Miracles? Despite all the chaos and challenges, there were indeed, miracles This book was inspired after I attended my first Toastmasters meeting. Part of the meeting was calling up newcomers and giving them a "Table Topic" to speak about for two minutes. It seemed like a miracle to me that the topic I was given was to explain the difference between living and existing. I had just finished outlining all the situations in my life in which I had experienced miracles... ones that were sandwiched between all the challenges. This book is just a snapshot of my life. For the full versions in my...

Think of your body as a beloved garden. Choose the flowers you want to grow. Plant good seeds. Provide nourishing soil. Fertilize it. Refrain from using pesticides. Water it. Feel the joy of seeing new flowers grow. Bask in the wonder of how much beauty can sprout from tiny seeds. It takes time for flowers to grow. Be patient with yourself as you nurture your Inner garden and wait for your flowers to bloom. After your flowers bloom, the butterflies will come. Remember that they were once homely caterpillars. In order to become butterflies, they had to weave a protective cocoon around...

I decided to start writing fictitious fairy tales to create very different imaginary outcomes to some of my stressful life experiences. I'd dream as big as I could and while writing it, stay connected to the way it feels as if I already have everything I could imagine. I'd begin to retrain my brain to only think possibilities and refuse to listen to old negative self-talk. Thus, I wrote a fairy tale of about 5,500 words - not enough for a book. However, I already started to think big, and posted in a Writer's Group on Facebook what other people thought about contributing stories for this...

Norman Cousins, the author of many health related books, said "The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside of us while we live," which is what had happened to me. However, I never in my wildest dreams imagined I was merely in an invisible cocoon and that someday, years later, I would experience a transformation and emerge as a happy butterfly. Now the past is just a story ... one I told in this book. Enter with a brave heart as you read about my journey. This book is part II of my life story. Part one is in Appearances: A Journey of Self-Discovery. Included in my narration: a...

Renee Alter collected the best of the photographs she had taken of cats and kittens for this book and included the short stories she had written about them. For Snowflake, the kitten on the front cover, she wrote journal entries. Three of the many cats she had known liked to hang out in trees thus the title "View from a Tree."