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Tag Archives: friends
Somewhere in Peru
It’s reassuring to know that I am simply the vehicle for my soul’s journey.
Not that I’m driving this vehicle, but I am the vehicle.
Destiny is the driver.
And when sadness brushes against my cheek, my heart swallows me whole.
Furry companions
greet me
at every turn.
Mahalo Ke Akua
Every moment . . .
of our life, the Universe has our back.
Every moment
of
our
life,
the Universe
has our back.
EVERY moment
of our life,
the Universe
has our back.
Every moment . . .
Mahalo for your support!
Thank you friends for supporting my first book My Life as a Mule in the TaleFlick Discovery contest.
We landed 8th out of 40 books with 131 votes. Not too shabby! ;-)
And . . . in the eleventh hour I received the most AMAZING review from an acquaintance.
I met this “true reader’s heart” (how she described herself : ) years ago when I was the waterfront director at a camp for diabetic children, * TCDC. She was a camper. I haven’t seen her since (many, MANY moons!), though I have a wispy memory of her wide, vibrant smile!
Here is what she wrote:
“There have been several great stories told from the perspective of animals that gently urge us to take a look at ourselves. (Charlotte’s Web, Animal Farm, and Watership Down come to mind.)
Now, we have “My Life as a Mule.”
This book, told from the perspective of Molly, leads us to confront our own thoughts regarding class conflict, race relations, anxiety, bullying, self-doubt, and fear. Are our perspectives our own? Or are they the ones forced upon us by those around us that became comfortable because we’ve stopped challenging our values?
Molly is a delight as she moves through the challenges of her life and matures as her understanding grows.
Thank you, Ms. LeHoven, for daring us to look at our belief systems in such a non-threatening manner. It is a book you will love reading over and over again, but also one that you will share with loved ones and strangers, alike.
Open your mind and your heart. Molly is waiting.”
Wow, thank you Ms. Marquis for taking the time to find me on facebook, buy my book, AND . . . read it! May Molly be a lifelong companion as you continue on your way. <3
With MUCH love and GRATITUDE for you ALL,
xoxox Sj xoxox
* I’m in that black and white photo from 1981 shown on the TCDC Alumni page. ;-)
Molly Needs Your Help
In getting the word out of her journey of LOVE
as told through her memoir: My Life as a Mule.
Starting January 15th at 10 a.m. PT & ending Friday, January 17th at 4 p.m. PT YOU can VOTE that you would like to see her story adapted to the screen.
Hollywood producers will be following how many votes each story receives in the TaleFlick Discovery contest AS WELL AS the conversations revolving around each story.
How can you help?
By voting for My Life as a Mule (one vote per person). AND even more importantly, by participating in the conversation regarding Molly’s story.
Click on the icon on the right of the box for My Life as a Mule to vote and click on the conversation bubble to leave a comment or ask a question.
Last week’s winner garnered 4,448 votes. We’ll be jazzed to receive 100! But . . . if you can participate in the conversation and let people know how Molly’s story touched YOUR HEART, we would be most appreciative. <3
Molly’s Epiphany Tea
With love and aloha from Molly and me,
xoxox Sj xoxox
P.S. And . . . if you want to share this with your friends, well, that would take the cake!!!
Mahalo nui loa!
We Meet Who We’re Meant to Meet
Yes, we meet who we’re meant to meet exactly WHEN we’re meant to.
The Good.
The Bad.
And the Ugly.
And as we become more and more aware that We Are All One, we can meet each and every experience with Love.
Really, Sj????
Yes, really.
But so many people are acting so hatefully these days.
Love them anyway.
Even as you love yourself.
Why? Surely they don’t deserve it.
EVERYONE deserves to be loved. Everyone.
Especially those who are behaving so unkindly.
What the…???
Think about it.
If someone is behaving so unkindly, do you think they love themselves?
Treat themselves with kindness?
Most probably not.
And acting out as they are, they are actually demonstrating OUR shared fears. Of the unknown. Of change.
Even if they don’t realize it.
So when you meet that seemingly random person on the street, on the internet, or even in the press, please know that BOTH of your Souls have organized that “chance” meeting. For the smile you share, the LOVE you embody, may be the ONLY act of kindness that person experiences on that day.
xoxox Sj out xoxox
(But PLEASE Please please remove yourself from ANY situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. You can love that person–or thing OR experience–from a safe distance. ;-)
Pedrata with Smiley Face Tree
“Molly becomes a representation of the enlightenment available to anyone, at any moment.”
OMG, Green Pueo,
That Molly’s story speaks to you so . . . warms the cockles of my heart. <3
Godspeed on YOUR journey, Green Pueo!
May you SPREAD YOUR WINGS WIDE and SOAR to HEIGHTS BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS!
✫Sj✫
* A Pueo is “a subspecies of the short-eared owl that is endemic to Hawaii.
5 star review by Green Pueo on Amazon
“This book came to me when I needed it most. It is a romp through Molly’s pastures as she travels along the road to self-discovery. It is less than a novel and more of a journey, a pilgrimage diary whereby a donkey attempts to determine how he feels about issues of personal priority. Rather than following the opinions of a delightful set of brilliantly written animal characters, Molly listens to echoes of her own inner ear signaling to the reader that we each have that power as well unless we choose to surrender it.
This is a world where animals can speak and make us feel that we have entered a safe space where their actions and decisions impact us in new and surprising ways. We read books to escape our fears and the darkness of everyday life, and this book is a positive way to discover that we each have an inner message we are obligated to share with others.
Not sure if this book is autobiographical, but Molly doesn’t surrender to peer pressure or the ordinary life.
