By Irene Conlan -

Betsy and Warren Talbot describe themselves  as “a recovering, 40-something, Type-A couple who learned that living large is not necessarily living well. ” They wanted to live their dream before they were too old to enjoy it and they figured out a way they could do that. Not only did they figure it out but they DID it and have now been traveling the world for several years. Their website http://www.marriedwithluggage.com is their blog/diary and I highly recommend you visit there before, during or after you read Dream, Save, Do.

Deam, Save, Do: An Action Plan for Dreamers tells you step-by-step how you can realize your own dream. It’s no surprise that the book is divided into three sections: section one helps you identify your dream and flesh it out; section two shows you how you can save money even if your budget is already tight so your dream becomes a possibility; and section three gives you ideas on how to earn additional income and bring your dream into reality.

I don’t know about you, but I personally hate budgets. This is NOT a budget book even though you will learn more about budgeting than you knew you wanted to know. This book gives you much more than a budget. It gives you incentive and creative ways to save and it does it with great humor. It gives you stories personal to the Talbots that let you know it is within your realm of abilities and can be done with grace and fun. It promises and shows you how you can attain the “big payoff” —the realization of your dream.

While their dream was to travel the world while they are still young, they show you how and why it’s o.k. for you to dream big regardless of what your dream is. There is no limit to your dream except your own thinking once you know how to go about it.

I loved this book. It is reader friendly because it makes you want to keep reading. It is down-to-earth and practical—in the words of the Geiko commercial,  they make it sound so easy that “even a cave man can do  it.” As you read this book you know their advice is rock solid and achievable.

If you have a dream and want to make it real, read this book. If you don’t have a dream, this book will help you identify yours and breathe life into it. Unless you are irretrievably enmeshed in all the clutter around you, you can use this book as a guide to buy your ticket to freedom. That ticket might not be for everyone but it just might be for you. So follow the instructions in this book and

Dream,
Save.
Do

Have a wonderful adventure! Keep us posted.

By Irene Conlan -

I love surprises and this book was one of the nicest surprises I have had in a very long time. You see, the title, “The Fear Project” scared me! While the promos made it sound like a book I would like, something in me didn’t want to read one more thing about fear. I had fear about reading about fear No kidding. “One more boring book about an emotion that we all share, about the neuroscience of fear and what to do about it. Oh, no!” was what I thought.  The book sat on my desk untouched. But the scheduled interview with Jaimal was getting closer and I didn’t want to wait until the last minute so I picked up the book—and I couldn’t put it down.

The Fear Project reads like a novel but the fact that it is absolutely true makes it much more compelling.  It is intense, has a main character that you come to cherish and admire, and gives you the neuroscience of fear without making it dull or sound like a textbook. It’s a drama, a romance and a treatise on fear rolled into a fascinating story of one young man’s adventure of self understanding. It is a story of, yes,  triumph over the fears that held him back and threatened to keep him from doing those things he wanted to accomplish, that would interrupt his progress forward.

You have to understand that he had reason for many of the fears he writes about. Challenging monster waves as a surfer, waves that had killed others before him, is enough to give anyone “pause to reflect” and  the thought, “OMG, do I really want to do this!”  Add some sharks into the mix and you have a reason for white knuckles.  Jaimal didn’t write about a sedentary life. He wrote about a life lived at full throttle and wrote with brave transparency about what he was feeling and his struggle within himself to conquer the fear that some of his adventures brought him. He talked about love and the fear of rejection, the fear of making a mistake in relationships, the fear of being hurt again—the fear that makes you want to run away to the beach and spend more time fearing surfing disasters and sharks which now seem less of a threat.

Jaimal has a writing style that makes you want more. I certainly intend to read his other book, Saltwater Buddha, which is being make into a film. This young writer is  one to watch and I can easily imagine his name at the top of the list with the great writers of our  time. Read his book for pleasure or read it because you are struggling with your own fears but, regardless of why, just read the book. It is a gift because of his brilliant writing and a gift because what he has to say is worth reading.

By Irene Conlan -

The Deepest Acceptance is what I call a “mind stretcher” or better, perhaps—a “soul stretcher.” We all need to read one every now and then. It makes you stretch to understand, to get the meaning, to know what on earth the author is trying to say. And just when you are about to put the book down, it suddenly twists in your mind and you get a series of “ah ha” moments and “Oh, my gosh” insights into a new way of looking at something you’ve struggled with for a period of time.

In Part I of the book, Foster addresses “Awakening to a Deeper Acceptance.” He describes us as a vast ocean and dedicates a chapter to “wave management.”  In Part II he discusses “Deep Acceptance in Everyday Life” and covers those things that affect us the most: pain and suffering, relationships, addictions and our search for spiritual enlightenment. His thinking is “way out of the box,” honest, and an amazing amalgam of the simple and complex.  You will have to read the book to know what I mean.

This is not your ordinary, garden-variety “who are you?” book and you will come away with a new appreciation and acceptance of who you are. You will realize that Hafiz truly described you in the  poem Jeff uses as the introduction:

I wish I could show you
When you are lonely or in darkness
The Astonishing Light
Of your own Being.

Who should read this book? Anyone who ponders the deep questions of “Who am I? How do I awaken? How to I become enlightened? Once I become enlightened, how do I live in an unenlightened world?” (And I am reminded of the Zen phrase “Before enlightenment, it is said, we chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, we chop wood, carry water.”)

When you get the book, set aside time in a quiet place to reflect and ponder what you read. It is that kind of book. I highly recommend this book for those who want to think, ponder new ideas, let their spirits soar, and become aware of “the astonishing light of their own Being.”

You can find this book at Sounds True or Amazon.com.