I’ll not force your hand, child.
I’ll kiss your cheek,
beaming with devotion as I look upon you.
I trust in your soul…
It knows what it needs to grow.
I trust in your love…
That it will overcome your fears.

No. I’ll not force you forward.
But I’ll whisper in the winds,
“You are ready.”
That dream? It’s yours.
You keep turning away.
Afraid to see, to seize.
Beloved…
It’s okay.
It’s time.
Believe.

I’ll kiss your skin
with morning light.
Feel it warm your blood, quicken your heart.
Open.
This is your new beginning.
This is your dawn.

I love you.
I’m waiting.

=============================================

“Be bold. Take risks. Be daring. Embrace adventure,” my mentor said to me recently. She told me that there had been opportunities quietly presented by Spirit that I had missed as I went through a phase of hiding from the world.

If she’d been sitting in front of me, Pam would have seen my mouth drop open and my eyes widen like a deer’s in headlights.

Me? Have you met me? I wanted to ask. You see, I’ve spent most of my life trying not to attract attention.

This reaction was followed by some inner sass – if Spirit had a door for me to walk through, couldn’t it be obvious about it? I don’t want to miss out on such things after all! But this is a reminder that the universe is generally gentle when you are feeling hurt and vulnerable. It allows you the choice of deciding if you are ready to walk through the door or not.

Apparently I wasn’t.

But now it is time for me to allow myself to really honor my dreams and gifts. It’s time to embrace those things that bring me joy and open my heart. There is a powerful creative energy available in those spaces.

After my talk with Pam, I found myself scribbling a poem for the first time in ages. And I made sure to actually ping a few people for a read. Usually the pimping of my latest work ends after I put the link on Twitter and Facebook. But I took Pam’s advice and made an effort to share this piece. The comments that came in were very moving and treasured. Apparently the creativity gates have opened again because I found myself blogging again as well.

This new attitude also brought an invitation to guest blog from Stan at Variance Publishing. I sent him a short story I hope to see up on his site in the near future.

Yesterday brought more good things. I sent a tweet out asking for suggestions of someone to interview or a book to review. My friend, Shennandoah Diaz, answered immediately and recommended I connect with Kelly Meding. Wow. The suggestion could not have been more perfect. She is a writer of urban fantasy fiction and just released a novel called As Lie the Dead. She agreed to the interview, and I’m working my way through her two books, enjoying every moment.

Bottom-line, my beloveds, know that you have a powerful, creative nature. The thoughts and intentions you put out there can manifest if you allow it, work for it, and pay attention to the opportunities around you.

Practice awareness. Practice saying “Yes” to new adventures.
Be bold.
Be amazing.
Be YOU!

Blessings…..

Those close to me know what an angel this lovely lady is in my life. She has been a constant source of unconditional love for me. She is one of my best friends on this earth, as well as my biggest fan. I think she’s kept every poem, card, and story I’ve written. I can’t tell you how much that delights me and how special that is.

No matter how old I get, I still beam at every “Melly,” “Angel Girl,” and “Baby Girl” that comes out of her because the words are so filled with love.

She is a much adored matriarch of a crazy family. Being with the Hoyts can be akin to being in the midst of a whirlwind. We are loud. We are witty. We are talented (musicians, singers, painters, wood carvers, writers, etc). We are, to say the least, “full of it.” And it all starts from her.

My grandmother is a fantastic dancer, brilliant painter, lovely writer, and a great wit. She normally wears a wicked twinkle of humor in her eyes and warm smile on her lips. She loves to laugh and has a lot of sass packed into that tiny body.

If you’re in her orbit, you feel loved – fully and unconditionally. She is one of the most beautiful and kind spirits you could ever meet. She genuinely sees the best in those she encounters. She treasures her friends and never fails to make time for them. To say the least she is a blessing in our lives.

She seems happiest when all of her children and grandchildren have gathered around her. So this week we are celebrating her by doing that. The family is gathering from near and far to honor this lady who is our true North, our home. We’re starting with a dinner tonight and then we’ll have a big celebration on Sunday where we’ll spoil her properly.

