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Review Wholehearted and help others find it!

May 21, 2022

Read Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and found it valuable? Please share your experiences and post a review to help people who would benefit to find it.

Your review will help people in transition looking for practical guides as they navigate challenging and changing times.

Here are some tips and links to help you share the word!


Booktopia Wholehearted Review

1. Go to https://www.booktopia.com.au/wholehearted-terri-connellan/book/9780645011333.html
2. Click on “Write a Review” (no eligibility requirements):

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3. A box will pop up for you to fill out. 

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4. Click “Submit Review” to complete the process.

Amazon Wholehearted Review

Important: Before you can post a review, you must meet the eligibility requirements detailed in the Community Guidelines. Submissions that do not follow review guidelines will not be posted.

To submit a review:

  1. Go to the book page: 
  2. Click Write a review in the Customer Reviews section and follow the steps.
  3. Write or upload your review.
  4. Click Preview your review to make sure your review appears as intended.
  5. Click Publish review to submit.

Eligibility

To post Customer Reviews, you must have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com.au (or your relevant Amazon country area) in the past 12 months. Promotional balance or discounts that are applied to an order do not qualify towards the $50 minimum. You do not need to meet this requirement to read content posted by other contributors.

Goodreads Wholehearted Review

Goodreads reviews help readers on that platform but also feed through to Book Depository.

Just head to the Wholehearted page on Goodreads and submit your review.

Or head to wherever you purchased Wholehearted and share the word!

The Wholehearted Companion Workbook would love some love too if you are feeling generous!

Looking for inspiration?

It doesn’t have to be long or in depth. Write what you think people might need to know about the book and how it might help them. Here are examples of reader reviews of Wholehearted that might spark something for you!

Praise for Wholehearted

Extended Review of Wholehearted

Review of Wholehearted in TAGG by Meredith Fuller: Wholehearted: Self Leadership for Women in Transition, and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook by Terri Connellan

Amazon Wholehearted Review:

Goodreads Wholehearted Review:

Thank you to all who have written reviews and kind words for Wholehearted! I look forward to seeing these words shared with others so people can find Wholehearted and benefit from it.

Thank you for helping me in that quest! It’s why I wrote the book in the first place.

Further reading and listening:

Wholehearted praise – what people are saying

Wholehearted Virtual Book Launch 2

Create Your Deeper Story 1 to 1 Coaching

inspiration & influence reading notes

3 practical insights from ‘Chillpreneur’ to inspire creative growth

July 31, 2020
Chillpreneur

Creative growth lightbulb moments!

You know those moments when you are reading a book and it’s like the author is talking to YOU! Looking for creative growth, the writer just seems to know what you are missing and need to know. A lightbulb moment, critical pieces immediately fall into place. You see something more clearly, as you step into a new way of seeing or thinking. One that helps you move and grow.

I enjoyed LOTS of moments like that reading Chillpreneur by Denise Duffield Thomas. But three practical insights for creative growth made a huge difference to how I work as a creative entrepreneur. And as the title, suggest, they helped me to chill and relax into working in line with my purpose and personality.

So here they are, my three top practical insights for creative growth and entrepreneurship from Chillpreneur:

1. Know your business model

The Chillpreneur solution to finding the perfect business model for you is: Know thyself.

Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield Thomas

Knowing your business model might not sound like the sexiest advice. But this insight was truly game-changing for me. Denise DT outlines four business models:

  1. Maker Model – making physical things eg art, jewellery, clothing.
  2. Service Model – solving problems, doing work for clients eg photography, graphic design, editing.
  3. Consultant Model – helping others achieve transformation via“high- to medium’ touch” ways eg coaching, healing, consulting, advising.
  4. Teacher Model – instructing people in a “low- to medium-touch way” eg authors, bloggers, podcasters, online course creators.

Mixing and matching business model elements helps you find the unique best blend for you. And importantly, aligning your business model to your personality helps you work in a way that is fulfilling and relaxed.

My business model story

Why was this so game-changing for me? It helped me make sense of my identity as a creative entrepreneur and where to focus my energies. It tapped back into my why, passions and body of work over time. Let me explain.

I trained to become a certified life coach in 2016 but I have been a teacher for most of my life. Working in the adult vocational education sector (TAFE) for over 30 years, I’m highly skilled at teaching and facilitating both in-person and online. So I am a teacher at heart. I love to: share my knowledge and resources, structure and shape learning experiences, and make a difference in people’s lives. I love coaching too for overlapping reasons and for how I can foster transformative experiences, listen intuitively, help people find their truth and be in action towards what’s important.

But when I blend that CONSULTANT model/Coaching + TEACHER model together WHAM! Sparks fly as my zone of genius comes together. I’ve blended them together to create the Sacred Creative Collective Group Coaching program. And powerful personal transformations are the result. I love curating, creating and sharing my wisdom in chunks of practical lessons for others. And I can shape and reshape this material in different forms as a teacher in low- to medium-touch ways. This includes blogging, writing books, speaking, creating online courses such as the Personality Stories Coaching program.

This is all in line with my introverted INTJ personality type which has a natural preference for visioning what could be, creating, curating, organising and structuring into practical frameworks for others. So I am working in a way that aligns with my heart and skills. And that feels so much more chilled and satisfying!

Your business model story

So what’s your business model story? There are plenty of examples in Chillpreneur to consider including the story of Nicola Newman, creative mentor for the Sacred Creative Collective. Nicola blends Maker, Consultant and Teacher in a beautiful creative mix aligned to her heart and skills.

TIPS: Find the blend that makes you sing! Check out Chillpreneur Chapter 4 and see which model or blend suits you and the life and creative growth you desire. The mindset it creates makes all the difference!

Chillpreneur

2. Be a contributor not a guru

As soon as I gave myself permission to contribute to the conversation about women and money, and not have to be a guru or expert on it, my business became fun.

Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield Thomas

How freeing is that thought? How much time do we spend feeling we have to be experts? And how much pressure does that put on us? When we just need to show up and contribute to the dialogue in our areas of expertise or interest.

What’s our unique take? What do we know? What is our experience? How can we share what we know to help others?

Being a contributor means:

  • learning and sharing what we know along the way.
  • being a work in progress, valuing our point of view and experience.
  • not wanting things to be perfect or more complete.
  • defining ourselves by what we can give, not by what is lacking.
  • supporting others by sharing what you know.
  • co-creating with others and tapping into the power of emerging.

It’s valuable to be knowledgeable, experienced and skilled, but let’s not allow that quest to stop us contributing along the way. Be authentic, contribute and share your process and behind the scenes. You never know how your path or learning can help others.

My contributor story

Focusing on being a contributor helped me to share personality type insights as a speaker at the international level. Backing myself, I flew to the UK and presented at the British Association for Psychological Type. In Learned Wisdom: Journeys in Type and Transition I share how I stepped up in my personality work to present to highly-skilled, experienced international type professionals on type and transition.

It put me under pressure but it helped me to invest time to gather the wisdom and learning of my transition experience to help others. By focusing on being a contributor of my unique experience of type and transition, I was able to facilitate new insights for this experienced group of professionals. I received excellent feedback which was heartening. Plus I developed a body of work I can share with others to help their transition through my teaching/coaching blend.

Your contributor story

So what’s your contributor story? Where would it help you to shift your mindset from guru to contributor? What can you share or create that will help others?

TIPS: Reflect on where the need to be an expert is keeping you from growing, emerging and sharing your truth. Journal about the impact of this and how you might change it. Check out Chillpreneur Chapter 1 for further thoughts on this and other mindset shifts for creative growth. Read Denise DT’s 37 Lessons from Becoming a Self-made Millionaire and be reminded: “Who cares if you don’t know everything. You don’t have to be the best to make a difference to someone.“

Chillpreneur
At BAPT in April 2019.

3. Embrace imperfect action

Embracing imperfect action in your business will reap huge rewards for you.

Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield Thomas

I’m a Virgo like Denise DT so I know all about perfectionism. As Denise says, “we practically invented it!” And Virgos don’t have a mortgage on perfectionism either; your personality type can mean you have a natural preference for “perfect” over “in process” or “imperfect”. This can mean all kinds of over-critiquing, over-doing, procrastination and silence.

Like my mug that says, “Done is better than perfect”, imperfect action is a mindset shift that enables us to move, do, write, create and share without the constant tyranny of self-criticism.

Denise shares the example of “placeholder marketing” – copy or offers she has put out there until she creates the “perfect version”. They end up staying out there and being very much appreciated by her community who don’t see them as imperfect at all. Love that idea!

My imperfect action story

The most freeing aspect of imperfect action has been reminding myself I can update, edit, review, revise and reinvent. Also to recognise when I am doing too much and not expending my energy wisely.

Creating a free resource as an entry point for my community has been a journey in moving away from doing too much and perfectionism. My first opt-in resource was a 26,000-word ebook on the 36 Books that Shaped my Story. I’m proud of it and I am looking to publish it in another way. But it took me ages and was way too much as a first step in connecting with me and my work. For both me and my community.

My Free 10 Tips for Creating more Meaning and Purpose Personal Action Checklist has been the most downloaded free resource I’ve created. Using a spirit of imperfect action and contributing, I distilled wisdom and learning from major life transitions into ten tips. I created this checklist so my community members can craft renewed focus, energy and creativity in their life. Yes, I could easily get put off by thinking about what is not there or if it is enough. But I know these 10 tips worked for me. They’re practical, applicable and I know will work for others. It’s a powerful first step. And if I learn new things or get additional insights, I can always update it.

Your imperfect action story

So what’s your imperfect action story? What could you do now that gets you out there into the world? How could using the idea of “imperfect action” help you? What have you already drafted that you are holding back on? Is there something you want to create but feel a sense of fear about? What would be enough now? How could you save time and energy?

TIPS: Just do it! Enjoy the process of creating and watch out for those inner voices that talk you down. Have responses ready for them. Use the words “imperfect action” in your self-talk to honour being in action. Put your work out there and realise you can always change and improve it later with added experience. Focus on the value of your insights to others.

Chillpreneur

Share your story!

Love to hear in the comments or via social media – Instagram or Facebook:

  • about your business model preference or unique blend.
  • how you are leaning into being a contributor.
  • and where and how are you choosing to be in imperfect action.

I hope these insights, experiences and tips have been helpful. I’m grateful to Denise Duffield Thomas for the insights gifted via Chillpreneur. It is a book I’ll be revisiting over time to strengthen my creative growth, freedom and abundance. I hope these ideas contribute to your creative growth, freedom and abundance too. Let me know what works for you! And check out Chillpreneur.

planning & productivity reading notes

12 books I’m planning to read to consolidate and grow in 2020

January 30, 2020

2020 is my year for consolidating my efforts of the past few years and being strategic about how I work and learn. There is a big focus on consolidating practice and building on my skills and knowledge in new ways. You can read more about my plans for consolidating in 2020 HERE.

One key area of consolidating is reading what I own. I have many books recommended to me and purchased or received and not read. Whilst I still plan to buy new books in some cases, I want to limit this. In 2020, I want to be really mindful of what I am buying to read and working out where it fits in my business and life.

Here’s a list of 12 of books I plan to read this year and why they are important in my year of consolidating and growth:

Thrive by Ariana Huffington

Published in 2014 and a gift from my dear friend Di, this one is high on the list. It is time to get to it. Focused on getting in touch with who we are, it encourages practical responses to what is important. These are around the ‘third metric’ of measuring thriving and success in terms of well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving. A useful personal read, it aligns with my work in encouraging women in transition to connect with what matters.

