Thankfully I’ve stumbled upon Art + Money: Thriving as an artist without selling out by Chris Guillebeau and Zoë Westhof. This manual, plus the accompanying artist interviews, gives practical tips and guidelines for getting your work out there, connecting to you audience, and telling your story.

Art + Money is offered at two levels. The $39  Starving Artist version includes the 55 page guide, 3 artists interviews on mp3, and free updates for 6 months. The Picasso version is $58 and includes 3 additional artists interviews. (I’ve not reviewed this part of the product.)  Chris is also an incredibly accessible person who actively supports his product and his community.

I know there’s a lot of stuff out there promising to help you sell, sell, sell — and most of it relies on becoming a superstar on Technorati or having the biggest blog readership on the block. Art + Money does not take that approach. Rather it helps you connect your work, your story, and your people into a comprehensive whole that will help you earn either a supplemental income or a living wage — depending on how much time you want to put into it.

While it’s geared primarily for visual artists, it’s also great for writers. Just replace artists/galleries with writers/publishing as you read. And wherever it stays “studio” think “bookstore.” A lot of the links and suggested sites are specifically for selling visual art, but as a writer you’ll still find about 70% of the content applicable. 

Art + Money helped me redefining marketing as “sharing your story with your people” – which I already do and love! It’s also confirming my hunch that time on Twitter and Facebook promoting my work—and promoting the work of others in my community—is time well spent. In concrete terms, Art + Money:

• helps me figure out pricing.
• encourages me to keep on with my choice to not pursue traditional publishing.
• shows me how to fine tune my social networking methods.
• teaches me to launch my upcoming products and courses.

I would say the book is especially helpful if you are not yet blogging or using social networking, or if you have not figured out how to focus your blogging and networking in a way that supports your creative work. And if you are they type of person who is inspired by the stories of working artists, the interviews will be a big boon to you as well.

I hope Art + Money scratches where it itches and helps you bring your creative dreams closer to reality. 

Magpie Girl’s Promise: I adore my readers, so I only review products I truly believe in. In this case, I purchased the product at full price and decided to become an affiliate ambassador for Art + Money. If you purchase this book through the links on my site you’ll not only get a great product, you’ll also support my work. Thanks for being here!

There are things you want to be doing with your life. There are adventures to be had, projects you’d love to dive into, and people you want to have time for. You want room to breathe, to think, to play.

Yet, there it is. The stuff in your home, the paper piles in your home office, and the 101 things on your to-do list, all clamoring for your time and attention.”
–Lisa Baldwin, Clutter Coach and Professional Simplifier

In the gap between the day we signed our mortgage and the day we could move into our 1920’s craftsman, I would sit on the back porch with my soulful housemate Sharon, and wait for the day we could call The Densmore House home. “It’s good here, Rachelle.” she’d say “Someone has been prayerful in this space.”

Where we live has a feel, an energy…a zeitgeist. We long to live in peaceful, beautiful spaces. But often we find ourselves living in clutter, mess and mayhem. There’s the physical clutter—the mail, and the socks, and the stacks of paper. (How does all that paper procreate anyway?!) Physical clutter stops us in our tracks. It keeps us from starting creative projects—because who wants to work at that messy table? It keeps us from finishing tasks because we can’t find what we started on. It drains us of our inspiration, and tires us out with menial tasks.

Then there is the energetic clutter—the anxiety, the regret, and that mysterious slimy residue that hangs around when something particularly sad or nasty has gone down. Energetic clutter is more subtle than the physical kind. It resides on the edge of our awareness like something you can only see out of the corner of your eye. Yet energetic clutter can be just as distracting and draining as the stack of mail on your countertop.

Thankfully I have two stellar practitioners who can help you remove BOTH kinds of clutter from your life – and they are teaming up to offer an e-course! (Oh you are so lucky!)

First there is the zen-ish, pragmatic Lisa Baldwin of Divine Order, clutter coach and professional simplifier. She specializes in the practical how-to’s of clearing the clutter to help her clients—you!– recover a sense of self, increase your sense of calm, and heighten your internal confidence. Her work releases you to have more time and energy so you can focus on what matters to YOU.

Then there is the colorful, enthusiastic Leonie Allen of Goddess Guidebook. Leonie’s hopeful, joyful approach to all things mysterious empowers her clients to live the kind of life they dream of by accessing their internal strength, and gaining the help of the positive energetic forces that reside around us and within us.

