Julia Cameron and her Morning Pages

Okay, hands up, everyone who's been churning a problem around in your mind recently, chewing over an issue repeatedly, running into the same old road blocks in your life day after day or having the same endless dialogue with yourself and getting nowhere. Yeah, we've all been there. In fact, it's where we all reside most of the time. So, what do we do about it? Well, Julia Cameron is one of my all-time heroines, and her practice of writing Morning Pages has been saving me for the last 20 years!

She is someone who seems to embody all the things I'm shooting for right now: authenticity, creativity, grace, joy, awareness, strength and much more. I can't remember when I was first introduced to her most seminal tome The Artist's Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering your Creative Self — it just feels like it has always been in my orbit, and I would like to thank whoever it was (probably my mother!). It changed my life. Really.

One of the tools that Julia advocates is Morning Pages. They are the best and fastest way I know to check in with myself and get back on track. You simply commit to writing, long-hand, three pages of A4 every morning, uncensored. Just write whatever comes into your head and keep writing til you've filled the three pages, even if it's "I don't know what to write." Sounds crazy, works brilliantly — and it's so simple. It doesn't take very long for the pattern to emerge and then you are much better equipped to proceed wisely. You really are your own best guide!

Her second book in the series, Walking in This World: Spiritual Strategies for Forging Your Creative Trail, picks up where The Artist's Way leaves off. My favourite tool from this book is the Weekly Walk. You are supposed to do this alone, but I cheated and asked my friend Loralie if she wanted to join me as a regular thing. That was nine years ago and we never missed a walk unless one of us was sick or on holiday. It became a hugely important touchstone for both of us — a safe space to explore ideas, figure ourselves out and be 100% supported in our respective journeys. She has just moved away and her absence has left me feeling somewhat untethered and missing her terribly.

Often, when this happens, I find myself turning to Julia Cameron's wisdom for some guidance and some grounding. How can I get back on track? Which tools are the ones that will help me the most in this situation? She always comes up with the goods and I have faith that this time will be no different.

I am currently working my way through The Prosperous Heart: Creating A Life of 'Enough', and, before she moved, I know Loralie had secured a copy of The Artist's Way for Parents: Raising Creative Children. [And here's how "in the zone" working with Julia's techniques makes you: just as I was typing that sentence, Loralie emailed me! This is not so remarkable until you know that she has almost no internet access at the moment and is many, many time zones away, so it really was quite a "coincidence"!!]

P.S. My best friend Denise confessed to me a couple of months ago that she hates Morning Pages. Hates them! Can you imagine? I couldn't, but then there are lots and lots of ways to access that peaceful place that moves us forward, so I'd say do give Morning Pages a go, but if they are not for you, please no guilt! There will be something else that comes along and scoops you up…just keep paying attention so you recognise it when it suggests itself to you!

P.P.S. Ha, ha, in another In The Zone "coincidence", Denise called me this very morning, totally unaware that I had been working on this post, to say that she had just been doing…. yup, you guessed it: Morning Pages! I think I'd better post this and let Julia continue to work her magic...!

3 Happy Things: January

January can seem like a long month what with the excitement of Christmas passed, the nights still drawing in early and the weather challenging. As I write, there is torrential rain streaming down my windows and many of my friends are caught in the Polar Vortex! So, this month I have been trying to notice things that bring "light" in some way. We have been burning loads of candles, baking, doing puzzles and trying to lift each other up. I hope you are finding some light in your days too!

One: a bright bowlful of clementines in the sunshine

Two: this happy Buddha on a card from my brother: pure joy!

Three: planning my next bake...

Lemon Aid… for your eyes!

I got this for my birthday. I opened it and immediately loved the packaging. I'm like that. But I had no idea what to do with the product! I checked the back for clues: "colour correcting eyelid primer". I was none the wiser. And then I started worrying about whether or not the colour of my eyelids actually needed correcting. What colour were other people's eyelids? Were mine not normal? Oh my, I was full of questions. I decided to put the little container (face out, so I could see the packaging) in one of my little, clear plastic make-up drawers and come back to it when I could cope with that level of enquiry.