This is for you by Ellen Bard

Subtitled, ‘A Creative Toolkit for Better Self-Care’, this is a very practical book of self-care tips by work psychologist, writer and digital nomad, Ellen Bard. There are 101 creative exercises to help make incremental changes and flourish in day to day life. I am looking forward to working my way through them to be more present each day and sharing the practices with clients.

The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll

I first came across this book via Caroline Donahue’s Secret Library Podcast conversation with Ryder Carroll. It was so inspiring as I listened, I stopped as I was driving to seek out the book straight away! Getting more organised and strategic with my list-making is an ongoing search. I have long been interested in bullet journaling practices. Focused on tracking your past, ordering your present and planning your future, I can’t wait to learn more and activate the principles in this book.

Speaking Out by Tara Moss

Published in 2016, it also time to read Tara Moss’s Speaking Out. This is a guide for women and girls on managing being in the public eye and speaking out. Contexts include public speaking, social media, writing and other public spaces. A guide to speaking out safely with confidence, it emphasises the need for women’s voices to be heard. I am keen to speak out more in 2020 in various ways so this will be an important read.

Power vs Force by David R Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

This book was a recommendation from speaker Alex MacFarlane at the 2019 Australian Association of Psychological Type Conference. In a session on Holistic Mental Health, Alex encouraged us to read Power vs Force for scientific insights into higher levels of consciousness. Subtitled ‘The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior‘, it looks at theoretical concepts from particle physics, nonlinear dynamics, and chaos theory and uses applied kinesiology as a research tool. I am keen to learn more about this field where science meets spirituality.

How to Write Non-Fiction: A Companion Workbook by Joanna Penn

I have read How to Write Non-Fiction by Joanna Penn. This is the accompanying workbook that I have started working through to apply the learning. This year, I am working on bringing my non-fiction book with the title of ‘Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition‘ into the world. Working through this companion book will be a powerful and practical learning guide for this process and for writing future books.

The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke

This book by Maxine Beneba Clarke – recommended by Bek Ireland, friend and Quiet Writing Wholehearted Stories contributor – is a memoir of growing up black in white middle-class Australia. I plan to read this book and also Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Dr Anita Heiss as part of a commitment to looking at bias and privilege more deeply in 2020.

White Tears, Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad

Sharyn Holmes, Founder of Formidable Voices, leadership coach, consultant, speaker, artist and writer, recommends this book. Described as “a confronting reality check for the privileged position of the white woman,” White Tears, Brown Scars is another key read for me in looking at privilege in more personal and practical terms this year. Sharyn’s story features in the book. She is hosting a Formidable Book Club in her Membership space with this book featured in February 2020.

Your Dream Life Starts Here by Kristina Karlsson

This book was recommended by Kate Morell so I sought it out, inspired by the changes this book and the accompanying Dream Life Journal encourages in her life. Kate says that:

Reading these instil in me the importance of continuing to share my dreams and vulnerability and remind me of the magic that happens when I do.

Dreaming with Sunsets for Kate

And don’t we all need reminding of that?

Start Finishing by Charlie Gilkey

I have been a fan of Charlie Gilkey’s Productive Flourishing and its practical tools and tips for a long time. This new book is about ‘how to go from idea to done’. With a deep interest in productivity and planning, skills I share with my coaching clients, I hope this book will help me to finish more things in my life as well as encouraging that spirit in the lives of others.

Authorpreneurship by Hazel Edwards

I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder for Hazel Edwards’ wonderful offer in the recent Authors for Fireys fund-raising effort for bushfire support in Australia. As well as a brilliant and practical 1-hour Skype chat with Hazel, I received an ecopy of her book, Authorpreneurship: The Business of Creativity. I look forward to learning more about the business of creativity from this highly experienced mentor and author of more than 200 books.

Aligned and Unstoppable by Cassie Mendoza-Jones

I am planning on limiting new book-buying in 2020 with my focus on consolidating and reading what I have. (Hello local libraries and my existing collection!) But Cassie Mendoza-Jones‘ just-released book, Aligned and Unstoppable calls strongly. I had just posted the below quote by Beau Taplin on Instagram when Cassie’s new book popped up. There’s a sign! Cassie’s podcast chat Joyfully Completing Creative Projects with creative Nicola Newman late last year is fabulous! Her focus on joy, completion and working in alignment is inspiring.

Plus some fiction reading!

Balance is important, so of course, there will be fiction reading! I was lucky enough to win a brilliant stack of new/recent books by mostly Australian women authors at the Heroine’s Festival. I recommend Bruny by Heather Rose, The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth and The Naturalist’s Daughter and The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper. I’m currently reading The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Let me know any of these you have read I should bump up the list!

Be in action:

SHARE YOUR CONSOLIDATING READS: Love to hear more about what you are reading for consolidating and growth in 2020. Do you have a word for the year? What are your priorities? What are the reads you are planning to align with those priorities? Share in the comments or on social media: Instagram or Facebook.

JOIN SACRED CREATIVE COLLECTIVE GROUP COACHING: Like to join in a creative community filled with rich reads, productivity and alignment this year? The Sacred Creative Collective kicks off 17 February for 3 months of group coaching around. It is focused around transition, creativity, personality and self-leadership. Work with me and a community of women on goals sacred to you for a more purposeful life.

BOOK A Discovery Call NOW for the Collective or to explore other ways to work with me in 2020.

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reading notes transcending

Ordinary People’s Mystical Experiences – a review of ‘Mystical Interludes II’ by Emily Rodavich

February 18, 2019

‘Mystical Interludes II’, collected and edited by Emily Rodavich, takes us into the world of ordinary people’s mystical experiences. Read on!

A mystical interlude, which resonates in the heart, can remind us of our spirituality and our connectedness to each other. This is why it is meaningful to take heed.

from Mystical Interludes II by Emily Rodavich

mystical interludes

You might sense a theme emerging in Quiet Writing lately.

