Book Review: Creating A Life Worth Living Volume 1 by Debbie N. Goldberg

If you're looking to start on the journey of self-discovery, Creating A Life Worth Living Volume 1 by Debbie N. Goldberg can be a resource for you. As a therapist for close to two decades, Goldberg helps others along their spiritual journey. In this first volume, she shares her own awakening and then provides the framework for the reader to begin their own journey.

The author shares insights on the importance of reflection and discovering for yourself your purpose in life--not what someone else has told you it is; the importance of spending quiet time and pulling away from the chaos of life; and how we truly are self-sufficient. She has a soothing, conversational style that is perfect for this type of book.

If New Age spirituality is of interest to you, Creating A Life Worth Living Volume 1 should be added to your reading list.


Paperback: 156 pages
Publisher: BalboaPress (September 27, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1504358791
ISBN-13: 978-1504358798

I received a copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Review: Michael Landon's Legacy by Cheryl Landon

Michael Landon's oldest daughter, Cheryl, shares what she feels is her father's legacy alongside seven key principles she believes can change your life and the world in Michael Landon's Legacy: 7 Keys to Supercharging Your Life.

The book opens dramatically with an account of the car accident that almost killed her. Cheryl talks about her addiction to pain killers and a suicide attempt, crediting Michael Landon's unwavering love as crucial to her survival.

This is a book I borrowed from the library on a whim because I saw Michael Landon's picture on the front. I had heard some of Cheryl's story in discussing plots for Little House on the Prairie episodes with other fans of the show, but I knew very little about the author before reading Michael Landon's Legacy. 

In many ways, her story is amazing. A life of hardship until her mother married Landon, she suddenly knew the grass to be greener. That didn't mean, however, she was promised a happily ever after. Problems plagued her after that near-fatal car wreck. His sudden illness and death, along with last-minute will changes that tore the Landon family apart, could have left Cheryl bitter; but the seven keys found within the book's pages changed her life and she shares them now with millions as a motivational speaker.

Since it is titled Michael Landon's Legacy, I thought it would be more about his contributions to the world. While the author talks about Landon and how she feels what she is doing honors his legacy, this book mostly focuses on these seven keys:

• Trust in God
• Choose love over fear
• Believe in daily miracles
• Take action now
• Believe in truth between people
• Build bridges
• Don't judge each other

The tone of the book is New Age and Cheryl admits she follows the Church of Religious Science; though she also says she is a born-again Christian. No matter what faith she identifies with, these keys are good principles to live by.

Not my favorite book by any means, but I'm glad I read it to see how a family member viewed the iconic Michael Landon and to know that the author has dedicated her life to making a difference in the world.


Hardcover: 172 pages
Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company (February 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1571742859
ISBN-13: 978-1571742858


I borrowed this book from my local library. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

I read this book for the following challenge:

Book Spotlight and Excerpt: The Council of Light by Danielle Rama Hoffman

Galactic teachings and practices to raise your vibrational energy and create a life of joy, abundance, and ease

• Provides direct transmissions of spiritual technology from the Council of Light to activate the 11 Rays of Light

• Reveals that by shifting your consciousness and raising your inner vibration, you can change your daily life experience and manifest the life you want

• Includes guided journeys and exercises to manifest health, wealth, happiness, and purpose and to form a direct connection with the Council of Light

Through her advanced spiritual work with Thoth, Danielle Rama Hoffman was introduced to the Council of Light--an intergalactic group of thousands of light beings from across the Multiverse. Their purpose is to support individuals as they shift into Unity Consciousness and return to their natural state of joy. The Council transmitted the teachings in this book for those seeking to accelerate their journey toward health, wealth, happiness, and their soul's deepest desires.

The Council's teachings reveal that by shifting your consciousness and raising your inner vibration, you can change your daily life experience and manifest the life you want. These direct transmissions of spiritual technology from the Council include activations for the 11 Rays of Light, guided journeys and meditations, and written, spoken, energetic, and breathwork exercises to creatively turn your debt into wealth, transfigure your food into light for better health and well-being, enhance your abilities for interdimensional travel, and return to your natural inner state of joy. The Council explains how each Ray of Light has a specific vibration and application and can assist in removing any blocks to achieving your soul's purpose. The Emerald Ray, for example, activates the signature energy of your authentic and full self, and the Venus Ray, the Ray of Opulence, supports alignment with abundance and prosperity.

