An uplifting combination of helpful meditative practices and practical how-to guide that encourages readers to start fresh.
Timmins presents an artful blend of flower arranging know-how and inspirational self-help in this nonfiction guide.
Using flower arranging as a form of therapy, the author introduces readers to the positive mental and emotional influences of the natural world. Each chapter tackles a new area of self-improvement, including acceptance, forgiveness, connection, love, gratitude, contribution, vision, alignment, courage, and purpose. The text incorporates personal anecdotes illustrating how Timmins’ previously black-and-white view of the world has changed as she’s gotten older and reminding readers of the simple joys of receiving flowers. Linked with each aspect of self-improvement is a different flower arrangement project that includes all the ingredients and directions readers need to complete it (acceptance pairs with a seasonal bouquet, while forgiveness pairs with a terrarium). Gorgeous color photos show what the arrangements might ideally look like, although the author insists that flower styling can and should be highly individualized: “This is the true therapy of arranging flowers. The flowers will guide you by their shape, size, colour, texture and directional flow, which are all elements of design. Go with their flow and you will step into your state of flow.” Chapters also include guided meditations, including an exercise in which one envisions one’s heart as a flower full of petals that slowly unfurl with each breath. Engaging flower trivia is scattered throughout, such as the fact that a rose vibrates at a frequency of 320 MHz (compared to, say, an apple that vibrates at around 15 MHz). All of this information—therapeutic, botanical, scientific—fuses into a joyful and engaging text that even self-proclaimed “black thumbs” will likely find irresistible. Written with a warm, friendly, open-hearted style, it truly feels as though Timmins is a good friend whose mere presence (and frequent words of wisdom) helps make the day brighter. The jaw-dropping flower arrangements don’t hurt either.
An uplifting combination of helpful meditative practices and practical how-to guide that encourages readers to start fresh.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2021
ISBN: 9781982291631
Page Count: 114
Publisher: BalboaPressAU
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
A far-reaching, mostly persuasive guide that seeks to change how people approach inner challenges.
Ion and Irimia’s self-help book presents seven principles that can alter readers’ lives.
Many people face internal roadblocks that keep them from succeeding. While therapy remains a common treatment option, it can take years to make progress. Fast Transformation Protocols, the method advocated in Ion and Irimia’s guide, is the opposite, only requiring a minor time commitment. The seed for FTP was Ion’s first company, a recruitment agency for corporations in Transylvania, Romania. On a trip with a colleague named Sara, Ion freed the woman from the perception of abandonment, making Sara understand that benefits exist in even the most negative situations. FTP primarily operates by asking many “weird questions” and utilizing seven universal laws: those of duality, reflection, transformation, synchronicity, eristic (i.e., argumentative) escalation, order, and fractals. The laws mingle concepts from science, philosophy, and psychology. Just a few of the numerous examples the authors discuss regarding the law of duality alone include the Babylonians’ concept of celestial cycles; the Chinese version, yin and yang; and, in biology, the balance of cell birth with cell death. Another inspiration is Carl Jung’s exploration of coincidences (the law of synchronicity) and archetypes (the law of fractals). Added to the mix is a helping of spirituality. The authors ask readers, when they’re contemplating life challenges, to consider sacred contracts, an idea that “before birth, your soul carefully chooses the exact context and circumstances it will incarnate into.” The ambitious guide is written in Ion’s voice; she’s a sensitive presence who seems to genuinely aspire to help others. She recalls that as a child, “I pulled my emotions inward and packed them tightly inside me, like delicate things wrapped in newspaper.” Yet this delicacy is balanced by a love of organization and rationality, reflected in this well-structured and mostly convincing book. Intriguing case studies demonstrate how the laws the authors discuss apply to real situations. But some readers will question the success rate. Using one of the seven universal laws is always shown as succeeding, although perhaps not immediately.
A far-reaching, mostly persuasive guide that seeks to change how people approach inner challenges.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798993098203
Page Count: 313
Publisher: Inspired Life Circle LLC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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