“Insights” by Mary Mikawoz

Insights

From years of spiritual pursuit and personal reflection, I have come up with these 5 insights.

These are “Insights” by Mary Mikawoz

“Anger is about unmet expectations.”
“Depression is anger turned inwards.”
“Anxiety is worrying about the future.”
“We all need goals – mini steps in life.”
“Live in the present – that is all we have.”

Image of rose was photographed by Mary Mikawoz

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Solemn

This drawing started off as drawing of coloured pencils, blue pen and markers. I then took the basic shape or frame of it and enhanced it digitally. I found it to be a good experience because the essential flow of it stayed intact which I like very much.

I was feeling solemn when I drew this picture but where there is darkness, a ray of light peaks in and brings hope.

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Mosaic

The world is a mosaic. It is a combination of all sorts of people but we are all one. We come in various shapes, colours and combinations but essentially we are souls having a human experience.

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Young and Old

I love the contrast between the old rose on the right-hand side who has lived her life and is dying now. The beauty on the right is just beginning her life. Roses are just gorgeous even if they come with prickly thorns. It is the way of life – negative and positive making up the whole – isn’t it?

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Soul Purpose

Book: “The Soul Purpose Method: Discover Your Unique Calling, Reawaken to Your True Self, and Co-create the Inspired Life You Were Meant to Live,” Licia Rester and Kir Souder, Kynosura Publishing and Paper Raven Books, 2019

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available: August 20, 2019

This book starts off with three major sections: Intention, Liberation and and Co-Creation. Within these sections, are more chapters with lots of good information.

Rester and Souder outline that you should be doing that which makes you come alive and to do that with your life – not some pre-fabricated need of society or the world although that might be what you end up doing. They believe that once you combine intention, liberation and co-creation, you get your soul’s purpose. That is the formula.

Further to that, they believe that the summit is inside of you to be discovered and not in someplace outside of yourself. You already have all the equipment needed to get there. As Steve Jobs says, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what your truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Licia and Kir refer to your soul’s purpose as a “Northern Intention.”

Licia and Kir go through 7 myths regarding soul purpose.

They are:

1. I don’t have a purpose.
2. I have to find or figure out my purpose.
3. I don’t have enough money, time and/or opportunities to pursue my purpose.
4. I’m not sure the purpose I’ve identified is my real purpose.
5. I’m not “good” enough (confident, patient, focused, disciplined, skilled, smart, motivated, or energetic enough) to pursue my purpose.
6. I have too many other responsibilities, obligations and priorities.
7. I can’t let down or alienate people in my life.

Further on when dealing with issues surrounding fear, the authors use a quote from Albert Einstein. It reads, “The intuitive mind is a scared gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Their own quote is valid, “What we intend, what we believe, what we choose, and what we act on will create the story of our lives.” That is, indeed, a profound statement.

Finally, the authors ask you to co-create with the Universe or Higher Power or God or Spirit. Paraphrased, they ask you to continue towards service in learning and growing in awareness of who you truly are and in manifesting your goals and dreams in alignment with the highest good of everyone involved.

Rester and Souder indicate that “Wisdom, inspiration and guidance can come at any time, in any form.”

After you have developed your “Northern Intention,” you develop your “Soul Purpose Vision” and then finally you create “Your Soul Purpose Action Plan.” They outline 5 steps in creating effective actions steps.

The biggest take-away from this book is something I know from many of my spiritual practices from books, videos and practices and that is when you are asking for guidance from the divine, you ask, “This or something better for the highest good of all concerned.”

The acorn has the information and drive to become the majestic oak tree and the caterpillar has what it takes to become a butterfly. It is already in them.

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 so basically a 5 out of 5 and find that it is both a motivational and inspirational book with many insights.

Tags: Licia Rester, Kir Souder, Kynosura Publishing, Paper Raven Books, Purpose, Calling, Northern Intention, Vision, Spirit, Soul, True Self, Life, Purpose, Vision, Divine, Universe, God, Intention, Liberation, Co-creation, Spiritual, Spirituality, Inspirational, Motivational, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

Be Amazing

Book: “Be Amazing: Discover Your Purpose, Conquer Your Fears, and Fulfill Your Potential,” Paul S. Boynton, Skyhorse Publishing, 2020

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available: January 7, 2020

“Be Amazing” was an inspirational concept and experience that Paul S. Boynton received after visiting and receiving outstanding service at a restaurant. From there, he goes on to explain that giving your all is necessary in your endeavours. He writes, “It starts with a desire to be the best we can be in a specific area, followed by a decision to actually make it happen.” That is the essence of the book as Paul outlines a number of other people and situations that were outstanding in his opinion.