Offering an opportunity to form a direct connection with the Council of Light, this book provides practical tools to move from a life of worry, debt, exhaustion, and isolation to one of joy, abundance, purpose, ease, and connectedness, with a team of Divine supporters to assist you along the way.

Excerpt:

De-clutter and Stop Procrastinating

Replacing a Habit. When you stop a habit, when you quit smoking for instance, it is more successful if you replace this habit with something else. Perhaps going for a walk, chewing on a toothpick, running, or having something else that replaces the habit. The Council of Light, as you can tell, has provided very practical applications of how you can begin to replace the internal dynamic struggle, the habit of negative emotional patterns, and belief systems with active processes.

The ancients have used mantra, pranayama breath, and sound current to provide the space for alignment to occur, and these are viable techniques. We are offering additional ones that we feel will address the discomfort of the modern day and the average person who is overstimulated and overwhelmed and who has an internal dialogue that is running out of control.

Becoming Current

As we said earlier, as the consciousness on the Earth continues to shift things are going to continue to dissolve in ways around you—this is a good and necessary thing. The more that you can feel at peace and at ease the better. We would encourage you to complete the projects that you are able to complete to free up your energy, as well as create a demarcation point from that which you were engaged in at a previous vibrational vantage point.

Written Exercise: Finish Projects and Dissolve That Which Is No Longer Current

 Take a few minutes to contemplate your life. Notice what projects you are ready to complete. Also, identify areas that you are feeling called to just let go of. Take some time to write down what you are choosing to dissolve and what you are choosing to complete so you can become energetically current. Then create some guidelines as to how and when you would like to complete these areas and projects. Remember to include patterns that are no longer serving you, as well as physical items like cleaning out your closet. If you find an area that you have been stuck in for a long time, create a plan that includes getting added support. Take all the time that you would like with this exercise.

Excerpt from The Council of Light: Divine Transmissions for Manifesting the Deepest Desires of the Soul By Danielle Rama Hoffman

© Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Danielle Rama Hoffman is a divine transmitter and scribe of ancient and innovative wisdoms for the purpose of elevating consciousness and inspiring personal growth. She is a leader in the shift into unity consciousness, living from joy, purpose and prosperity as divine creator beings.

Danielle supports spirit centered light-workers, visionaries, coaches and personal growth enthusiasts to access their inner divinity so they can confidently share their purpose and unique contribution prosperously (unencumbered by fear, shame or doubt) and manifest the life they desire.

She is the award winning author of The Temples of Light, creator of bestselling, life changing divinely guided programs such as Divine Birthright Activation, the Prosperous Soul and Thoth's Magic Academy. She leads tours to Egypt and offers private retreats in Southern France where she lives part-time with her husband, Dr. Friedemann Schaub.

Through Danielle Rama Hoffman’s advanced spiritual work with Thoth, she was introduced to the Council of Light—an intergalactic group of thousands of light beings from across the Multiverse. Their purpose is to support individuals as they shift into Unity Consciousness and return to their natural state of joy. The Council transmitted the teachings in this book for those seeking to accelerate their journey toward health, wealth, happiness, and their soul’s deepest desires. Order today and receive an array of valuable gifts www.counciloflightbook.com.

Book Spotlight with Excerpt from The Council of Light by Danielle Rama Hoffman

Galactic teachings and practices to raise your vibrational energy and create a life of joy, abundance, and ease

• Provides direct transmissions of spiritual technology from the Council of Light to activate the 11 Rays of Light

• Reveals that by shifting your consciousness and raising your inner vibration, you can change your daily life experience and manifest the life you want

• Includes guided journeys and exercises to manifest health, wealth, happiness, and purpose and to form a direct connection with the Council of Light

Through her advanced spiritual work with Thoth, Danielle Rama Hoffman was introduced to the Council of Light--an intergalactic group of thousands of light beings from across the Multiverse. Their purpose is to support individuals as they shift into Unity Consciousness and return to their natural state of joy. The Council transmitted the teachings in this book for those seeking to accelerate their journey toward health, wealth, happiness, and their soul's deepest desires.