Independently, books have come to me that focus on mystical experiences. These books arrived in various ways and means, all dealing with people having extraordinary experiences. It was quite surprising. Coincidence? I think not.

These mystical experiences are called different things: mystical interludes or NOTEs, Non-ordinary Transcendent Experiences.  Some involve a specific life-changing moment like a Near Death Experience. Others are a kind of synchronicity or meaningful coincidence, involving signs or symbols. Sometimes they are everyday occurrences with enormous significance beyond the moment. They could be events that connect over the decades. Or an experience that manifests through increased sensitivity of some kind.

It was clearly time for me to look closely into this realm of reality and reflect on my personal experience of the mystical. For it is something that just about everyone experiences and encounters if we pay attention. Often, it’s an occurrence that yields rich rewards of transformation and growth. This is especially the case if we honour the experience, feel able to talk about it and share it more publicly with others.

Reading Mystical Interludes II

I was delighted to have the opportunity to read Mystical Interludes II by Emily Rodavich to enrich my sense of ordinary people’s stories of the mystical. The backstory of this book is fascinating. Emily Rodavich wrote her first Mystical Interludes: An Ordinary Person’s Extraordinary Experiences as a memoir. Covering a series of lifetime mystical interludes, Emily seeks to make sense of encounter after encounter. These experiences include a near-death experience at 18. With the door opening to this aspect of experience, it seemed to usher in other spiritual experiences.

Emily reflects on her mystical interludes with this life wisdom:

I’ve come to realize that those powerful experiences have been extraordinary gifts that should be shared rather than closeted. It’s my hunch that the world is full of ordinary people like myself who have been surprised by similar incidents. It’s time we come forward and share them with each other and the world around us.

Mystical Interludes

So to put her weight behind this, Emily issued an invitation at the end of her memoir. She invited people who experienced a mystical interlude to submit a description of it for a new book. Mystical Interludes II is a collection of stories that came forward from ordinary people from that invitation and in other ways.

mystical interludes

Emily speaking at a book talk

Ordinary people’s extraordinary stories

The quality that I love most about Emily’s Mystical Interludes II is that it is very much ordinary people telling extraordinary stories. You sense as you read that each author is continuing to make sense of what happened as they write. The overwhelming feeling is of everyone being right back in that moment even if it was many years ago. The details are sharp. It’s as if time stands still in the moment and everything is super-charged. The senses are activated in the story and in the telling.

Nancy Aloi in ‘Love from Beyond the Veil‘ describes a series of encounters defined by intense smells including tobacco and freshly baked bread. Smells that she connects with her late father, his spirit seemingly shepherds her through a difficult time.

Canela Michelle Meyers describes the expansive, light feeling of a Near Death Experience in her story, ‘Into the Blue’. The moments when Canela is ice-skating before she has a catastrophic fall are told in crystal clear detail. It’s as if the whole day and series of events are frozen in time.

Time after time, I marvelled at being in this house, in this hospital, in this room, on this street – in ordinary places with ordinary people having extraordinary things happen to them.

mystical interludes

Overwhelming openness to experience

Each author reflects on these extraordinary experiences as a gift. They provide insights and learning that open the heart. Even when the experience was difficult or hard to understand, it resulted in a spirit of being more open.

Beverley Golden shares an “almost unexplainable experience with a past-life regression” in her story, ‘Answers from Another Place and Time.’ She concludes:

One thing I do know is that the experience has kept me open and willing to receive answers to questions, wherever they come from.

These ordinary people share conclusions from all kinds of extraordinary experiences. Conclusions about loved ones always being with us, living past lives, life beyond death and the power of mystical signposts to bring people together over time and circumstance. Each story has the effect of opening up your own experience and insight in the telling.

As Emily says in the introduction:

Just as each of us is an original one-of-a-kind being, each story is a unique, authentic revelation. The common thread throughout these narratives is that they are real. That reality is evidenced by their influences on their writers’ lives.

Extraordinary encounters of ordinary people

The authors are a rich mix of people. They include retirees, authors, physicians, integrative health practitioners, neighbours, teachers, artists, intuitives, psychologists, musicians. Authors of Quiet Writing Wholehearted Stories are contributors to this volume including Penelope Love and Maura McCarley Torkildson. Most of the authors I don’t know and some authors choose to remain anonymous.

This broad range of contributing authors reinforces the message that many people experience mystical interludes. I reflected on my own mystical interludes whilst reading this book. When reading Nicole Gruel’s book, I had an encounter experience around rainbows, a recurring symbol in my life. It’s as if in the reading of such books, our awareness is raised. We review the mystical experiences in our lives. Or they start to occur!

Suzanne Giesemann echoes this in her Foreword:

I know from my own research that simply by reading other people’s other-worldly experiences, we are more likely to experience such events ourselves.

The gathering of books and connections coming together on this topic in my life might be my own Mystical Interludes story! A whole series of personal connections has intersected during this past month or so of reading about mystical interludes. Chance and random encounters between people connected around mystical experiences. New connections made like it’s a web that extends between us. It has been an extraordinary light-filled time.

mystical interludes

Connecting with Mystical Interludes

This is the real power and spirit of Mystical Interludes II and Emily’s collection of stories. The groundswell of interest in transcendent experiences is made richer by these detailed accounts of ordinary lives suddenly taking on another form.

We know from Emily’s gathering of these 39 stories, as well as Nicole Gruel’s research, that many people have such experiences but they may not talk about them. The stigma and the feeling of not being believed means many people have stayed quiet. Clearly, as these stories show, the immediacy and impact of these experiences does not fade with time. The retelling of them gives life and energy to the spirit of the experience.

