Have you read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and experienced the twelve-week journey she outlines in the book? Did you enjoy the creative approach to life she advocates? If so, come join our long distance, “virtual” group this autumn to reconnect and continue the exploration!

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

“For fast-acting relief from stress, try slowing down.”

“The rain surrounded the cabin … with a whole world of meaning, of secrecy, of rumor. Think of it: all that speech pouring down, selling nothing, judging nobody, drenching the thick mulch of dead leaves, soaking the trees, filling the gullies and crannies of the wood with water, washing out the places where men have stripped the hillside….

In this short animation from The Center for a New American Dream, psychologist Tim Kasser discusses how America’s culture of consumerism undermines our well-being. When people buy into the ever-present marketing messages that “the good life” is “the goods life,” they not only use up Earth’s limited resources, but they are less happy and less inclined toward helping others.

Thanks Hollister for sending along a great link recommending several good books for the new year. The website, Simple Organic – Green Living for Real Families, offers a list of 12 worthy books – a little something for everyone from tips for raising a baby in an eco-friendly way, to backyard gardening, to keeping a house clean with green cleansers, to theological musings on creation care. Be sure to check out “12 Green Living Books For Your 2012 Reading List.” … Another book on my list is from the National Council of Churches, God’s Earth is Sacred – Essays on Eco-Justice.