The Council's teachings reveal that by shifting your consciousness and raising your inner vibration, you can change your daily life experience and manifest the life you want. These direct transmissions of spiritual technology from the Council include activations for the 11 Rays of Light, guided journeys and meditations, and written, spoken, energetic, and breathwork exercises to creatively turn your debt into wealth, transfigure your food into light for better health and well-being, enhance your abilities for interdimensional travel, and return to your natural inner state of joy. The Council explains how each Ray of Light has a specific vibration and application and can assist in removing any blocks to achieving your soul's purpose. The Emerald Ray, for example, activates the signature energy of your authentic and full self, and the Venus Ray, the Ray of Opulence, supports alignment with abundance and prosperity.

Offering an opportunity to form a direct connection with the Council of Light, this book provides practical tools to move from a life of worry, debt, exhaustion, and isolation to one of joy, abundance, purpose, ease, and connectedness, with a team of Divine supporters to assist you along the way.

Excerpt

A Written Exercise to Manifest the Deepest Desires of Your Soul

Written Exercise: Exploration of the Deepest Desires of the Soul.

We would like to complete this segment with a writing exercise. What is it that you would like to connect to in this moment that would totally realize the deepest desires of your soul?

Once you have your paper, pen, or computer and keyboard ready call upon the Love Ray. You may do the same exercise that we did in the beginning of connecting to your heartbeat, connecting to your pituitary gland, connecting to the base of your spine, calling upon the Love Ray and letting it build a pathway and the spiral of ascension and descension. Call upon the Love Ray; when you feel that you’ve connected and you have an awareness that you feel a greater sense of harmony or a greater sense of peace, ask to connect to your soul and to communicate to your soul. The Love Ray is creating a deeper interconnectedness, a oneness to your soul and the consciousness that your soul has. Then ask, “What are the deepest desires of my soul?”

Spend a few moments writing about the deepest desires of your soul. Maybe this is in longhand or maybe it comes out as a list. Spend about ten minutes with this and in the last couple of minutes, if you can, create a list or a sentence that really embodies for you the deepest desires of your soul.

The reason that we’re recommending that you don’t spend tons of time on this is because when you’re in this interconnectedness with the soul it just comes quickly; you can trust that what comes through is what you’re wanting to know at this time. Once you have your written form you may want to put it on a different piece of paper. Then imagine that you are calling upon the Love Ray and that you’re dropping units of the Love Ray onto this piece of paper, and that that is a process of manifestation. It’s disintegrating anything that is creating a lack of connection between you and what it is that you’re choosing to have in your life, and that it is also amplifying your vibration to be in the high vibration of that which you would choose.

Excerpt from The Council of Light: Divine Transmissions for Manifesting the Deepest Desires of the Soul By Danielle Rama Hoffman

© Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Danielle Rama Hoffman is an ancient wisdom keeper, divine transmitter, and a leader in the shift into Unity Consciousness. She is the author of The Temples of Light and The Council of Light and creator of Divine Transmissions Inc. She provides energy facilitation and consciousness coaching to empower empaths, visionaries and new thought leaders to prosperously share their purpose and manifest the deepest desires of their soul.


Through Danielle Rama Hoffman’s advanced spiritual work with Thoth, she was introduced to the Council of Light—an intergalactic group of thousands of light beings from across the Multiverse. Their purpose is to support individuals as they shift into Unity Consciousness and return to their natural state of joy. The Council transmitted the teachings in this book for those seeking to accelerate their journey toward health, wealth, happiness, and their soul’s deepest desires. Order Wednesday Oct 30, 2013 and receive an array of valuable gifts www.counciloflightbook.com.

