The Moon Taught Me is a powerful collection of poetry that describes the author's journey through love, heartbreak, darkness, and her search for the light. It is a deeply spiritual and honest depiction of the highs and lows of love, overcoming trauma, reconciling inherited ancestral pain, and discovering self-love through acceptance. This book is for the empaths, the dreamers, the healers, the misfits, and the lovers in this world. The people who feel.
In this collection of her finest and best-known short essays, Natalia Ginzburg explores both the mundane details and inescapable catastrophes of personal life with the grace and wit that have assured her rightful place in the pantheon of classic mid-century authors. Whether she writes of the loss of a friend, Cesare Pavese; or what is inexpugnable of World War II; or the Abruzzi, where she and her first husband lived in forced residence under Fascist rule; or the importance of silence in our society; or her vocation as a writer; or even a pair of worn-out shoes, Ginzburg brings to her reflections the wisdom of a survivor and the spare, wry, and poetically resonant style her readers have come to recognize. "A glowing light of modern Italian literature . . . Ginzburg's magic is the utter simplicity of her prose, suddenly illuminated by one word that makes a lightning streak of a plain phrase. . . . As direct and clean as if it were carved in stone, it yet speaks thoughts of the heart.' — The New York Times Book Review
"It was during my eighth or ninth plant medicine journey that I was finally getting a real sense of freedom. I was feeling so elated that I told the moon I had a special request. I explained that this life had been so full of pain for me that I didn't think I could do it all again. So I asked her if in my next life she could make sure that I found the plant medicine as soon as possible. Her reply floored me. She typed, ‘Gerry, that's a request about next time, but it's the same one you used last time.'" Plant medicine? The moon typing? It probably seems incomprehensible. Gerard Armond Powell was a rags-to-riches success story—a member of the 1 percent—but also an extremely unhappy person with multiple addictions. On a fast track to destroying every relationship that ever mattered to him and considering suicide, he was looking for a miracle, a way out. He found it in the form of plant medicine and a shaman who introduced him to the truth of his life, and laid the groundwork for a psycho-spiritual journey that would lead him to reconnect with his soul, heal his addictions, and, finally, achieve a lasting sense of peace and happiness. This experience changed Powell, and convinced him to share the universal truths he learned with as many people as he could, which he does at the acclaimed Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, and now with readers in Sh*t the Moon Said. This mesmerizing story gives readers a blueprint to chart their own course to happiness. The first step is to learn who they really are and the possibilities of what they can still become. Second, they have to achieve a reconnection with their souls. And third, they must heal their hearts. Sh*t the Moon Said provides us with an irreverent way of highlighting our shared unconscious wisdom and its life-changing potential. Powell's candid tale and unlikely journey will help inspire readers to know themselves better, and to find the path to their own greatest redemption.
Beloved American hero and astronaut Buzz Aldrin reflects on the wisdom, guiding principles, and irreverent anecdotes he's gathered—both in outer space and on earth—through his event-filled life, in this inspiring guide-to-life for the next generation. Everywhere he goes, crowds gather to meet Buzz Aldrin. He is a world-class hero, a larger-than-life figurehead, best known of a generation of astronauts whose achievements surged in just a few years from first man in space to first men on the moon. Now he pauses to reflect and share what he has learned, from the vantage point not only of outer space but also of time: still a non-stop traveler and impassioned advocate for space exploration, Aldrin will be 86 in 2016. No Dream Is Too High whittles down Buzz Aldrin's event-filled life into a short list of principles he values, each illustrated by fascinating anecdotes and memories, such as: · Second comes right after first. NASA protocol should have meant he was first on the moon, but rules changed just before the mission. How he learned to be proud of being the second man on the moon. · Look for opportunities, not obstacles. Buzz was rejected the first time he applied to be an astronaut. Failure is an opportunity to learn to do better. · Always maintain your spirit of adventure. For his 80th birthday, Buzz went diving in the Galapagos and hitched a ride on a whale shark. He stays fit, energetic, and fascinated with life. No Dream Is Too High is a beautiful memento, a thought-provoking set of ideas, and a new opportunity for Buzz Aldrin to connect with the masses of people who recognize his unique place in human history.
