ABOUT MY BOOKS:
MY FIRST BOOK: "FOOTSTEPS IN THE SANDS OF TIME... My Journey of Remembering, Self-Healing and Learning Through 4 Lifetimes"
THE STORY:
tells the story of
what happened to me when I let go of almost everything outside, focused inside
and walked off the cliff of what I knew, like the Fool in the Tarot, and let
LIFE hold me impossibly in a net I couldn't
see...
"FOOTSTEPS IN THE SANDS OF TIME..." IS:
- A way of working with inner material, demonstrated with some of what I've faced and worked with in me...
- An adventure story...
- The story of a descent into my own personal Hell to incorporate all of who I've been through 3 past lives into the who I am becoming now in my current life...
- A story about learning to dance to the beat of my own drum and daring to be different....
- A love story spanning three lifetimes...
- A story about a meditative journey of remembering and healing four lifetimes of material alone, guided by my inner guides, but without any other visible support and of learning to hold all things tenderly with an open hand – neither grasping nor avoiding...
- A story about learning to listen and feel beneath the surface for a sense of "rightness" (which is indicative of where my inner guides are pointing) and allowing this to guide my steps even when these have led me where I didn't know and was afraid...
- A story about going where I've felt most confused, scared and hurt... facing all of how this has felt and working to understand what my guides and the life they've given me have had to teach me here...
- A sharing of much of what I've understood about LIFE and myself by working through all I've experienced in 4 lifetimes.... as well as the tools and methods I employed for remembering and then integrating the parts and faces these revealed .... which I've done by myself... alone... except for the help of my inner guides. We each have access to this wise part of ourselves with its wonderful help if we're open and receptive to it, but we have to make the choice and it isn't an easy choice because the directions they point in are so often places that "look" quite unappealing at first glance... However, after following mine and learning from them throughout this journey I know I NEVER want to lose touch with mine again! For me, it is their teaching which truly makes life worth living, no matter what it requires me to face!
THE PHYSICAL BOOK:
"FOOTSTEPS..."is beautifully illustrated and packed with what I’ve experienced and learned, through 4 lifetimes of living. As well as the art I’ve chosen for the cover, there are: 2 black and white and 13 brilliantly colored, full-page, original works of art, different from, but similar in quality, to those you see here. It is intended to be a joint exploration, becoming your own book growing with you. Consequently, in addition to the more than 140 pages of my material, this book also includes 14 blank pages, so there’s space for your thoughts too. I feel it is a book to be treasured, appreciated and worked with on many levels for a long time.
Clicking the text above will take
you on a journey through each of my 4 lives – there are five pages in total;
each of which will open on a separate window or tab (depending on which browser
you use) which you can close when you are ready to continue exploring my
web-site.
MY SECOND BOOK:
"AN INNER JOURNEY... Footsteps of Poetry and Art"
shares the essence of my experience as I took the journey detailed in "FOOTSTEPS...". It is a beautiful book about my walk alone through my inner landscape and what has happened to me through working with what I discovered. Each of the 30 poems is accompanied by its own full-page, illustrative, color artwork; demonstrating how I work with both art and poetry to access inner material. The poems bear such diverse titles as: "A Fairy Garden", "Empty", "Birth and Death", "Dancing with Fire", "On the Edge of a Deepening Love", "Hunger" and "For the First Time". It makes a perfect companion to "FOOTSTEPS..." as well as being perfect for those interested in my journey, but not in remembering or working with memories. The information on the "Meditations" and the "My Art" pages here on my web-site should give you a good sense of this book's flavor. The art I've chosen for it repeats a few of the pieces I've used here on my web-site, but it is all different from the art I've chosen for "FOOTSTEPS...", so it is predominantly new.
EXCERPT FROM:
Clicking the text above will open a separate window or tab (depending on which browser you use) with an excerpt from "An Inner Journey...". Close it when you are ready to continue exploring my web-site
For those interested in more about how I've worked, "An Inner Journey..." also includes an additional section on working alone. In this section you will find a few things I've found to be "soul stretchers" as well as some tools and methods I've used and a few examples of explorations and meditations which I've found helpful, Some of the titles included in this section are: Inner Alchemy, Working with Fairy Tales and Why I love Them, Body & Soul, Patterns of Similar & Different, Choosing My Food Meditatively, Plant Wisdom and The Three Little Pigs. I've also listed some additional meditations, I've explored in depth and which you might also like to explore. I've done many of these meditations, and have found them to provide a very effective way of working to clarify confusion. They are a focused way of journaling. Journaling I've found to be a wonderful tool for discovering what lies inside and bringing ideas and feelings to the surface where they can be examined and felt, but I feel the meditations are a step beyond, as they provide a way of organizing and working with what is found by journaling... Although the meditations I've shared are more polished than those I've done for myself I feel the examples I have here on my web-site, along with what I've included in the book should give you a good sense of this approach.
