{Santa Barbara Cathedral, Rome.}

To say I have felt disconnected over the past month would be an understatement. Between a much-needed vacation for Mr. Husband and I, the jet lag that followed, and then the nastiest stomach bug I have ever experienced in my life, I have felt totally out of sorts, fairly isolated, and overwhelmed by all the thoughts that decided to take advantage of my weak state and swoop in my brain like a pack of wild monkeys – howling and swinging and generally making me crazy. I’ve been trying my best to ride through all the discomfort with grace – to be with it all and stay mindful of how much worse things could be – but I don’t feel like I have done an especially good job at that this time around. I’ve been grouchy and cranky and a little more prone to self-pity than I care to admit, annoyed by all the things that I decided were going wrong.

In the midst of all this, there have still been – as always – plenty of moments of beautiful stillness, genuine laughter, and deep, soulful connections. Like last Monday, when I crawled into bed around 10:00am and proceeded to sleep for a solid three hours, which was bliss after not sleeping for more than an hour or so at a time throughout the previous four nights. Or this past Friday, when I was getting ready for dinner while Mr. Husband and his best friend on the planet were in the kitchen waiting for me. At one point I overheard them talking, which wasn’t talking actually; it was the two of them saying goofy things for the Talking Hippo app on an iPad. Yep, two grown men with serious jobs and fierce intellectual streaks asking an animated hippo if it will make them a martini. Or right now, when the house is perfectly quiet, Tilda is asleep at my feet, and I have absolutely nothing to do tonight. Tomorrow’s To Do list is a whopper, but for now, I can rest.

Or the moment last Thursday when I opened my front door and found a package at my feet, a package that contained this:

The first two advance copies of my book are here, and I couldn’t be more excited. The designers at North Light Books did a beautiful, beautiful job, and I cannot wait to share this with everyone. I started working on this book just over a year ago, and now here it is!

I am also on a bit of a spiritual journey at the moment, educating myself on a number of different fronts. I have been reading The Zen Works of Stonehouse for a while now, and it has been a unique source of solace over the past couple of weeks in particular. Sometimes it is just one line that gives me exactly what I need, and calms my heart exactly the way it needs to be calmed. And sometimes the words stop me in my tracks, and I have to immediately put the book down just to sit with the passage I have just read. I am one week into an e-course with this lovely soul - a Gospel immersion course, which is giving me the impetus to read the Gospels for the first time in my life. And I am a happy registrant for the next SouLodge course, where I am looking forward to learning how to tap into the wilder side of my spirituality in new and creative ways.

I am still not feeling 100% myself and wish there were more hours in a day (or more hours that I could stay awake), but there is so much to be grateful for and look forward to. A crazy fun marketing blitz for Desire to Inspire is about to commence – next month will bring all sorts of sneak peeks and Give Aways and general cheer and merriment. If you’re in the Santa Monica / Los Angeles area, mark your calendars for Thursday, December 15th, when we’ll be celebrating with an official Desire to Inspire Book Launch. Details coming soon.

Thank you for all of the well wishes last week, and for being patient with me as I get back into the swing of things.

“The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.”  ~Anais Nin