A special blog post today to as part of the 'blog tour' to mark the publication of this collaborative book, the second in the series of '365' books by Jodi Chapman and Dan Teck. There is an interview with the two of them below so they can tell you more about their work in their own words.
I have found it such an unexpectedly wonderful experience being involved in this book project. The life of a writer is often a lonely one as you may know yourself. Beset with doubts and worries about being 'good enough'. In this collaboration, yes, we each paid a 'fee' to be part of it, and for me, regardless of the success in sales and publicity for my business, the community has been worth every penny spent. Jodi and Dan have provided private FaceBook groups where the contributors have been able to get to know each other; read and give feedback on each others' submissions; and make new connections around the world.
Why did I sign up? I wanted to share my own experience of grace more widely and I wrote about a chidhood moment that has spread ripples throughout my adult life. What does 'grace' mean for me? Something that is hard to define in words: a feeling of coming home to myself, of belonging, of just being in flow. This photo is just one of many I could have chosen to illustrate this feeling for me, a fleeting moment as the sunlight shone through the clouds.
Here is the link for Amazon UK:
365 Moments of Grace: Volume 2 (365 Book Series)
When you buy, there is a page here where you can access the bonus gifts (available until 31 August) created by the contributing authors – including guided meditations, ebooks, and ecourses.
I am not listed there myself - but you can always take up offer of a complimentary 20 minute Dare to Blossom Rediscovery Coaching consultation to find out moreabout how the process can help you move forward in your life. Just contact me here to book.
Below you will find the interview with Jodi and Dan. As the title suggests, there are 365 pieces in the book, and when my copy arrives I plan to use it as a daily inspiration.
There is another new book in the series being planned "365 Life Shifts" Click on this link to learn more. I have already signed up to contribute two pieces, maybe you will join us and become part of another best-selling book? "365 Moments of Grace" reached number 1 spot in several Amazon categories around the world.
For those who are meeting you two for the first time, please tell us more about yourselves and your journey.
First of all, we’d like to say just how grateful we are to have connected with you! We love connecting with people who are also looking for a deeper, more soulful experience of life. It’s a pleasure to be sharing this journey with so many others who are listening to – and following – their souls’ whispers in such loving ways. Welcome! :) We’re a happily married couple who live on the Oregon coast with our three cats. We work together from home – writing spiritual books and blogs, creating personal-growth ecourses, connecting with soulful communities, and enjoying our lives together. We also love walking on the beach, singing, watching Abraham-Hicks DVDs, and playing backgammon.
Life hasn’t always been so soulful, loving, or fun for us, though. We’ve both had our share of dead-end jobs (many of which involved cubicles), unsatisfying relationships, and periods of spiritual skepticism and dissatisfaction. But we always felt that there was something more – something deeper, more meaningful, and more loving. A big part of our life-puzzle was completed when we met, but in some ways our journey was just beginning. Shortly after we got married in 2004, we decided to quit our jobs and start a handmade gift company. To be honest, our initial motivation was to be together as much as possible! But over the years, we found that our business also enabled us to inspire, to connect deeply with others, and to share our own souls in creative ways.
This began in small ways, such as adding original affirmations and writing prompts to our handmade journals, which led to the Soulful Journals series. The positive response to these books inspired us to do even more soulful writing – which we’ve continued through our blogs, ecourses, communities, and now our collaborative book series.
Can you tell us about this book?
We’d love to! This is the second book in the 365 Book Series – the follow-up to the Amazon #1 bestseller, 365 Ways to Connect with Your Soul. This second book is called 365 Moments of Grace, and that’s exactly what it contains: one true-life, grace-filled story for each day of the year, describing the authors’ firsthand experiences with grace. The pieces are contributed by over 250 authors from all around the world, sharing moments from their lives in which they encountered grace – miracles, epiphanies, and glimpses of the Divine. These experiences cover a wide range of topics – including divine intervention, near-death experiences, messages from beyond, and everyday moments that were infused with extraordinary soulfulness. All of the stories are intended to uplift, inspire, and remind you of just how magical our world is and how connected we truly are.
What inspired you to create the 365 Book Series?
It started in perhaps the least likely way – by doing our taxes! In the midst of going through the endless stacks of paper and methodically entering each item into a spreadsheet, we came across a receipt from several years back. We pulled it out of the pile – wondering how it ended up there. We were just about to toss it aside and get back to the taxes when we noticed something scribbled on the back. It turned out to be a seedling for this book series! Before going to sleep that night, we asked for more clarity regarding our next step, and this fully formed idea popped in immediately upon waking. We were so excited about it but weren’t sure if anyone else would be. But we felt such a strong calling that we decided to let our souls lead the way – and we began sharing our idea. Almost immediately the first contributors started signing up, and before long over 200 others had joined us. We were absolutely elated that others shared in this vision!