Approximately one month later, I could no longer hold out. I wanted to love lemon aid, but, more importantly, I wanted to know what it did! And so, without any research whatsoever (most unlike me!), I started putting it on my eyelids. I have to say it goes on smooth and makes my eyelids a uniform colour, lighter and brighter than my own. Then I wondered if it would hold my eyeshadow in place for the whole day. I vowed to check it that night. But I forgot. I forgot for the next two weeks (although I faithfully put it on each morning). And then, finally, I remembered. And it does! It works! My eyelid were just as perfectly made up as when I finished my morning maquillage.

I am shot through with fatigue most days and so anything that perks up my eye area is a blessing. My dear friend Jane is not limited only to excellent book recommendations, she is also a genius gift-giver and this is one of her finds. It's good to know your friends are looking out for you, and if they are not, well, you can order some for yourself right here: Benefit Lemon Aid. Go on, you know you are a sucker for the packaging too!

Inspiration Times Two

2014 started here in London in typical fashion: wet and windy! I have to admit I had been feeling a little gloomy and housebound when I was unexpectedly cheered up by two people I have never met! Buddhists use the term "sangha" to refer to their community and, in my mind, it is how I think of the community I am coming to know online. The only things you need to join in are common interests, some shared reference points, possibly a love of Nutella (depending on what "sangha" calls to you!) So, last week, when I had lost my momentum, I logged on looking for some of these people who are putting their good vibes out into the world to help lift me out of my malaise and get me feeling inspired again. There were two that jumped right out at me.

The first was a quote I saw on Laura Wright's Instagram feed ("thefirstmess"):

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

I did not know it was Zora Neale Hurston and had to look that up. Perhaps you already knew! However, that sentence has been bouncing around and around in my brain ever since I read it. It feels so prophetic to me ahead of this year that is about to unfold. Last year was tough and the year before even tougher. I faced the biggest challenges of my life. I made it through and am proud of what I have picked up along the way, but now I am ready to move forward, instead of just surviving, and how I do that is still ahead of me. It's an exciting time.

The second thing was a connection I made through my blogging that showed me again the power of the internet to connect us to people all over the world who are doing amazing, inspiring things every day. To be able to tap into that and be a part of something so big and so awesome (in the true sense of the word) fills me with joy…. and that has been my goal for the past two years: to get back the joy that seems to seep out of most of us as we grow up and get bogged down by the responsibilities that come with adult life. It doesn't have to be that way and I forget that when I am busy/tired/focused elsewhere. We need to be present, and also to present our most authentic selves to the world. When we connect with each other and share our experiences, we create an opportunity for joy to flood in for everyone.

So, thank you to Christa over at Christa In New York. I came across her blog via a friend and have been following her journey for several months now. I noticed after a while that when I was having a day where I was struggling to get off the ground, it was often one of her inspiring (daily) posts that perked me up enough to get going. She followed her heart last year and that authenticity shines through her writing and is now bringing her lots of exciting new opportunities. Sometimes all we need is a little prod, a little reminder that we can choose how we feel and that can make all the difference.

So I am sending out a big thank you to all of you who inspired me in 2013. I hope I can pay some of it back (or forward?!) here on my own blog this year.

Much love, Aimee
Photos courtesy of my very talented dad and brother, respectively.

The Cazalet Chronicles

Oh, where to begin?! I have just finished All Change, the last book in Elizabeth Jane Howard's marvellous Cazalet Chronicles and am equal parts elated and bereft! After five books and a story spanning 21 years, I feel like the Cazalets are my own family. As they are a large and ever-expanding family, it is to Howard's immense credit that she has drawn them all so completely for my mind's eye that I did not once have to refer to the sprawling family tree which appears so helpfully on the endpapers. Quite a feat at the best of times and she was in her late 80s when she wrote this.

