Search for Meaning Book Festival—2016
Photo from 2016 Search for Meaning Book Festival Website
​YEA! On February 27, 2016, Seattle University is again holding the unique Search for Meaning Book Festival.
This successful and engaging book festival has been going strong since 2009.
This year, over 50 authors will be presenting at longer key-note sessions as well as at shorter seminars.
Presenting authors include the more famous such as Tracy Kidder, Julia Cameron, and Nancy Pearl and many others who are not so well known, but who have interesting and sometimes provocative information to share.
​You can buy presenting authors' books right at the event—booksellers include Elliott Bay Book Company and Seattle University Bookstore.
I've attended this event for two years in a row and I'm looking forward to this year's sessions.
An extra bonus is an art exhibit exploring the theme of the meaning of life.
You can't beat the amazingly inexpensive price of 10 bucks to register for this event.
So be sure to attend and open the doors to more worlds and a variety of perspectives.
And check out the short YouTube video below.
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Her collage, "The Joyful Workings of the Faithfully Busy Mind" has been juried into a collage exhibit at the Washington State Convention Center running through March 28, 2016. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Make Good Art
The book, Make Good Art, shares Neil Gaiman's (author of Coraline and a string of other books) stirring speech to the graduates of Philadelphia's University of the Arts class of 2012.
Neil has led an interesting life and he provides a bit about his career experiences, advice he wish he had followed, the importance of making mistakes, as well as "secret knowledge."
No matter what your age, his speech provides good reminders.
One that I particularly took to heart was on enjoying success at the moment it is happening. As he states,
"I worried about the next deadline, the next idea, the next story. There wasn't a moment for the next fourteen or fifteen years that I wasn't writing something in my head or wondering about it.
And I didn't stop and look around and go, this is really fun.
I wish I'd enjoyed it more.
It's been an amazing ride.
But there were parts of the ride I missed, because I was too worried about things going wrong, about what came next, to enjoy the bit I was on.
That was the hardest lesson for me, I think: to let go and enjoy the ride, because the ride takes you to some remarkable and unexpected places."
Want to watch Neil as he shares his wisdom in person? Click here.
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Kathryn's Joyful Art at the UW Tower
Kathryn V. White's Art at the UW Tower
I'm excited to share that an exhibit of some of my art (13 artworks) is now at the UW Tower in Seattle, Washington.
People have been telling me how it has added much needed color to the otherwise dull corridor and how happy it makes them feel to see it!
In addition, my recently published book and 2014 finalist for the Wishing Shelf Book Award--Rumble Tumble Joy--is in a display case in the same area. It includes both my writing and my art.
The exhibit continues through the end of December 2015. If you have the chance, please stop by to enjoy it Monday through Friday, 7:30AM to 5:30PM, at the UW Tower at 4333 Brooklyn Avenue NE in the University District. It's located between the elevators and the pedestrian bridge to the parking garage.
Just sign in at the front desk at either entrance and tell them you'd like to see the art on the lobby floor.
To find out more about my art, click here.
To find out more about Rumble Tumble Joy, click here.
To own a fine art print of my art, click here. These make a great gift for birthdays, anniversaries, and the holidays!
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Book Review: Gawande's Being Mortal
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters by bestselling author and physician Atul Gawande is a perfect book for discussion groups, families, as well as individuals.
His book gets to the heart of the matter of aging and those whose lives are challenged by chronic, painful, highly debilitating, and incurable medical conditions where people only live due to extensive medical interventions.
Gawande has seen the heartrending emotional and physical pain of this situation as a doctor and as a son of his dying father.
His book honestly speaks to the fact that we are not the same society as pre-1960s.
The elderly are living longer and they don't want to lose their freedoms nor do they want to live with their adult children. And, for the most part, adult children do not want to live with or have the financial or emotional resources or expertise themselves to provide physical care (often for up to 24 hours per day) for their aged parents.
