator of one for an adult education group back in Melbourne, though am not currently in one. However this article did make me think of how grateful I am when my friends have read the same books as I have and we can use them as reference points. Last Friday night my friend Jill and I were sharing a bottle of wine and talking about ways of managing stress and anxiety. Jill works for a bookstore and reads about 5 books a week, so remembering where she read what is sometimes difficult! When she began telling me about a method of reducing stress I thought it sounded familiar, and sure enough, it soon became clear she was talking about Mystic Cool, Don Goewey’s marvelous book on utilizing neuroplasticity to transcend stress.
Diana Jordan moderates the Spritual Writing Panel at Wordstock
We were thrilled when our friend Diana, host of Open Book With Diana Page Jordan, agreed to moderate the Spiritual Writing Panel at Wordstock yesterday. She blogged about it, and with her permission we have reprinted her words and photos below. And visit Diana’s blog for more of her wit and wisdom!
If you’re a writer, one of the best places to be today would have been watching the Spiritual Writing panel at Portland’s unique Wordstock festival. I’ve just finished moderating that panel. The words of wisdom delivered by Publisher Cynthia Black, Editor Jenefer Angell and writer Jessica Maxwell cross genres.
In a challenged economy, demand for spiritual books is growing. The trick for writers of spiritual work is to make their words universal, so readers have a solid take-away for their own lives. The writer wants to have a great idea, and to know the intention of the work.
Don Goewey on Montel Williams
One of our favorite authors, the delightful Don Joseph Goewey, was asked to appear on a special 9/11 anniversary episode of the Montell Williams Across America. At the end of many personal stories of triumph, Montel brought Don on to explain the “Clear Button” technique from Mystic Cool. As a “Stress Elimination Expert” Don explained how the clear button technique allows people to move the stress they feel to the part of their brain that provides us creative problem solving.
Click here to listen