Grandma — Many blessings to you on this joyous day. Love you so. Thank you for making this life so beautiful and for sharing your journey with us.

I want to say a few things to you, the beautiful souls that bless my world, inspire my soul, and make my heart skip with joy. These words go out to all who read them. So even if you aren’t mentioned specifically by name, you have inspired this piece. KNOW that.

I love you
There may be times when I hurt. I hide. I run. I’m a hermit. I go silent as I process. I get overwhelmed and need a break from being around people. But always, always I love you, and you are in my heart.
I am blessed because I know that you are always going to be there when I feel ready to return and open up again. The faith in your love allows me to believe all will be ok.
Your hugs give me peace.
Your smiles are sunshine on my soul.
Your laughter is the sweetest music I could ever hear. There is no more joyous noise.
The good in my life stems from the love we share.

I believe in you
I wish you could see yourselves as I see you. There is so much goodness, beauty, potential, strength, and love within each of you. Not every day is perfect. Not every plan goes as you may wish. But I have faith in you and your dreams. I believe you are perfectly where you need to be in your life. I believe that all you desire can come to you, will come to you with work, belief, and acceptance of the fact you deserve such blessings.
You have survived hardships and your heart is still in tact.
You selflessly have given of yourself. Now allow the goodness you give to be returned.
You have my support.
I’ll hug you when things fall apart, and I’ll be there to cheer you on when you succeed.
Ever know you deserve the best.

I’m grateful for you
I can’t always see my value. Some days I struggle to find my smile. Some days I could get lost in bitterness and dark thoughts.
But you save me.
You give me a safe place to vent.
You hold me when I need to break down.
You tell me you love me – all of me – the good parts, and the not so pretty ones.
You inspire me. I am in awe of the humor, the wisdom, the creativity, the goodness of the people in my life. I feel moved to be more, do more, love more, create more, try harder, push myself – all because of the example you set.
You remind me there are things worth fighting for. That the beauty humanity is capable of can eclipse the more destructive tendencies.
Yes, I am grateful for:

My mother – who embodies the compassion for others, grace, and strength I want to grow into. Nothing makes my heart soar like hearing she is proud of me.

My father – who gave me unconditional love from the moment of my first breath, is always there when I need him, and gives the best hugs ever.

My stepmom and stepdad – my parents found real love when they found you. And I did too. You didn’t have to love me and be there for me like you have, but you chose to do so anyhow. I’m fortunate to not have two parents who I love, but four.

My Grandma – my biggest fan, my greatest supporter, and the most fantastic listener I could possibly have. You have given me treasured moments, endless love, and laughs that will forever bless me. I don’t know who I’d be without you.

Denice – my dear, dear hetero-lifemate. You are such a gorgeous, magical blend of fragility and strength. You dazzle me sweetie. You pour out all of the beauty within you into your art. You and your work are more gorgeous than you could ever realize. You bless me every moment, every day. You’ve saved me. You’ve inspired me. Love you so.

Pam and Tiffany – my friends, my mentors. You are so beautiful – you leave me breathless. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such compassion, such brilliant guidance, such support, but I’m glad for it. You rock my world, kick my butt, wipe away my tears. I simply love you and treasure you more than words.

Jeremy – Your writing and friendship has meant more to me than I can say. You move me, inspire me, help me to see beauty in the world and in humanity. You are creativity. You are kindness. You help remind me what this beautiful, painful, wondrous journey of life is all about – connection, compassion, making the world a bit brighter than you found it.

I honestly could go on and on with gratitude to everyone. I can only hope that I find ways in everyday interactions to let you know how much you mean to me.

May you all feel loved today. May you all realize how much your words and actions mean in the lives of others. The world is a better place because you are in it.

Much love….Blessed Be.

