Firstly I want to tell you a little about my Oscar. My Oscar cat, passed away on the 10th July. He was 20 years old and was the best companion. We fostered Oscar after he had a traumatic experience, we are not sure of the story here, but he came to us with half a tail. He was a little timid, very particular and extremely welcoming. He gave us great joy and I am thankful for having him with us for so long.

I have been reminiscing with gratefulness and with a little help from the book “The Secret” I started to put together a vision board. Now, I am no expert, this is the first time I have taken on the task of pritt-sticking my joy, and I am not claiming I have got it. I have a work in progress.  In searching for the visible reminders of that place called joy my realisation is that the first picture is not always the right one. Those images in the mind are not always so easy to replicate in form. Like in life, much searching is required to gain the true meaning, to create THAT feeling. I am willing to see where this takes me and to see how my vision board develops.

So onto the book, Uncharted: The Journey Through Uncertainty to Infinite Possibility by Colette Baron-Reid. Now this book had me dipping in and out for some insights. This book is an introduction to what Colette Baron-Reid describes as the Map of the Soul. It is a basic opening to Carl Jung, the Divine Matrix and Universal Laws. The book includes exercises and meditations and the chapters are separated into Realms. So the Map of the Soul “has five interconnected realms. The Realm of the Spirit is the centre hub that transcends and infuses the other four realms – Mind, Light, Energy and Form”. For example, the chapter that I found most useful was the Realm of Light, or more commonly referred to as Shadow Work.  It is described in terms of switching the light on rather than looking into the Shadow. This chapter softly talks through the Golden Shadow and the “treasures” that can be found, as well as releasing qualities and memories that no longer serve us. I was impressed how nurturing the manner in which this chapter comes across and the meditations in my experience were effective. These exercises are very descriptive so before you begin there is a sense of purposeful steps in place so it feels safe and methodical to enter in.

I pre-ordered the book and it came with access to a series of videos after I submitted a copy of my Amazon receipt online. The videos are interviews with HayHouse authors and were very informative. Colette also created a Facebook community to support the readers and this is an ongoing forum for anyone who purchases the book. I think this has changed the way Spiritual authors now approach book sales as others have followed on from this idea such as Kyle Gray and Michael Dooley. So if you are wanting a Beach read then this is not it! The advice I would give is don’t try to Eat and Elephant in one sitting, this book requires some reflection, and there were even field notes, templates and journaling prompts that came with the video downloads now available through the Uncharted Book Club FB page.

Onto the Crystal of the Month. I purchased this lovely from Philip Permutt, The Crystal Healer. It is a Chrysocolla ball. It is known as the stone of communication.  It has a wonderful quality for clarity to be realised and wisdom to be expressed. It has a healing and harmonious energy which alleviates nervousness and creates serenity. I was looking for a crystal that would resonate with an image of wholeness and connection for Distance Reiki. I think I found it. I love that Chrysocolla not only has a great connection for communication but to me it looks like Planet Earth.