It amazes me that she was able to so accurately capture and describe the internal emotional lives of so many diverse characters. She weaves them together beautifully by writing different chapters from the perspectives of different people, so the story keeps moving on but we are far more deeply involved with each character through seeing things precisely from their point of view. As my writing teacher always said, "Don't tell me, show me." Howard is a genius at that. She has also been clever here with her ending, which, of course, I won't spoil by giving away. I was so curious as to how she would manage to successfully wrap up such an ongoing family saga. There is no plot, after all; we are simply following the life of a family — all the ins and outs, up and downs…. I will simply say that I was not disappointed.

Howard's real skill is making us care about each and every one of her characters, even the less sympathetic ones. She has managed to make them so utterly human that we can always find a scrap of recognition (and therefore compassion) in even their most appalling behaviour. We all have less-than-attractive traits and it is a relief to see them handled so beautifully. We are also treated to a partial social history of England between 1937 and 1958, which is inherently woven into the writing (some of which is autobiographical). It's all the bits I wish I could "see" when I visit an old country house, the bits behind the closed doors: how did they really live, how did they think and feel, what did they wear and eat and do? What social conventions were they held by? And when and how did they allow for changes to set in?

Howard is brilliant at showing all the dynamics of a big family, how they are all cogs in a larger machine, each affecting the others. I come from a smallish family and do not live near most of them, but I do have childhood memories of gathering as a clan at my grandparents' house for summers and Thanksgivings with my aunts, uncles and cousins. There were elements similar to Home Place (the Cazalets' family home) and they are lovely memories, but only took place over a short number of years. In this series, their whole lives and those of their parents and children revolve around this hub and it is this unifying theme of the house being a true home to them all that is the real bedrock of her story.

My friend Jane (she of the most excellent recommendations) introduced me to these stories. I was resistant at first. Surely one family saga is much like another, I reasoned, and I had read plenty. She finally got so fed up with me that she bought me the first one, The Light Years, and told me to Get On With It! And I'm so very glad she did. My life has been immeasurably enriched by Elizabeth Jane Howard's wisdom, intelligence and grace. Jane told me once that every few years she would re-read the whole series (and there were only four at that point) from start to finish. At the time, I thought, "Good Heavens, is she mad?" (I am not usually a re-reader.) But now I totally understand.

I shall miss the Cazalets enormously and there really won't be any more stories this time as Howard died, age 90, shortly after the New Year. However, I know without a doubt that I will be joining Jane in her tradition of re-reading these wonderful books. In fact, just knowing that I have the pleasure of re-visiting all of them again has taken me from a mood of feeling quite wistful to one of happy anticipation of a grand treat to come. So, I have now only to implore you to go and get yourself a copy of The Light Years and tell you to Get On With It! Trust me, you'll be ever so pleased you did.

A Year for Creating

Happy (slightly belated) New Year! I realize it has been a while since I was last here. My heart is still not quite strong enough to sail through school holidays, and Christmas is the trickiest, what with all the "extras" from the North Pole to attend to! However, I have some rest time set aside now that the girls are back at school and there are lots of ideas percolating around in my head that I am excited about exploring in 2014.

One concept that I keep running into is that of Theme Words. Like everyone, I am familiar with New Year's Resolutions (or Revolutions as my daughter used to call them, perhaps more accurately!), but picking a word that represented what the "theme" of my year would be was totally new to me.

The first word that popped into my head was Authenticity, but after some reflection I realized that that had been my theme for 2013! It was the whole foundation for this blog, in fact — tapping back into my authentic self to help bring about healing. I had been diagnosed with heart failure in 2012 and reasoned that living more from my true heart-space (listening more to my own heart's guidance), would be the best place to begin.

This proved to be the case and I made huge improvements last year. I also made this blog and dipped my toe tentatively into social media. I am low-tech by nature and struggle with the electronic side of things, but I love to write and share ideas and I was looking for a community of like-minded people, so I jumped in and tried my best. The site itself still needs a lot of work, but it has already (in the six months that I have been dabbling) brought me so much.