When I came into this world I dealt with heart/circulation issues, heart surgery at age 3, and physical pain that were not in my control. As you can imagine I underwent many tests and treatments took away my ability to dictate what was happening to me….and what I was experiencing wasn’t pleasant.

My world eventually calmed down for the most part after the age of four. But there have still been the occasional ER visits and even hospitalizations. So having a sense of control is important to me. I know it is primarily an illusion, but it helps me get through the day. When something happens I immediately try to figure out how to handle the issue from an internal/emotional perspective or to fix it if that is possible.  I make a plan. I execute the plan.

But there are some things one just can’t fix or control. Life dealt me such a blow last week.

As many of you know my stepfather was diagnosed with lung cancer about 18 months ago and went through difficult chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Along the way he’s had to contend with a variety of  after effects from the treatments. Well, he has not been feeling well lately and went in for a CAT scan last Wednesday. There is something on his lung. We don’t know quite yet what is going on. He has more tests to undergo and doctors to meet with.

There is no way for me to control this, to make it better. Whatever we find out, whatever he faces, we will all just have to embrace the journey. We will hold on to each other through the highs and lows to come.

As I heard the news regarding the CAT scan on Thursday evening, my mind immediately began conjuring dark possibilities. Friday morning I could still feel I wasn’t fully in the present moment. My mind was stilling fretting and worrying about things that weren’t real yet. So I decided to focus as much as possible on what was happening “right now.” I just accepted what was happening in the present moment.

I acknowledged the fact the test results were concerning, but that we didn’t have any solid information yet. For now, my stepfather was still with us and still home. Those were definitely things to be grateful for.

I put on music and embraced the joy of the lyrics. I probably looked silly to anyone passing by my cube as I shimmied in my chair.

I took in the messages of love and appreciation that come from the #FollowFriday activities of Twitter.

I dined on delicious Indian food and shared laughs with a good friend at lunch.

Once I got home, I worked out and felt the satisfaction that comes out of mixing sweat and endorphins.

And you know what? Life was good. I felt loved. I felt joy. I appreciated the ability of my body to move and the strength there. I felt the sun on my skin and embraced the beauty of nature.

The past few days have been a good reminder. Our natural state is one of peace, love, health, and abundance. If we aren’t experiencing those things, it’s because we are choosing something different. To return to our true nature we need to just let go, surrender, and just “be” for a while.

There really is an underlying grace and love that surrounds us. When we fight our circumstances, when we fear, we close down. We lose the power and blessings held within the present moment. When we surrender, we open. We more easily discover the lessons we need to learn. We make room for the blessings trying to come into our life. We allow the guidance of a higher power move us to where we need to be with ease.

The truth I was reminded of this weekend is beautifully captured by the Rolling Stones: You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find – you get what you need.

But I have spent much of my real life settling for so much less. I sit in the shadows, arms wrapped around myself in a solitary hug, closed off from these things. Sometimes I can pretend I don’t hear the calls from my higher self on the other side, but it is getting harder and harder. My excuses and stories are growing thin. The restlessness and desire for more is brewing. I know there will come a time when steps toward the door will be taken. I’ll brave turning the knob. I’ll slowly step through.

So why haven’t I? If you aren’t living the life of your dreams, why aren’t you? What is preventing us from stepping into being our best possible selves and living a big life?

For me it is/has been a combination of things.

Conditional love
I think few people are given creative freedom/unconditional love as we are forming ourselves and growing up. From Day 1 we are conditioned with expectations of behavior by society. We feel pressures to act a certain way, look a certain way, perform certain functions in society and many of these things might not resonate with the truth of who we are.

Even our parents convey a strong sense of the kind of person they expect us to be, the kind of life they envision for us. Though it is meant with love, it can put limits on who we think we can be.

It takes a lot of strength to be our authentic self. It takes a lot of self-love. It takes a lot of faith to believe the rejections we face are actually meant for our highest good. It is only when we get to a place believing that we deserve to be our true self that we can share our gifts with the world and receive the blessings meant for us.