He outlines six points for Amazing Qualities. One of the quotes that he writes that I like is when you are doing that one special thing, you don’t have to be the best and as a Zen saying goes, “Flowers don’t compare themselves to other flowers, they just bloom.” That is a very encouraging thought and causes some self-reflection.

Mr. Boynton goes on to say that people know when people are being authentic and when they are with the “real deal.” People can recognize a disingenuous smile and reaction.

He gives out some steps on being amazing. They are as follows:

1. Find your “Spirit Blueprint”
2. Making a decision
3. Discover what amazing will look like
4. Making it happen

He writes his book from a question and answer process. This is how he engages the reader. I understand why Paul does this although I am not sure I like this process. I would prefer he just wrote the book in a straight-forward manner with the assumption that the reader has had those questions and he would answer them without indicating each time what the question was or is.

I like how the end finishes with a quote such as: “Remember, every book began with a single sentence. And every garden started with just a few seeds.”

This book was rather short. I would have preferred a longer version with more stories and examples of excellence.

For an inspirational short read, I give this book a 3.75 out of 5.

Tags: Paul S. Boynton, Skyhorse Publishing, Amazing, Purpose, Fears, Potential, Self-development, Self-help, Spirit, Spiritual, Power of Yes, Begin with Yes, Spirit Blueprint, Decisions, Action, Motivation, Inspiration, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

Death and Dying

Book: “What the Dead Are Dying to Teach Us: Lessons Learned From the Afterlife,” by Claire Broad, Watkins Publishing, 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available September 10, 2019

Claire Broad tries hard and for that I have to give her some credit. She has written a basic book about mediumship and what the dead are trying to teach us. It is a good beginner introduction but if you are aware of anything about what decease spirits are saying, it is repetitive from other sources. If you watch Long Island Medium, Mama Medium, Mom’s a Medium or have seen John Edward, Colette Baron-Reid, John Holland, James Van Praagh you should be aware of the major points spiritual people are making.

I found myself becoming quite busy and so had to leave the book mainly read but not entirely. It was a mistake because I was not “called” back to the book. I eventually came back to it to finish it off and give it a proper reading. I am sorry to say but much of what has been said in this book has been said by many others beforehand.

Here are the seven main points. “You are spirit or conscious awareness. Death is an illusion because consciousness is not confined. You are never alone. You can rise above fear. Love never dies as your life has purpose. Ask and it will be given. And nobody dies alone.”

To be fair, I went over my notes and I found that I liked Claire’s Call to Action sections.

To conclude, I would have to say that if you are dealing with death or are curious about the afterlife, this is a good introductory book. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. If you interested in life between lives, I would recommend the hypnotic work of Dr. Michael Newton of the Newton Institute.

Tags:  Claire Broad, Waktins Publishing, death, medium, mediumship, dead, spirit, spiritual, psychic, Long Island Medium, Mama Medium, John Edward, Colette Baron-Reid, John Holland, James Van Praagh, spirit, consciousness, illusion, fear, love, purpose, Dr. Michael Newton, Newton Institute, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

Mindfulness

 

Book: “What’s Beyond Mindfulness: Waking Up to This Precious Life?” by Stephen Fulder, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available January 15, 2019

It has taken me quite some time to read this book as I had to keep getting re-acquainted to the book as I needed to keep putting it down for consideration and reflection The book is about mindfulness. It is about Buddhism being part of our way of life that can be inclusive of already understood religions like the Judeo-Christian ones. Buddhism, as a way of life, adds to these existing religions in a way that is not adverse to them and so it is a good adjunct.

Stephen Fulder has done a lot of things including having Israeli-Palestinian workshops trying to give peace a chance in the Middle East. People leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the “enemy” and come to see that there is a humanity and spirituality in all people.

I appreciated the appendix as it offered a question/answer format. I would have, in many ways, preferred if the entire book had been written this way. Buddhism some may say is easy to learn, however, I find it much more difficult to understand and therefore difficult to write and read about.

I appreciated quotes from spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and the many Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders. The books goes into the stories of the bible like Jonah and Job, as well as into a number of psalms. Stephen also has written a number of poems throughout the book.