Gawande's book highlights the often unneccessary and far-reaching negative emotional impacts and huge financial costs associated with working to prolong life, without an increase in quality of life and sometimes resulting in shortening of life, with extensive medical interventions.
It's a topic most people would rather not discuss; a topic many actively shun.
Yet, this lack of discussion is a major obstacle for coming up with better, more loving options.
How do we deal with our fear of dying, death, and chronic, painful, debilitating disease?
Can recognizing the finitude of one's time on Earth be a gift?
It takes courage, honesty, and the recognition that the quality of one's life is just as important or even more important than the extension of it. And that most people have priorities beyond being safe and living longer—they want the chance to shape their life story and ensure it has meaning.
It takes having the difficult conversations—with compassion and openness.
Gawande suggests using the following questions to focus on the options that make the most sense in determining medical treatment for those challenged by chronic, debilitating, painful illnesses that would result in death without extensive medical intervention.
What are your biggest fears or concerns?
What goals are the most important to you?
What trade-offs are you willing to make and which one are you not?
What course of action best serves what you desire?
Interested in getting this conversation going or, at least, start thinking about it?
Click on the book cover to find out more.
My "Aha" Moment to Last a Lifetime
From the 2015 Aha Moment Tour Website
I love "aha" moments and it's wonderful to hear about those same moments from other people.
These are moments when crystal clarity opens one up to a deeper meaning of life and with that clarity—the course of one's life changes—often in beautiful and unimaginable ways.
They often contain truths and wisdom that others can relate to and be inspired by. Their packaging is as unique as the person relating them—and they are a gift worth sharing.
2015 Aha Moment Tour Map
In 2015, Mutual of Omaha staff traveled the USA in a 34-foot long, super-cool, silver bullet Airstream trailer to talk with folks across the nation about their "aha" moments.
I was fortunate to be able to meet up with this talented crew.
Please click here to find out about mine or on the photo below…
Wishing Shelf Book Award Recognizes Rumble Tumble Joy
Great News: This year, Rumble Tumble Joy received a 5-star rating and was named a finalist by the Wishing Shelf Book Awards!
Recently, I received the Wishing Shelf Book Award's endorsement for my book as well as comments and endorsements by readers involved in the contest. These are included below:
"An inspiring look at the problems of self-esteem in women. A FINALIST and highly recommended."
--The Wishing Shelf Awards
"I very much enjoyed this book. I particularly enjoyed 'Surrender'; very dreamy and relaxing. The cover is also very good and the blurb powerfully written." Female reader, aged 56
"There's a lot of excellent advice for women in Rumble Tumble Joy, particularly for teenagers.'Thunder Thighs' is excellent as is 'Safety Zone'. Thought-provoking stuff." Female reader, aged 45
"'Perfection (Nothing Celebrated)' sums up my life! Excellent read." Female reader, aged 33
"...I can appreciate a lot of work went into writing this and the words of wisdom would probably be most welcome to women who feel uncomfortable with the way they look...Fun cover too." Male reader, aged 51
Click on the cover to find the book on Amazon (USA). It's also available internationally via Amazon.
Click here to read more endorsements and testimonials.
Click here for an e-flyer on Rumble Tumble Joy.
Click here to learn about Kathryn's stories and here to learn about her art.
Give Yourself an "A"
The book, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life, includes concepts and engaging supporting examples to help you move from anxiety and narrow-mindedness to living a more joyful and fulfilling life.
Some of these concepts you'll find familiar (such as actively practicing not taking yourself so seriously) to some you may have not considered.
Giving an "A" refers to an experiment where Benjamin Zander (one of the authors of the book and a conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a workshop leader and professor at the New England Conservatory of Music) decided to give his highly talented and ambitious students an "A" for the course as long as they met one requirement.
Here's the requirement as outlined by Benjamin to his students:
"Sometime in the next two weeks, you must write me a letter dated next May, which begins with the words, 'Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because...,' and in this letter you are to tell, in as much detail as you can, the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade." (p.27)
He decided on this controversial action in order to help his students move through the common obstacle of not taking risks because they were anxious to do well and not fail. Yet, this was the road to mediocrity; for with no risk-taking, a person could never achieve mastery nor personal greatness--this is gained only through stretching beyond what one feels they can accomplish.
