Book Review: The Law Of Attraction Meets Financial Stewardship by Laurie Bonser

     Recently while I perused the twitter verse I came across a picture of a woman named Laurie Bonser. Laurie drew me in instantly with her bright smile and snowy hair, much like the kind that covers the canyons here in West Virginia in January. Something about her spoke wisdom and beauty and so I clicked the link with her name on it.

     As stated in the image above, Laurie is a Certified Financial Planner and Shamanic Practitioner. If applicable financial advice combined with a holistic spiritual approach is what you are after then Laurie's work is right for you.

    The Law Of Attraction Meets Financial Stewardship is the second installment on this topic for Laurie, her first being the above mentioned, Financial Stewardship: a guide for personal financial health and wellness. I will be going backwards somewhat. I have read the newest book and loved it so much that I will be acquiring the original within the next few weeks for further study.

   The book (The Law Of Attraction Meets Financial Stewardship) just happened to be what I was looking for that day in April when I found it on twitter. I had been struggling with the idea that "manifesting" and "stewardship" didn't seem to go hand in hand. Laurie's book redefines that. She shows you how to bridge the gap between the two. That you can be prosperous and abundant and seek out your financial increase with ease and confidence. What will put a halt to that confidence is a bad strategic financial plan. Not knowing what you really want (most of us were taught to focus more on what we don't want to happen), bouncing back and forth between thrifty money habits and terrible overspending, this is how most of us spend our time in finances. In truth most of us were never taught what it means to save your money for SUNNY DAYS. 

   Taking a different path with this book, Laurie points out how unhealthy it is to be afraid when it comes to finances. (Saving for RAINY DAYS, is saving out of fear.) So of course we would have terrible attachments to money, why would anyone WANT to save for a RAINY DAY? So I am saving my money for something bad to happen?! (Keep in mind the rainy day/sunny day metaphor is mine alone, Laurie puts it in more thorough terms.) Instead Laurie encourages us to see saving as a means to acquire all the things, experiences, and financial growth we can dream of. Saving should be about working toward an amazing fulfilling goal, not hoarding incase it all goes wrong! This kind of thinking causes subconscious resistance and self-sabotage.

   On a "writing" level, if I were to critique the book, I'd say it gets a little wordy in some spots and that the ball doesn't really start rolling till 40-50 pages into the book. This is not to say that the first 40-50 are useless, because that's not true. I found nuggets of wisdom hiding inside of Laurie's enthusiasm. I would however love to see a refined version of this book, made simpler for us dyslexic, slow reading, basic bitches out there ;) (That was a joke, don't send me hate mail. And yes I am dyslexic.)

   But if we are talking overall message, this book outshines a lot of it's contemporaries. It tackles questions and thought processes that most "Law Of Attraction" teachers steer clear of. Laurie stays true to what the law of attraction truly means without overshadowing the need to be financially present and aware.

    I give Laurie's insightful book a 5 out of 5 stars! It's worth the read. She offers a wealthy helping of powerful information and tips that are sure to assist you in the next stages of your financial journey. I think the biggest thing for me when talking about this book is how relative it is to ALL people. I am a huge hippie, often times my financial situation feels icky to me, because deep down there is a part of me that just wants to dance naked around a fire and howl at the moon sometimes. LOL But Laurie shows us that finances are not "UN-spiritual", because everything under the sun is full of spiritual consequences and triumphs. When our finances cause us stress, our "spiritual walks" whatever that may be for you, suffer.

   Go out and get Laurie's book, The Law Of Attraction Meets Financial Stewardship. If you are ready to make a real change in your finances and ready to start manifesting your goals and dreams with a healthy spending/saving approach, you won't be disappointed with Laurie's work.

Huge thank you to Laurie for sending me a FREE copy of her book so I could learn and be touched by it's healing messages and give her an honest review. :) Namaste 

Till we meet again #riverreaders,

   --- Wes

For more info on Laurie Bonser and her amazing works visit the following links :)

http://www.changingtimesplanning.com/
The Law Of Attraction Meets Financial Stewardship (Amazon)
Financial Stewardship (Laurie's first book) currently FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

Diana Deaver emotional magician

   So who else has heard of and fallen in love with Diana Deaver?

   No one?

   Ok, well let me enlighten you in the only way I know how, irreverently and with as much sarcastic overcompensation of my insecurities as possible ;) (Diana I promise you won't cringe reading this, I just have the wrong assumption that I am funny...moving on)

   Diana Deaver is not only a kickass, mad talented wedding photographer, but she also hosts a YouTube channel called Emotional Health With Diana Deaver which tackles tough questions and topics on something we all deal with every day, or perhaps something we DON'T deal with every day---emotions.