Leonie and Lisa are teaming up to offer an e-course in house (and life!) decluttering – Divinely Decluttered: Six Weeks to A De-Cluttered, Space-Cleared Home. Lisa will bring the tip and techniques to clearing, and keeping, your home clutter-free. While Leonie’s self-professed woo-woo goodness brings treasures to clear out the icky, stressed-out spiritual residue from the place you call home. Her herbs, crystals and rituals will help you create centered, joyful energy in your internal and external living space. (Centered, joyful energy is Leonie’s trademark. Get a little taste of her generous spirit in this ten-minute Space Clearing 101 video here.)

Traveling too much to take on Divine Decluttering this Summer? No worries, you can sign up now and receive all the workbooks, mp3 meditations, and guidance whenever you are ready. (Ready is important. You gotta know what you are ready for.) Browse Lisa and Leonie’s personal sites, or check out their course site and see if decluttering is the right thing right now to catapult you on to fuller, more creative, more joyful life!

What do you need to declutter in your home and heart? What might you achieve if your clutter was draining you? Leave your thought in the comments below. Thanks for being here.

The Do Less Revolution is an on-going, start-any-time project of Magpie Girl. Click here to join or find all the DO LESS posts here. Recieve an update on new Do Less items by following us on Twitter. Thanks for being here!

Returning To My Mother’s House: Taking Back the Wisdom of the Feminine

by Gail Straub

Of all the things I struggle with in my overly reflective life, one of the most prominent is my somewhat spotty ability to stand in my own power and to connect with my innate internal authority. So much of what has informed my life-decisions has come from sources external to myself—forces dominated by the patriarchal structures of church and culture. As I approach my forties, I have made it a priority to stop listening to those external opinions, and to focus more intently upon the intuitive, instinctive wisdom that lies within my own self. This is what Gail Straub addresses in her book, Returning To My Mother’s House: Taking Back the Wisdom of the Feminine. This not the story of a literal return to the place of her childhood, but a metaphysical return to the birthplace of classically feminine traits which Straub describes as “the rich realm of feelings and moods, intuition and creativity, stillness and contemplation.”

Straub tells the story of herself, her mother and the disconnect that occurred between them as she moved into adulthood. In her own younger years, Straub’s own mother left behind adventure and creativity to acquiesce to the cultural norm of home and family. In contrast, Straub chose to travel the world, to embrace art and lovers, and to delve into experimentation and intrigue. But in spite of her bohemian lifestyle, Straub eventually felt a deep disconnect from her feminine wisdom—a disconnection which was tied to her mother’s unexpected death in Straub’s early twenties. This book is the story of how Straub recovers from that loss and reacquaints herself with feminine ways of knowing and being.

I think now that taking back my feminine was like a holy excavation, a layer-by-gradual-layer digging to reclaim the hidden artifacts of untamed imagination, kinship with the mystery, quiet contemplation, feelings and moods, and the fluid spaciousness that embraces paradox, mending the opposites of life into a whole.
(p. 100)

Returning to My Mothers’ House is an intriguing story of a varied and thoughtful life. Straub has a concise but reflective writing style that allows the reader to move rapidly through the story. She is effectively selective regarding which stories she chooses to tell, and makes clear observations about key events in her life and the revelations which followed. While she does not make a distinctive summary of these life-lessons in the book, the reading group questions and other materials on her website help the readers draw out the specifics and enhance the “take away” value of the text. For instance, the accompanying material includes a summary of five ways women lose their innate feminine wisdom which includes, among others: fleeing from one’s emotions, losing connection with one’s physical self, and becoming addicted to ‘doing’ – all things to which many of us can relate. Straub’s website also includes suggested practices for taking back the wisdom of the feminine. These practices are embedded within the stories told in the book, but are separated out and stated more succinctly here. The combination of the book along with the discussion material provided on her site, create a powerful transformational tool for women who are seeking to reconnect to the wisdom they know lies within. I highly recommend it, especially as reading material for a book group, or perhaps as the launching point for a Soultribe.

Come, come dear reader, return to the house of the Great Mother. Up, up, take the elegant grand staircase of relationships made up of collaboration, cooperation, communication and caring….where the rooms of intuition provide safe haven for the imagination, for dreams and symbols, for creativity, and the arts. … I know how you feel up here in this sacred space; this is what has been missing from your life, this is what you have been so hungry for.
(from the prologue)

If you are mourning some loss in your life — a loved one, your own youth, your health, a dream unfullfilled–these books could give you some companionship for the journey. And as always, please add your own good resources in the comments. Shalom.

