Inside Personal Growth

In my interview with Dan Pallotta we discuss a his newly designed program called “Change Course“.  I have interviewed Dan previously about his book entitled “Uncharitable-How Restraints on Non-Profits Undermine Their Potential.”   Dan Pallotta has been involved in  lifting up the profile of non-profits for years.  At age 21 he organized a bike ride across America to raise awareness about world hunger,  he also launched a for profit enterprise that was responsible for developing AID’s rides as well as the 3-Day Brest Cancer walks.  Needless to say Dan Pallotta is not stranger to the world of non-profit. Dan realized that many people are torn mentally and emotionally about where to spend their time.  So many of us want to help in the non-profit sector, yet we feel that we are not doing enough or don’t have the time.   We want to know how to make the transition and feel comfortable with our decisions. This boot camp for idealists, activists and social entrepreneurs and anyone exploring how to make a good living and a big difference will help anyone seeking to have fulfilling work while making a living.  In Change Course, Dan and his team are going to guide the attendees and inform them about: 1) the pros and cons of a non-profit career 2) making a difference in every moment 3) duty and responsibility vs. joy and opportunity 4) social enterprise vs. social entrepreneurship 5) maximizing the impact of personal philanthropy and much more. If you are like most people you may want to get involved with charitable work, but  could or would you every make a career of it?   Dan will help guide attendees in determining what their options are, as well as help resolve the dilemmas that many face in making non-profit work a career.   If you want to learn more about the Change Course, please listen to this informative podcast.  You can also click here to be directed to the Change Course website which will provide you with the information you will need to make your decision about attending the course.

I have recently been doing podcasts with organization and authors that have productivity tools that I believe are excellent personal growth and mastery applications.  I was introduced to Michael Hollauf the founder of MindMeister through Gerald Aquila the founder of FireTask, and we speak in this podcast  about an amazing cloud based application for mind mapping that he developed with his team called MindMeister.  This application is  so popular that within less than 6 years his user base has grown to over 1.6 million users. If you are not familiar with mind mapping, it was made popular by British psychologist Tony Buzan.  What is important to remember about mind mapping is that it allows our non-linear brains that normally  think randomly to be able to capture the wonderful ideas, thoughts and inspirations on paper or the computer in a visual map. Mind Mapping and the use of computer technology over the last 10 years had really excelled, and the cloud based application that Michael and his team has developed is a wonderful example of a collaborative cloud based application that makes the job of capturing ideas and thoughts with a team of people a snap. A mind map starts usually with one central word or idea, then branches out from this initial concept. The branches then turn into sub-branches and you continue to develop the mind map as your thoughts flow and are recorded onto the mind map. It is like a cognitive map of sorts.  I have links to some of the samples that MindMeister clients have shared just to give you an idea of what is possible using the MindMeister cloud based application. Just click here for a few examples. The practical tools that would not be available using paper vs a cloud based system are that you can link notes, hypertext links to website, video, graphics, pictures almost anything that will help you in developing your brainstorming session and making it more comprehensive in nature.   The best part about MindMeister is the ability to share your ideas with others on a team and publish your map for their feedback. If you are in business or a student, then utilizing a cloud based mind mapping software is a wonderfully practical tool.  I highly recommend the MindMeister cloud based system.  If you want more information or would like to watch a few training videos about how to use the system please click here.  You can also download a 30 day free trial by clicking here. I hope you enjoy this great interview with the founder of MindMeister Michael Hollauf.

