The Pope & His Son
I dreamt of the pope and his son
nonsensical except with eyes closed
Italy, untamed and free. A sea on the rise
reclaiming what was always hers. She
whipped blue waves to release structure
mighty fortresses vanishing in one breath
as the pope and his son washed
naked in her womb
and I, above the horizon
watching in awe this wild fresco
of rebirth
When my children began approaching the dreaded years of adolescence, aptly marked by the death card in Tarot, I began to count my blessings. Look what I avoided, I thought. And, look what I saved myself from…
Like my own children, I wanted to be popular. I wanted to be liked and admired, and I was, until I wasn’t. One dance changed my life forever, and like many teenagers who plunge from the peak of popularity into the grimy sludge at the bottom of the social ladder, I thought my life was ruined forever.
Who doesn’t want to be popular? Who doesn’t want to be liked? Even as adults, we can struggle against the ideal of the outer, while neglecting the inner. Forgetting that to be liked for some superficial ideal does not fill the fountain of unconditional love.
Last night I found myself struggling for words to show my sixteen-year-old daughter that there is a freedom that can be found when you shed the desire to be admired for some outer ideal that someone else has defined for you. That when you strip away the layers of makeup and pretense, you allow your true self to shine through. I struggled, in part, because when I looked into her eyes, I saw a part of myself I still recognized.
In the reflection of my daughter’s tears, I saw the familiar face of fear. How could I show her, I wondered, that beneath fear there is strength, when I had not wholly found it within myself? As I sat opposite her on the couch, I began to call into question my own beliefs. Suddenly, I was not so sure that I had been fortunate to have found and walked, early in my adolescence, the path of the straight and narrow. I wasn’t sure I was lucky, because instead of following my own inner compass, I had followed the road-signs of rules defined through fear.
Sure, it was true I had, in the process of walking this path, avoided the clutches of promiscuity, drugs, and alcohol. I had avoided STDs, teenage pregnancy, and the wild loss of control of being drunk. Yet, as I looked into my daughter’s eyes, I realized that in that process of avoidance of the forbidden, I had held on tighter to fear than my truth.
I feared so greatly my world falling apart while growing up, that the only thing I could do was follow rules set by someone else in order to feel a tenuous steady state of security. Every time I started to veer off the course defined for me, I feared the rage of my stepfather and the loss of love of my mother.
My childhood was not conventional. I grew up in homes where marijuana was secretly grown, smoked, and shared under the radar of the law. I lived in a constant fear of the discovery of my parents’ many secrets to such a degree that I had no desire to break the law myself. Or most rules for that matter. I never really and truly played the role of the rebellious teenager because of fear.
Conditional love comes with great costs. My daughter has already discovered this. When I began speaking up to my parents when my children were young, she learned the rules of conditional love. She has lost a step-grandfather and a grandmother, not through death, but through conditions. I finally broke the rules and began speaking and living in alignment with my truth, and she, along with others, suffered the consequences. Many who read this will recognize how this pattern works. Truth often comes at the cost of great loss. As I looked into my daughter’s eyes, I understood the pain that she struggled with. How much she wanted to avoid losing the social foundation she had built under her feet. And, I also understood, in that moment, that although I was disappointed with my daughter’s behavior, I needed to set that aside and remind her that I loved her. Now, and always.
As I try to navigate the role of mother to teenagers, I call into question whether my “straight and narrow path” saved me from anything aside from danger to my physical body. I now walk on quicksand, unsure. How can I truly understand the need or desire to test the limits of freedom when I chose, early on, to hold myself in constraints?
I find myself in the role of parent, but also child. My daughter, seeking guidance from me, while I learn through her. She is living the role that I never did. Bold and defiant. Daring to break rules and stretch limits as she seeks to find out who she really is. How can I tell her not to break the rules if I don’t wholly understand the feeling of freedom?