Being taught to settle
We are actually encouraged in a lot of ways to not dream. Dreaming is often thought of as childish. There is this mistaken sense that following a passion somehow is silly, that we need to be “responsible.”

So we end up wasting time trying to be someone else. We focus energy on jobs that don’t fulfill us. We surrender to just getting by. We survive, but don’t really live.

Quite honestly, stepping into a full life requires a lot of effort. We have to be willing to do some hard work. We have to put in the time. We have to honestly look at our inner demons like insecurity, fear, and limiting beliefs. We have to be willing to change. Sometimes it can just be easier to go along with what is. But is that enough?

It is time to release the complacency, the acceptance of merely “good enough.” We are worth more than that. It is time to open our hearts, to take risks, to step into a life we are passionate about.

Who am I to?
We grow up bombarded with messages from the media that we are not good enough as we are, that we need to change, that we need to be like someone else. Instead of seeing the blessings that are in our lives, we see only what is missing. We see only a failure to measure up.

Lack of confidence can lead us to asking “Who am I to ….?” We see ourselves as less than others instead of having an equal light to share. So we just don’t act. We don’t think that those dreams can be ours. We can’t imagine having a “big life.”

In truth we all have gifts to share. They burn within us. Often they are those elements that leave us feeling most vulnerable. It is hard sometimes to remember that the important thing is to just to be true to ourselves, to share, without expectations of others.

No one else was meant for your path, for the work you are here to do. You came into this life, as you are, for a reason. Let your truth come forth. Let your spirit burn brightly. The world awaits the blessing of the REAL you.

Not having a good support structure.
We all feel fragile and afraid. We all sometimes “fail.” If you don’t have a support structure of people whispering “You’re okay.” “Go for it.” “I believe in you.” it can be really hard to move forward.

So be sure to surround yourself with people who honor you, who believe in you, who support your efforts. They will be the strength that lifts you up during the hard times. They will remind you that you are worth the effort when you feel like giving up. They will encourage you to try again.

I am hoping that working on these things will help me to move forward in time. I would love to hear about how you conquered fears and resistance and went after a dream. Or share your vision with me about what your “big life” would be like. I hope you will feel inspired after sharing to take a step toward making those dreams a reality. Don’t forget I am happy to be a cheerleader when you need it. I believe in you!

We can push open those doors, with fearlessness, time, and effort. We can manifest the life we long for. So what are we waiting for?

Howl in anger.
Weep.
Break apart.
I won’t deny you.

If  you’d let me,
I’d take your hand.
I’d kiss your tears away.
I’d calm your fears,
and ease your mind.

I’d walk by your side,
be the stars in this dark night,
bringing you home.
I’d be the mirror when
your forget yourself.

Trouble me.
Lean on me.
Fall.
I’ll catch you.

I love you.

Let me in.

——————————————

I have been thinking today about the masks we wear. Many of us strive to appear perfect in the eyes of those around us. But really it is laughable. We are all beautifully flawed. We are only human.

When the inner storms hit, I have been known to hide away like a hermit. I keep myself in darkness, away from the light of attention, advice, and comfort from friends and family. Many of my friends share a similar trait of isolating themselves during the times of struggle.

Sometimes we must retreat and take some alone time in order to process our experiences, get our thoughts in order, and heal. But we have to be careful that we aren’t denying ourselves much needed love, support, and wisdom from those who care for us.

It isn’t an easy thing to be vulnerable with others, especially if you have a lot of experience with conditional love. If you have braved showing your authentic self to another person and been judged and rejected for that act, it leaves a scar. We can heal. We can move forward and try again to share ourselves, but a part of us is always marked by the past. It takes effort to open up to others again.

Think about your life. Were there times you really needed a hug, but held back asking for one? Did you ever have difficult times, think about calling a friend for help, and then stopped yourself from reaching out? I bet you have. It is a difficult mindset to break out of. Recently I’ve been on both sides — seeing a friend in pain, and being the one who was hurting. I was reminded that our friends WANT to be there for us.