You Can Judge This Book by Its Cover by Stephanie Rose Bird, Author of The Big Book of Soul

Soul is the essence of African American culture–the ingredient that makes it tick. In The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit, writer and herbalist Stephanie Rose Bird takes us on an amazing journey into the ancient traditions of mysticism, spirituality, and mythology that lie beneath this uniquely African American experience. Bird explores the healing, magic, and divination traditions of ancient African earth-based spirituality, and traces how these practices have evolved in contemporary African American culture. Along the way she offers recipes, rituals and resources that you can use to heal your life.

Many people have complimented the book cover for my new book, The Big Book of Soul: the Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit: Legends & Lore, Music & Mysticism, Recipes & Rituals (Hampton Roads Publishers 2/5/2010). I must admit when I first saw the JPG it took my breath away.

I knew who the artist was right away. It was the African American artist from South Carolina, Jonathan Green. What I didn’t know until visiting his website at www.jonathangreenstudios.com is that we share an important mission. Green’s passion is creating and collecting cross-cultural art that exhibits the themes of work, love, belonging and spirituality. My writing is cross-cultural in nature, with a particular focus on the African diaspora (Africa, Americas, Caribbean and parts of Europe where Black people live). The Big Book of Soul is built around the theme of spirituality but also touches on the topics of love for family, belonging to community and family and features various occupations such as midwifery and farming.

Green is driven by the desire to give greater visibility, wider positive perceptions and recognition of the accomplishments of people of color. His work reflects our contributions to various areas including health, the environment and the arts. Green’s desire to bring greater visibility of our contributions in those specific areas is something that he and I share.

Overall, his lithograph on the cover, called “The Reception” is vibrant; pulsating with life and color. The people depicted are Black but they show a wide variety of skin tones, builds, personal tastes and personalities. It is a gathering of Black folks in all of our variety. Often, it is when we get together as a community or extended family, our strong sense of spirituality bubbles to the surface. We get in touch with soul through singing and dancing or through prayer. Also, you can evidence some of the old ways if you observe and talk to the elders present at such gatherings. You can clearly see in “The Reception” that there are folks represented from every age group. The backdrop of the scene is a lovely, old tree and newly planted crops. Similarly, the backdrop of The Big Book of Soul is populated with ancient spiritual wisdom, healing plants and medicinal trees—they form the foundation of the book. Moreover, gatherings such as receptions are opportunities for sharing our stories including mythology and folklore. The Big Book of Soul also incorporates mythology, folklore and storytelling. I can’t think of a more fitting book cover design for this book than Jonathan Green’s “The Reception.”


Stephanie Rose Bird, is the author of five books: The Big Book of Soul: the Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit: Legends and Lore, Music and Mysticism and Recipes and Rituals, (2010, Hampton Road Publishers), A Healing Grove: African Tree Medicine, Remedies and Rituals ( 2009, Chicago Review Press), Light, Bright, Damn Near White: Biracial and Triracial Culture in America and Beyond (2009, Praeger Press) Sticks, Stones, Roots and Bones Hoodoo, Mojo and Conjuring with Herbs (June 2004, by Llewellyn Worldwide Publishers) and “Four Seasons of Mojo: An Herbal Guide to Natural Living (Llewellyn, 2006). Bird writes regularly for www.naturallycurly.com as resident herbalist. She has been a professional member of the Handcrafted Soap Maker’s Guild, for whom she wrote a column “Soap Worts: Useful Herbs for Soap Makers. Bird is a member of: the American Botanical Council’s Herb Research Foundation; the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and the International Center for Traditional Childrearing. Her writing on herbalism, natural healing, complimentary therapies, herbal lore, goddesses, rituals and ceremonies are featured in “Sage Woman Magazine” “The Beltane Papers,” “International Journal of Aromatherapy,” “Aromatherapy Today,” “The Oracle,” “Herb Quarterly,” “Herb Companion,” “The Llewellyn Magical Almanac,” “The Llewellyn Herbal Almanac” “Enlightened Practice,” E-pregnancy and “Spell-a-Day” among others.

Stephanie Bird is a hereditary intuitive and healer specializing in positive energy work and spiritual cleansing using African plant wisdom. Her website is located at www.stephanierosebird.com and you can follow her on twitter at Twitter@stephanierosebi.com

The Pink Forest by Dana Dorfman

Dana Dorfman, author of The Pink Forest: A Woman's Intimate Confesssions is my guest blogger today. Dana will share about how and when a woman begins living life.