Darlene Foster is a writer of children’s stories, a retired employment counsellor, an ESL tutor, a wife, mother and grandmother. Her grandson once gave her the nickname “super-mega-woman-supreme.” Darlene was brought up on a ranch near Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she dreamt of traveling the world and meeting interesting people. Her book series for children follows the heroine Amanda Ross as she travels throughout the world and learns the history and culture of faraway places.
Darlene, thank you so much for being a guest on “A Better World of Books!” Please tells us a little about the inspiration for your character Amanda Ross.
Amanda Ross is the twelve-year-old I would have liked to be. I had a wonderful rural upbringing but my world was limited and I was bored. My grade three teacher taught us about faraway places which sparked my interest in traveling the world and experiencing these places myself. Much later, as an adult, I took a trip to the United Arab Emirates and was fascinated by the culture, the people, the landscape and the food. I thought about how I would have felt if I had visited such an amazing place as a young person and began to write a story from the point of view of a twelve-year-old. Children view the world from a different perspective. Everything is fresh, new, and exciting. They are not yet jaded. Oh, to be a child again! For me, writing books for children, and the young at heart, is the next best thing.
You shared with me your “hope that children will read [your] books and become more tolerant of our differences.” Can you provide one or two moments from your books when your character Amanda learns about tolerance and unity through diversity?
By traveling to other places in the world, Amanda embraces the cultural differences and learns that basically people are all the same. She befriends local people wherever she goes and is always eager to help, often putting herself in danger. In England, she makes friends with a couple of tough street kids, in Germany a homeless musician, and in the UAE a princess avoiding an arranged marriage. In New Mexico, she shares a room with a classmate with mental health issues. Amanda learns through her travels that outward appearances can be deceiving.
In Holland, Amanda visits the Anne Frank house and is moved to tears as she becomes aware of the devastating effects of intolerance. Even her friend, Leah, who on the surface appears to be less caring than Amanda, is affected and shares a story of standing up against racial prejudice in her school in England. I think it is important that these atrocities are not forgotten by the younger generations.
One reviewer of Amanda in England: The Missing Novel stated, “In this story, Amanda makes some new and interesting friends and there is a subtle message about not judging a person by how they look and speak, which I liked.” – Robbie Cheadle
It sounds like Amanda is learning valuable lessons on being a compassionate person during her travels. On your website, you write, “I believe everyone has a right to dream and everyone has the capability to make their dreams come true.” What is Amanda’s dream and has it come true?
Amanda’s dream was to travel. In the first book, Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask, she wished for travel and adventure before she blew out the candles on her twelfth birthday cake. The next day, she received a ticket in the mail to visit her aunt and uncle in the United Arab Emirates. That dream did come true and inspired her to do more traveling. She saved up her babysitting money and weekly allowance in order to visit Leah in Spain and England. She invites Leah to visit her in Canada and both families take a trip down the Danube. Her dreams of visiting other countries have certainly come true, but sometimes they become nightmares as she attempts to help other people and gets herself into dangerous situations. However, that doesn’t stop her from helping people, or animals, in trouble.
How wonderful that Amanda never gives up trying to make the world a better place. What is your own dream for a “Better World?”
My dream for a better world is for everyone to get along in spite of cultural, religious, and political differences, enabling all children to feel safe and cared for. I know I am not alone in this dream.
You are definitely not alone. I believe you’ve written seven Amanda Ross adventures so far! Is there a fan favorite among the series? If so, what do you think makes that adventure stand out among the others?
I seem to have sold more of Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting. I’m not sure why that is. There is a lot of action in the book and Spain is a diverse and intriguing country. A young girl, who looks a lot like a girl in a famous painting, needs help to rescue her precious pony from nasty horse kidnappers. Amanda, an animal lover, is only too eager to help her. One reviewer stated, “Amanda in Spain is a book for the young and the young-at-heart. Vivid descriptions of the country and its customs, humorous details, and enough tension that keeps you turning the page, make this a very enjoyable reading.” – Christa Polkinhorn
That certainly does sound like an exciting adventure! Can you give us a hint as to where Amanda will go next and what she might encounter along the way?