It is not only a gift to ourselves, but also to others to let them offer support. It allows them an opportunity to return the love and caring we give them. It provides them a chance to be of service to another being. Isn’t that what we are all here for? To share our love and gifts in order to leave others a little better off.

I realize more and more each day that I have people who genuinely love me — for better or worse. They enjoy laughing with me, but they are just as willing to let me cry. They forgive my anger. They help me get centered again. They are willing to offer a sympathetic ear (or kick in the ass, if appropriate). They want the best for me.

In short — I don’t have to do this alone. Neither do you.

I think being able to be vulnerable with others has a lot to do with self-love. We all have weaknesses and strengths. We all have our shadow side and things we might be a little bit ashamed of. We must come to a place where we can look at all aspects of ourselves with compassion and love. It isn’t necessarily an easily thing to accomplish. But we must love ourselves in order to ask for what we need.

I was given a wonderful tool by a friend named Mary Knebel. She is on Twitter as @SelfHelpGoddess. A lot of Mary’s work revolves around helping people come back to loving themselves. She is an absolutely luminous spirit who continually inspires me. I recommend following her there and also checking out her site.

Here is the exercise directly from Mary:

First, take out a sheet of paper and think of someone in your life that you hide things from. It could be a spouse, parent, child, friend, etc., or even the planet as a whole! Now, imagine that you are writing a letter to this person (or people) and start out the letter by saying, “What I don’t want you to know about me is…” Then, list everything you would be ashamed of or embarrassed about if that person discovered these aspects about yourself. Things like, “I have cellulite on my thighs, I rarely pay my bills on-time, I can be really evil when someone crosses me, I act like I am holier than thou but usually I’m not, I often say no to plans with friends because I don’t really like them and would prefer to be by myself, etc.” You get the point. Anything you would not want this other person to find out about, include it in your list!

Once you’ve come up with a complete list, you’re going to turn it around and write a letter that starts out with, “What I do want you to know about me is…” and then list everything you listed in the first letter. So using the example above, it would look like this: “What I do want you to know about me is that I have cellulite on my thighs, I rarely pay my bills on-time, I can be really evil when someone crosses me, I act like I am holier than thou but usually I’m not, I often say no to plans with friends because I don’t really like them and would prefer to be by myself, etc.” List everything you listed in the first example, but this time approach it from a stance of wanting to share this information with the other person. (Don’t worry, you never have to share this letter with anyone if you don’t want to! This is just an exercise to help *you* in loving yourself.)

I found this exercise to be incredibly helpful. It showed me things I judged myself on without realizing it. It also allowed me to look at these elements of my personality and realize that I was still lovable. That these things I tried to hide away weren’t so bad after all.

I hope you’ll take the time to try the exercise. I hope the next time you are struggling, you give someone the gift of allowing them to be there for you. For your light, for your dark, for your strengths, for your fragility — You are loved.

I’ll be honest. Over the past few months, I’ve been doing a lot of inner work and reviewing my life. As a little girl I had quite a different vision of what life would be at this age. I had imagined a life with a nice home, a husband, and a fabulous career. I imagined being at a point where I was comfortable within my own skin — a place of inward and outward health.  Hmm…yeah…reality hasn’t quite matched those dreams of youth. Things came to a head over the past couple weeks for me.

I’ve been a little angry (okay, a lot angry) at myself, a little depressed, a little too focused on lack instead of appreciating the blessings of my life. I’ve been struggling with knowing I am the architect of my own life and the fact that I’ve blocked so many blessings, felt so much fear, held myself back, and hid instead of reached out. In short, I placed myself right where I am; I created this life I am not satisfied with. So how do I become okay with that? What can I learn? Where do I go from here?

I have a hard time allowing myself to feel “negative” emotions like disappointment, anger, jealousy, etc. If I felt down when I was kid, I was always told that I should count my blessings, that someone else always had it worse than I do. My inner critic uses those past teachings to chide me with a loud, “Get over it!”

