Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author
of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic women’s fiction that honors pagan
spiritual practices that nourish the soul. My stories show you what life could
be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally
accepted, supported and loved. And where you do overcome obstacles and find your
happily-ever-after.
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| Coming Fall 2019 |
July’s writing prompt for The Genre-istas is If I had my life to do over, what’s one
thing I’d change and why?
My answer is “Nothing,
because to change anything would change who and what I am at this point in my
life.”
Definitely a short post if I leave it at that.
However, up until I was in my thirties, I’d have had a
challenge deciding which of several life events I’d experienced or survived I’d
change.
Why? Because they were ugly, painful, hurtful, nasty,
negative, etc. life events.
So why at this point in my life would I change nothing?
In my thirties, I was fortunate to go through a series of
Lifespring trainings that exposed me
to a different way of looking at my life and the world around me; provided me
with an opportunity to see how those experiences had added value to my life; as
well as challenged my point of view as to who controlled my life.
Within the same time period I became involved with the
Glasser Institute for Choice Theory. Dr. William Glasser, a world-renown
psychiatrist, believed that we are in control of our lives even to the point
where we choose our misery. He taught that if we were honest with ourselves we
could see and understand the purpose behind all of our choices (even those that
didn’t feel like our choices).
We’ve stories and analogies in our culture that support
positive thinking. The glass being half full or half empty or the little boy
who happily digs through a barn of manure because surely there must be a pony
in there somewhere are two of them. The Bible’s saying about having as much
faith as a mustard seed and nothing will be denied us would be another.
While the Lifespring
trainings are no longer available, at least not as they were when I was first
involved in the 1970’s; the Glasser trainings are. If you are interested in
learning more about being in control of your own life, check out www.wglasser.com
and consider attending the 2019 Conference co-hosted by the US and Canada organizations
and held in Bellevue, WA.
Staying
Sane in a Crazy World is full of information and exercises to
help you find your own path through life. And
if you want a more subtle example of these concepts, consider reading my Sacred
Women’s Circle books where you’ll find Dr. Glasser’s philosophy assist my heroines
make choices as they face life’s challenges.
You can find all of my books at your favorite
e-book vendor and selected stores in the Portland, OR area. Be sure to ask your
local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.
© 2019 Judith Ashley
4 comments:
One of the things I love about you and your work, Judith, is that it does show we all have choices. In your novels, women work through their difficulties. They don't wait for someone to save them. Your book, StaySane in a Crazy World, is very timely. I've read it and the exercises and worksheets are really important to showing how much choice and power each of us has if we are ready and willing to use that choice and power.
Not everyone is ready, and many people who might be ready are not willing to take that step because it means change--change in the way we look at our world. I highly recommend this book and I recommend Judith as someone who walks her talk, and presents a daily example of choosing light, choosing hope, choosing to exercise her power.
Thank you Maggie. A part of the "ready and willing to use that choice and power" is that it comes with responsibility and being responsible for what isn't working can be daunting. That's one of the reasons "Staying Sane in a Crazy World" and the worksheets for people to create their "Personal Staying Sane Plan" includes the "My Revised Plan" on the same page.
My next non-fiction "Yes, You Can Create a Life You Love" goes into even more detail about the pitfalls to avoid when making a commitment to exercising our choice and thus our power. "Yes, You Can..." will be available Fall 2019.
I read your book 'Staying Sane in a Crazy World' it was a relevant to me and well written and easy to understand. Your next book sounds like a good one too. I'll have to check it out. Great blog post!
Thanks Diana. Just need to get these health issues under control and then I can finish the edits/revisions and get it out there. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing it on the "shelves." I love my cover and that's always a good thing.
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