In another chapter of this book, Benjamin reveals he also applied the underlying concept of this method to himself to help him move through a challenging situation he was having with a member of his orchestra.
You'll need to read the book to discover what comes out of his implementation of this practice...
In the meantime, try his method of giving an "A" to yourself, your students, or your children. Something you might consider impossibly wonderful may just happen!
A lover of exploring possibility, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
The Amazing & Tumultuous Marriage of Jane and Stephen Hawking
What do you do if you are diagnosed in your early 20s with an incurable, debilitating motor neuron disease and given only two years to live?
What do you do as a young, unmarried woman of the same age if this is happening to the man you love?
The film, The Theory of Everything, is based on Jane Hawking's book, Travelling to Infinity: The True Story Behind the Theory of Everything (which is revised from an earlier edition).
It reveals Jane's indomitable spirit in taking on the emotional and physical challenges inherent in falling in love, marrying, having children, providing 24-hour care, and later divorcing the famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.
You meet the two during their Cambridge years—full of intellectual curiosity and totally smitten with each other. And you watch their life change, become more difficult and still incredibly full as Stephen's disease progresses—taking away his ability to walk, hold his children, and even talk until the development of a computer-aided speaking device.
As time goes on, with the progression of Stephen's disease, his total immersion into his research, his increasing fame, and the need for outside help, their marriage breaks down under the strains.
And even though their marriage ends in divorce, you see how seemingly insurmountable odds are overcome and great achievements are made not only in astrophysics, but even more importantly—in growing as a person when loving deeply, maintaining hope, nurturing curiosity, actively helping others, not giving up one's dreams, and being willing to let go.
This film is superbly written and acted—Eddie Redmayne looks uncannily like Stephen Hawking and provides an amazing portrayal of the progression of Stephen's disease and its crippling effects on Stephen's body.
Click on the DVD cover to find out more about the film and the book cover to find out about the book.
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White loves well-written, beautifully-acted, life-affirming films. Her most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
San Francisco Book Review Loves Rumble Tumble Joy!
(Rated: 4 out of 5 stars)
GREAT NEWS! The San Francisco Book Review loved my book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness and rated it 4 out of 5 stars.
Here's an excerpt of the review:
"Using poetry and prose, White takes readers inside her personal journey of transformation, acceptance, and wholeness. Through the passages, White wrestles with and finds contentment with her weight, her face, her skin, and her body,particularly her thighs...
White's journey is filled with moments of joy, pain, sorrow, anger, and love, and readers--women of all ages--can use Rumble Tumble Joy to embark on their own journey of appreciation and acceptance of themselves and others..."
--Africa Hands, San Francisco Book Review
Read the entire review here.
Mini-Schnauzer Mountaineer
If you love dogs, nature, and memoir, Following Atticus is the book for you.
It's about a middle-aged, overweight newspaperman and muckraker (Tom) who opens his home first to an older dog (Max) and then to a puppy (Atticus).
Max paves the way in showing Tom how an animal can transform one's life and expand one's heart.
Atticus is the catalyst that leads Tom on their epic adventures of hiking hundreds of miles of rugged-winter terrain and climbing over 80 snow-enveloped mountain peaks in just 90-days.
Battling wind, snow drifts, and frost-biting cold, these intrepid hikers face terror and embrace sublimity.
You'll cry and fear the worse.
You'll cheer and hug your pet.
You'll enjoy every moment of this spiritual, physical, and emotional journey of a man and his dog.
Don't wait! Click on the book cover to follow their adventures.
Dog lover, author, and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Rumble Tumble Joy--A Book Award Finalist!
More joyful news! I'm excited to announce that Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness is a book award finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Awards.