Yes, it is good to keep things in perspective and to not spin out too deeply into self-pity, but it is also important to feel what we are feeling. It really does no good to stuff the emotions. The energy still there, still needs to be released. We can’t move forward until we have felt the emotions, no matter how unpleasant they are.

So a couple weekends ago, after a suggestion by a wise friend, I held myself a little “pity party.” I played angry music. I drummed. I cried and yelled. I wrote angry letters and burned them. I let out all that I could in that moment. Of course it was followed up by comfort food (aka heavy doses of chocolate). I think it gave me a much needed movement of internal energy. I highly recommend it when you are feeling stuck in a negative place. Create a special time where you can just wallow with gusto! Then be done with it.

We hear so much about looking for the good in things. We hear that happiness is a choice.  Well, here is the real truth. To have a full life, we must go through all colors of emotions: joy, sorrow, fear, strength, happiness, depression, etc. The “negative” feelings are not there to punish us. They are there to help us appreciate the more “positive” emotions. They are there to help us learn what we need in our lives. They teach us what isn’t serving us well. They push us to make necessary changes.

We need to learn to not feel guilty about our feelings. The trick is channelling the energy in productive ways, not pretending the negative feelings don’t exist.

I realized today that during my internal struggles I have been hiding myself away. The universe has given me a swift kick to the backside. I’ve basically been told I need to be writing and practicing being more vulnerable. As I share, I hope you will too. Know you all have a willing ear, a cheerleader, and advocate in me when you need it.

Bright Blessings to you all until my next post.

I am not just the smile I wear to comfort you.

I am not just the quiet girl sitting in the corner observing the crowd.

I am tired. I am worn out.

I blissful. I am hopeful.

I run in fear.

I fight the good fight.

I am beautiful and ugly.

I am dark and light.

I struggle. I succeed.

I am merely me,

trying to remember that above all else —

I am love.

Can you see?

========================

One of the most painful illusions  we all struggle with is that love is earned through appearance, through actions, through meeting certain expectations. I imagine we’ve all gone through points in our lives where we are trying so hard to be what others want, what society expects, that we lose track of ourselves. We invest so much energy in earning love and approval from others we forget that we first need to love ourselves.

Ah, loving ourselves. It can be a challenge, can’t it? It isn’t always easy to face that person you see in the mirror and say “I love you.” It can be down right hard. Because loving ourselves doesn’t mean loving the mask we present, but the real self. The real self is all our strengths and weaknesses. It is the self that can anger easily; the self that is scared; the self that is courageous; the self that is beautiful; the self that is cruel; the self that is tired; the self that is driven. If we struggle in loving ourselves, then we struggle in acting in an unconditionally loving way toward others.

The truth is simply this: We are love, and we are loved. Real love, true love, isn’t something that is earned. It is not conditional. Love is accepting and honoring another person as they are in this moment. It is setting aside a personal agenda and granting the other person freedom to be themselves. It is bowing to the Spirit, the God-force, within another and knowing they are inherently worthy of respect and love. This includes seeing this in ourselves too. We aren’t perfect, but we are perfectly where we need to be on our path in life.

There is a part of me that feels called by this idea, this truth of unconditional love. I feel its echoes in the song of birds greeting the dawn, my father’s heartbeat when I give him a hug, the laughter of my best friend. The universe is reminding me of this deep abiding love that surrounds us at all times. We need only pay attention.

So I long to become more attuned to this energy. Every day I try to strip away a bit of my armor, my fears. I work on treating my inner critic with kindness instead of being angry with her. I struggle to love myself better and heal. I want to get to a place where people feel unconditional love when they are around me. I want to become that person whose energy lifts people up and makes them see the good within themselves. I want to help create a world where all of us are so certain of the love that surrounds us, feels our inner worth so innately, that we never lose hope.

Never doubt that you teach people how to treat you. If you walk in your truth and love yourself, an amazing thing happens. You attract the love and respect of others because you are able to freely give those things. And those people who would treat you cruelly, who don’t respect you, who want you to react in the manner they desire will drop from your life because you’ve ceased to play their games.