   I think what impresses me most about Diana, beyond her very relevant and highly aware process of thought on the subject, is that she never dictates to you as if her word is law. Diana encourages you in many ways to be the master of yourself, instead of relying on something outside of you to come along and say "Hey buddy, life gettin ya down? Let me handle all that for ya! You go out and forget all about this, these are not the droids you are looking for."

   She encourages a hands on approach to your feelings, giving tips and ideas on how to manage it all and let go when needed. 

   In her video, How To Benefit From Negative Emotions, Diana challenges us to see emotions as indicators. Pleasant emotions cause us to be more present, so shouldn't unpleasant emotions also have a role? Emotions are signals to turn toward and away from things. Diana suggests that unpleasant emotions elicit ACTION.

   If your Garmin alerts you of traffic ahead, you sigh or curse and get irritated, but you accept it. Then as time passes, traffic picks up, and you continue to follow and listen to your Garmin, TRUSTING it again to guide you to your chosen destination. Our emotions guide us to things. When we are pleasant emotions we feel that we have arrived, a sense of joy takes us over and we feel content, inspired, adventurous, all kinds of awesome stuff! When we feel unpleasant emotions we tend to feel lost.

   Diana makes an amazing point here, that those negative emotions are guiding you to pay attention! Something inside is going in the wrong direction and must be corrected so we can get back on the road. When the Garmin goes funky, we get it an update. Unlike a regular Garmin however, ours are top of the line gps systems, which not only alert us when we are off course inside, but when we are heading toward something dangerous. (or simply away from that which makes us feel good) The cool part is this is all part of the GROWING PROCESS, and so in the words of Bob Dylan "It's all good." It's all good man ;) 

   Now I am adding somewhat to what Diana said, so watch the video for yourself, experience the amazingness that is Diana Deaver! I give her channel a EAF 2 thumbs up! Why is emotional health important? If you don't believe that tending to your emotional well-being is important, then to be honest this section is just not for you and that's cool guys, no worries. Everyone works out his own dharma and no one has the right to tell you how to be or what to feel or concern yourself with. But if even a small part of you feels the urge, click the links and check her out, you won't be disappointed.

To connect with Diana visit her YouTube or Facebook 
Thanks for letting me enlighten the fuck out of you

Till we meet again #riverreaders,

  --- Wes

The Movie Vs The Book---Ice Cream Vs Ice Cream sandwiches?

      *Disclaimer: My opinions change about as often as my facebook status, which can range anywhere between 3-300 times a day. Basically I like to have what Wayne Dyer referred to as "a mind that is open to everything but attached to nothing"...Translation? If you don't like my opinion don't sweat,it will probably change. Perhaps just not to what YOU'd like it to be ;) Namaste*

                                                        And vice versa :)

    The title of this post may be self-explanatory to some. I am sure we have all heard someone say, or even been the someone saying it, those dreaded words that haunt Directors like David Yates (Final four Harry Potter films) in his sleep. The Movie (or tv show, anime, etc) was terrible! It was nothing like the Book (comic-book, manga, etc). 

   So which side are you on? You won't find any judgements here. (pls don't mistake my personal thoughts as personal attacks, the whole internet goes crazy when we do that) I relate to the frustration of feeling like something you REALLY passionately wanted to see taken from a book you like and put on screen was left out, given half-effort, or worse...Jon Snow I am sorry you had to go through all that baby...BUT, humor me a moment, if I may?

   Let's see if ice cream can solve this dilemma shall we? We shall ;)

   Have you ever been hangin out with the fellas (homies, ladies, furbabies, Grateful Dead) eatin some tasty ice cream sandwiches while your pal spoons his out of a bowl and then out of NOWHERE your homie throws a curveball, like straight at your brain casket, and says "Ice cream sandwiches are terrible! They are nothing like ice cream. Ice cream is creamy and smooth and should be eaten with a spoon. Ice cream sandwiches make your hands messy and the cookie part is always mushy." 


   Ya know why you've probably never heard someone say that? (If you have, I don't...know...what...to do...anymore) Because If you had a friend like this douche you wouldn't be reading this awesome blog ;) by me a totally sweet, happenin, non-douche persons, sorta, maybe. But on a serious note, it's because an ice cream sandwich is just an expression (perspectively translated extension) or "version" of ICE CREAM. ITS STILL ICE CREAM.

   No one gets up in arms over whether his buddy likes ice cream cones and hates ice cream bars, just like no one argues for hours over whether or not you can call banana splits a sundae or not. Sure you may have friends who kid around over their food preferences (I am excluding the mud slinging of vegans and meat eaters, most of you are awesome and mature, but you others, you know who you are lol).