Teetering awkwardly on the brink of insanity, unable to handle life in snowy, cold, ultra-conservative North Idaho, Carl and Erin sold their house and set out in search of a new place to call home. Suddenly finding themselves completely free of responsibilities, jobless, and with a little spare cash in the bank, it didn't take long before their serious search for a new life took some unexpected twists and turns. "What do you think we should do when we return to the States?" Erin asked Carl, as they sat outside a tiny cafe sipping coffee. It was a question that had been plaguing her for weeks as they budget travelled across South East Asia in an attempt to avoid winter (and reality). "I've been thinking about it, and I think we should thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail." Was Carl's totally unexpected reply. Spend months on end traipsing through the wilderness, petting bunnies and chasing rainbows, as they hiked 2,660 miles from Mexico to Canada? How could Erin possibly say no? Life Rule #1: Never, ever, turn down an adventure. Friends wagered they wouldn't last a week, but before they knew it, days turned into months as they made their way across America at three miles an hour. As Carl and Erin morphed into Bearclaw and Hummingbird, they found that being hikertrash suited them. Though they will both admit the trail was life altering, there were no great epiphanies, no magic answers to all of life's burning questions, no "ah-ha " moments when suddenly life made sense. This is not a tale of personal growth. Through blisters and shin splints, jaw-dropping landscapes and craptastically unspectacular forests, searing heat and pouring rain, complete hilarity and utter exhaustion, this is the story of what day-to-day life is really like on one of America's greatest trails. As told through Hummingbird's journal entries, this is the story of life on the trail - the people you meet, the things you see, and how, mile by mile, you eventually become Hikertrash. Includes: 6 Overview Maps to Follow our Journey 19 Black & White Photos of Sights Along the Trail Leave No Trace Tips Our Gear Lists Our Trail Recipes What Is Hikertrash? Hikertrash: a long distance hiker, shabby and homeless in appearance, rarely bathed and rank in odor, more at home outdoors than in society, with a deep reverence and respect for all things wild.
"...examines motherhood in all its complexities and nuances. In this delightful volume of poetry and prose you can find mothers who were present and mothers who were absent, mothers who laughed every day and mothers who cried more often than not, mothers who raised their children all on their own and mothers who had a partner by their side. The pages are alive with diverse mothers who gave each contributor their advice, love, and life-lessons..."--Christine Green, literary arts columnist, Democrat and Chronicle (on back cover).
She Taught Me is gut wrenching, powerfully raw, and brilliantly infused with rich insights for every woman whose identity, passion, and spirit have been compromised. Lylas journey will facilitate your own transformational process of embracing pain to discover the true essence of your freedom. Teri Sica, LICSW Psychotherapist, WATD-FM Radio Show Host Based on true events, Lylas saga is provocative and revealing, captivating and demanding of empathy. A woman so twisted beyond her authentic self from violation and clandestine sex, she doesnt notice her soul slip away. Self reproach leads her choices into a life trajectory of circumstances plagued by undeserving crisis, as witnessed in her daughters tragic disabling injury. When her soul screams to return, only by embracing fortitude can she validate her pain and grasp the freedom that lay beyond. But the alchemy required to disrobe the cloak of shame shes enmeshed herself with thwarts her healing with its toxic visceral side effects. So many mirrors reflect the self loathing and secrets still hidden in the shadows and her strangled silence longs to be given a voice. Lyla seeks traditional and alternative methods to reinvent herself, eventually proving the indomitable courage of our spirit illuminates the path towards healing where one can create a future where potential becomes promise. Lylas poignant journey resolves giving you inspiration as she shows us how trauma can be turned into treasure.
'If the form of my poetry is thoroughly European, its content is thoroughly African.' Thus the author introduces this collection of some eighty of his poems written between the late 1950s and the present: from the settler period through the civil war, to independence and neo- colonialism. The poems explore the contradictions and creative possibilities of an identity that is at once native and white, European and African. The voice is varyingly satirical, confessional, outraged and affectionate. "These poems have nothing to do with white nostalgia for the colonial period. On the contrary, they circle round [the author's] attempt both to embrace a past and wean himself from it."
In this book the author examines various aspects of a selection of Western Great Lakes American Indian philosophical traditions and beliefs. He combines over forty years of stories, anecdotes, and observations learned from Western Great Lakes tribal elders into a coherent and thought-provoking philosophy text which challenges readers to look beyond their own cultural prepossessions and discover a method of asking questions where the answers come from within. Contents: Setting the Stages: From Another Perspective; The Atisokanak World; Creation and the Early "Earth World"; The Earth and its "People"; The Star People; The Inherent Primacy of Female Beings.