Amanda will be going to Malta next where she will encounter a fascinating land with a colourful history, ancient temples, prehistoric artifacts and unpleasant people shooting endangered birds. Leah is in trouble and Amanda is desperate to help her best friend.
Oh, if I could choose one place in the world that I could go to, aside from Egypt, it would be Malta! I’m looking forward to Amanda’s adventure there. I wonder, if there was one “superpower” that you could endow upon each child at birth, what would it be?
My first response was to grant them the inability to hate. But, children already have that at birth. It’s the influence of others that give them the ability to hate. Perhaps the “superpower” would be to be able to eradicate hate and evil without the use of violence. By the next generation, hate would be gone and all children would be safe from harm. What a wonderful world that would be.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to be interviewed on your wonderful blog.
And thank you, Darlene! I couldn’t agree more with your vision for the world.
If you would like to learn more about Darlene and her heroine Amanda, please visit her social media pages below:
“It’s never the differences between people that surprise us. It’s the things that, against all odds, we have in common.” – from the book Short, by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Are you an author with a vision for a better world? Do you have a published book of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that uplifts and empowers readers to create a more positive inner and outer environment? If so, I’d love to hear more about it. On a “Better World of Books,” I interview authors and review books of all genres that offer a vision for a better world. If you think your work is a part of this vision, please contact Alethea.
It’s been one of those days. There were moments, more than one, when I wanted to hold my hands up to the sky and ask, “Can I erase the last 24 hours and have a do over?”
But that’s a fool’s wish. To wish that life could go backwards and erase, then place before us a new scene all fresh and sparkly clean, is not only futile, it’s self-limiting. Life has a way of serving up our greatest lessons in a bowl filled with needles. They prick us in the exact spot that needs to be healed. They find the wound that was already there, even if it has been buried for a long, long time, and dig in until we bleed fresh.
It’s not always obvious why we’re being pricked and prodded at. Or, why it may seem like we’re being asked to walk over a pile of red-hot coals in order to get to the next leg of our journey. But, when we allow ourselves to dig down to the essence — that spot that is rubbed raw and open from the wound — we can find a bit of the light behind the story we have just lived.
Today was one of the most challenging days of my life. Maybe not in the top ten, but I’d safely put in in the top twenty-five. It could have been much worse than it was. And, in retrospect, it perhaps wasn’t all that bad after all. If someone else had lived my day, she or he might have considered it less than great, but not all that bad in the greater scheme of things. Just a part of the life of a parent, they might say. To be expected, but not by me.
The events of the last 24 hours brought me out of my individual cocoon of dormant life. Threads were pulled until the raw exposed body remained and I was faced with the choice: Do I find another wrapping to hide inside, or do I face the elements head on. Here’s the thing about these choices, there’s really only one option. If we hide, life will simply find another way to unwrap us, and chances are, it will be a harsher exposure than the one we face at the present moment.
To hide is to put off the inevitable. We are here to learn and grow, and quite often that learning and growing is not just for our sake, but for others as well. Our lives weave together in a sophisticated complexity that our minds cannot wholly grasp. Sometimes it’s better not to ask the full depth of they “why,” then, but to accept the growth that is offered.
Therein lies the beauty. The raw self exposed begins to heal. Air breathes through the freshly opened wounds and the light that feeds life spreads its golden filaments to repair what was once broken. Now I find myself peering inside the wound(s), trusting the network that I cannot wholly understand. How my life is woven to others. Some I barely know, some I have known since conception. I find myself seeing the love that has already woven its threads through the hurt and the pain. I find trust and strength that I didn’t know was there. There is a vulnerability that feels both uncomfortable and embracing.