If you’re feeling ready to make/write/create/do something, one of these will give you new ideas and encourage you on. If you don’t have time for your regular work of writing/painting/carving monuments out of marble, then these books will let you slip things in around the edges. Several of them work well across age groups and can be used for collaborative art with the young ones. Happy creating, and thanks for supporting Magpie Girl! (More reviews here, if you’re curious…)

But even better than a fun read, is a fun read that’s also well crafted. Those, dear friends, are hard to find. So here’s a little list for you all — a brand new carousel full of great reads for road trips, backyard hammocks, and days at the lake. I hope you find something you love amongst these treasures I love. And remember, anything you purchased by clicking on a link helps support this blog. Tak, and good reading!

When it comes to museum gift shops, I am an undeniable sucker. I usually manage to resist buying the paint-your-own-Van-Gogh tee shirt set for the kids. But beyond that my will power fades.

Last month at the National Gallery in London I discovered a new and marvelous new gift shop offering – novels with art-and-artists tie ins! I am so in love!

The culprit this visit was Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale. This moody, complicated novel drew and me in and kept me captivated from beginning to end. It’s one of those books you just devour.

Rachel Kelly is an abstract artist with fabulous execution and ground breaking ideas. She’s also schizophrenic, bipolar, and fond of hiding her meds. For some reason having four kids seemed like a good idea, and her longsuffering family is shaped by her difficult personal world—inheriting both her brilliance and her madness.

When Rachel dies suddenly in her locked studio, her family begins to peer tentatively into their past and face into their mental and emotional present. As each character unwinds his or her story, we see how Rachel’s dominate presence has influenced each of them– for good and for ill. Author Patrick Gale also shows us how each character’s individual personality, talents, and perspectives forms their own story and shapes their family’s history.

You know how I love clever, and Gale uses a very clever technique, beginning each chapter with an exhibition card from Rachel’s posthumous final show. But where many authors stop at clever hooks, Gale manages to go on to craft a very fine story. With the exception of the youngest child Petroc, each character is well developed, showing us both their flaws and the things which makes them endearing. And while the book moves back and forth through time, at times telling us the same piece of family history from a different viewer’s perspective, Gale manages to avoid that annoying re-hashing phenomenon that most authors fall prey to when employing this timeline technique. Finally, Gale manages to weave together meaty themes without preaching at the reader or bogging down the narrative.
With finely developed characters and topics as diverse as faith, family, art, passion, illness, death, and creation, Notes from an Exhibition feels as enriching as it is intriguing. Today’s Flavor: Complex and satisfying.

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Recently I requested all of my medical records to lug with me to Denmark in my continued quest to stay out of status migranosis. There were two manila envelopes full of them — and that was just from one neurologist. The beginning of every office visit summary starts out like this:

“The patient is a pleasant middle aged woman….”

Excuse me? But how did that happen?

Perhaps the reality that at 38 I am, apparently both ‘pleasant’ and ‘middle aged’, is what led me to enjoy The Monk Downstairs so much. The New York Times Book Review describes it as such:

“A tender, witty novel in which a former monk, after twenty years in his order, rents an apartment from a 38 year old single mother; the ensuing relationship grows cautiously, taking account the prudence required of struggling people who aren’t going to get that many more chances.”

See anything that might appeal to moi? Monks, motherhood, spiritual crisis, being 38…

Even if you have less in common with this characters than I do, you will still find this to be a well executed novel with real, flawed, loveable characters and everyday life experiences that just might help you feel companioned for a journey. I’m especially fond of Mike’s struggle to rebuild his spiritual practices after a crisis of religion. (Gee Rachelle, really?) And I was equally touched by Rebecca’s final acceptance that she must experience grief over the crisis moments in her life (ex husbands, bad dates, aging parents.) Author Tim Farrington writes of Rebecca:

She had never allowed herself to grieve wholly before, she realized now. … some pragmatic, self-protective sense had told her that grief was bottomless. Skirting this sea, she had dipped her toes in; she’d wondered what would happen if she crossed the line, but it had always seemed that it could only be a kind of defeat, a drowning, a death. And so it was. But maybe it was not the end, to be defeated by life. Maybe that is even part of what it meant to be a human being; to recognize ways in which death had come, to stop looking away from the failures of love, and to grieve.

Then there is also this great bit from Mike, in which he spots a little bit of wisdom at his first-time-out-of-the-cloister job and records it in a letter to a former brother monk:

..or as my colleagues at McDonald’s put it, “My bad.” I’m sorry I dissed you….The ritual response to a penitential “My bad,” incidentally, is a benevolent, “It’s all good.” The drama of Christ’s forgiveness is reenacted a dozen times a day over the deep fryer and the grill, by teenagers, with refreshing succinctness.

Lest you think this novel is all heaviness, be not afraid! Mike is funny, Rebecca is droll, her daughter is sweet and hilarious, and the sex…we’ll the NY Times Book review is a bit off there because it is neither cautious nor prudent, but pretty damn hot. (Not for the prudish of heart.)

