connection, gratitude & hope

Sharing our thoughts & creations takes courage, but the rewards are worth the effort and with each step, connections are made & confidence grows. The creative blogging community is a wonderful web of support & encouragement that is sometimes hard to find in one's local community. Though we don't all have the same tastes and preferences (how boring would that be?), we look for something good in each new soul we encounter. I thank all the wonderful friends I've made through blogging, and welcome the new friends who have recently become "followers."

One of my new pals, Tammy at Bonsai Habits, posted this video on her blog last week. It's such an important message, I'm passing it along too. I hope you'll take a few minutes to take it in....



Believe,
Di

OWOH winner

OWOH = WOW! I am so glad I made the effort to participate in this wonderful event. I haven't even scratched the surface when visiting all the fabulous creative souls & their blogs. Heck, I haven't even read the comments on my own blog (I'm sorry for this ~ it's on the top of my to-do list for tomorrow!). For now, it's February 17 pm and time to announce my winner. Drum roll please...
#131.... Nicole at Beadwright! Nicole, I'll contact you for your book choice and mailing address.

My sincere thanks to all the visitors to my blog during this event. I'm anxious to read the comments tomorrow as well as continue visiting others from the event.

Believe,
Di

Walking Through Illusion

This week's snowstorm took out our internet last night, so I curled up & finished a good book I'd started in January. I don't normally share much on my blog about the books I read, but this book was different and since it's not a best seller or on Oprah's list, I want to get the word out about it. It's Walking Through Illusion by Betsy Otter Thompson. Here's the description on the back cover:

"Walking Through Illusion features a series of short stories about biblical people who either knew Jesus or knew of him, and were influenced by him in one way or another. It is about people who lived long before Christianity began. The author believes that we don't take our beliefs with us when we leave here; we take the love we found from having them.

"Each chapter focuses on the growth of a particular person and each chapter is complete within itself with a specific theme. The end of each chapter has a worksheet with questions, designed to bring the ideas from the book into the reader's everyday life in a meaningful way."

Let me share up front that I'm not Christian nor do I know much of the bible. As such, I was a bit skeptical about reading this book. However, I do pride myself on being open-minded & inquisitive, and I thoroughly enjoy books that help me grow & evolve so I decided to give it a try. While I believe it would've been an easier read if I had known something about these biblical characters, my naivete meant I came to the stories with no preconceived notions. Topics addressed included Morality, Approval, Confusion, Death, etc. (23 in all). Most of the stories were easily relatable to my own modern day life. To help with that connection, the author shared her own personal insights on each story/lesson. I would not have guessed it when I read those first few pages, but I ended up highlighting multiple passages in the book, having been touched by them, and even tabbing a few powerful pages. I'm very glad I opened my heart & mind to this book. It was well worth the time.

If you too pursue personal growth, or just enjoy a good read, I recommend Walking Through Illusion. http://www.betsythompson.com