It could have been worse, much worse, and I am grateful that is wasn’t. Today has been a reminder, above all else, of what is constant and unchanging, albeit difficult to hold onto at times. And that, simply, is love. No matter how difficult we make it for ourselves to find it, it is always there. That constant pulse of life threading through all of us. Love. Pure and simple, yet infinitely complex in its reach. And so I breathe it in with each inhale and trust that it is always enough.
The breath of winter spreads a filigree of ice
upon the hands of trees. She whispers the promise
of eternal love in white. Forget the sun, she tells you
I am here to stay. Lover to darkness, she holds
the power of warmth, forcing the shivering limbs
to layer or retreat. Yet the tree remembers life
a sentinel to time, enduring elements
and the knowing that the light will melt
beauty’s truth
For Sue Vincent’s weekly #writephoto prompt.
Irene and I met at a bookstore in rural, NH. Neither one of us knew the other would be there on that early spring day, but later it seemed fated. Irene and I soon discovered we share a driving passion to help children navigate through the challenges of life. In particular, Irene is focused on childhood depression, a topic near and dear to her heart.
Life has brought to Irene her share of challenges, including growing up with dyslexia and raising a child who suffered from depression from an early age. Her life experiences inspired Irene to write and illustrate her book, Celia and the Little Boy.
Celia and the Little Boy tells the tale of a child trapped in the darkness and a little girl who helps him to find the light. Although it is written in a manner approachable to young children, Irene’s story has also touched the hearts of teenagers and adults. Mine included.
Through her tale, Irene evokes her personal story, and the story of anyone who has endured the feelings of entrapment inside inner darkness. There are only three characters in the book, Celia, a little boy hiding under a porch, and an inchworm who joins Celia to inspire the boy to emerge from his hiding place. But, there is one more player in the tale, Celia’s grandfather, whose words of wisdom, and a life lived through wonderment, have instilled within Celia the knowing that the world is in many ways what you make of it. If you look for it, there is always good to be found. And, when viewed with the eyes of wonder, life can be magical. Like the seemingly simple journey of a caterpillar, or the magnificence of the stars in the sky.
As Celia shares the stories of time spent with her beloved grandfather, the little boy slowly makes his way out of the darkness and into the light. Irene’s book is beautifully written using metaphor and analogy in a way that is relatable, inspiring, and poignant.
Celia and the Little Boy travels with Irene to spark discussions about childhood depression. The book has received numerous endorsements and high praise. Justice John T. Broderick Jr. said this of her story, “Celia and the Little Boy should be required reading in every grade school in America. The simple yet powerful story it tells opens the door to feelings and empathy that are increasingly cast aside in our virtual world. Data and information are invaluable but emotional wellbeing is essential to a fulfilling life. Irene’s wonderful book will aid that journey by both inspiring and touching children.”
I agree. One day I hope it is required reading.
If you’d like learn more about her book, or follow Irene’s journey, you can find her at irenebuchine.com
Are you an author with a vision for a better world? Do you have a published book of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that uplifts and empowers readers to create a more positive inner and outer environment? If so, I’d love to hear more about it. On a “Better World of Books,” I interview authors and review books of all genres that offer a vision for a better world. If you think your work is a part of this vision, please contact Alethea.
There was one workshop at the fair I attended last weekend that I found to be truly genuine. The speaker wasn’t trying to sell us anything other than the belief in ourselves. He was an unassuming man. A geriatric physician dressed in understated clothes. He had no props, not even a poster. It was just a man beyond middle-age, standing before us talking about death. And life. Mostly life. Life that goes on despite death. That inner Life that is ever-present but not often heeded amid the cacophony of every day “life.”
He had pretty much seen it all. As a caregiver of the elderly, this sixty-five-or-so-year-old physician had born witness to many a death, but also the transition stages before the body dies, and to people who had “died” and come back to life. Despite his work experiences, the doctor was not there to convince us about any specific type of afterlife, instead he was there to demonstrate that we all have an essence within that is never lost.