One quote early on I like is “We can live a wise inner life of reflection, creativity and inspiration, a life with wide horizons.” Another quote towards the middle that I like is “Consciousness is pure, it is our Buddha-nature, our pure being.” Finally, a quote near the end is that “The Sanskrit wordsamadhiis used for deep quiet, serenity and concentration, and it actually means to gather ourselves together. To bring ourselves back home.” The eight tenets of Buddhism were mentioned as well.

There is a lot of information provided but I am coming from a spiritual/New Age perspective so I found myself at odds with a number of the concepts. One example is karma. I disagree with what the books says. I do think it is about cause and effect. I do think that what you have done in a previous lifetimes affects you in your current life. Many situations that you are dealing with in life are as a result of either good intention or bad intention actions in past lives.

I appreciated the vocabulary of terms in the appendix in the back. I commend Stephen Fulder for the positive work he has done in society overall.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars out of 5 because it is informative but not in a structured way. Like I mentioned above, I think the book would have been more logical to understand and also more focussed if it were a question-answer process as the concepts are difficult to grasp due to our dualistic way of thinking.

Tags:Buddhism Buddha, Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi. Judeo-Christian, Jonah, Job, Psalm, karma, situations, dualism, cause and effect, spirit, spirituality, New Age, lifetime, consciousness, reflection, creativity, Sanskrit, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review.

HSP – Highly Sensitive People

Book: “The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People:How to Transform Feeling Overwhelmed and Frazzled to Empowered and Fulfilled,” by Mel Collins, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

The book is available January 15, 2019.

Mel Collins worked in a prison for over 10 years as a HSP or Highly Sensitive Person. She realized that this was not the best match and so studied to become a therapist which was ideal for her intuitive abilities.

Some people are scared that they are so highly sensitive or intuitive but Mel Collins sees this as a gift. She believes in having a balanced life between the feminine and the masculine aspects or the yin and yang of the person.

She also believes in having a balance between physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. By keeping these areas balanced and shiny like a diamond, there will be very positive results for the HSP.

Mel Collins talks about the chakras and the auric field. She talks about EFT tapping. She discusses ways to protect HSP from outside energies in a number of ways.

There area a number of ways to deal with energy fields. First is the golden light technique, second is visualizing using colours, third is the spotlight method, fourth is crystal therapy and fifth is prayer or faith-based techniques. It is important to clear energetic hooks or cords and cleansing your aura and chakras by the silver shower method, the violet flame method, or smudging or burning sage. Plus, there is the power of salt and the pool of purification method.

Mel Collins says there are earthbound spirits that may attach to a HSP because of the lighter and higher vibrations the person is giving off and because the person is a helper. In these cases, it is important to get the spirit to understand that they are no longer living and should move onto the light.

She talks about the divine blueprint that is with all of us before we reincarnated. We often deal with outstanding issues from previous lifetimes. Mel also does past-life regression therapy work and feels it could be important to realizing why we are here on Earth.

I found the book about Highly Sensitive People to be a good one because I am one. I thought what can this author teach me that I already don’t know about myself and the spirit world but she did a pretty good overview. I liked the book and would recommend it to people who are intuitive but still developing their spiritual practice. For those who have been evolving for awhile, it is a good overview.

Tags: highly sensitive people, person, intuition, yin, yang, masculine, feminine, chakras, aura, energy field, spirit, spirituality, past-life regression, emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.

365 Ways to Beat Stress

 

Book: “365 Ways to Beat Stress: How to Relax and Find Perfect Calm” by Adam Gordon (ed), Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available April 16, 2019

There are a few sections to this book: Mornings, Dealing with Stress and Emotions, Positive Change, Mind and Spirit, Body, The Peaceful Home, Work, People, Creativity and Play, and Evenings.

There are common-sense and yet new ways of dealing with stress. This book is full of good ideas from drawing insight from your dreams to thinking how you can give joy to one person today as you walk to singing in the showers.

I recommend this book to those who would like to give a thoughtful gift. It can be used daily as an inspiration to what to do with your life to destress. It is well thought out and worth it.

Tags: peace, meditations, inspirations, spirit, Mornings, Dealing with Stress and Emotions, Positive Change, Mind and Spirit, Body, The Peaceful Home, Work, People, Creativity and Play, and Evenings.