Special kudos to Tim Farrington for writing the character of Rebecca so well. About half way through the novel I thought “Wow. This female character is really spot-on. Who wrote this?” When I turned the book cover over I was surprised to see it was written by a man–so convinced was I that a sister must have created Rebecca’s reality. Props, Tim!

Today’s Flavor: Bittersweet, romantic, and real.

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When I bought the kids second-hand American Girl dolls, the Dad of the teen who sold me the dolls said, “I warn you, this doll is a gateway drug.” He couldn’t have been more right, and by Christmas I was drowning in a stack of AG catalogs.

While the girls haven’t become AG users, they are big fans of American Girl’s line of books. In addition to the decently written historical novels, AG also offers a line of great growing-up advice books. This week what with all the flap about Miley Cyrus’ portrait by Annie Lebowitz for Vanity Fair, combined with the great discussion going in the comments on my post Why I’m not teaching Abstinence to my Kids, I thought I’d review a book about growing-up bodies.

American Girl’s The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls is an excellent reference guide for a growing girl. Written in a simple, friendly style The Care & Keeping of You gives kids the details they long for in a way that communicates “it’s not gross, it’s your really cool body!” Author Valerie Scharfer covers the obvious concerns—zits, period, and bras (or the lack thereof)—as well as broader concepts about size, mind/body connection, and the way physical changes can effect emotions. Even things a grown up might think of as insignificant, like how to get gum out of your hair, get straight forward solutions,

The publisher says this book is for ages 9-12, and some of the information may be more than younger children want to know. For instance, there’s a pretty detailed cartoon/line-drawing illustration of a girl using a tampon, and girls in the drawings are pictured nude and anatomically correct. My oldest daughter needs a lot of reconnaissance before she moves into a new area, so we got her this book when she was 8 years old and started asking questions about ‘becoming a teenager.’ She had it for about an hour before she came bounding down the stair saying things like, “Mom, did you know you get you period about two years after your breast buds appear?” (No, actually, I did not. That would have been really helpful to know back in the day.) So far, she’s feeling really confident about the changes ahead, and proud of her growing body.

Other good books in this line include The Feelings Book: The Care & Keeping of Your Emotions, which pretty much saved our lives though the drama that was third grade; A Smart Girl’s Guide to Starting Middle School; and A Smart Girl’s Guide to Money. Today’s Flavor: Knowledge is Power.

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After many MANY months without yoga, I’ve started practicing once again. Since I can barely keep track of my right and my left in English, doing Vinyasa (flow) yoga in Danish is definitely not an option. So I’m grateful for Shiva Rea – Yoga Shakti.

Centered around various combinations of the sun salutations, the DVD offers the perfect practice for not-still-a-beginner but not-yet-a-yogi practitioners. You can choose from several pre-set practices, most of which are 30-45 minutes log. But the really great part is that you can also use the ‘yoga matrix’ to create your own practice. It’s easy to choose from a collection of poses so one week you can do sun salutation, standing poses, and shoulder openings. Then the next time you can do backbends, twists, and warrior series. The instructions are clear, the pace is well measured, and Shiva Rea offers the more challenging poses in different stages so you can advance as you get stronger and more flexible. The video is shot in India, mostly on the coast, with the sound of the tides and shot only in natural light. It’s beautiful, satisfying, and will hold your interest for many practices to come. Today’s Flavor: Gettin’ Strong and Flexible.

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My daughter Cate has always been a pray-er. When she was a toddler she saw “Jesus giving the butterflies food.” She’s never turned back.

We have a family ritual at dinner time of lighting the candles and saying a prayer. This year, for Christmas, Cate got 100 Graces: Mealtime Blessings in her stocking. Now, with the allure of so many choice in such a tiny book, even her sister who is less sold on the whole idea wrangles for a chance to say the dinner time prayer.

100 Graces: Mealtime Blessingsis a simple book:one page, one prayer. It’s ecclectic, multifaith and offers a little something for everyone. Cate’s current favorite:

“Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” -Abraham Joshu Heschel

and my current preference:

“O God, bless this food we are about to recieve. Give bread to those who hunger; and hunger for justice to us who have bread.” -a prayer from Nicaragua

Today’s Flavor: An easy ‘Amen.’

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Last Fall we went on the Goodbye Cousin’s Tour of Ought-Eight. While we were at my sister’s visiting this adorable nephew (and all the other cute bébés) Cate ordained herself ‘official reader to anyone under six.” Even though she has long outgrown board books, Cate was totally charmed by this pretty one and read it over and over to her two year old cousin. Then, she unabashedly pled with her Auntie Becky to get it for her for Christmas, and low and behold, Give Me Grace arrived via the UPS man. (Who, according to my kids, “is better than Santa!”)