I encourage you to read Mystical Interludes II to embolden yourself to think about such experiences in your life. And to share them with others. You might find yourself reflecting on your mystical experiences – past or present – as I have. If you have had a mystical interlude of your own, you might consider contributing your story to the forthcoming Mystical Interludes III.

mystical interludes

Emily sharing her experiences via a book talk

Leadership in telling stories

The leadership of Emily Rodavich in telling her story as a role model and inviting and supporting others to tell their stories is powerful. It would be easy for these ordinary people to shy away from telling their stories. But in Emily’s very wise and inspired hands, these stories are dusted off, shaped and gathered together into a volume that speaks volumes about the nature of mystical experiences.

Emily’s book opens with a wonderful quote from Anthony de Mello:

mystical interludes

Story-telling to shed light and share truth is what this book is all about. These are quiet stories, gently told, as they narrate momentous happenings. It is wonderful that more authors are choosing to write and share their mystical interludes story. It’s exciting too that Emily has stepped up to provide leadership to gather, honour and help voice the experiences of others.

I feel indebted to Emily and to all the authors for taking the time to share their stories in such detail, often from hidden or long ago places. I’m sure many readers will feel this same sense of respect and honour in witnessing these long-held stories of the heart and spirit. I encourage you to also witness these stories, their brave telling and what they might teach us about ourselves and our place in the world of spirit and the mystical.

Book Giveaway

I’m hosting a giveaway of Mystical Interludes II on Instagram and Facebook! Let’s celebrate ordinary people’s mystical interludes in the light of the Virgo Full Moon!

Working together with Emily Rodavich and Citrine Publishing, we have one printed copy of Mystical Interludes II to give away, sent to you anywhere in the world.

So make sure you are following me on Instagram and/or Facebook and follow the instructions to win this book in my posts on Tuesday 19 February AEDT. Good luck!

Thought pieces + footnotes

About Emily Rodavich

mystical interludes

Emily Rodavich, retired English teacher, mother of three and grandmother of four, had a near death experience at age eighteen. That extraordinary event opened the door to a lifetime of spiritual happenings. Unable to share those mystical experiences with most friends or family for fear they’d think her “strange,” she kept them to herself. In recent years, realizing the ways those various mystical happenings had shaped her concept of reality and her character, she wrote her memoir, Mystical Interludes: An Ordinary Person’s Extraordinary Experiences, which chronicles ten of her stunning interludes. Believing that everybody experiences mystical interludes to some degree, she invited readers to submit their stories for publication in this, her second book, Mystical Interludes II: A Collection of Extraordinary People’s Extraordinary Experiences.  

At the end of her speaking engagements Emily found that people wanted to hang out and talk about their experiences.  The result was the formation of the Mystical Interludes Discussion Group (MIDG) starting with eight members who met in her home for the first time in March 2017.  Today the group of fifty members rents space for their monthly meetings. Emily’s mission is to do her part to support our collective spiritual evolution by bringing personal mystical events out of shadow into the light. In so doing, she foresees a day when mystical interludes will be accepted as normal human events, rather than strange or weird occurrences.

Connect with Emily by visiting the Mystical Interludes website. To express your intention to write for the next edition, click on “Share Your Experience”.

Reading Mystical Interludes II

You can use the below Amazon affiliate links to access and read Mystical Interludes II if you choose with no additional cost to you.  I receive a small commission to help keep Quiet Writing efforts, book reviews and giveaways flourishing.

For Amazon.com.au:

Mystical Interludes II: Kindle

Mystical Interludes II: Paperback

For Amazon.com:

Mystical Interludes II: Kindle

Mystical Interludes II: Paperback

For Amazon UK:

Mystical Interludes II: Kindle

Mystical Interludes II: Paperback

Image 2, 5 & 7 provided by Emily Rodavich and used with permission and thanks.

Image 3 via Pexels.com and used with permission and thanks.

You might also enjoy:

Non-ordinary transcendent experiences: a review of ‘The Power of Notes’ by Nicole Gruel PhD

Intuition: how to understand and master it – a review of ‘The Inner Tree’ by Maura McCarley Torkildson

The journey to write here: my wholehearted story

When the inner voice calls, and calls again – my journey to wholehearted living

Tackling trauma and “not enough” with empathy and vision – a wholehearted story

Personality Stories

Keep in touch + read the books that shaped my story

You might also find inspiration in my free 94-page ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’ – all about wholehearted self-leadership, reading as creative influence and books to inspire your own journey. Just pop your email address in the box below. 

You will receive the ebook straight away! Plus you’ll receive monthly Beach Notes with updates and inspiring resources from Quiet Writing. This includes writing, personality type, coaching, creativity, tarot, productivity and ways to express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. Look forward to connecting with you and inspiring your wholehearted story!

personality and story reading notes transcending

Non-Ordinary Transcendent Experiences – a review of ‘The Power of NOTEs’ by Nicole Gruel, PhD

January 18, 2019

Want to learn more about Non-Ordinary Transcendent Experiences? ‘The Power of NOTEs’ will help you understand and work with them as a source for transformation. Read on!

NOTEs are an important aspect of the human experience that help point towards and awaken the desire, curiosity, and courage to explore more of what life could be.

from The Power of NOTEs by Nicole Gruel PhD

transcendent experiences

Nicole Gruel PhD

Have you ever experienced something that felt out of the ordinary, super-charged or transcendent, that changed your life in some key way?

Many of us have, yet it’s an area of human experience we tend not to talk about. Often this is because we don’t quite understand what happened. We keep quiet, often for years, as we try to make sense of it and what it meant. It’s frequently a solitary, and sometimes, painful journey. But more people are beginning to talk about these non-ordinary transcendent experiences however they manifest. They are emerging as sources of positive transformation and personal power if we pay attention, talk about them and work through them.

Dr Nicole Gruel’s new book, ‘The Power of NOTEs: How Non-Ordinary Transcendent Experiences Transform the Way We Live, Love and Lead‘ is an important, research-based contribution to the field of spiritual psychology and transformation.