  When a movie is made because a book INSPIRED it, that is the key word, the movie then takes on a brand new life of it's own. Just as a child born to parents may have some original DNA, same eye color, hair what have you...but the child's essence is something different, unique, a NEW expression of it's parents, an expanded, progressive version of humanity a generation ago. (And if you're a Buddha lovin Hindu Taoist like me ;) haha) Even an expression of divine love.

  The directors, producers, actors, staff members, sound engineers, visual editors, screenwriters, etc are all working their asses off, trying to create an expression of something that inspired them (sometimes the studio, or maybe they think it will make a lot of money and they want to tap that market a little) but whether their intentions be "saintly" pure to the all-perfect deity that was the book (comic-book, manga, etc) or not matters little. The movie (tv show, anime, etc) is it's own artistic expression and deserves that consideration.

  I try to see movies before I read books as often as I can, I find it lessens the blow and sometimes increases my love for the story. But even when I can't, I have made a certain peace with these two warring factions, and brought even more enjoyment of these things into my life. Are their bad movies based on books? Yep. But I just don't think it has anything to do with whether they did EXACTLY what was in the book. Bad acting, choppy screenwriting, awkward or unbelievable dialogue, strained and forced direction with little explanation, I could go on. Those are reasons a movie throws me off, never because they didn't hold to the book word for word.

   I actually like if an anime or tv show or movie takes a bold leap and becomes it's own telling of a powerful story, it is a reflection of how each of our stories are smaller sparks of flame dancing around in the much bigger story, the fire. 

  And we have to stop acting like we are all academy award winning directors who know what's best for everyone else's art. Art is not made for you my friend, it's not made for me either. Art is never tailor made to the one observing the art, it is tailored to the one creating it. I know in a world full of customize-this and convenience-that, where art has been turned into an industry that gives you "what you want" and you actually believe it haha, it's difficult to fathom that we are not to be demanding artistic expression to express only as we express, but instead to express itself in as many ways as is possible in this world, and in that freedom we get set free! I may sound preachy, but let me say I look at how the world treats art in all it's distressing disguises. (Mother Teresa had an amazing quote that I sorta just plagiarized, Google it ;) ) 

   And what I see are a bunch of whiny, everyone agree with me, everyone feel, think, and act like me, like what I like, hate what I hate, robots on both side of any argument, touting their PREFERENCES as some sort of holy law lol #TeamEdward?! #TeamJacob?! LOL Do we all remember that insanity? ( I am literally snort-laughing right now guys, so let's all stay friends. I am not nearly as full of myself as just reading my random thoughts on the internet would suggest, scouts honor ;) )

   Friends I am not attacking anyone, just pointing out how all of us can be self-centered, pety, shiny little turds sometimes. I demand my way most of the time, then every so often I see a piece of art, or read a book, or watch a storyline unfold in an anime and something speaks to me. Something completely new yet familiar strikes my gong, the call of expansion, of knowing, feeling, experiencing, understanding, sensing something new about my own self. The artist connects with me on a primal level, a place where we both happen to be at the same moment in time...there may be others there with us, but in that brief blip I am one with the artist, because I embraced his expression of my own nature, though he knew me not in body, he knoweth my spirit well. (It's late, I get poetic, and a little wine drunk when it's late, don't judge.)

Even Prince understood that we should embrace art, music, the arts in all the ways they can be understood and expressed, it's why he is considered an artist and not just an entertainer.

  

   So with all this being said will I be posting reviews of media on this page and critiquing that which I "dislike" and that which I "like" about said media? Uh, duh. lol ;) But I will do so with a reverent spirit, for the art's right to express in all the ways it can and for the unexpressed in me, waiting to be struck like a gong by some piece of art, manga, comic, or movie based on a book I like,that boldly took it's own take to the screen; knowing that as my disclaimer for this section so correctly assessed If you don't like my opinion, don't sweat. It will probably change. ;) Basically I will keep an open mind, as I encourage you to also ;) Namaste


Till we meet again #riverreaders

    --- Wes

GDRAGON is Bae

That time GDRAGON photobombed me via jumbotron! ;)

    Dear God someone smack me for using the word BAE. But when it comes to GDragon, words tend to fail me...me the writer, I know it's creepy. 

    Anywho, unless you live under a giant rock you have probably heard of GDRAGON (member of BIGBANG, solo artist/rapper, fashion icon, humanitarian, the magnificent list goes on my friends). I will include more information, reviews of songs, etc later...but for now, just enjoy these three awesome GD songs (essential for any D-Boi's collection)

Enjoy! 

Till we meet again river readers,

     ---Wes

Princess Jasmine?

    

     It's no secret that I am a tea fanatic! My friends are subjected to dozens of "tea parties", "tea socials" and "tea services" a year. Being a writer practically requires you to have an obsession with tea! Well, and espresso, wine, whiskey, the occasional psychedelic...You get the point!