So ask yourself:

Are you allowing your truth to be expressed? If there are areas where you are fearful, what tiny steps can you take to live more authentically?

Do you criticize yourself? Judge others harshly? What can you do to come from a more compassionate place?

What can you do to honor and love yourself?  You’ve accomplished a lot in this life. Celebrate that.

Remember– we are here to recognize our oneness. We are here to learn to connect with that primal creative force that is our essence: love.

With Hook and Jill, Andrea Jones offers her readers an intriguing continuation of the Neverland tale. Wendy Darling and her brothers, Michael and John, have settled into their life with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Wendy acts as a mother to the boys, protecting them from the dangers of the island which are thought to be animals, the local Indian population, and pirates. But Neverland isn’t a world of simple blacks and whites. Good and evil aren’t easily identified.

A change is brewing in Neverland. This is supposed to a land where time holds no reckoning, but the children are beginning to grow up. This is a clear violation of Peter’s rules, and only he knows the true consequence.

And another threat looms. Wendy discovers Captain Hook, the man of her stories and dreams, is real and has set his sights on her. He is a seductive, manipulative presence that soon overwhelms Wendy and Tinker Bell.

Wendy is not only drawn to Hook, she is troubled by Peter Pan’s darker side. Peter is so unbending about his rules – kill all pirates, don’t grow up – that he becomes a kind of child tyrant. Readers aren’t likely to be on Peter Pan’s side for long in this version of Neverland.

As a girl, Wendy dreamed of Peter and thought of him as her prince. Now she longs to grow up, to share love and adventure with a mate. Peter can’t offer that future to her, but he won’t let her go easily.

Wendy is the heart of Hook and Jill. Jones does well in giving Wendy a powerful character arch. Wendy grows up, changes her way of looking her situation, claims control of her destiny, and eventually changes her name to become the Jill of the title. She is an intriguing heroine, and Hook is definitely her match. Their romantic dance is a pleasure to watch unfold.

This novel is also unabashedly filled with magic. Great respect is paid to the shamanistic ways of the Indians in the novel. Some of the most vivid and intriguing scenes in the novel focus on the Indians. They leave the reader desiring to see even more of their community.

In Neverland Wendy’s stories come true. Her very words act as spells shaping reality. Her magical, creative nature is revealed throughout the story. In the end she uses her talents to save those she loves and create satisfying endings for them.

Readers are called to remember the magic that still surrounds us and to not lose our sense of adventure. Hook and Jill reminds us that we are the storytellers of our lives. It is up to us to write the person we want to be and create a tale worthy of believing in.

I dream of a world where each one of us loves ourselves unconditionally.

I dream of a time when all beings on this planet are treated with respect.

I dream of a time when rape is gone from our vocabulary because the very notion is unthinkable.

I dream of a world where the feminine and the masculine are equally valued.

I dream of a world where no one would be harmed because of his sexuality, race, or religion.

I dream of a world where we all are tuned into the vibration of abundance and no one knows lack.

I dream of a day when death will not be feared and what matters is the quality of life, not the length of it.

I dream of a time when all the ugly ducklings realize they are beautiful swans.

I dream of a world where it is easier to make the news by doing good than evil.

I dream of schools that encourage creativity, thought, and originality in children.

I dream of a world where people are addicted to happiness, not drama.

I dream of time when all so innately know they are loved and worthy that they are never without hope.

I dream of a society that would never allow for the cutting of arts or physical education from schools.

I dream of a time when all that people know is peace, and war no longer exists.

I dream of a time when art (in all its forms) is about the art…not the money to be made from it.

I dream of a society where people can marry the person they love regardless of gender.

I dream of a time when we live in harmony with the earth and her creatures.

I dream of a life where I laugh till my cheeks hurt, my eyes tear, and my sides ache every day.

I dream of the sun setting on the horizon as the waves crash, the sand warms my toes, and I hold the hand of my beloved.