I am flexing my creative muscle and that is opening doors. I started using Instagram (aimeesapothecary) recently as one of my other loves is taking photographs. The unexpected treat that came with that adventure was the visual dialogue that is happening in that world. Wow! So much creativity there and it has connected me to people and worlds that inspire me every day. Seeing what others are up to reminded me of how many interests I had dropped along the way as life got busy and other responsibilities filled my days. I had started to feel empty and, as Julia Cameron says, I needed to fill my "creative well".

And so after a few days of pondering and ending up at exactly the same place each time, I have settled on "Create" as my theme word for 2014. Last year, I remembered who I really was, deep down, and this year I will try to honour that by creating opportunities wherever I am drawn: writing, photography, knitting, baking, candlestick-making (totally serious here!) and I'm sure many more ideas will bubble up to the surface as I continue to explore. I hope you will join me. I have a feeling this is going to be an exciting year!

3 Happy Things

After writing the Hardwiring Happiness post, I started thinking about how I could turn noticing the little things that make me happy on a daily basis into a habit. So, I thought I'd start a new series here on the blog called "3 Happy Things" just to keep the idea fresh in my mind. I hope these little posts spark your imagination and keep you on the lookout, too!

After a weekend jaunt to Bath, here's my first offering...

One: Visiting a funky, vintage guitar shop with my husband

Two: Incredibly uplifting, bright red cyclamen

Three: Discovering Bea's Vintage Tea Rooms and the most delicious lemon meringue cake ever with my lovely friend Victoria

I wonder what three little things will make you happy today?

Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense

Oh my, I can't remember the last time I saw a show where the audience laughed so hard, so often and so genuinely for the entire performance! The woman at the end of our row had one of those shrieky laughs that made her sounds as though she were rapidly inflating and deflating, but she was having so much fun that no one begrudged her the weird noises she was making! The bottom line was that we were surrounded by pure joy for the whole evening, reminding me once again that laughter really is the best medicine.

Matthew Macfadyen was stupendously good as Jeeves. His quick-fire character changes (he often played two people at the same time!) were astounding. The comic timing was impeccable, the energy zinging and the script word-perfect. Even the set was brilliant — and funny in its own right! I've never seen anything quite like it.

Stephen Mangan was extremely endearing as Bertie Wooster and Mark Hadfield did a great job of covering all the other parts with aplomb. If pre-Christmas preparations are stressing you out, and you live within shouting distance of London, I highly recommend dropping what you're doing and booking tickets… but be quick, it's only on til March.

The Diary of a Provincial Lady

While I am not particularly girly, I have to admit that I am a sucker for a Virago Modern Classic. The beautiful new cover designs are like catnip and make me want to buy them all up just so I can look at them all lined up on my shelf together. Shallow? Perhaps, but they make me happy and buying a hardback feels blissfully indulgent in these times of austerity.

Somewhat oddly, I seem to be making a new habit of old books. The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield was originally published in 1930.  I love novels that detail the social history of a time and this one deftly, but gently satirizes the life of an upper middle-class woman and stalwart member of the Women's Institute. The book, which started life as a serialization for a popular weekly, is set out as the "diary of a provincial lady" living in Devon.

She (we never learn her name) is plagued by her hapless husband, unruly children, troublesome servants and, of course, the unofficial "head lady" of the village to much comic effect, but really it is Delafield's use of language that endeared this book to me. (The same reason I was drawn to The Enchanted April; see that post here.) People don't write or speak this way any more and I so wish they did! One example: our heroine's husband must attend a funeral and she is helping him by pulling out "his accoutrements of woe". How wonderful is that?!

Hardwiring Happiness

I recently read about a book called Hardwiring Happiness, which explains how to reprogramme your brain by focusing on positive experiences through the senses on a daily basis. So, paying attention to a smell that conjures up a happy memory (maybe your grandmother's apple pie), a sound that lifts your spirits (a favourite song playing while you wait in line for a coffee), a sight that makes you smile — such a cliché, but the autumn leaves get me every single year!

I started trying to notice little things like this as often as possible each day and it really does work in terms of making you feel "glass half full". I was with my youngest daughter in a candy shop last weekend and Abracadabra by The Steve Miller Band was playing. It took me back to the happy, optimistic part of my teen self. I felt like she often lost out to the jaded, cynical part (although several friends have told me that what they remember most about me during those years was my laugh, so maybe not).