This interview with Dan Zadra is the last in a series of interviews with the author about his inspirational books that are numbered in a series.  This last interview is about his book entitled 7-How Many Days Of The Week Can You Be Extraordinary. One of the things we discuss in our interview together is that fact that the average person has just 30,000 mornings they will awaken too.  Think about that number for a minute, 30,000 mornings-how are you going to spend yours today? The key here is that this is your life, and dont miss a day of it every morning is precious.   This message is accented by a great story about a 95 year old woman recounting her time here on earth, and her thoughts on  how time flies, and that one morning she looked up and was 70 year old and as soon as she made the realization that she did not have much more time on this earth, she started to savor everyday and every moment and wanted to make a difference in the world. It does not have to be your 70th birthday before you make this realization about how each day is important.  Learn to live  for each moment that is really all we have. We have all heard about learning to become a beginner again, but how many of us really practice it?  We lose something wonderful when it becomes more important to us to be the one who knows than to be the one whos open to the everyday wonders around us.  Those wo think they know it all have no way of finding out they dont, wrote Leo Buscaglia.  Fortunately, our sense of curiosity and wonder can rekindled and refreshed. During my interview with Dan he tells personal inspring stories, and recounts stories that will inspire and move you.  If you are wondering how your days, weeks, months, years and lifetime are going to be extraordinary then read Dans book 7-How Many Days Of The Week Can Be Extraordinary he really provides sound advice and inspiration on how to live an extraordinary life. If you want more information about Dan Zadra, please click here to be directed to his company website.  Or you can click here to be directed an interview with Dan on  YouTube.

In my ongoing series of interviews with Dan Zadra we speak about his book entitled 2 How Will You Create Something Beautiful Together. As I have previously mentioned Dans books are easy to read, and extremely inspirational.   This book is about finding love, then creating something together that is beautiful.   Dan states Go where youve never been. Dream together, plan together, laugh together and grow together.   Wonderful words, but how in our busy world do we find the time to dream, plan and grow together. In my interview with Dan we explore the simple things that couples can do together to build a lasting and loving bound.   Dan states that their are only four questions of value in life. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same.  Love. Dan mentions that creating a couples mission statement is very powerful.  I know that I have never done it, but I  can imagine how this process would really unite people.  He also talks about doing a couples journal, now that is a new one on me.  I have never heard of a couples journal.  Sharing thoughts, ideas and stories together sounds like it would be a kick and a way to grow closer with your significant other. No matter what your dream, if you share it with someone you really loveand someone who cares about you then your dream mean so much more.  Likewise, if your spouse or significant other shares their inner most secrets it makes life all worth living. We are hear to bond, love, live and unite our common interests in helping to make this world a better place to live.   Dans book 2 How Will You Create Something Beautiful Together. is a great book to inspire, move and get you thinking about what is truly possible when you have your life to share with someone. Enjoy this great read and interview with author Dan Zadra.

I recently interviewed Carter Phipps about his new book entitled Evolutionaries-Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Sciences Greatest Ideas.   Carter does as wonderful job of bridging the gap between faith and science throughout his book.   He has incorporated stories and interviews with some of the greatest evolutionary thinkers from current time and the past.  This allows the reader to gain a perspective about how evolution and our ability to adapt and adopt provides a new worldview and hopefully a shift in our consciousness. Carter states that evolution embraces everything from economics to psychology, from politics to religion, from ecology to technology.  I could not agree more, and as one takes a deep introspective look at their lives they can see that where  a blur between faith and science once may have existed , it is now becoming clear and they can see the interconnection of all living things. Carter cites the work of  biologists Lynn Marguils who discovered the first nucleated cell called eukaryote as an example of how nature is working in cooperation vs. competition.  This is a wonderful example of how our society and culture needs to evolve and is evolving into a world  model of cooperation vs. competition.  This is a significant shift in our worldview and evolution for with the new model of cooperation we will speed up the evolution of our species, and we will most certainly see breakthrough in areas of science, technology, politics, spirituality, religion, psychology and the sciences that will make our lives significantly better. Carter cites a story about Zoltan Torey who was on the verge of death after a terrible accident in a battery factory when acid was dumped over his whole body, leaving him blind.   Torey wrote an autobiography entitled Out of Darkness and a 1999 book entitled The Crucible of Consciousness.   What Torey conveyed in his book was a model how the brain creates the experiences of consciousness and how the miracle of self-reflection has evolved the human animal; what  Carter conveys through Toreys story is how a new kind of ethical context has quietly descended on human awareness over the last years and decades, almost unrecognized, like an unseen snow falling softly during the night, only to reveal a changed world in the light of the morning sun. Truly this is what is happen, we are evolving as a species and all the support systems around us are evolving as well.  Our evolution is bringing science and faith closer together, and as it does we will start to see clearly the interconnection of all living things.  I highly recommend that you read Carter Phipps new book entitled Evolutionaries is will provide content for deep contemplation and reflection about who and what we are becoming. For more information about Carter Phipps please click here to be directed to his website, or click here to watch a great YouTube video about the book.