   Needless to say, all things tea entices me beyond healthy reason I'd wager, so here is my first official "blog post" about tea.

   Today I have chosen to discuss one of my all time favorite teas, Jasmine. (especially Jasmine pearls) Jasmine is a floral tea with a bitter after bite. You can steep it to be less bitter, but I personally enjoy that bite at the end of each warm, comforting, healing sip. Green tea is commonly used as the base for Jasmine to rest upon, however white and black teas can be used as well.

   Rather than go into it's origins, which is something you can easily google or find on wikipedia, I'd rather talk about the amazing therapeutic/medical benefits of Jasmine tea. Here is a list of just a few of the amazing ways Jasmine tea can help heal your mind, body and soul...

offers relief from stress and anxiety
offers relief from intestinal anomalies
reduces risks of heart attack
aids in digestion and weight loss
provides defense against bacterial infections
helps to lower cholesterol levels
helps to reduce high blood pressure
helps to prevent and treat diabetes
helps to strengthen immune system

AND SO MUCH MORE!

   I have proof in my own life of jasmine tea lowering my cholesterol and treating my stress! My personal counselor even advises I use the scent of jasmine in aroma therapy since it has such a powerful affect on my anxiety! A writer with anxiety? Go flippin figure eh? ;) Aren't we all kinda crazy, or is it just me? Don't answer that...

    As a passionate tea drinker, I find jasmine to be one of those teas that I just always need in my tea cabinet. It offers so many things beyond it's delicious taste! If you haven't gotten to try jasmine tea and are not much for loose leaf or pearls, I suggest Mighty Leaf's organic spring jasmine tea bags. The company is solid and environmentally friendly, and frankly anything but ORGANIC tea is like drinking shampoo, don't do it. 

    I hope this post made someone smile, and even more so I hope it made all of you want to go out right now and try Jasmine tea!

Till we meet again river readers,

  ---Wes

Bob's Burgers makes me Belch-er ;)

    If you've never seen Bob's Burgers, I suggest heading to Hulu or Netflix right now to enlighten yourself. The show airs on the Fox network and was created by the talented, Loren Bouchard.

   The show centers around a middle-class family known as The Belchers. Family members include; Louise, Jean, Tina, Bob (father), and Linda (mother). Why write a review of Bob's Burgers? Shouldn't I be writing pretentious pieces on Downton Abbey?


   Well the simple answer is...I LOVE THIS SHOW! It's funny, witty, heart-warming, and unique. Unlike other animated adult comedies, Bob's Burgers heads down a road less traveled. The show doesn't straw grasp at every shock-value joke it can find, nor do the writer's try to create buzz by using overly offensive material to keep people talking. Bob's Burgers delivers humor far superior to that of it's contemporaries, it offers a hearty laugh that doesn't cost you your dignity, or brain cells for that matter. 

    Now don't get me wrong, I've been known to turn on some Family Guy or American Dad and just space out while finishing laundry or working on my weekly schedule, but it almost always ends with me turning the tv off, kind of grossed out with a twinge of boredom lingering in the air (le sigh). I mean come on give me something more original than the same childish shit you had last season. Those shows tend to cater to a mass audience that...well as pompous as it may sound...probably doesn't READ much, if ya know what I'm saying. (don't take this too seriously, it's just a blog)

   No judgements really though, cause I still think Stewie and Brian are irreverently amazing, but to be honest, Family Guy has lost my interest...whenever Seth Macfarlane finally decides to up the anty and stop producing the same sexist, racist, low-brow comedy that he spews out every season, my opinion may shift. (Oh and Seth, child molestation, rape, and hate crimes are not funny...like EVER.)

    Till then, Bob's Burgers may be a good option for you as well. The jokes in the show use a lot more than shock-value to drive the laughter home. Bob's Burgers taps into humor beyond slapstick and vulgarity, it utilizes a common bond we all have. We all came from a family (whether it sucked or not), we all came from community (whether we liked it or not), and we all beat to our own drums. Bob's takes these elements and greets us with a down home, average joe, relatability that never ceases to bring me to tears and causes me to giggle.

Linda happens to be my favorite character! She's so wild and yet so loving. Perfect Mama Lioness!

    I rate the show a 5 out of 5 stars in the (animated adult comedy) genre and encourage anyone reading who hasn't given the show a chance yet, to do so soon. If you hate Bob's Burgers that's cool too! Everyone likes different things, that's what makes this human thing so awesome. If you are a die-hard Family Guy fan and feel the need to send me hate mail or leave crude comments on this post, I welcome it! Your voice deserves to be heard...just to disclaimer (if you want me to take your comment seriously, spell everything right and be clever) I like my hate mail saucey and filled with intellectual banter! HAHA! ;)

Till we meet again river readers,

---Wes