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There's a wonderful new article by Janet Laird, entitled Counteracting Anxiety, in the "Dealing with Depression" section. PASSION jumps out from both the interview and book review this month. Jena M. Tuntas' web site is filled with her passions - there's |
information on therapeutic massage, quilting, beadwork, jewelry, her writings, charities she donates to, contests she runs. She even directs us to nature and space shuttle videos! All Jan Phillips' writings are filled with passion for story. Her book Divining the Body (Reclaim the Holiness of Your Physical Self), reviewed here, is also nearly ablaze with zeal for loving ourselves.
| Here's to big, bold (purple) passion!
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 (and encouraging!) and it's only one and a half minutes long... Check it out here! |
| Square Peg Spotlight |
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Jena is a Licensed
Massage Therapist, artist and a writer. She's self-published books in her
Shorty series as well as a a romance novel,Twice Upon A Lifetime.
In her newest book Shorty will be exploring Florida. When I spoke with Jena she
was working on a drawing for this book - giving Shorty a Hemingway-style
beard. Since we talked I ordered (and received - Jena's publisher is fast!) a copy of The Adventures of Shorty for my granddaughter - she's already "reading" it (it's in verse/rhyme - so it's easy for her to remember). And Jena sent me a picture of the drawing she was working on when we talked - it made me smile (I have a soft spot in my heart for Papa Hemingway - like me, he loved the little island of Bimini - and writing. We've even named the Square-Peg office "the Hemingway room"!) Jena says that the idea for the adorable character, Shorty "...came from a picture of my youngest grandson. He was over with me and had on my husband's bucket hat. The hat was too big - it |
came to his eyes. That's where the face of
Shorty came from. I tried valiantly to make Shorty a body and legs...but he
resisted. So he is a head, arms and feet - thus the name Shorty."
Come meet Shorty's creator.
Well, I've always been one. Everything I
think seems to be the antithesis of what everybody "normal" thinks. My mother
took everything I did with a grain of salt - she tried to understand me. My
father sometimes got upset at my "rebellious streak" or strange ways of
thinking, but now that I'm a bit older we get along a little better...he seems
to be more accepting of my thinking now.
I have always thought differently - only I don't see it as different. But, when
I express my views, sometimes people look at me like I have 3 heads - like: "Oh,
reallllly".
When I was younger I never really cared about feeling...
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| Square Peg Stacks |
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Jena (interviewed above) holds a drawing every
year to benefit Breast Cancer Research.  She makes the prize - a beaded "Pink Ribbon Turtle" framed in a shadowbox - this year there will be two turtles in the picture. Click here to go to Jena's site and
learn more about it!
 Divining The Body | |
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Reviews Divining the Body (Reclaim the
Holiness of Your Physical Self) by Jan Phillips. Doesn't that title grab you right away? Particularly in our culture, who doesn't need to reclaim the holiness of their physical self? If the title wasn't enough, the bulleted points from the cover of the book really drew me in:
The Art of Original Thinking (The Making of a Thought Leader) and Divining the Body (Reclaim the Holiness of Your Physical Self). I often read several book at once. But, since I like to explore different subjects (and because authors usually write on their particular favorite topic), I've never read 3 books by the same author at the same time.
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Jan Phillips writes well on a number
of different topics. There is a common thread in her writing - but it's not a
single topic - it's love of story! She shares many of her own stories in this book - some are self-esteem related (her first boyfriend nicknaming her "Horse"), some healing and journey related (one that stands out in my mind is about her healing from being pinned under her own car - sustaining severe burns and other injuries), some are related to "calling" (she "...entered a religious community...to become a nun...and was sent home after two years in the novitiate"). Her stories don't end with the hard part - she goes on to tell what she's learned - inspiring us forward. She also shares stories from others - among many of these is a beautiful description of dance used in a West African ritual to aid in processing grief. There's even a fable - whose message is "Beauty is what you see when someone is real." She quotes so many people - from so many different disciplines.
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| Dawn from Oklahoma was our first ever contest
winner!! Dawn won the "Women Under Construction e-course". Thanks to all who
entered. Your input was very helpful! | Remember John Ireland? He sent us the fun photocreation on the Creativity page. Well, we've got a rocking interview with John scheduled for next month - he's our first male interviewee! You can check out John's photo gallery here. Reiki Master/Teacher and shamanic healing practitioner/teacher, Kim Longworth, has graciously offered to share a healing story with us. It's called "THE BOOK OF JESSE" - and subtitled "The Promise of Love and Spirit after Dying". And we can't wait to show it to you - you'll find it on the Dealing with Creativity pages very soon! Kim tells us she considers her writing to be another form of healing work. She's also a singer/songwriter with a CD of original folk music, and she shares her life with her beloved dogs and horses.
 Kim's book, Journey Into Shaman's Land (pictured here) is available from Buy Books on the Web.com - where you can get a sneak peak INTO the book!
| Happy END of Summer!Enjoy what's left of it - and get excited about FALLing into new activities!!  See you in September
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