We all face the ultimate situation of grieving at one point or another in our lives, it is just part of life.  My interview with author and founder of a non-profit for women who are dealing with widowhood and grief Carole Brody Fleet really sheds new light on a topic that frequently is swept under the rug or not discussed. Her new book  entitled Happily Even After which is a compilation of questions and answers asked by the women in her community  and all of the issues they are faced puts widowhood into perspective.  Obviously the sudden death or protracted illness of a spouse or significant other has lots of emotional challenges associated with it.  One of the important aspects that Carole bring out in the book is that widowhood does not need to define you as a person.  You will in your own time move on from the grieving process to one day build a new life for yourself.  It does not however mean that you must place all of the memories into the far reaches of your mind.  Cherish time and embrace the wonderful life you once had with that special person, but dont let it define who you are. Caroles book is full of engaging and interesting stories and questions from women from all over the world who have written in to Carole asking for advice.  This guidebook as she calls it is designed to provide gentle guidance, support and help for the reader trying to come to grips with their loss.  Anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one or the potential loss will want to read this book and understand how to better cope and live Happily Even After.. If you want to learn more about Caroles foundation that supports widows you can click here to be directed to her website.  You can also watch a very compelling YouTube video presentation entitled Turning Hurt Into Hope by clicking here. I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with author Carole Brody Fleet.

If you have every wondered about reincarnation, then wonder no longer.  I recently interviewed Roy Stemman the author of a new book entitled The Big Book of Reincarnation.  I have spoken with many authors about reincarnation, but none as knowledgeable as Roy Stemman.  His research is comprehensive, and he has gone to great lengths to remove the mystery about reincarnation by citing many stories with extreme credibility about reincarnation. It would be presumptuous and bold of me to state that Roys book will remove all doubt one might have about reincarnation, but it will certainly open your eyes and mind to what might be possible.  Personally I believe in reincarnation, I have to many personal experiences  that have lead me to believe that this is not my first time here. I believe I have had several past lives, yet I have very little memory of them.  I do however, know certain people that have become part of my life journey this time around have been part of previous life reincarnations. As Roy writes Belief in reincarnation is far more deeply entrenched in Western civilization that some orthodox religions might care to acknowledge. Dismissed by many as a New Age fad that will fade with time, its popularity nevertheless suggests that in matters relating to religion and spirituality, growing numbers of people are prepared to mix and match the beliefs and teachings that most appeal to them, regardless of the dictates of the religions to which they profess allegiance or in whos churches they worship.  He states that over 22% of Christians believe in reincarnation.   Reincarnation has permeated most cultures for thousands of years, and the interest in reincarnation is certainly not waining. No matter what your religious or personal belief, author Roy Stemman presents  compelling stories and documentation that will as least get you thinking about past lives.  I  asked him about James Leininger the little boy that claimed he was a fighter pilot in World War II who had amazing memories of his past life.  He commented that frequently young children have vivid memories of past lives, and that this is the time in life where we remember the most. This is an amazing story and well worth watching the documentary of  if you have not seen the reprot.  To access this story, just click here and you will be directed to the YouTube video from ABC Primetime with Charles Gibson. If you are interested in learning more about reincarnation them you certainly will want to read Roys book The Big Book of Reincarnation.  You can click here to be directed to Roys website to learn more about his research into the paranormal.  Enjoy this great interview with author Roy Stemman.