After a near-death experience and the sudden loss of family members, Nicole found herself deep in the realm of non-ordinary transcendent experiences. In particular, she learnt their power for positive change.

Nicole has gone on to explore NOTEs deeply including via PhD studies. Her Doctoral Dissertation  focused on “AfterNOTEs: Non-Ordinary Transcendent Experiences and their Aftereffects Through Jung’s Topology”. This involved interviewing people who had experienced NOTES and working through the psychological dimensions of their response. This deep qualitative and quantitative research, combined with personal experience and NOTEs community connection, provides the rich source material that this excellent, practical book is woven around.

So what are NOTEs?

A non-ordinary transcendent experience is a rare and unfamiliar event that takes you beyond your regular understanding of yourself and the world.

from The Power of NOTES

An acronym created by transpersonal psychologist William Braud, ‘NOTE’ captures experiences at the intersection of “paranormal research, exceptional human experiences, and transpersonal psychology.” (p3). Well-known examples include near-death experiences and paranormal encounters, but the scope of NOTEs is much wider and more inclusive than this.

In the opening chapter, Nicole explains that she groups over 500 potential NOTEs into nine categories, such as Death-related experiences, Encounter experiences, and Mystical experiences. Nicole describes each category of NOTEs, helping the reader to connect with their own personal database of experiences.

transcendent experiences

What is the power of NOTEs?

The power of NOTEs is realising their potential for our growth and insight. Nicole explains the ability of NOTEs to take us out of ourselves and our habitual ways of being:

For many experiencers, tasting our core self is the greatest gift of a NOTE. (p7)

It is a type of disruption forcing our attention in new ways and often taking some time to integrate. This is often because societal and cultural contexts make it hard for us to talk about them. Nicole explores this with examples from the lives of experiencers. She shows too that NOTEs offer wisdom and insight that has implications beyond the individual.

Greater wisdom calls for us to access the insights of NOTEs as best we can, for these experiences provide a necessary lens into other ways of seeing and being in the world. (p9)

Research shows that when people share NOTEs, it has many benefits for individual wellbeing, such as reducing stress. Nicole has made it her mission to help people share and understand NOTEs as part of the human and collective experience.

The landscape of NOTEs

I had the pleasure of attending the online launch of Nicole’s book recently, where we had a virtual tour through the book. We also heard from leaders and writers in the NOTEs community. These experiences, alongside reading the book, have helped me better understand the landscape of NOTEs.

The book explores NOTEs from all perspectives including the dark and light sides of being an experiencer and from the viewpoint of neuroscience. Nicole scopes neuroscience perspectives and evidence that shows we are hard-wired to experience NOTEs.

A fellow personality type practitioner, Nicole also looks through the personality lens at the gifts of NOTEs:

NOTEs are powerful because they put us on the fast track toward a fuller expression of who we most naturally and uniquely are.

Research shows that the specific content of a near-death experience, its impact and significance is influenced by people’s personal psychology.

Connecting NOTEs experiences with Jung’s eight psychological types, Nicole explores eight gifts or transcendent dimensions of personality using James Graham Johnston’s model of the Gift’s Compass™. For example, Introverted Thinking (Ti) connects with The Conceptual Gift.

Using this lens of personality, Nicole explains that:

Experiencer stories show that the more the natural or true self is made available through NOTEs, the more a person’s dominant personality preferences take on transcendent aspects. (p40)

This ground-breaking perspective, informed by conversations with NOTEs experiencers, helps provide psychological insights into these transcendent events.

transcendent experiences

Working and transforming with NOTEs

The second half of the book explores NOTEs as clues to our natural flow states; ways to work with NOTEs during and beyond experiences; and how NOTEs can be a transformative power in how we live, love and lead.

Each chapter provides practical tips and practices for working with NOTEs as a transformative power source. Nicole shows how we can create a NOTEs biography and Well-being Wheel, with these tools based on recent, pioneering research and experiences of people actively working on integrating NOTEs into life stories. The self-leadership framework highlights the importance of validating and appropriately sharing NOTEs.

Ultimately, no one is a better coach and guide for you than you. (p62)

The power of love and legacy are keys to the self-leadership experience of working with NOTEs in a personally transformative way.

The experience of reading The Power of NOTEs

I encourage you to read The Power of NOTEs. It is beautifully and clearly written, full of lived and researched wisdom. As Katie Mottram puts it so well in her foreword:

This is not just a book; Nicole has gifted you an experience.

I couldn’t agree more. As if to highlight this, I had a transcendent experience during my reading of the book.

I realised my experiences of NOTEs are mostly in the Encounter experiences category: a kind of synchronicity related to “something wondrous or awesome, like a spectacular view or moving music...” Many years ago, I had a series of astounding synchronistic events with rainbows at a peak time of change and transformation. They had a profound effect on me as rainbow after rainbow connected in an ongoing narrative.

I started Nicole’s book in the early morning hours of a sleepless night two days away from Christmas, the first anniversary of my mother’s death. A few hours later, still restless, I got up early and headed out to the deck. There the most stunning rainbow greeted me in the sky. Rainbows are something I connect with my mother and also my father. I chose songs and poems with the symbolism of rainbows for both their funerals as a way of continuing to connect with them.

My experience of reading the book, reflecting on my own NOTEs symbolism, seemed to open up this connection. It would have been so easy to miss this rainbow.

transcendent experiences

Connecting with the power of NOTEs

Reading this book will help you connect with the power of NOTEs in your life. As the ‘Praise’ upfront in the book, the Foreword and the online book launch all show, there is a groundswell of research, interest and support in the area of non-ordinary transcendent experiences.

Organisations such as the International Spiritual Emergence Network (ISEN), American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (ACISTE), the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS) and the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) provide a touchpoint for experiences and research around them. You can find further links and information here.

