Book Musings: Cats and Art and Barefoot

the-cats-in-krasinksi-square-book-2016

The Cats in Krasinski Square

Wonderful book about how cats outfoxed the Gestapo at the train station in Warsaw during World War II.

Love the Author’s Note and Historical Note concluding the book.

We all loved this book

art-from-her-heart-book-2016

Art From Her Heart

I loved this book, story and the self-taught artist it is about, Clementine Hunter. I’ve been wanting to take a painting class for years. I’d been waiting for the money to do this, the right materials, and the time.

About a month before we read this book, I let all that go. I began using what we had; the acrylic paint we had, the brushes we had, and using cardboard from food packages as canvas. I’m having the time of my life painting and playing around with the brushes and colors. Thomas and Lillian loved it too!

from the jacket cover: Clementine Hunter was a self-taught artist who captured scenes of the backbreaking work and joyous celebrations in southern farm life. Her work preserves a part of American history we rarely see, and the story of how she came to paint proves that art can help keep the spirit alive.

whole-body-barefoot-book

Whole Body Barefoot

Loved educating myself about how footwear choices are limiting the movement of our entire body. And how to make different choices.

I confess that I didn’t read every word in the book. Just pieces and sections that I felt moved to read.

Used birthday money back in February to order my first pair of barefoot, minimal shoes – custom made. It took me a while to figure out how to get the tying just right for me. Now that I’ve got it the way I want, I LOVE these shoes!

xero-sandals-2016-4 xero-sandals-2016-3 camillas-xero-sandals-2016-2 camillas-xero-sandals-2016-1

I help to support my family with my writings. So … there are Amazon affiliate links in this post. This simply means that if you click through to Amazon for more information about a book, and you buy something, we get a few cents (and it doesn’t cost you anything more than usual). Oceans of gratitude … xoxo

Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!

Wonderfully exciting news! We’ve completed the first book trailer for my 10 year old son’s,Thomas Darnell, upcoming book, Biggest Little Photographer. You can learn more and pre-order here. We should have the books in hand by end of October 2016.

Book Musings: Authenticity and The Dalai Lama and Acts of Kindness

Dying to Be Me Book 2016

Dying to Be Me

I can’t even describe what a deep connection I feel with Anita Moorjani and what she shares in this book … her childhood and the thoughts she had growing up and as an adult.

I read this book straight through in about a day back in December 2015. Her words were the catalyst for an internal shift within me … that was just waiting for the perfect tipping point. So amazing.

“I believe that the greatest truths of the universe don’t lie outside, in the study of the stars and the planets. They lie deep within us, in the magnificence of our heart, mind, and soul. Until we understand what is within, we can’t understand what is without. ……..

I understood that I owed it to myself, to everyone I met, and to life itself to always be an expression of my own unique essence. Trying to be anything or anyone else didn’t make me better – it just deprived me of my true self!

It kept others from experiencing me for who I am, and it deprived me of interacting authentically with them. Being inauthentic also deprives the universe of who I came her to be and what I came here to express.”

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, inspiring, life-shifting book …. and I’m grateful to Anita Moorjani for sharing her story. A story about shifting from living life and making decisions from a place of fear to living life and making decisions from a place of LOVE.

And grateful for the friend who loaned it to me when I mentioned I had just heard an interview with her and that it had moved me greatly. xoxo

The Dalai Lama Demi Book 2015

The Dalai Lama

I love books by Demi! The illustrations are so beautiful and we just love reading them. Thomas wanted me to read The Dalai Lama again. I so enjoy having Thomas and Lillian sit beside me and reading them a book. xoxo

The Man Who Walked the Earth 2016 Book

The Man Who Walked the Earth

Magical story about a stranger visiting a family on Christmas night. All about performing acts of kindness for strangers. GREAT!!

I help to support my family with my writings. I share my writings for free for the benefit of others. So … there are Amazon affiliate links in this post. This simply means that if you click through to Amazon for more information about a book, and you buy something, we get a few cents (and it doesn’t cost you anything more than usual). Also, If you benefited from this writing, would you like to toss a tip in the love offering “bucket”? Oceans of gratitude … xoxo

Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!

Did you know I wrote a book? It’s titled “D iz for Different – One Woman’s Journey to Acceptance” and you can read more about it here.

Latest “Book and Movie Musings”:
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Book Musings: Robins and Freedom and Lady Slippers

April 2014: “Who Wrote That – Louisa May Alcott”(amazon affiliate link) Lillian read this yesterday and loved it! She kept sharing sections with me that she thought were interesting. She loved this poem and I thought it was pretty cool too!!

To the First Robin

WELCOME, welcome, little stranger,
Fear no harm, and fear no danger;
We are glad to see you here,
For you sing “Sweet Spring is near.”
Now the white snow melts away;
Now the flowers blossom gay: Come dear bird and build your nest,
For we love our robin best.

I had a Pema Chodron marathon a few months back! Here’s another!

Taking the Leap – Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears (amazon affiliate link)

“Again and again, we run from discomfort and go for short-term symptom relief, which never addresses the root of the problem. We’re like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand in hopes of finding comfort. …. this continual cycle of avoiding the present is referred to as self-absorption, self-clinging, or ego.

One way to practice staying present is to pause, look out, and take three deep breaths. Another way is to simply sit still for a while and listen. Simply listen to the sounds in the room. For one minute, listen to the sounds close to you. For one minute, listen to the sounds at a distance. Jut listen attentively. The sounds isn’t good or bad. It’s just sound.”

LOVE her books!!

The Legend of the Lady Slipper (amazon affiliate link) 

Great retelling of an Ojibwe legend about lady slippers, courage and love. We enjoyed it!

Blessings, Camilla

See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!

Did you know I wrote a book? It’s titled “D iz for Different – One Woman’s Journey to Acceptance” and you can read more about it here.

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Book Musings: Titanic and Scary Places and Sailors

Titanicat (amazon affiliate link)

Beautifully illustrated story of the cat of the Titanic. I didn’t even know there was a ship cat! We sure enjoyed this one!

Have yet to read one of Pema Chodron’s books that I don’t find meaningful. So raw and real! Love, love, love!!

The Places That Scare You (amazon affiliate link)

“We are being encouraged to remain open to the present groundless moment, to a direct, unarmored participation with our experience. We are certainly not being asked to trust that everything is going to be all right. Moving in the direction of nothing to hold on to is daring. We will not initially experience it as a thrilling, alive, wonderful way to be. How many of us feel ready to interrupt our habitual patterns, our almost instinctual ways of getting comfortable?”

The Shipwrecked Sailor (amazon affiliate link)

Based on a 19th century B.C. Egyptian story found on a papyrus scroll. Mysterious and enchanting! We absolutely enjoyed this one!

Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!

Did you know I wrote a book? It’s titled “D iz for Different – One Woman’s Journey to Acceptance” and you can read more about it here.

Latest “Book and Movie Musings”:
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