I am doing a series of interviews with author Dan Zadra on what I am referring to as his number series books.  In this podcast we are going to be speaking about his book entitled (1) How Many People Does It Take to Make a Difference?. In my humble opinion the best part about Dans books are the amazing simplicity, yet positive impact they have on the reader.  Yet again, in his book (1) How Many People Doe It Take to Make a Difference, Dan inspires the reader to believe in themselves and reinforces that we are not here by mistakewe all have a grand purpose in the greater scheme of life.  This statement has such significant importance if you are going to make a difference.  You are not here by mistake and you are here for a reason.  The key is in finding your purpose and living it out.  I know easier said than done, but we all have to start looking for our purpose and be brave enough to live it. Think about this little statistic that Dan so carefully placed in the book.  Odds of bowling a 300 game 1 in 11,500.  Odds of being hit by lightening 1 in 575,000. Odds of getting a royal flush on your first five cards 1 in 649,740. Odds of becoming the U.S. President 1 in 10,000,000. Odds of winning $340 million jackpot in MegaMillions lottery 1 in 175,000,000.  Odds of being born in this particular time, place and circumstances: about 1 in 400,000,000,000.  Amazing isnt it.  Best we make something of this wonderful life we are given. One of the greatest ways of making a difference is to be of service.  Yes, being of service now matter what we do is truly how we make a difference.  In an address in 2007 to the graduating students Bill Gates so eloquently stated I hope you will judge yourself not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the worlds deepest inequitieson how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.  So nicely saidwhat to make a difference in your own life, then help make a difference in someone elses. If you want more information about Dan and his series of books please click here to be directed to the Live-Inspired website or click here to watch a great Youtube video.

How many of you have ever asked this questions Where Will You Be Five Years From Today?. Great question isnt it.  Not only is it a great questions to ask yourself, but a wonderful questions to start to go to work on and explore the possibilities. During my interview with Dan Zadra we discuss the importance of defining your personal values, and how this can be an amazing guide to helping someone ground themselves and get really clear as to what is matters most to them.  I know that years ago I did this exercise, and I was amazed as how much power is in this little exercise. In the (5) book you are given lots of wonderful quotes, stories and mini-exercises.  The layout  is exceptional, as a matter of fact in all the personal growth and mastery books I have ever read, I have never found any as engaging, thought provoking and as easy to warm up to as the one that Dan created in Where Will You Be Five Years From Today?.   The whole series of Dans books of which we are  doing podcast for,  all have a similar layout and intuitive designeasy, fun and engaging just the way you want a book to be. An important aspect of defining where you will be five (5) years from today is you ability to get in touch with you imagination.  Dan and I discuss the importance of imagination and creativity and how to get back in touch with this aspect of ourselves that often gets supplanted the older we grow.  It is so important to tap into our dream gene and take risks again-live, love, laugh and enjoy and dream the possible. Thinking big seems to fly over the heads of many of us.  I know almost everyone has read the quote the greatest danger for most of us is not that are aim is to high and miss, but that it is to low and reach it..  This quote says it all, aim high really highwho knows what synchronicity just might occur that will allow you to achieve your goal. We need to break our routines and do something new for the first time.  All of us get to comfortable and are not willing to break out of the mold.  It is time, we are in the dawning of a new age and abundance in all forms is all around us.  As the Nike ad states Just Do It. I hope you enjoy this interview with an author that not only writes about possibilities, but he lives them.  If you want more information about Where Will You Be Five Years From Today you can click here to  be directed to the Five (5) website, or you can join Dan on Facebook by clicking here.

