Thanks to those of you who took the time to download Smart Thoughts for Stupid Moments or From Frustration to Funny in Ten Seconds Flat. Over one thousand downloads!  I feel a bit like the Velveteen Rabbit–I am a real writer!

Alas, the free download time is over, but the books are still less expensive than a holiday card, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Here are the AMAZON links:

Smart Thoughts for Stupid Moments
From Frustration to Funny in Ten Seconds Flat

Now, if you could do me a favor and take a moment to write a review, one or two sentences will do, you will be helping me out enormously.  A dear friend said recently, “If I had known how much it meant to you, I would have written a review sooner.”

It would mean a lot to me if you would take the time to write a review. I have more books in me, and getting them up in the Amazon charts will help keep me writing with joy and irreverence.

Bonus:  My “Unfrustrate Me!  I Dare You!”  challenge is still in effect.  If you have a situation that continues to defeat your sense of humor and sense of peace, give me a whack at it.  Email me and we can set up an appointment.  You can pass this bonus on to your friends instead of a holiday card.  Saves on the environment.

Smart Thought for the Holidays:  buy online – as paperback or ebook.   No post office.  No packaging.  No hunting for that perfect gift.  Grab a cup of coffee and surf. Click, Click, Gift message and you are done!

Follow your bliss or it will stalk you,

Vicki Hannah Lein

 P.S.  I am looking for someone who would like to proofread for me and perhaps help in some other ways.  Who knows?  Perhaps you could evolve into a travel companion.  I might be going to Istanbul in November of 2014…

August 20, 2013 

Hi [[firstname]]

Welcome to all new subscribers. My intention is help make your life a little bit better. I want to metaphorically Speaking, blow on the embers of hope and creativity within you. Yahoo.

One Request and Three Recommendations

First of all, I have a favor to ask.  In 2003 after my mother died, I spent two years writing a book, Woman with a Voice:  Daring to Live Authentically Ever After.

A friend told me later that my book and I co-created each other.  She was right.  Every day for months and months I summoned up all my courage to write through my shame and self-doubt:  Who did I think I was anyway?  I was making a fool of myself, being self-indulgent, narcissistic, and pathetic.  And, besides that, I couldn’t write.

Still I wrote, seconds away from “select all/delete.”  In 2005 I self-published my creation, only to be hit with a crashing wave of fear.  I would be killed for telling my story.  “They” would kill me.

So, as it turns out, stepping out in the world and being just ourselves turns out to be a heroic act for anyone who does it.  My book, full of flaws I’m sure, is also one thing for sure:  a courageous act of living wide open.

Here’s the favor I ask of you:  my book is now available on Kindle and in other places electronically.  I ask you to download my book and write an honest review.  Dip in, read a bit, and see what you think.

Asking this makes me feel vulnerable.  I’m hoping, though, that if you have gotten any benefit from my newsletters over the years, you will seriously consider my request. 

Here is where you can get Woman with a Voice: Daring to Live Authentically Ever After on Kindle from Amazon.com and other places electronically:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble

Thank you.  More, please.
First Recommendation: A Sweet Movie

HappyThankyouMorePlease – My first recommendation is a quirky, sweet, well-written movie about love, art, vulnerability, and trust.  It’s on Netflix.

Second Recommendation

A book, Tattoos On The Heart by Gregory Boyle, the priest who has worked for decades with gangs in the barrios.  Poetic, surprising, and full of heart-breaking yet inspiring stories, this is a book that changed my DNA.  I’m listening to it again and plan to listen to it regularly as one of my spiritual practices.  For those of you who believe in God, this is religion at its best.  For those of you who don’t, it’s religion at its best, what living with a big God heart inside you can do for the world and for you.

Third Recommendation

Another movie. Raw Faith : Alive Mind Cinema, a documentary about Marilyn Sewell, an outspoken and socially progressive Unitarian minister. This movie is also about love, vulnerability, and trust.  I got the phrase “living wide open” from her.

All three of these recommendations are treats for the soul, what we need to ingest so we can keep waking up willing to live wide open and be filled with gratitude for all of our blessings as we take on our challenges, and the challenges of those we love.

Here’s my audio with more thoughts about Living Wide Open:    Click HERE

As usual, I invite you to follow your bliss or it will stalk you,

Vicki

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Read some of my past articles on my blog

SIGN UP for a WEEK OF JOY

The week of July 22, I’m teaching the class for The Innovative Northwest Teacher in West Linn, Oregon near Portland.  For five days teachers get to go to the bathroom anytime they want, laugh, play, get rejuvenated and earn three graduate level credits from Portland State University. I am in my bliss and invite everyone to join me. You can check out the class here: http://www.tint-edu.com/Classes/Boy_Friendly.html.  I can also teach this class anywhere in the world and would be happy to come to where you are for a week.

Teachers who take TINT classes are the very best, and the effect of good teachers, the research tells us, lasts for years if not for a lifetime. This year I’m focusing on how to get the best out of boys by providing an environment and activities that are full of fun, challenge, movement, and humor. This environment is also good for girls, of course, but if the boys in the class are unhappy, the whole class is unhappy, as any teacher will tell you.

I’m sharing this with everyone who receives this newsletter, even though all those reading this are not educators, because it is clear to me this information is good for everyone – husbands, wives, parents, teachers, men, women, boys, girls, – everyone.

Turning the Light on Shame Sets Us Free

If you want to get the best out of boys, if you want to get the best out of everyone, it’s important to deal with shame. Even though everyone has felt shame, we’re so ashamed of our shame, we rarely speak of it. Shame is allowed to fester and grow unfettered in the dark.

Shame sucks the joy and courage out of life. Instead of living through our strengths, we timidly hide our true selves inside where no one can find us and stomp on us.  Sadly, after shrinking from our authenticity for many years, we get disconnected from our passions and our unique gifts.  Shame fills us, and, ironically, leaves a void in us that needs filling.  Creativity, kindness, and courage are often replaced with cruelty, despair, consumerism, depression, or drug abuse.

In his book It’s a boy!: understanding your son’s development from birth to age 18 Michael Thompson talks about the Culture of Cruelty. This is an environment when children, when left to their own devices, allow shaming and put downs to become the norm if adults don’t step in to stop it. Replacing the Culture of Cruelty with a culture of encouragement is not difficult, in fact; it can be tons of fun.  You do have to believe it’s possible and stick with it daily, but it has been done and can be done in any environment.

I’ve worked with tough, previously-jailed teenagers and I teach them that people are not cruel because they are strong and confident; people are cruel because they are afraid and ashamed. Homophobia, racism, sexism, bullying – the basis of all these behaviors is shame, though we rarely speak its name, even to ourselves.

When boys can grow in a safe environment that holds them accountable for their behavior and gives them activities that speak to their creativity, dare I say souls, they flourish.  Flourish.

You can see why I’ve decided I need to share this particular newsletter with all the people I’m connected to.

TED Talks

Here are some TED talks that might make you cry.  They deal with the topics I have mentioned:  creating safety for everyone to create and fail and be different.

Brené Brown: Listening to shame | Video on TED.com

Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability | Video on TED.com

Andrew Solomon: Love, no matter what | Video on TED.com

Mister Rogers on The Tonight Show Joan Rivers in 1983 – YouTube

Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work | Video on TED.com

I believe creativity is the cure, that finding what is inside us that wants to come out and play and be beautiful, will heal the world.

As always, I’m available as an educational consultant, parental coach, and creativity coach. If you are interested in delving into the issues of shame, vulnerability creativity and freedom, please contact me.

Follow your bliss or it will stalk you,

Vicki