Author-illustrator Cynthia Rylant has beautifully illustrated this sweet book in a style that is not child-ish, but certainly child friendly. When I read it with Cate during morning cuddle time, I enjoy the artwork as much as much as she does. We often flip though the pages find our favorite colorful pages. Cate reads Give Me Grace every night and every morning, though truthfully she no longer needs to book as she memorized the whole thing within a week. There’s a lilting prayer for each day and I can get behind the sentiment in each one – which is rare for me to experience in religious books, especially those written for children! My favorite prayer is for Wednesday:

Wednesday make me full of light
Guide my heart both day and night
Give me gladness, give me grace,
Shine your love upon my face.

Who wouldn’t embrace that as an intentional for the day? Thanks, Cynthia. Today’s Flavor: Colorful and Hopeful.

P.s. another one of my kid’s favorite books by Rylant is the sweet, reminiscent When I Was Young in the Mountains

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I’ve been caught up in historical fiction lately and find myself reading novel after novel of life in another era. It started with the life of Mary Todd Lincoln (reviewed here), segued into the guilty-pleasure of The Other Boleyn Girl, and recently landed in Indian Territory with One Thousand White Women.

Set in the late 1800’s One Thousand White Women is told in the voice of Mary Dodd, a woman from the Chicago business class who is unjustly committed to an insane asylum for living in a common law marriage with a working-class man. To escape the torturous life of the asylum, she agrees to be married to an Indian chief as part of a massive wedding-cum-peace treaty between the American government and the Cheyenne nation. The bulk of the book follows her experience living with the tribe in the final year of Cheyenne independence.

Although author Jim Fergus insists quite clearly in the prologue that this is almost entirely a work of fiction, his characters are so finely realized that readers continue to believe that Mary Dodd’s story is historically true. From the first pages of Mary’s journal, you are swept up into the story of a woman you’d like to know, and a life you can hardly imagine. Politically clever, spiritually astute, and carefully told, One Thousand White Women is an adventurous and inspiring tale of marginalized people working hard to find a place of freedom. Today’s Flavor: A history lesson from a creative mind.

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The lovely Elaine Eppler and I have developed quite an online crush. We surf back and forth to each other’s blogs, looking for a something delightful to brighten our day, or to find out what the other was up to the previous weekend.

Elaine has three blogs: Closely Observed always moves me towards gratitude; The Edible Balcony Garden inspires me to get creative about green living in an urban setting; and Berries and Greens gives us all a sneak peek into the health-full world of professional nutritionists.

It’s National Nutrition Month (who knew!) and Elaine is hosting a series of interviews about food attitudes over at B&G. We had fun doing an interview together via email, and she has it posted now. Hop over there and give it a look-see.

To celebrate our blogaffair (and of course National Nutrition Month) I’ve reviewed my favorite cook books for Wednesday Review.

Happy (and Healthy) Eating!

The New Moosewood Cookbook
The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Mollie Katzen

When I was 18 I moved out of state to attend college, and suddenly realized that my cooking repertoire didn’t go much past chocolate chip cookies and grilled cheese. True, I had helped my family cook dinners, but always as prep chef, never in a primary role. We were required to purchase a meal program at the school, but the food was so bad that the only thing you could eat was the quesadillas and the salad bar. This crisis of bad taste, plus the political fever most college students seem to catch, quickly converted me to vegetarianism and Mollie’s cookbooks became my guides.

From the The Moosewood Cookbook came a bevy of soup recipes, especially the veggie-rich Gypsy Soup and her never fail Minestrone. My books are on a slow ship from Seattle right now, but I’m pretty sure this is the cookbook with Montana Mama’s ricotta cheese cake with a lush, baked sour cream topping. It defines ‘decadent.’ And her chocolate brownies (with or without espresso) are also delish. There are handy tips for the beginner chef, including how to slice and dice various kinds of fruits and veggies. Without Molly, I still wouldn’t know how to section an orange.

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest offers the same kind of hearty, healthy goodness (all of Katzen’s recipes feed a good-sized crew.) In graduate school ours favorite thing to do was to host dinner parties and I often made the Indian Lentils with coconut and green apples. My former housemate Heidi swore by the broccoli casserole.

These aren’t the cookbooks to turn to when you’re in a rush. But if you’ve got time to dice awhile, either one of these charming, hand lettered cookbooks will keep you inspired with year round veggie goodness. Today’s Flavor: Hearty and Healthy.

