The End

I recently published my first edited book,  Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology ,  with  Small Harbor Publishing . It's an anthology of writing from  Literary Mama  staff over the past 20 years. It's a beautiful collection and I am proud of the writers and proud to share the book.  It seems a fitting moment, as I pondered sharing about the book here on the blog, to reflect on my life as a blogger, and acknowledge that it is time to officially end this blog.   I started blogging in about 2007, when my baby was learning to toddle, when I was learning how to be a mother and stepmother, when I was just starting to see my way as a writer. I needed it back then. I craved it. I had a variety of blog iterations--family, art, creativity, writing things I delved into. There's a freedom in blogging, a casualness, an easy familiarity that's lacking (for me anyway) in other kinds of writing. I loved blogging and the words came pouring out.  Over the years since then, some
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The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is one amazing dude.  So when I saw a picture book by Demi about him I picked it up in a flash. 

The book was published in 1998, and the style is reflective of that time in PB publication.  The story is long (for a picture book) with many words.  And these days people would ask if the vocabulary and reading level is appropriate for young children.  The artwork is superb, and very much uses the colors and styles of Tibet.

This book tells the life story of the Dalai Lama throughout his youth. From his birth in the fields of Tibet, being identified as the fourteenth Dalai Lama, through to his taking the active role of spiritual and political leader of Tibet at age fifteen and the subsequent Communist takeover. The book touches on some serious issues, but it does so in a thoughtful and basic way.

Old school like I am, I like picture books like this. I like a book that begins to tell a story, and leaves the door open to more in depth discussion about life. I like when there are more words to read than just two or three to a page. I like stories that are true, and told with heartfelt passion. 

I suppose I would like any book or teaching of the Dalai Lama.  But this book is quite a treat, and I highly recommend it.  I follow the Dalai Lama on facebook and here is what he says on Thursday November 8th, 2012...

When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighbouring communities and so on. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to de­velop inner happiness and peace.



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