More authors are stepping up to write their stories and gather, honour and structure the experiences of others as Nicole has done. You might like to read my book review of Mystical Interludes II – a Collection of Ordinary People’s Mystical Experiences, collected and edited by Emily Rodavich. The Power of NOTES and Mystical Interludes II came to me in a synchronistic way, at the same time from unique connections but covering similar terrain.

Read Nicole Gruel’s book to recognise, honour and structure such experiences in your life and also in the lives of those you love. If you have had a NOTE, this book can help others share in and understand your experience. Likewise, if you think someone you know may have experienced a NOTE, this book is a useful way to open the conversation or quietly support them. For counsellors, coaches and other professional people, this is an important resource to open up thoughts about spiritually transformative experiences in practice.

And as I finish writing, I hear the sounds of the children next door playing under the water sprinkler in the Sydney midsummer heat. One excitedly shouts: “There’s a rainbow!”

transcendent experiences

Thought pieces + footnotes

Dr Nicole Gruel is an author, speaker and transformational coach. Descendant from a long line of samurai, she has spent over two decades exploring human potential. You can connect with her at DrNicoleGruel.com.

The Power of NOTES was provided as a review copy by the author in return for a fair review. I am grateful to Dr Nicole Gruel for sharing this book with me.

To purchase, you can use the below link.

For Amazon.com.au:

The Power of NOTEs: Non-Ordinary Transcendent Experiences Transforming the Way We Live, Love, and Lead

Image 1 (feature image), 2 & 5 provided by Nicole Gruel and used with permission and thanks.

You might also enjoy:

Intuition: how to understand and master it – a review of ‘The Inner Tree’ by Maura McCarley Torkildson

“You are the authority on you”: a review of Danielle LaPorte’s White Hot Truth

Being ‘Fierce on the Page’ – a book review

Being a vessel – or working with introverted intuition

36 Books that Shaped my Story – Reading as Creative Influence

When the inner voice calls, and calls again – my journey to wholehearted livings

How to read for more creativity, productivity and pleasure

Keep in touch 

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. Look forward to connecting with you and inspiring your wholehearted story!

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intuition personality and story reading notes

Intuition: how to understand and master it – a review of ‘The Inner Tree’ by Maura McCarley Torkildson

January 10, 2019

Want to understand and enhance your intuition? The book ‘The Inner Tree’ will help you with the science, experience and practice of intuition. Read on!

Einstein wrote, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind its faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

from The Inner Tree by Maura McCarley Torkildson,  Foreword by Randy Fauver PhD

intuition

As a personality type practitioner with INTJ preferences and Introverted Intuition as my lead cognitive process, intuition is an area I have explored personally and professionally. But intuition always retains its mystical qualities even though I use it all the time. Learning to trust and understand intuition and how it works remains a challenge. Carl Jung said of the Introverted Intuitive:

So the introverted intuitive has in a way a very difficult life, although one of the most interesting lives, but it is often difficult to get into their confidence.

C.G. Jung Speaking: Interviews and Encounters p311

I can vouch for that. Anyone who is very intuitive – introverted or extraverted in orientation – will know that intuition continues to feel mysterious and hard to pin down. And for those who are not naturally intuitive, I am sure working with intuition can feel even more mysterious.

So I was very grateful to receive Maura McCarley Torkildson’s excellent new book ‘The Inner Tree: Discovering the Roots of Your Intuition and Overcoming Barriers to Mastering It‘. It is a fascinating read, shedding light on intuition from a range of perspectives including evidence-based ones. Here are some thoughts on the book’s key focus and value for those interested in exploring intuition further.

The evidence about intuition

The book commences with a foreword by Randy Fauver, PhD, Professor and Researcher in Consciousness Studies and Integrative Medicine.  This insightful piece both stands alone and sets the context for Maura’s book beautifully. It highlights that intuition is about mastering and developing intuitive abilities but also about understanding the science and contexts for its practice.

Randy Fauver explains lessons around inner life, signals and synchronicity and provides stories of intuition in practice. But it was the evidence and research-based information about intuition that I found so fascinating. Linking in with ‘The Inner Tree‘, the central image of intuition in the book, Fauver explores scientific support for nature, shamanic healing and unifying states of consciousness.

The most exciting part of his foreword is about the science of non-ordinary ways of receiving intuitive information. He explains three key ways we might receive intuitive information: the pineal gland in the brain, the heart and the gut.

Reading through, it all made sense. For example, we talk about “gut reaction”, “having a gut feeling”, and “not being able to stomach something”. The scientific reasons why this might be so are explained with supporting research. There are more receptors for emotions in the gut than anywhere else. No wonder we perceive things in this way so directly. However, as Fauver explains, we often doubt our reactions because they don’t align with cultural concepts of perceiving, especially Western ones.

The mystery and science of intuition

The most mindblowing part of the foreword is a discussion about memory at a cellular level. Fauver cites “numerous accounts of organ transplant recipients experiencing changes in their personality that coincide with the characteristics of the organ donor.” (Fauver, 2018: xxxi, in Torkildson, 2018). As an example, an eight-year-old receiving a heart from a ten-year-old girl who was murdered is able to assist police to identify the male attacker of the girl who died. The evidence she provides aligns with the murderer’s confession.

These insights helped me get a better handle on intuition at its most mysterious from both a scientific and practical perspective. Knowing that intuition involves these three key receptors: brain, heart and gut was so enlightening.  I also gained a stronger understanding of the challenges of working with intuition because of the cultural overlays we operate in. As Fauver says in closing:

All science can do is to strengthen your belief in the existence of intuition; Maura’s book can lead you to directly experience the incredible power of intuition.