An essence that comes from the place of a wisdom and greater knowing that many of us choose to forget to access. As a proponent of meditation, the physician did nothing more than demonstrate the inner wealth that can flow from a mind stilled into the place of greater knowing. There is no cost, but much to gain.
It was a breath of fresh air.
Thousands of individuals had flocked to that fair over the course of its two days, and my guess is that most were seeking some sort of outer validation, a special elixir to fix what ails them, or a message from outside of them that they could, if they chose to, find the answer from within.
The night before the fair, I had a dream. I was in a room with a healer who told me three things. First she told me that my body needed more calcium and magnesium, and then she demonstrated how I could energetically heal my thyroid. When I told my husband the next morning that I needed more of these two minerals in my diet and why, he laughed. “At least you’re listening to someone.” You see he knows how stubborn I can be, and he also knows how wise the body is. The wisdom we seek is always within, we just need to learn how to listen to it.
The answers I seek or need often come to me in my dreams. My higher self, or inner wisdom, which took the form of the “healer” in my dream, knows how to reach me. Yours does too, or at lest it’s trying its best to. As the physician at the workshop demonstrated to us, that wisdom is always there, but the mind needs to tune into it. It needs to quiet the outer chatter and find the frequency of the truth that is you. Amazing things can happen when you listen to it. Miracles unfold. Life becomes not only meaningful, but magical. It all just starts to make sense.
I’ll confess, I don’t always tune in. Every day. Mediation is not a habit for me. I have dreamtime, but in the waking hours I’ve learned to listen to. When I go for walks, nature speaks to me with birds and animals. Even plants carry messages. So do our computers, TVs, phones, and radios, which can be tuned into the frequency of our inner wisdom. Have you ever turned on one of them and found the answer you were seeking in a song or image? Or maybe it was a word spoken just at the right time.
Although there are oh so many benefits to engaging in a daily meditation practice, where the body and mind are sitting in silence, open to receive, life itself can be a mediation. Each breath, when breathed with awareness becomes open to receive. Each moment, a lesson to learn and engage in the classroom that is life. Your life. Not your neighbor’s, yours. That inner voice is speaking to you, always, trying to get you to tune into it and listen. It is beautiful and wondrous because it is always in the frequency of truth.
I am thrilled to be featuring Bette Steven’s award-winning children’s book, Amazing Matilda: A Monarch’s Tale, on “A Better World of Books.” Bette resides in Maine and finds her inspiration for writing in “nature and human nature.” She is an advocate for childhood literacy, as well as for the protection of monarch butterflies and their habitat. Her book Amazing Matilda combines her two passions into an engaging story about a young caterpillar’s journey of growth and transformation as she becomes a monarch butterfly.
Matilda’s tale begins when she emerges into life as a tiny caterpillar with an innate desire to fly. The world is spread before her and she is eager to explore it with wings. Her journey evokes the inner child that exists in all of us. Matilda is filled with the promise of life, but she must learn trust and patience as she grows from a caterpillar into a butterfly with wings! Fortunately for Matilda, she has friendly and wise teachers to guide her along the way. While Frog and Rabbit teach her patience, Sparrow flies in now and then to encourage Matilda to never give up on her dream through her words of wisdom. Bette offers downloadable finger puppets to accompany her book and help bring her story to life.
I found Amazing Matilda to be both delightful and insightful. Her gift for storytelling shines through her words, which are illuminated by her lovely illustrations. One cannot help being captivated by her pages filled with positive inspiration for young audience eager to discover their own unique gifts and bring them out into the world. It is no wonder that reviewers of Sevens’s book are adding it to their libraries and classrooms. I have no doubt Matilda has, and will continue to inspire children, as well as their caregivers, to never give up on their dreams!