Abracadabra got stuck in my head and made me smile all day long. Little things like that go unnoticed if we don't make a conscious effort to stop and honour them, but it's so worth the effort because they can change the whole tenor of your day if you let them. Who says only the "bad" stuff should hold our attention? Here are some other happy things I noticed recently:

* Our apartment faces due west and every night I get to watch the spectacular colours as the sun sets, and it's always majestic

* I've started looking out for interesting doorways — they always hold "possibility"

* It makes me happy to see people wearing or displaying handcrafted things. I am lucky to live in a neighbourhood full of creative people so I watch out for their talents

* I visited a yarn shop this week and spent some time sitting on the floor immersed in the colours and textures of a whole wall of wool — and, of course, had to bring some home...

* My mother bought me a stunning mini orchid in a greeny-yellow shade that I just can't stop looking at

* I am obsessed with the smell of my new face oil (see post about it here)

What have you noticed lately?

The Family Man

Goodness, I just mentioned my friend Jane and her prowess at book recommendations and she's gone and done it again with Elinor Lipman's The Family Man! I love Elinor Lipman and have done since reading her very first novel, Then She Found Me, way back in 1990. Then, a few novels later, she went off the rails and we went our separate ways, during which time she wrote this little gem, which has endeared her to me all over again.

Aren't good books such a double-edged sword? On the one hand, how marvellous to find a book so great that the world simply drops away while you immerse yourself completely in it. On the other hand, it means that you speed-read your way through and are done in two days, and are left missing the characters and the world you have been inhabiting with them, basically at the expense of all else! This is where I now find myself. Lipman creates such wonderful characters; they really are people you want to hang out with.

This book revolves around Henry and he's a treat — with a quiet life that's not destined to stay that way for long. His past becomes his present, and his future, in all manner of ways and it is an undeniable pleasure to be a spectator for all the events that follow. It's set in New York City and has the whole host of characters you'd expect. Lipman has filled them all with humanity and heart. When Henry, gay and lonely, is reunited with Thalia, his estranged step-daughter things certainly get interesting.

Lipman is a genius at witty, intelligent dialogue and her observation skills are second to none. She reminds me of Nora Ephron, but with a voice that is very much her own. She specializes in relationship studies and this one features those between Henry and his step-daughter, ex-wife, therapist, new boyfriend, his step-daughter's boyfriends…and all are beautifully painted. It is a perfectly executed and enjoyably uplifting tale and I am sad to say goodbye. I guess I will have to dig around to see if there's anything else I missed or just hope that she's working on something new. If I'm really lucky, it will be a sequel!

The Comfort of Chimes

I live near a church and every time it chimes the quarter-hour, it takes me back to my grandparents' house on the shores of Lake Erie. They had an old-fashioned, chiming clock on their mantelpiece above the fire. I have such distinct memories of lying in my bed there, reading late at night, and listening to that clock. It made me feel safe and anchored. My grandfather built that house from scratch and nothing ever changed the whole time they lived there.

Every time we visited (usually twice a year as children), my brother and I would run to each room and check that everything was the same: puzzles and games in the cupboard under the fish tank, the old piano (always hopelessly out of tune) right where we left it in the corner of the basement in between my grandfather's workshop and my grandmother's laundry room. A quick peek in the tall, shallow cupboards that lined the walls revealed shelf after shelf of tins and jars of food Grandma had stockpiled or canned herself: peaches, pickles, jam, apple butter, beans….

And, finally, I always went and sat in the garage for a few minutes on my own, just to sink into that familiar smell of wood shavings, gasoline, grass clippings, autumn leaves and that slightly musty smell of things that have been stored for decades. Everything was so blissfully familiar. I had a lot of upheaval after we packed up and moved continents in my childhood, so being able to go to that house that forever stayed the same, which housed two people I loved beyond measure, was supremely reassuring.