When you order any of these books by clicking on the image or title, a portion of the proceeds supports this site. Find more great reads, music, and other treasures at Magpie Reviews. Thank You!

I am not one of those people.

When my daughter final arrived, after a string of pregnancy disasters and difficulties, I found myself to be completely out of my depth. In infancy, I couldn’t tell whether a cry was for hunger or for tiredness. The hormones stew of pregnancy, delivery, and nursing left be adrift in depression. And when my next daughter unexpectedly arrived, leaving me home with two children aged two-and-under, I realized I disliked nearly all of the everyday tasks of parent (cooking, cleaning, dealing with toddler temper tantrums, endless hours of make believe…) In short, I felt like a TOTAL LOSER.

Thank God for these authors, who gave me companionship, laughter, and not a small amount of good advice for the journey. Give this collection as shower gifts, and your friends will love you forever. Or, stock your own shelves if you’re preparing for the onslaught of parenthood.

The Three-Martini Playdate: A practical guide to happy parenting
Christie Mellior

Already, you love the title, yes? Mellior’s basic premise that you were here first, and children should be seen only if they can be ever-so-helpful as to help Mommy pass out the cocktail napkins and crudities. Here’s an excerpt from the opening chapter:

Gone are the days when a small person of tender age would do as he or she was asked, good naturedly and obediently, and the rest of the time would sit quietly reading or practicing a simple cross stitch…One wasn’t required to transport the little children hither and tither, here to T-ball practice, there to a “playdate,” may the chipper mommy who coined that particular term forever rot in a hell of eternally colicky babies….
Let us be perfectly frank. You were here first. You are sharing your house with them, your food, your time, your books. Somewhere, in fairly recent memory, we have lost sight of that fact.

Oh, I hope you are ever so much in love! No one helped me take my parenting gig less seriously–something I was in deep need of after too many months of reading up on what to expect. So click here, and in a few days you could be sipping your favorite thing-made-with-gin with my soulsister and me. Cheers! Today’s Flavor: Pass the vodka.

The Girlfriends’ Guide to Surviving The First Year of Motherhood
Vicki Iovine

I like taking advice from former playboy models who have four children in six years (no, none of them are twins.) For instance, in regards to the many children, Iovine suggests not mixing red wine and your husband’s birthday. (Good point!)

Anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy this no-nonsense, practical, “we’ve been there” advice – including how to detect being postpartumish, a terrific term to help your friend identify when you need help with the post-delivery hormone stew. All of Iovine’s parenting books are helpful, but the first two: Pregnancy and First Year are are top notch. Today’s Flavor: Helps you out without stressing you out.

Operating Instructions
Anne Lamott

If you are a regularly reader of Magpie Girl, you already know that Anne is my priestess. My dear friend Wendy–mother of the adorable Rees, who we fully plan on marrying off to Eden–gave me this book shortly after the birth of my second child. More poetic than my other recommendations, but still deeply funny, Lamott’s story of adjusting to being the single mother to a baby boy is told with refreshing, and sometimes shockingly honesty. Once again, consumate story teller Lamott becomes an essential traveling companion, this time for those of us on the parenting road. Today’s Flavor: Real, with a touch of funny.

Order a book by clicking on one of the links above, and support this website! Find more books, music, and things I enjoy at Magpie Reviews. Tak!

Shortly after being ordained as an evangelical minister, I became almost entirely disenchanted with the world of church. The church wanted me to debate people into conversion; I want to dialogue with people about life. The church wanted me to de-bunk all other religions; I wanted to learn from their holy stories. The church wanted me to entertain people on Sunday morning; I wanted to host a banqueting table heavy on the bread, wine, and storytelling. The church wanted a water-tight system of belief; I wanted a way of living that recognized everyday moments as holy.

I spent a lot of time at staff meetings blathering on about these things while my co-workers looked at me with concern. Then I read these books, held the hand of their authors, and gleefully jumped off the diving board and into the deep end of generous faith.

A New Kind of Christian

The Story We Find Ourselves In

The Last Word (and the Word after That)

Brian McLaren

If you are a traditional church-goer who has felt kind of squirmy at Sunday morning services lately, I strongly suggest dipping into this trilogy. McLaren presents emerging/post-modern theology in the form of a fictional conversation between two friends—a pastor and a science teacher/philosopher. McLaren doesn’t claim to be an accomplished fiction writer, but his technique here makes these books easier to read than most religious texts.

were the unofficial required reading for the spiritual growth community I used to host. They’ve been a life line to the many ‘recovering evangelicals’ who have walked through our door. A New Kind of Christian breaks things open. The Story We Find Ourselves In ourselves In re-defines the Bible as a descriptive family story (as opposed to a prescriptive rule book). The Last Word (and the Word after That) tackles the concept of hell.