In my recent interview with Michael Hyatt the  CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, and the author of a wonderful new book entitled Platform-Get Noticed in a Noisy World we discuss what is required for someone to get noticed in this very noisy and crowded world we live in today. Michael is one of the top business bloggers and holds the #1 spot as a Leadership blogger. No doubt he is extremely well qualified to speak about getting noticed and building a platform. He states that competition has never been greater and people are more distracted than ever.  That being said, never before have there been so many ways you can connect with people if you do it right.  Michael states that there are two critical parts of the success equation: a compelling product (the what) and a significant platform (the who). 1) Create products that people would love to use 2) Create products that solve problems in unexpected ways 3) Create product that exceed your customers expectations. We also speak about what Michael refers to as the WOW Experience, of which he states has some combination of the following ten (10) elements: Surprise , Anticipation, Resonance, Transcendence, Clarity, Presence, Universality,  Evangelism, Longevity, Privilege.    He says that being successful means becoming the expert in recognizing WOW when it shows up.  More importantly, it means being able to recognize it when it is absentand insisting that you ask yourself to deliver it. Michaels new book is loaded with tips and ideas to help anyone who is attempting to develop a platform.  What I really enjoy about Platform, Get Noticed in a Noisy World is that the chapters are short 3-4 pages, easy to digest and filled with very useful tips and information that you can put to use immediately.  If you are someone wanting to get noticed in this noisy world, then reading Michaels new book is a must. If you would like to download a free chapter and watch an informational video about the book, then click here to learn more.  You can also click here to be directed to the Facebook page. Enjoy this wonderful interview with author Michael Hyatt.

If you are a Mac user, then you are in luck.   I recently came across an amazing productivity software by the name of Firetask that I personally believe will help almost any busy person get organized.  I read a magazine entitled Productivity, and it is loaded with great ideas, stories and recommendations on software productivity tools and they mentioned Firetask software in one of the issues of the magazine. Firetask is a company based in  Austria, and in my podcast with Gerald Aquila the founder we speak about the benefits and features of the Firetask software he developed with his partner.  Gerald is also the founder of OnePoint, a comprehensive project management system, which by the way is very well designed and a cloud based project management software. Firetask is exceptionally well designed, an the user interface is wonderfulvery intuitive.   Firetask is simple, fun and easy to use with a set of features that any busy person will appreciate. It allows you to create and manage projects as well as view the your tasks in what Gerald refers to as the organize view. Firetask follows the system thinking that David Allen has made popular called Getting Things Done.  It is also customizable with allowing you to name categories as well as drag and drop your created tasks into the categories sections.  There is a wonderful calendar view allowing you to take a birds eye view of your tasks and projects on a monthly basis.   The software  built in filters, so that you can view just the tasks that are top of mind. Firetask has something that Gerald refers to as a Scratchboard.  This is designed to assist you when something comes across your desk, and you dont have time to deal with it, just place it in the Scratchboard and save it until you can reference it and categorize the item.   The best part of Firetask is that it is easy, fun and very intuitive to use. If you are an iPad user Firetask has the companion application for the iPad which synchronizes with the desktop version using a cloud based system.  Believe me you are going to love this simple, inexpensive productivity tool from Firetask. For more information please click here to be directed to the Firetask website, or send an email to firetask@gmail.com Gerald and his team will be more than happy to assist you. Enjoy this great interview with Gerald Aquila the founder of Firetask and Onepoint.