With many references sprinkled throughout this outstanding book, I look forward to reading more of the scientific studies cited.

intuition

The practice of intuition

With the scene set, we launch further into Maura’s gift of a book on the practice of intuition. Her focus is on the lived experience of developing intuition. She also provides insights into the barriers we can face in developing intuition and how to overcome them. The cultural bias to not trust our intuition, especially in western society, looms large as a background issue. It explains why we can find experiencing and talking about intuition so challenging. As Maura says in her preface:

Nowhere in my life was I ever urged to look inside myself for truth. (p.xxxvii)

My life transition has encouraged me to embrace my intuition via tarot and oracle work as a practice of wholeness. This started because of feeling half-hearted in areas of my life especially the more corporate ones. Maura has also found that feeling empty led her to look inward. Creativity, coaching and listening to signs as guides emerge as key aspects opening her up more to intuition.

Understanding intuition and tools to work with it

Maura discusses the Tree of Life and symbolism of The Inner Tree to explain this need to go inward. She explores this from the perspective of experience, myth and meditation. There are meditation practices and activities to help apply the learning. She outlines the steps of embracing intuition:

With intuition, the secret is to notice it; second, is to trust it is real; and third, is to take the risk of acting on it (which deepens your trust). (p9)

Maura discusses many practical issues: grounding, presence awareness, patience, flow and joy. These are emotions and processes I have also experienced on my intuitive journey. Having a framework, language and practice for making meaning from them is so powerful.

‘The Clairs’ are discussed: clairsentience, clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairgustance, claircognizance and claircreative. All different psychic abilities, they are examples of how information can present itself in our experience of intuition. It is valuable to reflect on how we might be receiving information as a way of understanding and honouring intuition.

Barriers to the development of our inner tree of intuition are explored including the emotional body, grief and shame, working with shadows and managing fear and ego. Practising working with our emotions in various ways is shown as central to opening ourselves up to intuition. Practical tools for working through this are generously provided including Presence Awareness Meditations (with audio links), Body Awareness Practices and Body Maps.

Maura shares her “unconventional” experience of a fairy ally appearing in a matter of fact and accepting way, saying this is how it is. (This story is included in Mystical Interludes II – review coming soon.) She also provides tools for working with the shadow side of life such as jealousy, fear and the ego emphasising their role in intuition and wholeness.

intuition

Building our intuitive muscle

The final section of the book bringing all of this together into holistic practices. The mystery of intuition sits side by side with the scientific evidence presented:

The universe works in mysterious ways and we don’t usually have the whole picture. (p149)

Developing trust in our intuition emerges as a key practice as does trusting the ways we choose to connect with it. Tools and practices such as curiosity, journaling, working with others, connecting with the gifts of nature, synchronicity and oracles are all ways to build intuitive muscle. The process is described as one of relationship and connection as well as strengthening the practice.

‘The Inner Tree‘ helped me make sense of my evolving intuitive practice. Even as a personality strength, it’s something I have struggled to understand and own. My experience is of developing intuition day in and day out, sharing it with others and sifting through my feelings about it all. The strangeness in thinking I can provide intuitive insights for myself and others via sharing Tarot and Oracle work has been a key barrier to work through. Not to mention, pushing through thoughts of what others might think about it!

I have learnt to trust that my work makes sense on another level beyond me. And I have learnt to trust that not having the whole picture is perfectly fine. On a day to day level, it makes sense and helps me make meaning of my life and creative practice as it evolves. And if my work can help others on their journey, then why not share what I learn?

The Inner Tree – support for intuitive practice

So I am very grateful for ‘The Inner Tree’ and the rich wisdom within it. It’s the first time I have read a detailed account of the science and practice of intuition. Maura sensitively articulates the mysteries she has experienced into a soulful framework we can work with. This is such valuable support for developing intuition.

With its combination of science and practice, ‘The Inner Tree‘ is a resource for understanding intuition as a skill and way of absorbing information. It provides the language, structure and reference points for its practice. In this way, it helps us make sense of experience and build knowledge of how to grow intuitive skills.

‘The Inner Tree’ is a gentle handbook and companion for entering these mysteries with its mix of science and experience. It’s helpful for those who find intuition is not a natural preference. It is insightful too for people who prefer intuition but appreciate support to make sense of how it works. Some people might find the science a bit much; others might find the spiritual dimensions a bit much. But it is the strength of the two taken together as a thread throughout this book that is its key value. Hopefully, everyone can shift a little from where they are in reading it.

Wherever you are on the journey of working with intuition, ‘The Inner Tree‘ offers insight and wisdom for further navigating this journey. There are scientific papers to discover and chase up. You will read about intuitive sources of information you might be excited to recognise and explore. There are numerous practices you can embed further into your life to bring your intuition alive. This book is a welcome addition to the literature on intuition and personality and to the practical genre of self-discovery and self-leadership writing.

Thought pieces + footnotes

Maura McCarley Torkildson, M.A. is an author, speaker, artist, intuitive and Soul Creativity Support Mentor at MauraTorkildsonCoaching.com

The book is available at: ‘The Inner Tree: Discovering the Roots of Your Intuition and Overcoming Barriers to Mastering It‘.

Maura Torkildson has shared her Wholehearted Story on Tackling Trauma with Empathy and Vision on Quiet Writing. Hop over to read!

The Inner Tree was provided as a review copy by the author in return for a fair review and sharing of it. I am grateful to Maura McCarley Torkildson and Citrine Publishing for sharing this book with me.

My thanks too to Peter Geyer for assistance with the wording and reference for the Carl Jung quote.

Via Amazon.com.au:
The Inner Tree: Discovering the Roots of Your Intuition and Overcoming Barriers to Mastering It

Via Amazon.com:

Via Amazon.co.uk:

You might also enjoy:

Intuition, writing and work: eight ways intuition can guide your creativity

Introverted and extraverted intuition: how to make intuition a strong practice

Being a vessel – or working with introverted intuition

Overwhelm, intuition and thinking

When the inner voice calls, and calls again – my journey to wholehearted living

Music, intuition and messages of songs

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