My friend Christine Sherwood is already writing her second book. Congratulations!
Cancer was my catalyst for change. ~ Christine Sherwood
'Listening to Incense' is not another cancer memoir. This is my account of the mystery embedded in divinity and the connection we all share with it.
My second book is about the process of illness and recovery and all that I could ask about myself and my philosophical expedition into the meaning of suffering. It is a contemplation as well as a storytelling. The process of writing the book, and the book itself, is an investigation into the deeper lessons of life and death. Its about the courage and grace that lies hidden within us - unleashed only when the fierce master is breaking us open with all of his might. Its about what I discovered when applying the spiritual teachings that I've been given in my life. And its about loss and what comes to fill in that empty space.
I will address the fear-based language of cancer within these pages, and how I personally had to re-create this language to benefit my healing.
Please support Christine's new book about embracing the catalysts in our lives and the gifts they ignite. video and webpage:
'Listening to Incense' at Kickstarter
'Listening to Incense' at Kickstarter
Christine Sherwood has had a long career in the Healing Arts in Taos and northern New Mexico. She is a licensed massage therapist and instructor, holds a doctorate in homeopathic medicine, maintains a certificate in yoga, and has earned a BUS in sociology and psychology. In 1995, she began teaching massage therapy and in 1997 she developed the continuing education workshop for hot stone massage - the trademarked course "Bones of the Earth". A year later she began to teach that course nationally.
She thought all of her dreams had come true. Then in October 2006, Christine's life changed when she received a diagnosis of fourth stage cancer. Thus began a journey through treatments and surgery and more surgery and then an abdominal infection that very nearly took her life. The experience was a catalyst for change, and brought Christine to a new starting point. She began writing.
During this process poetry began spilling out of me. A path of being a writer opened to me. Poetry and words became my new expression. I wonder if I'd have ever unearthed this particular gift without cancer.
People were drawn to the poems themselves, but they also wanted to know more about the moments that inspired them. In Listening to Incense, I am exploring the bigger story, and also paying tribute to the power of the divine within us. Listening to the instruction of my soul is what guided me to this writing.
If we listen to the instruction of our soul, what would we hear? How still would our mind need to be? How quiet the heart?
I could share with you what "Listening to Incense" inspires within me, but what I would really rather do is invite you into the hub of your own heart.
One evening, at a quiet time, while in the dark of night, light a candle and a stick of incense. Be comfortable in your body. Hear your breath coming in and out. Place your gaze on the smoke rising from the incense. Listen. . .
Thank you again for your interest and support.
Blessing to all. ~ Christine
I invite you to take a look at Christine's video and website, and to donate generously.
'Listening to Incense' at Kickstarter