Free Kindle eBook: Owning Ourselves (Nov 15 2015)

Today (Nov 15, 2015) Owning Ourselves: A Practical Guide to Awakening the Western Mind is available FREE on Kindle. I had the pleasure of working with the author on editing and publishing this book. He’s a great guy, and you can read more about him and his approach to life on his Owning Ourselves blog. Take a look!

Front cover of the bok Owning Ourselves

Owning Ourselves

From the description on Amazon:

Do you sense there’s something more to life?

Do you feel you’re missing something? Do you feel trapped by circumstances? Can’t find a way out? Do you feel disconnected from your true self? Does life seem like a hollow farce or a shame-filled tragedy? Have you relied on thinking as the only proper response to the confusion of life, only to discover that thinking is its own trap?

In Owning Ourselves: A Practical Guide to Awakening the Western Mind, A. Charles describes the path many of us have taken, only to find ourselves cornered and asleep. He then offers an approach to awaken our minds to the possibilities of the world and to the possibilities inherent in all of us.

This book is for all of us who want to move forward with relief, awareness, authenticity and joy.

FREE Kindle ebook: After the Shock

One of my big projects over the past year was working with Becky Sansbury to develop her book After The Shock: Getting You Back On The Road To Resilience When Crisis Hits You Head On. I know the content of the book intimately and can tell you without a doubt that Becky offers practical, comforting advice for those in crisis or walking alongside someone in crisis.

TODAY and THURSDAY (10/7 and 10/8) you can download the Kindle version FREE. Do it!

After the Shock

After the Shock

From the description on Amazon:

When you hear the word crisis what do you think? A dramatic car wreck. A critical medical diagnosis. Divorce. Job loss. Natural disaster. Death. What about the mini-shocks within those crises or the smaller events that disrupt our lives more frequently? A fender bender in rush-hour traffic. Personal information getting hacked. Being overlooked for a promotion.

When crisis hits, large or small, we are thrown off balance.In After The Shock: Getting You Back On The Road To Resilience When Crisis Hits You Head On, Becky Sansbury introduces a sustainable model to help you stabilize and move toward resilience.

After decades of working with people in crisis, she determined that four factors give us balance, strength and support throughout our lives, but especially in shocking times. Like the four tires of a car, comfort, control, community, and connection to something bigger than self provide both a base and a cushion for navigating the ruts and potholes of life. But that is not enough to move us on to resilience.

In the overwhelming confusion of crisis we crave a space safe for focusing on our current experience, strengthened by crucial lessons from the past. We make both casual and far-reaching decisions based on assumptions that may no longer be authentic or lead to our desired future. We grasp for resources, often unsure of what we need. Expanding the car metaphor, in After the Shock the reader learns effective ways to use the frame of experience, the steering capacity of assumptions, and the fuel of resources to lead toward more resilient responses in a variety of crises.

Reach for After the Shock to nurture healing through warmth and wisdom. Written in a conversational style, this book provides practical tools while wrapping you with virtual arms of support as you make your way from reaction to resilience.

Free Kindle ebook: Presentation Sin

Today (September 30) you can download Alan Hoffler’s new book Presentation Sin for FREE on Kindle.

Alan is a fantastic speaker and communications coach and trainer and owner of MillsWyck Communications. I took his Powerful, Persuasive Speaking and Powerful, Persuasive Content workshops a few years ago and became a convert to his approach. After years of freaking out over public speaking I became more comfortable on stage and more in tune with my audience. I also use his audience analysis and content development approaches in my writing.

Will a book make you a good speaker? Not on its own—you still need to practice. But this book will set you on the right path. And if you ever have a chance to take Alan’s workshops, by all means do!

Presentation Sin: FREE Sep 30!

Presentation Sin: FREE Sep 30!

Need some inspiration, creators?

You might find it in this podcast series from Charles Gupton: The Creator’s Journey.

The Creator’s Journey is a podcast serving creative people with a commitment to ship their work. Each week, I’ll interview creative leaders who consistently push through the fears and obstacles that every creator faces to produce their work.”

Aw shucks, I feel special

My good buddy Harry Calhoun has four poems on The Furious Gazelle today–and the first is dedicated to me! [furious blushing]

Enjoy!

Did you vote?

After a busy day of meetings and appointments, I just got back from voting on just about the longest ballot I can remember, including one judgeship with 19 candidates. Yup, that’s the way we roll here in NC.

What’s that? You haven’t voted yet?

Go to it, people!!

Mission Accomplished!

Look, Cook, and Eat just hit their Kickstarter goal of $45,000 in pledges—with 50 hours to spare! (There’s still time to contribute…)

Congratulations to Sue and the whole gang at Main Dish Media and Look, Cook, and Eat! And thanks to all the pledgers!

97.9% there with 66 hours to go!

The Look, Cook, and Eat Kickstarter campaign has reached $44,053 of the $45,000 goal! With only 66 hours to go, the end is in sight!

If you want to be the one to push them over the top, pledge now! (And of course, you can put a little gravy on those potatoes if you like.)

The project has gotten a good amount of media coverage. Rumor has it Nathan Fillion even retweeted it!

Thanks to everyone who has supported this project to create a digital how-to cooking magazine designed for those with intellectual disabilities to help promote an independent lifestyle.

I thank you. Mia thanks you. 🙂

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/950992225/look-cook-and-eat

Look, Cook, and Eat Media Coverage

Look, Cook, and Eat is getting some press for its Kickstarter campaign. Check out Epicurious and WHO-TV in Des Moines for their coverage.

Here’s a Digital Cooking Magazine Designed Especially for People with Learning Challenges | Epicurious.com

Baristas Inspire Project for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities | WHO-TV

This is a fantastic project that opens up the world of cooking for intellectually disabled adults. Please support it on Kickstarter or by sharing this information with those who may be interested. Thanks!

Look, Cook, and Eat Kickstarter

Main Dish Media has a wonderful project called Look, Cook and Eat, that offers a digital how-to cooking magazine designed for those with intellectual disabilities to help promote an independent lifestyle.

They are seeking $45,000 through Kickstarter, and are about a third of the way there, with 102 backers (including me) at this writing.

I know the folks involved in this effort–and they are awesome! Not only do they have loads of recipe-development, cooking, and publishing experience, they’ve worked with many remarkable people with intellectual disabilities.

Take a look at the video, make a contribution if you are so inclined, then share the projects with others who might be interested. Thank you!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/950992225/look-cook-and-eat