I learned about author Jason Womack through a connection with author David Allen and an article which appeared in Productivity Magazine.  I read the article about what Jason was doing, and thought he would be an excellent guest for Inside Personal Growth. In my interview with Jason about his new book entitled Your Best Just Got Better we discuss what is required in our fast paced world what is required to work smarter, think bigger and make more. Jason and I both attended University of Santa Monica, and an idea that we speak about in our interview is something called the Ideal Day that we need to give credit to Ron and Mary Hulnick (our professors) at USM. I bet this is a foreign concept to most people, just what does an ideal day look like in your life. If you were asked to write it down, could you?  If all you get from reading  Your Best Just Got Better, is this concept then it is worth the read.  Really, write down what an ideal day looks like for you and attempt to live it-it is amazing what will change in your life. Jason speaks about thinking bigger. Just what does thinking bigger mean, and why should you practice the art of thinking big.  Jason states ask anone who works at the highest levels of professionalismfrom business to athletics to government institutionsabout the secrets to their success, and they are bound to tak about their mind-set. Mental rehearsalthat is, visualizing something before it actually happensis a great way to set yourself up for success.  It establishes the foundation for the results to come.  This practice of visualization and thinking bigger is so very important to raising your level of success and reaching for a new goal,  unfortunately this simple practice is not engaged into enough, and it really worksit also produces amazing amounts of energy giving the drive to accomplish the dream. There are  lots of power packed ideas in Your Best Just Got Better, and two of them we speak about in our interview is the IDEA card, and what he refers to a MIT (Most Important Think).  Jason  carries a small note book and he has what he refers to as an IDEA card in the notebook, the acronym stands for Identify, Develop, Experiment and Assess. He recommends spending time everyday writing your ideas down on paper, capture them for they are the gold that will propel you into a new businesses, product development and collaborations with others. The MIT concept is quite simpleare you focusing on the most important thing.  We all know how our in-boxes get full of stuff, but really how important is it.  Get in the habit of focusing your attention on the most important thing. I highly recommend Your Best Just Got Better the book is filled with great ideas, stories and practices to stimulate you to shift how you process physical stuff as well as how you deal with shifting your mental perspective about life and living. If you would like more information please visit Jasons website by clicking here, or watch one of his YouTube videos by clicking here. Enjoy this wonderful interview and podcast with author Jason Womack.

Our body speak to us, the question is are you listening?  In my recent interview with author Risa Kaparo we speak about her new book entitled Awakening Somatic Intelligence.  Risa states This book offers a practice that brings immediacy to presencing the unbound source of all existence. In Somatic Learning I use the term presencing as a verb to imply the embodying of spaciousness with awakened Somatic Intelligence. Extended presence refers to the process of living into the unknown, relaxed and curious, without efforting to grasp anythingaware of what happens in the bodymind as you ease the struggle to wrap your mind around something.  When we can be present or mindful as we live into the unknown, the infinite reveals itself to us so that we can come to know it intimately. If you are experiencing any pain or discomfort in your body then Somatic Intelligence is a great opportunity to explore what is causing this pain and to transform it.  As Risa states the word somaticcomes from the Greek root some, for body.  The conventional use of the word body in English implies an object observed from the outside. That is way I use the term soma to refer to how we sense the unfolding of life from within. And I use the term somatic to imply a first-person, here-now, all-at once, embodied intelligence-how we sense, feel and know ourselves on a precess levelfrom the inside out. Risa says that listening to our body is the ultimate practice, embracing whatever is arising through our fill embodiment. As a result we drink in the infinite, we presence or take up vast spaciousness, infusing our whole being with consciousness that pervades all of existence.  And as we kiss back, our heartfelt savoring overflows, embuing this spaciousness with the luminosity of love. The ecstatic practice refers to the deepening of our capacity to bear the infinite as beloved, as intimately as our breath, bones, blood. Awakening Somatic Intelligence is a book that is alive with stories, exercises and provides the reader with a whole new way to approach any dis-ease or discomfort of our body.  Is is the embodiment of years of study and blending of a innovative bodymind approach to transformative healing and self-renewal.   It teaches embodied mindfulness through breathing, sensing, movement and touch to revitalize the bodys self-organizing intelligence. If you would like more information about Awakening Somatic Intelligence I recommend that you visit Risas website by clicking here or watch a YouTube video on Somatic Intelligence by clicking here.  Enjoy this great interview with author Risa Kapro.