A woman decides to start living her life when she realizes she is undecided about her feelings. Cupping her ear to the wind, the hands of time seem to comb through her hair and the sounds of her dreams are crashing. Her feelings will frighten her if they go one more second, unanswered. Tick Tock Tick Tock! She covers her ears, but the eternal clock is ticking away in her head. Time cannot be reset. She squeezes out another second and then giving herself a sense of place she slips into her life, unnoticed.

You know it is time to slip into your life when you don't own any old adventures anymore. When it seems as if you are buying into illusion and your life is being lived with the use of mirrors. Knowledge is construed by understanding ourselves in deeper ways and this is done through experience and reflection. Reflection of course is channeled through experience and experience of course, is channeled through reflection. Hence here lies the struggle. It is only when we establish a playful connection with life do we open the door to our authenticity, our dreams.

A woman decides to start living her life when she looks out on the streets of motorists zipping by every day and wonders if anyone is even truly searching for paradise anymore. She begins to translate her existence as obscure and encoded in riddles. She realizes that she staggers in inventiveness and that she is, indeed, dramatically flawed. She realizes that she has become a human being who hardly listens to life. She only feels her feelings in hushed tones. She settles her palms on either side of her face and wonders what does she have to do to make them heat? What does she have to do to feel alive?

Her eyes twinkle! She must tap into the well of optimism. She must step into her dreams of faraway places and cherish her altering mind. She must look at herself searchingly. She must realize that she cannot always keep her feelings in logically hidden places. There is a little manic side to us all and it is lovable! Reinventing one's sensibility is yet another way to start living your life. Anticipation makes us an applauding audience to life. Filled with an intoxicating feeling of flight that cannot be explained, we become conductors of tremendous mystique and in the spirit of determination we start living our life like we have never done so before.

There is always an impulse to free ourselves from daily commitments. There is always a feeling of wanting to take hold of our woozy grab bag of ideas and with burning ambitions set out on an enchanting exploration.

Author's note: A stray breeze can flutter your eyes if you glance in the direction of your smile.

About the book:

In the netted light, a face very recognizable stares out at me. I do my best to look casual. I gaze at her chiseled outline. Her high cheekbones are distinctly familiar. As the figure slowly disappears her delicate shadings pause in a pinkish glow. “You can be absolutely infuriating at times. I cannot take the subject seriously.” She half-smiles and then vanishes in the curls of her breaths.

A woman tries to teach her conscience about love.

The pink forest is her story.

This biography is about a woman who wants to throw a pillow at her conscience for trying to run her life. Set in the vividness of a kiss this courageous feminine read goes far beyond bug-jeweled sandals and striped pumps and applauds an ordinary woman in her super-hero moments.

For every woman who has ever wanted to stop her life and let her conscience hop out at the curb, you will welcome the power you gain in The Pink Forest.

Dorfman writes about the hunted soul. The part of us that we travel through from a distance, the part of us that cannot slip away untold. There are few authors that can catch the soul of a story like Dorfman. Her charm lies not just in her artistry but in the way she leads your presence on to the written page. If you would like the author to unpack the pages of your life visit her at SoulBiographer.com ,DanaDorfman.com, The Lollipop Chronicle and the Here And There Gazette.


About the author:

Dana Dorfman is an author who gravitates to the signs of life. In tune to the emotions surrounding her, she insists she can still see the first star she wished upon. Dorfman was raised as an only child and has been writing since the age of four. She graduated from the University of Southern California and considers herself a "life writer" who is able to tap into the blush of the earth. She resides in Los Angeles with her mystical spirit. You can visit her website at http://www.danadorfman.com/.

THE PINK FOREST VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on July 7, 2008 and continue all month long. If you would like to follow Dana's tour in progress, visit http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in July.

As a special promotional offer, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away one FREE virtual book tour or a $25 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky person drawn from the ones who participate by leaving a comment or a question for the author at any of our authors' blog stops. Check the virtual book tour blog to see if you're that lucky person!

This virtual book tour has been brought to you by: