Velma Gallant is a friend of mine in the TUT.com community, and she is herself a life coach and positive-thinking guru.  She helps dozens of TUT adventurers around their challenges, and through her websites, including Welcome Changes, she reaches out to many more.

Today I discovered a real little gem on her site, that just felt so right, I purchased it right away and have already listened to the entire thing.  It’s a little audio seminar on the “Joy Journal”.

As visitors to this website are probably tired of hearing by now, I’m currently working, once again, through The Artist’s Way.  This is a program that helps one to tap into the creative force of the Universe, to connect with the inner artist, and to bring forth works of creation of one’s own.  To me, this also means help in creating one’s own reality … another step toward the realization of our dreams.

When I read the write up on Welcome Changes about Velma’s Joy Journal program, it felt like a hand fitting into the glove of my current life path.  I just knew that it would be right for me, and I most definitely wasn’t disappointed.

I’m already writing my morning pages, through The Artist’s Way program.   Velma’s methods are a perfect addition.  Velma not only demonstrates that journal writing is a good way to help manifest the life you desire … she shows us just how to go about using the tool for its best effect.

Velma discovered the method in 2005, when changes in her husband’s business circumstances placed their family on the edge of a precarious financial situation.  They needed a shift for the better, and they needed it fast.  Within four months, the practices Velma developed in her Joy Journal turned things around for them.

For one who believes in, and attempts to implement, the law of attraction, I can easily see how keeping a Joy Journal might bring clarity to dreams and set them on a fast track.

I intend to start my daily morning pages, from now on, with the prescribed five minutes of my Joy Journal.

If you’re looking for a way to bring “this whole law of attraction thing” into better focus, I encourage you to check out Velma’s audio program.  It’s a quick listen (only about an hour of your time) to a quick practice (just five minutes a day) that makes great sense and holds, I feel, great promise.

And besides … it sounds like fun!

Related posts:

1. Little Victories, Big Gratitudes
2. Infinite Possibilities — New book from Mike Dooley
3. Better Than Ever? (Law of Attraction)

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

The Artist’s Way

Julia Cameron

(Tarcher/Putnam, orig. 1992)

I first discovered The Artist’s Way quite a few years ago.  I’d heard it mentioned, over and over again, in various writers’ forums, artists’ communities, by friends and acquaintances.  It was at a period when my writing had gone stale, and I’d grown creatively lazy, that I finally purchased a copy for myself.  I believe it was in 2002, a year of extreme highs and lows in my life (how I’m tempted to ask, “aren’t they all?”), that I decided to actually participate in the program.

I worked through the book alone, writing out my morning pages, doing my “artist’s dates” the best way I could (as I was at the time without a vehicle), faithfully following  the exercises.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover a new sense of peace, self-worth, and enjoyed a series of serendipitous occurrences which seemed to be far more than coincidence.

I’m now, once again, going through one of those “high and low” phases of life, and finding more of a need than ever to tap into the creative energy of the universe.  I’d been gazing across the room at my copy of The Artist’s Way for several days when serendipity struck again.

Out of the blue, someone on a dog list I frequent mentioned that she had also picked up her copy and decided to work through the program.  I wrote to her privately, at the same time that yet another person responded on the list that she, too, was about to revisit the book.  A fourth had expressed the need to start painting again, and was interested in the program as well.

We suddenly had found ourselves a perfect little “cluster” (as described on Julia Cameron’s website, theartistsway.com), are now writing our morning pages, setting up dates with our inner artists, and once again exploring the connection to our own creativity.

The subtitle of The Artist’s Way is “A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity”, and that certainly is a good description of the program.  This is not just a book, but has grown into a world-wide community of thousands of interconnected souls, who will probably never know of one anothers’ existence, but who have all used Julia Cameron’s blueprint to reconnect with their inner artist.  Although it is a very spiritual walk, Cameron does not attempt to steer one’s beliefs, and encourages each person to find that connection in their own private way.  Through a series of activities, which begin with the two essential tools of morning pages and artist’s dates, The Artist’s Way leads the participant both into the depths of their intuitive center, and outward into the universe to tap the inflow of creative energy.  It reconnects one with their inner child, and encourages that child to Create.

The Artist’s Way, despite the title, is not just for visual artists.  Cameron herself is a writer, in fact; a screen-writer with award-winning credits as well as an author of many marvelous books.  Painters, photographers, writers, poets, musicians, actors, dancers … all who wish to live a more creative life will find benefit from this program.  By this, I do not simply mean all who wish to create some kind of art … but anyone who wishes their life to be more intuitive, creative, fulfilling.  Any person who would like to tap the joy that is locked up inside themselves, and bring it to the surface, can be helped toward that goal through The Artist’s Way.

My words make this book sound like a magic wand, but it’s not.  In fact, the program will not give anyone anything they don’t already have.  It simply helps a person to locate, and utilize, their own resources.  It teaches one to listen to the inner voice, to open up to the inspiration of the universe, and to access the flow of creative energy so that they can create what is already inside them.

I’m eagerly looking forward to following the program to its conclusion again, and intend fully to continue my morning pages and artist’s dates long after I close the book.  I hope this little piece of encouragement may help others to find the same satisfaction, as well.

Julia Cameron, in addition to The Artist’s Way, has written many other books which all, in some way, encourage creativity.  Follow the link to her name to discover these titles, which include offshoots of the original Artist’s Way as well as many other works.  In addition, a great deal of wonderful information is available on her website.

Enjoy your day, and enjoy your life, as you seek the path to higher creativity!

Read More About This Topic:

• The Artist’s Way
• Works by Julia Cameron
• The Artist’s Way website

Related posts:

1. Joy Journal, by Velma “The Queen Of Joy” Gallant
2. Review: The New Natural Cat, by Anitra Frazier and Norma Eckroate
3. Book Recommendation: Animal-Speak

by

Ted Andrews
(Llewellyn, 1993)

“There was a time when humanity recognized itself as part of nature, and nature as part of itself.  Dreaming and waking were inseparable realities; the natural and the supernatural merged and blended.  People used images of nature to express this unity and to instill a transpersonal kind of experience.”

I have been looking at my old, dog-eared copy of Animal-Speak for a couple of weeks now, thinking I should do a review on this classic text for the Cool Stuff section of gazehound.com.  And then, two things happened.  Yesterday, a friend emailed me to ask if I’d ever read this great book by Ted Andrews, and this morning I picked up the book and read the first paragraph again … quoted above.

If you visited yesterday, you would have read my post about none other than “The Dreamtime”.

I’ve often been heard to say “there are no coincidences”, so, here I am, doing as the Universe dictates, and letting my visitors know about a really marvelous resource.

Animal-Speak, first published in 1993, has been a standard resource, since it first hit the stands, for all who wish the opportunity to glimpse into the wisdom of nature though the symbolic imagery of the animal kingdom.  Tribal peoples the world over have watched and listened to animals, gaining signs and wisdom from their appearance, their actions, their habits.  Native tradition states that the spiritual world is reflected in the natural, and thus by observing nature we can learn more about our higher, and our inner, selves, and grow closer to both Creation and the Creator.

Animal-Speak, through it’s nearly four hundred pages, covers the natural symbolism of mammals, reptiles, insects and birds, as well as giving the reader many tips and suggestions on how to use that knowledge.  Andrews gives solid suggestions, gleaned from ancient practices, about finding your spirit totems, reading signs in nature, and working with various types of animal medicine.  Each main section then ends in an alphabetical reference on various animal species, and what their symbolism represents.

Not only will you learn about the symbolism and spiritual application of animal medicine, you will also gather a great deal of information about the animals themselves.

Ted Andrews has written many books on new-age and spiritual topics, although Animal-Speak remains his most well-known.  If you enjoy Animal-Speak, you may also wish to look for titles such as How To See and Read The Aura, How To Uncover Your Past Lives, and How To Meet and Work with Spirit Guides
.

Animal-Speak has long been a classic text on the topic of animal wisdom, and a title that everyone who is interested in gathering wisdom from the natural world should have on their bookshelf.

Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small

Related posts:

1. Clicker Training E-book and Online Course
2. Review: The New Natural Cat, by Anitra Frazier and Norma Eckroate
3. Infinite Possibilities — New book from Mike Dooley

Bestselling Clickertraining Book For Dog Owners,
Written By Norwegian Top Trainers
Morten Egtvedt And Cecilie Koeste.
Click Here!

A little over a year ago, I stumbled across the website of Morten Egtvedt and Cecilie Koeste, and discovered that they offered an email newsletter/beginners clicker training course.  I signed up for the course, and Kai and I had a fun time following the lessons for quite a while.  Even though we’d been clicker training for years, it was interesting to go back to basics and follow this well-known pair’s slightly different approach. We enjoyed a nice review of skills already learned, from a new perspective, and we went on to learn new tasks as well.

Egtvedt and Koeste also have a very popular e-book on the market, Clickertraining: The 4 Secrets Of Becoming A Supertrainer, which you can preview and purchase through the above link.  It covers their methods, from introduction to some fairly sophisticated skills, in a unique and entertaining way that you and your dogs … and cats, and horses and birds, and rabbits, and (as you choose to adapt) will be sure to enjoy.

This pair, who run Canis Clickertraining, are well-respected in the dog training community.  They’ve  helped many dog owners  through their classes, their website, and teaching at past Clicker Expo seminars.

Related links:

• CanisClickertraining.com
• ClickerExpo
• Clickertraining: The 4 Secrets Of Becoming A Supertrainer

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3. Review: The New Natural Cat, by Anitra Frazier and Norma Eckroate

The New Natural Cat

I’ve long called this book my “kitty bible”.  Although, as my cats aged and did not handle the raw meat as well, I went back to high quality holistic commercial food for them, for many years I used Anitra’s raw diet recipe, and “Vita-Mineral Mix” for my kitties.  They shone, they glowed, they rarely had health issues, and my two girls, Sachet and Pree, lived to nineteen and eighteen years old.

You can’t have a better endorsement than that.

This book is filled with wisdom: from the rudiments of cat-communication and empathy, to kind and gentle methods of treatment, to dietary advice, to an enormous lexicon of health issues and how to treat them naturally.  Years ago, when people adopted kittens from me, each baby went with a copy of the recipe for home made food, and a strong recommendation to the owners to purchase a copy of “The New Natural Cat”.

My own copy is now almost twenty years old, very threadbare, with cracking spine and dog-eared (sorry, kitties!) pages.  Rarely does a week go by that I don’t pull it off the shelf to look something up – whether for myself, or for one of my clients.  I can’t imagine a cat-owning home without a copy of Ms. Frazier’s book on the shelf.

Anitra Frazier started out her career in cat care as a groomer.  If memory serves me correctly, this began as an association with her feline specialist vet, and she began doing in-home cat grooming for his other clients, and expanded from there.  Her observations of cat behavior, health, coat, vitality, were astute, and she would consult with her excellent vet on ways to help her cat clients achieve the ultimate in purr-fection with their cats.  After many years of doing this, she finally sat down and, with the assistance of co-author Norma Eckroate, wrote a book.

What a book it turned out to be.  The information presented is not only holistic in nature, it’s extremely practical.  Frazier provides care suggestions which are easily carried out, and which I’ve seen lead to marvelous results.  Her approach is respectful and humane, and one that cats everywhere will thank their owners for adopting.  The author has an innate sense of what makes a cat a cat and imparts that knowledge to readers in a light, easy to follow way.  I can happily attest to the fact that reading the book will make owners feel like better cat-parents by the time they reach the final pages.

If you want to know your cat better; if you’d like to find a more holistic and ultimately workable approach to cat care; if you are looking for ways to improve diet and over all vitality; if you are faced with a perplexing problem that needs a new approach — pick up  a copy of Anitra Frazier’s book.  You’ll be happy to have it within reach!

The Natural Cat (2008)

Although the version I own is the older one, Ms Frazier has released a new edition, completely revamped.  “The Natural Cat” was published in 2008, and looks to be an excellent update of an excellent resource.  I have it on my wishlist, and hope to have a copy in hand soon.  If anyone owns the updated version of the book, and would like to submit a review before I get a chance to write one, just let me know by leaving a comment! Both the old, and the new versions of “Natural Cat” are available through the book shop here at animalcommunicator-ny.com.

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2. Redneck Kitten Dumpers and Rescue Saints
3. Cats and Wildlife