December 2003 Newsletter
Online Issue # 5

Good Books

The Call: Discovering Why You Are Here
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
HarperCollins, 2003
hardcover, $20.00

The Call is Oriah Mountain Dreamer's third book.  First came The Invitation and then The Dance.  Like both books before it, The Call is structured around another compelling prose poem written by the author.  As The Call opens, Oriah Mountain Dreamer is approaching the end of week one on a 40-day vision quest in the Canadian wilderness.  As The Call unfolds, Mountain Dreamer risks revealing herself to us, line by line, for instructional purposes.  In this intimate telling of her intensive search, we observe the process of call as it happens in her life; and it isn't what she or we expected.  For Oriah Mountain Dreamer the call reveals itself through one word: rest, as in "come home and rest."

I encourage you to visit the author's website at www.oriahmountaindreamer.com

"This is what I learned on my quest: There is simply no place, no location or situation, that cannot be used to wake up to and live all of what and who you are, if you are willing to show up, to be present in the only place you ever have access to: here."

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The Practical Dreamer's Handbook:
Finding the Time, Money, and Energy to Live the Life You Want to Live
by Sarah and Paul Edwards
J. P. Tarcher, 2001
paperback, $13.95

You might recognize Sarah and Paul Edwards as the prolific coauthors of helpful books for home-based entrepreneurs, including the classic Working From Home.  Although The Practical Dreamer's Handbook is another resource for readers exploring or pursuing work they can do from home, it's also an excellent guide for anyone wanting to explore or pursue a dream - - whatever it might turn out to be.  What I love about this book is the way it weaves together two essential threads / processes that often feel incompatible: dreaming and action.  The authors make clear that one process is not more important than the other; both are required, but at the right time.  Which leads to the question - How do you know what is needed and when?  The authors illustrate their answer to this question with lots of stories from their own lives and the lives of others in their community.  You'll witness the process, and the power, of intuitive listening to inner promptings and outer events, and see how these are acted upon to move forward a dream idea.  Readers will follow the birthing of the Edwardses new dream to move to Pine Mountain, California where they now live.  Your dream might not be anything like theirs, or your desires might not even be defined yet, but in their book you'll encounter truly valuable guidance for exploring and creating something wonderful of your own.  Each of the book's three sections (Desire, Action, Satisfaction) contains numerous opportunities for you to "Try This", and concludes with a remarkable "Remember This" in-depth summary of main points.

You might also want to look for some of the other books by Sarah and Paul Edwards, including Changing Directions Without Losing Your Way (2001 paperback), Finding Your Perfect Work (2003 paperback) and many, many more.

You can visit the book's web site at www.practicaldreamer.net

"Like children, all dreams move on.  They grow up.  They mature.  They have children of their own.  It's the nature of life.  Desire, action, satisfaction.  Practical dreamers love this creative process even more than any particular dream because they love life and this is life, the endless rhythmic cycle of the inhale and the exhale, the inspiration and the manifestation."

-The Practical Dreamer's Handbook

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