Yes, my wish is that both Odin the Ferret and Rumble Tumble Joy move from finalists to winners! Now that would make for a fantastic year.
Will the Wishing Shelf grant my wish?
Winners are to be announced in April 2015. Tune in to hear more...
Find out more about author and artist, Kathryn V. White at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Do You Have Dyslexia?
Eileen Simpson in her memoir, Reversals: A personal Account of Victory Over Dyslexia provides a first-hand account of what it's like to grow up dyslectic.
Born in 1918, motherless at two, fatherless at six, and brought up at a time when many with learning disabilities were branded mentally retarded, Simpson's life was tough.
Luckily, she had a highly-intelligent and helpful sister, an indomitable aunt who wanted her to succeed academically, and her own tenacity to not give up or in to this disorder that threatened daily to waylay her life to one of constant frustration and failure.
Simpson, her teachers, and her family were frequently exasperated by her inability to read, her gibberish in letters and homework assignments, and her difficulties in walking from home to nearby stores without getting lost.
She got by in school by being quiet and dutiful; copying off the exams and papers written by others; and listening closely to lectures as her class notes were just as hard for her to decipher as they were for others.
Finally, at twenty-two, her future husband, poet John Berryman recognized her disorder as dyslexia.
With this identification, she found she was not alone, many people, including famous writers such as W.B. Yeats and Lewis Carroll suffered from it. This knowledge also helped to spur her on to bigger dreams.
Within her lifetime, she earned a master's degree in psychology from New York University and became a psychotherapist as well as a writer. Besides Reversals, her books include: Orphans: Real and Imaginary; Poets in Their Youth: A Memoir; and Late Love: A Celebration of Marriage After Fifty.
Simpson states in Reversals (published in 1979 and republished in 1991) that one out of ten people have dyslexia, it is found more commonly in males than females, and runs in families.
For an interesting overview of Simpson's life, click here.
For a list of famous people with dyslexia and related learning challenges, click here.
For more information on learning disabilities, click here.
Kathryn is no stranger to struggling with learning disabilities. She was diagnosed with them as a child and with training, self-discipline, and lots of hard work she ended up going to the best schools in the world and becoming a published writer. Her most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Gratitude Can Change Everything
It's that time of year when people review the past year and think about what they want for the upcoming one.
Lists and resolutions are common, yet how successful are most people in achieving what they outline on a page?
Perhaps there's another way…a way that acknowledges the good in life and through that acknowledgment, great and wonderful changes occur…
Meet John Kralik, a man who found his perspective shift from self-pity, anger, disappointment, and despair to one that could see the good that came into his life every day.
With this shift, his difficult life changed to one of health, fulfillment, and love—all through the simple action of hand-writing 365 thank-you notes over 15 months.
Are you ready for real change?
Then learn more about John's book, 365 Thank Yous, by clicking on the cover. (Affiliate link)
Kathryn's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com
Show The World Your Magic
Gotta love the phrase "Show The World Your Magic!"
It's all over the interior
covers of Daring Adventures in Paint by Mati Rose McDonough.
Showing the world your magic includes making art--which Mati can help you with, especially in the realm of collage.
And for this art magic to happen, you'll need to allow for spontaneity and messiness.
Hmm...sounds a bit like the magic that shows up when you let go of control, and allow life to happen!
If your life has gotten stale, take a baby step towards re-awakening its magic by clicking the cover above. (Affilitate link)
Want to Write Your Memoir?
If you want to write your memoir—whether for wider sharing or not—check out Memoirs of the Soul by Nan Merrick Phifer.
Phifer's book is hefty and includes a structured, well-organized process to follow to get your story out of your heart and your head and onto the page.
Full of writing prompts, questions, and examples, this book is a wonderful guide in moving you forward in drafting your memoir.
I particularly liked the chapter titled "Choice and Chance" as they are an interplay that exists in all our lives which can be challenging to navigate. And much of our life story (and what makes our life interesting) resides in that navigation.
Click on the book cover to learn more. (Affiliate Link)