The story is a timeless refreshing breath of simplicity and creativity. I enjoyed the short chapters and fun illustrations.
The imagery the author creates reads like an old mythic tale. The playful dialogue told with simple descriptive prose helped me to picture Molly’s world as being hand drawn. Like the step-by-step lines of the pencil, the “Aha” moment comes only after watching a foundation of underlay develop on the author’s canvas. Molly becomes a representation of the enlightenment available to anyone, at any moment.
Molly speaks for us all, lets us know we are each on a different path and when she speaks, it doesn’t sound exactly like a donkey or a horse. Instead, a mule makes a sound that is similar to a donkey’s but also has the characteristics of a horse, starting with a whinny, and ending with a hee-haw! Therefore at the moment of refusal, disappointment, or when we are faced with self-evaluation, one is capable of ‘waking up’ as an individual and seeing the interconnectedness of everything. Molly not only “whinnys” with lightheartedness but also punctuates her message with Hee Haws in the short chapters of this book. Readers of all ages will most likely discover within ‘My Life as a Mule’ that her voice resonates in much deeper ways.”
MAHALO for sharing Molly’s story with friends!
xoxox Sj xoxox
My Life as a Mule is available through Amazon.
Molly’s Epiphany Tea
3 Gal Pals EACH Publish a Book in 2018!!!
And each book is about LOVE! <3 <3 <3
1. Experience Molly the Mule’s coming of age (and the realization of the LOVE that she is) in Sj’s book My Life as a Mule
Available at Amazon
“In a five star review on Amazon, Claire Morris-Dobie posted, “It’s tough to pin down Sj’s Mule to a specific audience. I loved it and so did our 9 year old grandson. It’s entertaining and educational on so many levels and for ages eight to 80.
On the surface, it seems like such a straightforward story with adorable talking animals but there is so much more to it. I now see it as a coming of age allegory with family members and everyday joys and mishaps that we can all relate to…There were plenty of times during the read that I had to stop and think about the deeper meaning of a passage.
Sj tells her story using animals just as Orwell did in Animal Farm but thankfully, there are revelations rather than revolutions, and compassion conquers tyranny…This is a sweet and sad, and often laugh out loud read and somewhere in the middle, I forgot all the characters were animals.”
Claire Morris-Dobie, author of Dear God, Got a Minute? and Slam: A New Way to Tell the Truth
2. Join friends, family, and strangers at the table where mostly LOVE is consumed in Timi O’Malley‘s book Consuming Love: The Joy of Sharing Meals.
Available at Amazon.
Author Timi O’Malley
“These wonderful stories take us around the world in Timi O’Malley’s unifying voice of love. The spiritual lessons are rich and gratifying.”
Miranda Macpherson,
author of “The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation” (Sounds True 2018
3. Learn tools to better navigate the loss of a LOVED one (and help make the process more peaceful) in Anne Vlahos’ book, To Die For: The Gifts of Being Present Through Loss and Grief
Available at Amazon
Author Anne Vlahos
“Anne candidly shares not only her pain and anxiety, but her journey to weave together beliefs, spiritual encounters and hope as she faced the deaths of her parents.”
Dr. Heidi Horsely,
Internationally Known Grief Expert, Co-host of the Award-Winning TV and radio show, Open to Hope
Three friends. Three unique voices.
ALL sharing the LOVE that they are.
1 Year Ago…
I met two friends from high school for dinner.
It was August 2017, and I had come to the mainland (from Kaua‘i) to write.
What was I going to write?
I had NO idea.
But I just knew that I had to write. I knew that it was time to rid myself of distractions. And make a commitment (to myself) to show up each and every day. Something was brewing within me, and I could feel that it needed to be shared with the world.
Yes, the world!
In time, I began to realize that it was simply a message of love. That you’re loved and perfect as you are.
Written by Tracey, my beautiful friend on my right.
You can imagine how thrilled I was to receive this text and discover how deeply my expression of love (which revealed itself as my first book My Life as a Mule) touched my friend’s heart.
It still thrills me to the core of my being to know that something I wrote, OR more correctly, something that was written through me, brought joy to someone. A smile to their face.
Okay, Sj, that’s nice for you (you’re thinking), but what’s that got to do with ME?
I felt led to remind you that the world needs YOUR love as well! Yes, the WORLD!
No one but YOU can express the love that you are in the way that you do.
So, please, let your light shine! Show the world how very, very beautiful you are. We need you. Exactly as you ARE.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
✫ Sj ✫
And my beautiful friend on my LEFT is the illustrator of my book, Jocelyne Shiner!!!!!!
P.S. Wondering where you can order your copy?
Through Amazon.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
On this day, I marvel at how life has unfolded.
At the moment, I am alone.
Gratefully home alone in a clean cottage.
A home magically provided when needed.
So very grateful,
So very grateful,
I am.
And I give thanks for this time alone.
This time to simply BE.
For in simply being, I am shown all that life is.
The joy.
The sorrow.
The fear.
The love.
With love ever present.
The foundation.
The roof.
The contents.
Ever present even in the fear.
Or in the sadness
And joy.
LOVE is always there.
And on this day, I give thanks for YOU.
For the part we’ve played in each others’ lives.
For nothing is an accident.
Or coincidence.
But rather each bumping into
and seemingly chance smile,
is a nod from the Divine.
A reminder that we are
LOVED.
That we
ARE
love.
And with this
virtual
bump,
I send
all the love
that I am
to
YOU!!!
x
x
x
o
x
o
x
:
)
Happy
Happy
Thanksgiving!