“Children of all ages will be able to relate to monarch’s plight in some way. The tale will also inspire readers to not only follow their dreams, but to encourage others to do the same. One’s dreams are never too bit, but with the support of friends and family, as well as with patience and determination, anyone can reach their goal. The sky is the limit. This story is a true gem and one that will inspire children for years to come.” Renee Hand (award-winning adult and children’s book author of interactive mystery series. Renee reviews for the New York Journal of Books. )
“This book conveys a wonderful message to children. A message about patience and self-belief, and that if you have your heart set on something, and try hard enough, you will get there in the end. It is a beautifully written book and a worthy addition to any child’s bookshelf.” Amelia E. Curzon author of Mungai and the Goa Constrictor
Amazing, Never-Giving-Up Matilda“…I immediately fell in love with Matilda, an amazing, sweet, curious character. What a lovely story with a subtle and yet deep and understandable message for young (and those who are not so young ) readers. This book is one of “must have” books in your library. I already purchased a Kindle version for myself and I ordered two more copies in print for my library.” –Vida Zuljevic
If you’d like to learn more about Amazing Matilda or Bette Stevens, please visit:
Are you an author with a vision for a better world? Do you have a published book of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that uplifts and empowers readers to create a more positive inner and outer environment? If so, I’d love to hear more about it. On a “Better World of Books,” I interview authors and review books of all genres that offer a vision for a better world. If you think your work is a part of this vision, please contact Alethea.
I spent Sunday at the region’s largest “holistic health” fair and came home exhausted and relieved the day was finally over. That isn’t how I’m supposed to feel. These events are meant to inspire seekers and to provide them with tools for unwrapping the gifts of their true selves. In theory, anyway.
I don’t go to fairs often, whether they are spiritual/psychic fairs, carnivals, or something in between. My introverted nature finds crowds hard to deal with and the empath in me has trouble shielding from all the myriad energies that fill these spaces. Yet, I was intrigued by this expo that I’d heard so much about, and I had two friend who wanted to go.
As often happens, the red flags went up before I left the house. There was that strangely familiar feeling that the day would not play out comfortably…
Spirituality and holistic living has become a big business. You can sell your spirit to someone almost as easily as you can buy a can of soda. And, sometimes I wonder if the one can be just as bad for our wellbeing as the other. In the midst of the authentic healers, readers, and vendors, there are the charlatans who tout their wares with a conviction that their offerings will change you and the world. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish the real from the fake. The ego can be a trickster. It is often unaware of itself.
Then there is the issue of the seeker’s addiction. You can get lured into the business of “spirituality” as easily as you can a casino in a search for the pot of gold they both offer. I know people who attend fairs on a regular basis in the hope of finding that magical thing they can’t quite define because the cure is never outside of them. It’s easy to get sucked into the belief that someone else has the answer you seek. I’ve found myself on both sides, and it’s not easy to balance it with the larger truth of life.
After the three of us got our wristbands and settled our ticket admissions, we made our way to the workshops housed in another building. Although we spend some time amongst the vendors in the middle of the day, it would have been impossible to visit every cramped booth. There were nearly 300 of them, and it was enough of a challenge to find the two that housed friends I wanted to make sure I saw.
I attended five workshops on Sunday, and found most of them to be, at least in part, strangely depressing. Halfway through one, I left because I could no longer subject myself to the presenter’s aggression. Instead of a heart-felt passion, ego reigned through his voice with the tone of reprimand and anger. Ironically, the presenter was talking about water, using Dr. Emoto’s work for some examples. I was left wondering if he was aware that his own words and tones were most likely distorting the water in his body more than the water he was so worried about drinking. It was, if nothing else, a reminder to check in with my own thoughts and emotions, which were tipping toward unease and irritation the longer I lingered in the room.