The poems and other material I've chosen for this book traverse terrain ranging from the mystery of hunger to the magic of fairy tales... and have provided substantial nourishment for my soul: with things to see, perspectives to consider and questions to ponder; helping me to deepen my understanding of LIFE, myself and my ideals of "good" and "beautiful"... I hope they will do the same for you... and make this a book you treasure, appreciate and work with for a long time...
HOW MY BOOKS DIFFER:
Yes both books do cover the same almost twenty years of my life, so they do have material in common, but all of it isn't in "Footsteps...". For material that is covered in both books, "An Inner Journey..." gives a different perspective. "Footsteps..." is specifically focused on remembering, working with memories and integration. "An Inner Journey..." is just about my solitary walk, following my inner guides through my inner landscape and the work I've done there alone not about remembering or integration. It is more topically oriented, while "Footsteps..." is more process oriented. "Footsteps...", like its title suggests, focuses more on the individual steps and how it all began... It focuses on the steps to remembering and working with what I found and gives a detailed account of the process. "An Inner Journey...", on the contrary, gives a broad overview of what it's been like to walk and work inside..
To use a forest and trees analogy; "Footsteps..." is about the trees, while "An Inner Journey..." is about the forest. Also, as "An Inner Journey..." was written later, it focuses more on the end of the journey; dealing primarily with how I felt at the end and the puzzles and questions which are the residue remaining. It does highlight some of the pivotal things experienced along the way with their benefits and difficulties, but not from the same perspective as "Footsteps...". I find poetry lends itself better to a feeling, watery kind of picture, so "An Inner Journey..." has the feel of a water color artwork about it. "Footsteps..", on the other hand, feels more like a photograph to me. However, this analogy is imperfect because it suggests that the photograph gives the "true", complete picture and this isn't the case here... Histories are complex, with many parts and with a change in perspective and emphasis different parts are revealed
HOW MY BOOKS ARE SIMILAR:
It has taken me 4 life-times to write these books, which cover the journey I took from roughly mid 1992 through to the end of 2011. To catch their full flavor I feel they need to be thought about, considered and compared to your own experiences and beliefs. They want to be sipped like fine wine; savored slowly, little by little; ambled through like an old country garden... As with so many things in life, I've found the slower I go, the more I've noticed... The contemplation / meditation time spent on what is noticed is a gift to oneself. The more I've given, the better I've understood myself and my life...
All of the art in both of my books has been created in "meditative consciousness" and is specifically designed for meditation. It has taken me years to understand my art. Although others may not need to spend as much time understanding it as I have, it feels important that each piece be given sufficient time to speak to you in your own language. I feel certain they each have many more messages to reveal than those I have gleaned from sitting with them, so it feels important they be given the meditation / contemplation time required for them to speak to you personally. I plan to print both of my books on quality, environmentally friendly paper and spiral bind them, so the images are easily accessible, allowing you to sit with them, listening for what they have to say to you.
As these books have taken me 4 lifetimes to write, they also take time to read; mulling over and considering the words and images I’ve shared, in the light of your own experiences. They are thought provoking books; requiring slow pondering over and examination, feeling for and understanding your own “right” space according to how what I’ve presented affects you. I’ve enjoyed creating both of them and I hope you find them equally beneficial and enjoyable to read and work with.
Although pieces of my work and therefore also of my books can be used in many ways, since each person's journey is unique, they are NOT for everyone. Sometimes, you may want to try something I've done, but modified or applied differently, sometimes what I've done won't be "right" at all for now, but is "right" farther down the road... It is important you proceed VERY slowly and cautiously, paying VERY close attention to how you feel on ALL levels (emotional, mental and physical). The goal is just to understand the unique being you are... You only need to understand the complex tapestry of your soul... including all the why's and wherefore's, their messages for you, the beliefs you've constructed based on your experience and the impact these beliefs have on the choices you make as you live your life moment by moment.. Just noticing and understanding can be VERY effective. Often, I've found, nothing more is required for necessary changes to happen, seemingly by themselves. Often too, the smallest of baby steps in a difficult but "right" direction are more effective than some bigger step which might seem necessary... Your soul is precious and growing it is the MOST important work you will EVER do! Take your time and go SLOWLY... using whatever methods and tools feel "right". The "right" ones for you aren't necessarily mine. Each individual has their own "right" ways and these evolve and change as the journey progresses. You are likely to find that the "right" way for today is "wrong" for tomorrow and the "wrong" yesterday can frequently be just "RIGHT" for today.... It can be quite confusing... If you begin to feel AT ALL overwhelmed, STOP, ask “why?” and WAIT for understanding to catch up and your inner guides to reveal the "right" way for you to proceed... In this way your own inner journey will unfold... Each step adding another grain of understanding... a cherished treasure with which to grow your own unique soul!.
Although neither of my books have been published, I'm still hoping this can happen... If you're interested in either of them, please let me know. Send me an email. My address is at the bottom of my "Contact Sylvia Kay" page... Your expression of interest will help...
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