Is there any sight, smell or sound that takes you back to a particularly peaceful or happy time? How can you incorporate it into your daily experience? Maybe burning a cinnamon candle to remind you of eating cinnamon toast on cold, snowy mornings or planting a scented rose bush to remind you of visits to your favourite aunt's house or a framed, photo montage of things that make you smile. Anything that will trigger a pause and a happy thought will do. It's a nice ritual to sneak into a busy life.

All the feelings of love, peace and security that I associate with my grandparents rush back each time there is enough of a lull in the city din for me to hear those church bells. I listen out for them now and when I hear them, I pause and am grateful for the comfort their chimes bring.

Best Eye Gel Yet!

I am on a perpetual search for an eye cream or gel that can tackle the serious visual effect of exhaustion around my eyes that my heart challenge produces. Having gotten the worst of my physical symptoms on the run, mostly what I struggle with now is my endless need for rest. As a full-time mom, I never get as much as I need and it shows, so it was even sweeter to receive REN's Active 7 Radiant Eye Gel from my eldest daughter for my birthday.

It seems like 10 minutes ago that she was smiling up at me from her crib and now she is a fully fledged teenager, buying me "product" that she has discovered herself! She hit the teen phase of "Make-Up" with a vengeance and our house was starting to resemble an independent pharmacy til I put my foot down and we learned the lesson of quality over quantity. I am happy to report that she is a quick study and not only did she take that lesson on board, but she has also indulged my love of organics and whenever possible (well, what teen can resist the latest fun and functional offering from Benefit?!) she researches and buys natural products. Bless her!

And this REN eye gel is a serious credit to her ability to sniff out the good stuff. It has a silky, featherlight texture that goes on smooth and sinks in quick, leaving the eye area feeling soft and moisturized, and looking better by the day. I am only on my first week of usage, but it has made more difference than any other product I have tried in the past two years… and there have been too many to count! The puffiness is gone, the dark circles are on the wane and the whole area looks somehow "younger" than it has done for a long, long time. I am eternally grateful to her for this clever buy, and very happy to have a new partner in crime on the product front!

Book For Girls: 5-8

When I was looking through my daughter's shelves for books in the 7-11 category, I kept coming across really great reads for 5-8s, so here's a little round-up for those of you looking for something in that range. This is such a special time, when kids start to read independently and discover whole new worlds for themselves. It reminded me of the books I started out with and how the characters have stayed with me all my life. It's a little miracle, in a way, that authors can create these very real worlds for us to inhabit as we grow through all the different stages of life. They help to shape our way of viewing the world, help to explain things we might not yet be confident enough to ask about and provide friendships that we share with ourselves. What a gift!

Both my girls fell hard for Judy Moody (as did, it seems, most of their generation!). She is a terrific character and one that all kids can relate to. She is spunky and slightly mischievous, but with a big heart and enough foibles to always remain likeable. There are a lot of these books and they are very reader-friendly, so if your daughter likes Judy, she will have many adventures to look forward to.

Another character that almost all our daughters encountered in their picture-book days is Fancy Nancy. She was Fancy, with a capital "F", but also clever and curious and adventurous. She and her best friend Bree are super creative and the illustrations that accompany the text are superb: very detailed for little eyes to pore over and beautifully colourful. I was sad when my Reluctant Reader outgrew this series and was over the moon to discover that Jane O'Connor had moved her character along into chapter books. I was really struggling at that stage to find titles that were easy enough for my daughter to read, but also engaging enough to keep her interested. Nancy Clancy fit the bill perfectly, and my daughter was excited to be able to revisit one of her favourite characters, but in a more "grown-up" format. This one is a win-win!

We were on holiday in California a few years ago when our dear friend Karyn took us to an amazing little independent bookshop in Lafayette called The Storyteller. My daughter was immediately swooped up by the owner and together they delved into some US titles that we were unfamiliar with. Ivy and Bean was her favourite find of that day. While Ivy is the good girl character, and her best friend Bean is the less predictable one, they both share enough of the other one's qualities to not end up as stereotypes. The level of detail here is one of the main draws, allowing younger readers to really picture the adventures they are reading about. Again, this is the first in a long series, so lots to build on here if your daughter clicks with these two lively, realistic characters.