I would consider McLaren’s approach to be gently progressive; fundamentalists will hate it, but it’s great for the Jesus-y person who is deconstructing their faith in the hope of finding something at the center that’s worth holding on to. Read bravely. Today’s Flavor: Scratches where it itches.

The Spiral Staircase
Karen Armstrong

From her life as a young nun to her current role as an interfaith expert, academic Karen Armstrong The Spiral Staircase tells her story of journeying through faith and reason. Her tale spirals through faith, disillusionment, enlightenment, and back again, with each turn bringing her new understanding and depth. Most known for the popular texts A History of God and The Battle for God, in Spiral Staircase Armstrong uses a different voice to tell her own complex and very personal story. I’ve already marked up one copy, given it away, and started re-reading another. A well written memoir from one of today’s top scholars. Today’s Flavor: Find yourself on every tread.

The Power of Myth
Joseph Campbell

Okay, so it’s not a book, but he has written plenty of them. The Power of Myth DVD series, Joseph Campbell’s theories on comparative religious studies are broken into bite sized bits for those of us who aren’t pursuing an advanced degree. I’ve only begun watching this amazing collection of lectures, quotes, and images – but already I know it will be a pivotal item in my transformational tool kit. The late Joseph Campbell was one of the most respected scholars in his field, and his work is amplifying this voice in my head that’s telling me “All truth is God’s Truth”—no matter what package it comes wrapped in. Today’s Flavor: Expand you mind without over straining your brain.

Find more great reads and other stuff I like at Magpie Reviews.

Then, in my late twenties and early thirties, I started raising children – girl children. At the same time I became an ordained minister in a denomination that did not widely welcome my presence. Throw in a few bumps in the road on both of those adventures, add a few fortuitous few books, and viola! A feminist awakening to beat the band!

Does your feminist-self need a shot in the arm? You could adopt a couple of girls, try your hand at being a pastor in an evangelical church….or you could just click on one of the titles below. (I highly recommend the latter option!)

Yours in the Journey,

Rachelle
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The Red Tent
Anita Diamant

Ten years ago, Anita Diamant cracked open the story of Jacob; uncovered his only surviving daughter Dinah; dusted her off and brought her back to life. I could go on, but Gail Hudson says it best in her endorsement:

“Like any sisters who live together and share a husband, my mother and aunties spun a sticky web of loyalties and grudges,” Anita Diamant writes in the voice of Dinah. “They traded secrets like bracelets, and these were handed down to me the only surviving girl. They told me things I was too young to hear. They held my face between their hands and made me swear to remember.” Remembering women’s earthy stories and passionate history is indeed the theme of this magnificent book. In fact, it’s been said that The Red Tent is what the Bible might have been had it been written by God’s daughters, instead of her sons. –Gail Hudson

The idea of my spiritual ancestors preserving the stories women told, giving account to the happenings of their world through a woman’s eyes , has changed my understanding of my God, my vocation and my holy text. I wrote some about it here, and there’s a peek at my reaction here. If something in you is hungry for your great mother’s tales, spend some time in the The Red Tent. Today’s Flavor: exotic and holy.

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman’s Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine

The Secret Life of Bees
Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Beescracked open my imagination with its story of three sisters who craft their own ceremony to honor a sacred image of the feminine divine. (Here’s just one ritual that came out of that wonderful story.) But it was her autobiographical text, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, which gave me the companionship I needed to find my own way to the feminine heart of God.

The wife of a Southern Baptists preacher, Kidd risked marriage, career, and her place in her community in order to follow her own inner authority into a broader, more inclusive reality of faith, personhood, and deity. While her journey took her to a place different than my own, I was much comforted and emboldened by her story. She was a wonderful traveling companion, and I found myself underlining something on nearly every page. This has now become one of those books that is forever being loaned out to a seeking friend, and I will always be grateful for Kidd’s brave journey of discovery. Today’s Flavor:A great dancing partner.

What book(s) helped you move along the road to a feminist awakening?

Maybe one of these books will help you find a feel better place in 2008. Here’s to the hopeful!

-Rachelle

P.s. Remember, any purchase made by clicking on a title below helps support this blog. Find more great book, music, and misc. reccomendations over at Magpie Reviews. Thank you!

Intuitive Eating
Evelyn Trioble and Elyse Resch

How many diet books have you read in your life time? I think my list starts with my mother’s copy of More of Jesus, Less of Me –which I copped from my Mom when I was in 8th grade — and continues through The WeighDown Workshop, 8 Minutes in the Morning, You, on a Diet, The Maker’s Diet, and The Fat Flush Diet — some of which have only recently left the shelves of my personal library.