This series has been surrounded by loving energy right from the start, and it’s turned into much more than just books – it’s a loving, supportive, soulful community. We’ve held classes, workshops, Facebook parties, and connected with one another in so many beautiful ways.
How is 365 Moments of Grace different from the first book of this series?
In the first book of this series, 365 Ways to Connect with Your Soul, over 200 authors share the spiritual practices that help them connect with their soul. Not only do they describe how they use these techniques in their own lives, but they also teach the reader how they can do the same – inviting them to try the practices for themselves. This was a wonderful approach that really resonated with readers. So many people (including ourselves) learned new practices that they applied immediately in their own lives to connect with their own souls! Just to give you one example: inspired by a piece about a “gratitude jar,” we began the nightly practice of writing down three things we’re grateful for from that day, sharing them with each other, and then putting them in a jar in our living room. This single practice has brightened our days, transformed our nights, and helped us connect with our souls…every single day! And this is just one of the 365 techniques described in this book!
While the latest book, 365 Moments of Grace, is equally soulful and inspiring, it takes a different approach: instead of teaching the reader how to perform specific practices, it describes each author’s firsthand experiences with grace. Although the specific details are unique to the author’s experience, the universal principles come shining through each piece. So, in addition to being moved and inspired by the stories, we hope that the reader will find take-aways to apply to their own lives in whatever ways feel right to them.
This whole book centers around moments of grace. How do you define “grace,” and what are some examples of how it can show up in our lives?
Grace means something different to everyone. To us, grace is synonymous with miracles. It’s evidence of our connection to our soul and to this magical world that we live in. It’s our connection to God/Source. It’s both the intangible knowing that we aren’t ever really alone, mixed with the tangible signs that we experience every single day.
We define grace as presents from the universe that let us know how loved we are, how loving our world is, and how connected we are to All That Is. Here are just a few examples of how grace can show up in our lives:
- surrendering fully to God/the Universe and immediately feeling light and free
- receiving signs from loved ones on the other side
- listening to your intuition and later seeing how well it guided you
- having a near-death experience
- being in nature and feeling a sense of awe and wonder
- having a powerful dream that gave you clarity about your life
- experiencing an “a-ha moment” that helped you see the world in a different way
- having your prayer answered
- looking into a loved one’s eyes feeling completely seen
One of the things we love about this book is that it shows hundreds of ways that grace can show up in so many different types of experience: happy, poignant, miraculous, tragic, and even everyday experiences that reveal deeper dimensions of life. We each experience grace differently, yet each experience is equally magical. Who is this book for? This book is for anyone who’s called to connect more with the grace that’s within and all around them.
This could include anyone who:
- feels that there’s more to life than what they perceive with their senses.
- yearns for a deeper experience of life.
- wants to be inspired, uplifted, and amazed.
- loves hearing miraculous, true stories that renew your faith in the goodness and magic of the world.
- is open to spiritual growth and wants to explore thhe wide variety of ways that people experience the Divine in their lives.
- wants to laugh, cry, get goosebumps, and feel a sense of reverence, awe, and wonder.
- is ready to love and be loved, to give and to receive, and to stay open to the magic that’s all around and within each one of us.
What do you hope each reader will take into their heart while reading this book?
We hope they feel a re-awakened sense of reverence and awe for this magical world we live in. We hope they are moved by these miraculous experiences and also open their own heart to miracles as well. We hope they see how the entire universe can open up in a single moment – an epiphany, a peak experience, a spiritual revelation, a miracle, or an everyday encounter that touches your heart. We hope that they are delighted by the incredible diversity of grace-filled experiences while also sensing the universal essence of grace at the core of each one. We hope they see that we can actively invite moments of grace into our own lives, be open to receiving them, and give thanks when they come (whether or not we were inviting or expecting them)! And we hope that they simply enjoy reading these amazing, awe-inspiring stories!
Thank you for sharing so much with us – in this book and in this interview. Is there anything else you would like to share?
Thank you so much for inviting us – and thank you to everyone reading this for taking the time to consider the importance of experiencing moments of grace! It has been such a blessing for us to connect with the hundreds of authors who shared their grace-filled moments – and with the thousands of readers who are opening their hearts to these moments while inviting grace into their own lives. We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We wish you all love and grace.