Monday, July 31, 2006

Quiet in the Eye of the Storm


It is past four thirty in the morning. I've been sitting at the computer since 10 am straight.

Yes, that's a long time, but I have been going through labor, giving birth to my new book: Quiet in the Eye of the Storm: Living in Peace in a War Zone.

I am sooooooooooo excited about it. I feel that my life is full of purpose... so grateful to be able to share hope and inspiration in these times.

Following is an excerpt from the intro:


The purpose of this book is to help you prepare for the best even in the worst of all circumstances. A war zone could be in Bloomington, Indiana, the French countryside, or the South Pacific, as much as in the Middle East. I just happen to be in northern Israel at the present moment, where a conflict is occurring; however I learned the techniques I want to share with you now over the last 25 years in many different countries. Choosing right now to prepare for the best means choosing how to respond in the moment when things have gone awry. Although you cannot control what happens to you, you have every bit of control of how you respond, and this determines how you experience your present. The choices you make in the present have a direct influence on the shape of future events.
Make no mistake about it, your voice is important. Each voice contributes to the entire, wider world in which we live.
When people of good conscience, such as you, are confronted with images of war and conflict, it’s a difficult experience. You want to love and be peaceful, and you have a powerful need to make sense out of what you perceive. But it’s hard not to judge. After all, whatever you believe about who is “at fault,” you’re right. Resistance provokes resistance. There is some truth to every claim of injury and every side of a disagreement. To resolve conflicts, we all need to practice the solution. We need to begin to focus our attention in a new way.
This is not a book about “magical” or “positive” thinking. The bombs may not immediately stop just because you or I get peaceful inside. But when enough people join us, and there is little resistance to peaceful living, the bombs will stop.
If you think that your little part in our world doesn’t make a difference, it won’t. If you believe that you do make a difference, you will. Imagine what the world could be like if each person believed that their little parts made a difference and they chose to prepare for the best even in the worst of situations. What do you think the world would look like then? Everything could change for the better in the blink of an eye.
This book is not about writing to your Congressman or government representative. It’s about connecting with your own power and voice of peace. When we reach the limit where enough people are tired enough of the same-old same-old political and military conflicts and they’re finally so exhausted that they’re willing to open their hearts, I believe things will change. As a world we’ll be exhausted enough to let go and go to the place where we haven’t been before: to stop judging—first of all, ourselves.
I am one person amongst billions. I know the power of my voice. Through the intimate stories in this book I am sharing what I am going through during the current conflict because I am discovering a deeper experience of living peace. This is an opportunity to implement the tools I’ve been teaching for many years and practice them under extreme circumstances. In expecting the best outcome for peace, I am holding in mind and experiencing my connection with everyone.
Years ago, after a career in the high-tech industry and as a marketer, I left the United States and started over in France. I’d been a spiritual seeker for most of my life, and I finally made the decision to let go of my attachment to the people, places, and things that had defined me up to then. In France, I worked as a freelance broadcaster, and ultimately transitioned from that to a more unusual lifestyle singing on the inter-city trains.
An inner voice called me to move to Israel in 1994 and establish a healing music center in the Galilee in “a green place where one also sees blue.” It took me ten years to locate the site of this vision, and then I met someone who guided me to the village where I now live overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Throughout the years, I had continued my practice of “letting go” and trusting my spiritual guidance to show me what to do.
The five tools of peaceful living that are described in Quiet in the Eye of the Storm—silence, the heartbeat, a single long note, melody, and rhythm—come right out of the Voices of Eden musical approach I’ve developed and teach around the world. These blend ancient, sacred technology going back as far as the earliest Goddess-worshipping people with Eastern and Western musical elements continuously used from then until the present day. We’ve studied them in medical research settings and they’re proven to reduce stress, help you sleep better, and to improve focus. As you read through the book, I hope you experience these benefits firsthand and are more able to handle any confusion and pain that you face.

The book is available for immediate download at:

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