Interview Questions And Answers
What motivated you to write The Way of the Fairy Godmother?
I’ve spent decades training across the broad spectrum of the healing arts. With practice the synthesis has been simmering, cooking in me for years. What became clear to me is there are universal themes in healing across culture and time. The Way of the Fairy Godmother is the tangible culmination of my efforts to implement healing as a catalyst of flourishing to create enduring happiness.
What is your background?
I’m traditionally trained as a Marriage and Family therapist and recently earned my PhD in Positive Psychology. Graduate school in my twenties was the beginning of a spiritual journey and a path of personal growth. I explored spiritual and indigenous healing along with alternative healing and traditional lines of knowledge and wisdom. I searched for methods to bring joy, harmony, and peace of mind to myself and clients. I tried everything from sitting in stillness twice a day to immersing myself in native healing traditions. I learned the Mayan use of altars to divine and catalyze healing. Native American traditions led to years exploring the shielding and the powers of the Cardinal Directions. I practiced Shamanic dreaming and creative visualization in conjunction with guided meditations. The list goes on. Continuing education in counseling, Reiki, crystals, herbs, designing sacred ceremonies all formed an eclectic base. I’ve now been able to integrate these diverse forms of healing and have done my best to encapsulate that life’s work in The Way of the Fairy Godmother.
Why did you decide to write about Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother?
Jungian Psychology teaches us there is a reason fables and fairy tales have endured throughout generations. Embedded in the story line of fairy tales are the secrets or keys to living well. Gleaning the hidden messages is enjoyable for me. I love unlocking the wisdom of the ages intertwined in the fairy tale storyline.
What are the tools of happiness that you talk about in The Way of the Fairy Godmother? Positive Psychology teaches us to savor what is good and already working in our life. The more harmony and beauty we notice, the more harmony and beauty there is to notice. The Fairy Godmother’s work with Cinderella teaches us the seeds to enduring happiness reside in our Deepest Desires. The synthesis of our Deepest Desires combined with a Golden Ladder of rungs, each rung an action corresponding to our dreams, creates the Positive Possibilities, drawing into the reality of everyday living our ambitions.
What is the short recipe to creating happiness?
In three easy steps the process to creating happiness is first; claim all that we will be when our Deepest Desires are brought to fruition. Next release all that sabotages and blocks our success. Finally, create and implement a Golden Ladder. The rungs reflect our actions congruent to with our ambitions and Deepest Desires.
What is important about Deepest Desires?
Deepest Desires are the seeds to our happiness. Enfolded within Deepest Desires are the native talents and personal strengths that make us unique. Enacting this combination is synergistic. Together native strengths in conjunction with the interests of Deepest Desires, is not just fun but also empowering, and fuels growing mastery. Living Deepest Desires gives us the encouragement and stamina to make dreams come true.