In another room, I listened to a healer I really, really wanted to admire because he seemed to have an access to the mysteries of Egypt that have always intrigued me. Instead, I found myself leaving the room after the workshop had ended wondering if I had just sat through a marketing promotion. It felt uncomfortably akin to a timeshare presentation I once found myself roped into. I did’t bother to count the number of times we were told, with various words and demonstrations, how much greater his healing methods were than your average because of the “codes” he had created. There was a price tag, of course, if you wanted to discover the power of the codes for yourself.
Once again, I was left feeling frustrated by the ego’s tainting of something that should have been beautiful. Although I don’t have a problem with people making a living, we all need to, a system of internal checks-and-balances is often needed, especially when it comes to the business of selling spirituality.
And so it was that I found myself at the end of the day feeling more irritated than enlightened. I couldn’t wait to get home to my family and the quiet warmth of my house. I found revival in the “mundane.” Eating the salmon, heated up in our “toxic” microwave that my husband had cooked hours earlier, alongside takeout Chinese food. It’s amazing what gratitude can do for you. I soon felt more revived and nourished than I had from my lunch of delicious Ayurvedic Indian food as I settled onto the couch with the dogs. When I turned on the TV, I show on ancient Egypt just happened to be on.
Later, I found home again inside the pages of The Sun and the Serpent and thought about how grateful I was to have found this book through Sue and Stuart’s writing. And I thought about how much more comfortable I am roaming the ancient landscape of England, or the quiet landscape of the inner self, rather than the frenetic energies of a fair.
Andrea Torrey Balsara is an author and illustrator who believes in the goodness in people, especially children. Her stories and art reflect her belief that we are all one, and that no matter where we’ve come from, we’re all linked together.
Andrea, thank you so much for being a guest on “A Better World of Books!” I think we met some time ago through that amorphous world of social media. Although we’ve never actually “met” each other in-person, I believe we share a love for writing and helping children of all ages discover and embrace their true selves. Can you share a bit of your story of how you began to write and illustrate books for kids and teens?
When I was around 6 years-old, I remember holding a beautifully illustrated picture book and a yearning welled up within me. I wanted to make pictures like those so badly. I forgot about that dream the older I got. Later, when other things fell away, that old dream came back. I started out knowing nothing, and burned through many years learning the hard way what not to do. I had never thought about becoming a writer until my sister, Michele Torrey who is herself an author, encouraged me to learn writing. To my surprise, I love writing as much as illustrating. I love sculpting words and images from nothing.
You write on your website that all the characters in your stories go through their individual journeys to discover that “Life is good.” Can you give us an example or two of how your characters arrive at such an optimistic outlook?
For me, hope is essential for a story that inspires. My young adult book, The Great & the Small, deals with some dark themes but overall there is a feeling of the triumph of the human spirit. Hope isn’t a weak emotion, or a naïve turning away from the truth. It takes courage to see past the current state of things to what could be. The main characters in The Great & the Small, are deeply flawed and, as is human nature, run from truth and from pain until they are forced to stop and face their own frailty and fear. Hope springs from that courage. We all have deep sources of hope and courage within us, if we choose action instead of apathy.
I am wondering if your own characters and their journeys are at least in part inspired by your personal experiences. If so, can you tell us how you found and embraced the sunny side of life?
I struggled with depression and undiagnosed PTSD all through my school years, and it was hope that kept me going. Sometimes there was only a sliver of hope, but even that sliver of light can cut through the darkness. Somehow, step by step, I made it to a place of wellness. Now, I don’t see suffering as a curse, but rather as a teacher. Suffering teaches us strength, courage, and resilience. Then, once we move past suffering, we embrace joy. One of the presentations I do is entitled, “The Hero’s Journey.” We are all everyday heroes when we keep moving forward, learning, and growing.
Your book, The Nightingale’s Song was inspired by a dream you had. Can you tell us about the dream and how it bloomed into this award-winning book?
