Ride the Waves

In this self-help guide, a certified energy-medicine practitioner offers a year’s worth of daily inspirational thoughts.

Friesen, once a computer programmer and web designer earning six figures, left the corporate world to become a full-time mom. She eventually became an energy-medicine practitioner and reiki master who came to believe that “no one is broken and no one needs to be fixed; we are Self Evolving.” This embracing philosophy is at the heart of her book, which consists of 365 brief, generally single-page entries of exploration and inquiry into personal development, personal consciousness and life choices. The entries usually include quotations, which come from both expected sources (Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson) and unexpected ones (The Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics). Friesen acknowledges that the entries came from her “own self-talk to help me ride out my emotions” and that readers may take them either sequentially or at random. Topics with such titles as “Experience stillness,” “You get what you prepare for” and “Direct your own evolution” end with Friesen musing, “Think about it…Love and Sunshine, Tracy.” It’s rather difficult to find fault with such a sunny overall spirit, except for some missed opportunities to tie an entry’s theme into its specific day. For December 25, for example, Friesen entitles her piece “You were meant to be happy,” which is certainly inspiring, but she doesn’t mention the stress and expectations that many readers may feel around the Christmas holiday. Other entries are quite skimpy—just a few sentences of rather generalized sentiment—and readers looking for step-by-step instruction will have to look elsewhere. Still, simply taking time out each day to read and ponder these reflections may be fine self-help advice in itself. As Friesen notes, “You never know what you may find for yourself along the way.”

A pleasant, gentle spiritual reference guide for daily meditation.