Last year after a failed attempt at Weight Watchers, I hit my 38th birthday and decided that I’d spent enough of my life obsessing about my weight/body/what I ate. At the ripe old age of 38, I gave up dieting for good and decided to start loving my body.(I’m a slow learner.) The catalyst? Intuitive Eating.

This is book that must be consumed slowly, so you can unlearn old habits and adopt intutivley helpful ways of thinking about food and nutrition. The assingnments take time, but are well worth the resulting mental and emotional reprogramming. For the first time I am eating when I’m hungry, stopping when I’m full, and balancing out at a size my body is comfortable with. Within weeks of begining Intuitive Eating, I stopped feeling guilty about food ,and now I can eat anything guilt free. For the first time this year, I didn’t even THINK of making a resolution that involved losing weight! It’s a small miracle.

P.s. If you are stocking your bookshelves on the topic, Women I Respect have also recommended Eating Mindfully and Slow Food Revolution: A New Culture for Eating and Living. Check ‘em out!

Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain
Dr. David Buchholz

When my husband handed me this book in our local shop, I pretty much rolled my eyes and sighed in defeat. After years of tyring everything under the sun to get rid of my migraines, I had pretty much resolved to live with pain for the rest of my life. I thought I knew everything there was to know about migraines and migraine meds — but after just a few pages of Heal Your Headache I’d discovered things none of my dozen-odd medical practioners had ever told me. Intially I was terrified of step one, getting off pain medications and most other meds. But within six weeks I was no longer dependent on pain meds or meds like immitrex, and I had discovered hidden trigger foods that no one had mentioned to me before. My migraines dropped from everyday, to 2-7 per month. After getting them down to this more manageable level, a good atlas chiropractor (we like to call him “Dr. Woo Woo”) got rid of the rest of my headache pain and desensitized me from most of my trigger foods. Now I only have the occasional break through headache — and this after five solid years of headache pain! Believe me, this book is worth taking a chance on!

What books help you Feel Better?

Next Week: books for the Budding Feminist.

I’ve no resolutions this year. (I think moving overseas is challenge enough for ‘aught eight!)Please loves, if you make some resolutions, limit it to three and make sure at least one is truly doable. I beg you, be kind to yourselves.

In lieu of resolve, here are three amazing books that just might change your life without even trying. Each one was life changing for me, and I’m pretty darn sure they will help some of you out there as well. This week’s theme is Artist Unleashed. The next four Wednesdays in January will include themes around: Feeling Better, Budding Feminist, Religious Awakening, and Survival Parenting.

Of course, you’re always welcome to list your favorite texts in the comments. We love, Love, LOVE good reads. And as always, any purchase you make by clicking on a title below helps support this site.
Happy New Year to you…may you be much inspired.
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My Name Is Asher Lev
Chaim Potok

Raised in a Hasidic family, young Asher finds that his passion for painting does not jive with the stringent the life of an orthodox Jew. Yet his creative passion refuses to ebb, and he must find away to fuse art and faith.
My Name Is Asher LevThe Chosen are Potok’s finest works. Today’s Flavor: Achingly beautiful.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield

I’ve quoted from this book before, but I think it merits another mention. I’ve read a lot of books about writing, but this is the one that helped me make a leap from “dabbling”, to “seriously working.” If this is the year for you to go pro, The War of ArtToday’s Flavor: Short bursts of inspiration.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott

Anne is my priestess and this one of my holy books. All the writing advice in here is golden. Whether she’s writing about the radio station in your head that tells you your no good (“K-FUCK”) , or prompting you to get through your “shitty first draft” Anne’s wisdom comes across loud and clear, without being preachy or cloying. Just click and get it, will ya? Today’s Flavor: A gentle kick in the ass.

Next week’s list: books for Feeling Better.

Our modern mystic, Brennan Manning, captures God-with-us quite wonderfully in one of his Advent pieces. Here it is for you now, a little present from me to you.

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas
Orbis Books, 2001

“Shipwrecked at the Stable”

Do you think you could contain Niagra Falls in a teacup?

We all know how difficult it is to receive anything from someone who has all the answers, who is completely cool, utterly unafraid, needing nothing and in control of every situation. We feel unnecessary, unrelated to this paragon. So God comes as a newborn baby, giving us a chance to love him, making us feel that we have something to give him.

P.s. I also recommend listening to Bruce Cockburn’s tune Big Circumstance, which references this piece, and Cry of a Tiny Babe, which is one of my favorites. Peace to you this Christmas day.