Around 25 years ago I became aware of the concept of Unity in Diversity, the belief that diversity is a strength, instead of something to be feared. I had grown up in predominantly white communities, but hadn’t realized I identified myself as “white.” One night, I dreamed I was walking down a long road lined with trees. I couldn’t see myself, but as I walked down the road, I wondered, “Who am I?” I couldn’t remember. Was I white? Brown? Black? Who was I? In my dream, I guessed that my skin was a deep brown. When I woke up, I realized that this dream was the first time since I was little that I was just ME. My outside identity, instead of defining me, had been fluid. It was a powerful shift in understanding. I wrote The Nightingale’s Song based on that dream. It starts out, “Last night, I had a dream that my skin was brown like mahogany…” By the end of the book, the child realizes that no matter what colour their skin is, they are still who they are. Humanity is one, and while we look different from each other, have different languages and different ways of doing things, there is a unity, a common humanity, underlying all of those differences. That is Unity in Diversity.
You’ve written and illustrated, I believe, eight books for children and young adults, two of which, The Great and the Small and The Nightingale’s Song have received awards. Which book, or books, that you have created are closest to your heart and why?
Each book feels like a little spiritual child to me, and you know I can’t choose between my children! Haha! Seriously, each book always requires so much from me and is so much a part of me, that I can’t choose. I will say that The Great & the Small was a book that I HAD to write if I wanted to get any sleep. It nagged at me until it was done. In some ways, The Nightingale’s Song is the same, although they are VERY different books. All of my books are my “heart-songs,” expressions of my heart, and so while they are different, they are the same. There’s that Unity in Diversity, again!!
Andrea, you don’t simply perform readings of your books for your audiences, you also offer empowerment workshops. Can you tell us a bit about how your book The Great and the Small is used as a guide for youth to “unlock their true potential?”
I wrote The Great & the Small as a response to an experience that I had when I was 10. My family lived in Germany, and we went to the museum at Dachau, which had been a concentration camp responsible for killing thousands and thousands of innocent people. The experience was deeply disturbing, and from that moment on, I was consumed with the question of good and evil. Many people believe that some children are born as “bad seeds.” I completely, TOTALLY, reject that idea. It lets us off the hook for being accountable for our actions if we are “born bad.” I believe we are born with the capacity for both good, and evil. So, I wondered, why did the baby who was Hitler, grow into the monster he became. Conversely, why did Nelson Mandela grow into a saintly, transcendent person, in spite of the injustices he endured? What choices did they each make along their paths? The Great & the Small is about how we each can fall into darkness, or can rise above. Both choices are within our grasp. Many young people feel helpless, and often feel that they have no control over their own lives. I want to change that narrative. I want to help empower them to see that whether they are famous, whether they are “successful” in the eyes of the world, that the CHOICES they make are what defines them. And that when they fail (and we all fail sometimes) they can CHOOSE to keep going, to keep learning, to keep rising above. We are not locked into a destiny as if we are railroad cars on a track. We, out of all living creatures, can choose for ourselves our path and can rise above even the gravest circumstances. But first, we must know that we have a choice.
If there was one “super power” that you could endow upon each child at birth, what would it be?
The power to think for themselves.
Can you tell us about any projects that you are working on right now?
I am working on finishing illustrations for my picture book series, Greenbeard the Pirate Pig, a book about a guinea pig with a dream. Haha! I love working on it, as he is such a funny character to me. I am also working with a website developer to sell my artwork and designs on an art website. It will be up and running in a week or so, and the website will be, www.balsaraboutique.com. Come and visit!
And, last but not least, what is the best way for your readers to connect with you?
They are welcome to connect with me on:
My Website: www.torreybalsara.com
Are you an author with a vision for a better world? Do you have a published book of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that uplifts and empowers readers to create a more positive inner and outer environment? If so, I’d love to hear more about it. On a “Better World of Books,” I interview authors and review books of all genres that offer a vision for a better world. If you think your work is a part of this vision, please contact Alethea.
The Light Behind the Story 