If there are any other moms out there who are around my age (44 this week!), you will already be more than familiar with Ramona! I loved Ramona growing up. It was so amazing to me that there was a "naughty" character in a book! And poor Ramona isn't really naughty, of course, she is just extremely individual and high-spirited, like soooo many kids, so this was a reassuring discovery. No matter what scrapes she got into (and there were plenty), her family still loved her and made sure she understood how things worked for next time.

It was great to revisit these stories as "the mom" and see them from a whole new perspective. One night I heard wild howls of laughter coming from my daughters' room. My husband was reading out loud to the two of them and had changed the names of the main characters (Ramona and her bossy big sister Beezus) to the names of our daughters, which was hysterical because their personalities are a very good match and they loved hearing "themselves" acting out the goings-on in the book! Clever man!

And last, but certainly not least, is Clementine, another character in the same vein, but with a personality all her own. She lives in an apartment block in New York City, as the daughter of the porter, so there is a hint of Eloise at the Plaza, but this is a modern tale and Clementine is never deliberately naughty. Her behaviour is more in keeping with Ramona; she finds the world a little bewildering as she sees things a little differently from everyone else. Her dad is brilliantly realized and it's nice to see a male parent taking centre stage. Her mother is an artist and also figures prominently, but Clementine and her dad have a special bond that is quite common for this age group in real life, so I thought that was a clever addition here. We have a whole collection of these in hardback as my daughter couldn't wait for the paperbacks to come out! A very good sign!

The Wonders of Coconut Oil

Really, the question is: is there anything virgin coconut oil is not good for? The more I read about this stuff, the better it gets! My mother, who is always ahead of the curve, has been singing its praises for several years now and, finally, it seems the word is spreading. I was desperately looking for a way to help a good friend with bad feet. His unidentified condition sits somewhere between eczema and athlete's foot and conventional treatments have not helped. As I was casting around for a solution, my eye fell upon a little book called Virgin Coconut Oil by Dr Bruce Fife that my mother had bought me last year, so I had a quick flick through to see if any help lay within.

Dr Fife is also (respectfully!) known as "Dr Coconut" and for good reason. He is evangelical about virgin coconut oil and after having read the book, I can see why! Virgin coconut oil possesses the holy triumvirate of antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties, so no matter what you are trying to treat, virgin coconut oil will most likely help. In the Philippines, they call it the "drugstore in a bottle".

Here are just a few things that it will help with: digestive problems, nutritional deficiencies, weight loss, skin rejuvenation, yeast infections, high blood pressure, cold sores, pain reduction, rosacea, dental health, Alzheimer's, eczema, parasites, boosted energy levels, epilepsy, healthy skin and hair, inflammation, immune system function, improved cholesterol ratio, chronic fatigue syndrome, kidney stones, thyroid function, preventing cancer, diabetes and heart disease…. I could go on and on, but you can read more on its uses and benefits, as well as all the scientific stuff, at the Coconut Research Center.

It can also be used topically as a beauty aid. My mother ditched her regular skin creams a while back and has been applying neat virgin coconut oil to her face and body ever since. I think she won't mind me telling you that while she is in her late 60s, she has the skin (and good health) of a woman at least 20 years younger. She is beautiful inside and out, as well as being hugely inspirational, full of curiosity and blessed with wisdom (these are her own traits, not derived from the coconut oil!) and I am so lucky to be the beneficiary of all of these qualities. She actually looks younger than I do in the picture below, but I will be gracious and share it anyway!

Now, back to my good friend with the bad feet. I suggested he clean them with some colloidal silver first and then apply the virgin coconut oil directly to the raw and blistered skin as often as he could throughout the day. Within hours, he reported an improvement. The pain and infection were both gone by the next morning and he was able to wear shoes without wincing for the first time in a week. And at the end of Day 5, the skin is almost completely healed. There are no known side-effects to using virgin coconut oil (unless, of course, you are allergic to coconuts!), so if you have a condition that you would like to heal, why not go ahead and give it a try!