If you are looking for the uncommon and philosophical approach to  life, then Neil Kramers  new book entitled The Unfoldment-The Organic Path to Clarity, Power and Transformation is a must read. I was throughly impressed with Neils approach to life, living and finding its true meaning.  As Neil states in the book the purer the mind, the deeper the consciousness that passes through it.  The purity of naturally arises from the practice of the unfoldment: the clarity of the inner work, the power of conscious will, the transformation of authentic heart. Neil says that we need to get our hands dirty, and in so doing we can develop the discernment necessary for true unfoldment. He speak about something called gnosis, which means to have living knowledge that presents itself through direct contact, as opposed to abstract learning from books or computers.  It is closely aligned to discovery. One thing that The Unfoldment stresses is the one universal truth from which all sacred knowledge flows.  Every authentic philosophical, religious, scientific and mystical system is attempting to rediscover the essence of that original emanation.  Such is its brilliance and luminositythat its reflection can be found in all forms, both physical and non-physical.  The purer the reflection, the closer it feels.  It points the way to growth and integration, and it reassures us in the adventure of separation as we live as human beings. Truth is a perennial discovery states Neil, each reflection of truth can be regarded as having three main elements to it: wisdom, part thing, and part observer. The wisdom represents one strand of the original emanation of truth.  It is an encoded route map back to source/the divine, lending insight and discernment to any given subject. The thing is the energy configuration that casts the reflection.  It can be a poem, as piece of wood, a glass of water, or a memory. Anything.  The more authentic and uncorrupted it isthe more organicthe clearer the reflection it will give. The observer is the consciousness of the person.  You. Me. Your mother. So no matter your beliefs, and you will certainly start to question them while reading The Unfoldment and most likely you will disgard most of them along the way.  Neils book allows the reader to explore, awaken and unfold by providing though provoking questions and ideas for consideration.  I recommend his book wholeheartedly, it is one of the deeper and more provocative book on personal and spiritual growth. Enjoy my interview with author Neil Kramer, and for more information you can visit his website by clicking here or click here to be directed to his Facebook page.

It was a pleasure interviewing Robert V. Taylor about his new book entitled A New Way to Be Human: 7 Spiritual Pathways to Becoming Fully Alive.   This book is not just about another way to find your spiritual path. Through Roberts story you get to learn about his own personal spiritual path, which by the way is truly fascinating. Robert was born and raised in South Africa and had the distinct pleasure of working along side Desmond Tutus during the apartheid movement.  He also graduated from seminary school at Union Theological School and become the highest ranking openly gay clergy person in the Episcopal Church.   As you can already imagine his own personal spiritual journey makes him uniquely qualified to write and speak on this topic. One of the important things that Robert advocates within A New Way To Be Human is to share your own story.  As he states sharing your story reveals the Holy present in you, speaking through your story to yourself and others.  If , on the other hand, you choose not to share your story, you choose to dishonor, devalue, and disbelieve the truths that your life reveals.  How right he is about stepping into your own and being proud of your storyit is the foundation of who and what you are, it is your authentic-self being expressed. Robert makes reference within the book about stepping stones, and you will hear us speak about these stepping stones throughout the interview.  He discribes Stepping Stone Two as: Accepting the Invitation.  He states when you are secure in your own story, you discover that the stories of others offer you an invitation. As you accept these invitations, the vibrancy of the Holy at work infuses your life as you love, live, and celebrate your connection with others.  Transformation happens. Throughout the book Robert has provided the reader with wisdom and invitations to explore their own spiritual life at a very deep level.  He also provides Spirited Practices designed to inspire you to awaken to your own spiritual expression and path.   These are just friendly reminders at the end of each chapter that jolt you into awareness about your spiritual journey and practices. If you are on a spiritual path, and want to explore A New Way To Be Human I encourage you to read, practice and open up your heart to the ideas and stories that Robert has carefully crafted into his book.  If you would like more information about Robert V. Taylor you can click here to be directed to his website, or you can click here to be directed to his Facebook page. Enjoy my wonderful interview with a great author and spiritual leader-Robert V. Taylor.