Transform Your Life, Learn Focusing, Welcome the Way We Grow
are available to order NOW on amazon!
Walking Together, Book 2 features the Poplar Family. Movement is an important aspect of how we can support ourselves in living brain healthy lives. All three stories involve situations where Stryder or Wendy find someone to walk with them through new experiences. For the part of our brain that is uncomfortable with not-knowing, this sense of walking together brings relief and ease. In Quiet Like a Deer, Stryder finds himself awake at night with a strong inner knowing he’d like to explore. Wendy joins him. In New Moon Walking, Wendy convinces Mama that their feet can grow eyes and dance in the dark if they join Grammy and Grampy for their monthly New Moon Walk. Frustration builds up in Stryder as he plays games online with his friends in The Blame Game. Papa shows us how he gives Stryder space, acceptance and encouragement that he will find his own way, rather than a sense something is wrong. And, of course, they walk as they talk.
The people in Walking Together (primarily the Poplar Family) will be illustrated by a new artist. As of mid September, 2021, Aaron Staengl is taking over for Molly Guterriez.
Here is something that Molly finished before she left, the title picture for the first story, Quiet Like a Deer.
We will get to meet the Oak Family and some of the Maple Family in the New Moon Walk story. This story features a trail that goes along the Blue Ridge Parkway from the front parking lot of Smart View Recreation Area to Smart View Lookout.
Below is an illustration from this story by our new artist, Aaron Staengl.
Our Second Book is Available as a Paperback and Kindle version ebook on AMAZON.
Welcome to the second of many books in the series Smartview Stories, a self-empowerment book project for children and adults ages 9-99! Our emotional literacy stories help unlock this instruction manual and its hidden language. Our body and brain are always wanting our well-being. We can learn their language. Body sensations, emotions, images, thoughts and gestures are all ways our body uses to communicate with us. This language reveals what is going on inside of us and around us. Over time, with practice, a mutual trust develops within us. We see our life with fresh eyes. New possibilities emerge. Within each Smartview Stories book, our three stories are Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level Grade 3, supplemental pages are Grades 4-6. The characters and events portrayed in our books are fictitious and based on real life experiences. There is an understanding that human beings are living processes. Each book includes three short stories featuring one family. A fourth story features our Inner Companions. Based on neuroscience concepts, the inner companions help illustrate our inner world. The Poplar Family consists of Papa Sam age 37, Mama Dawn age 38, Stryder age 11, Wendy age 8, Levi age 4, and their dog Casey. Together, they enjoy biking, camping, art, singing and music. Mama Dawn and Papa Sam learned Focusing shortly before Stryder was born so that they could raise their kids with these skills. They are a typical busy family and feel blessed to be using Focusing as a way of life in community with others. Our books bring our inner world to life via three Inner Companions: Hummah, Sleuthin, and Ashamaya. These three aspects of being human help us experience and live our life. They are with us at every moment. As we become more aware of them, we understand HOW to better support ourselves, and those around us, in all types of life situations. May this trio of inner companions inspire you in your journey toward thriving.
Sleuthin and Hummah walking together in the story New Moon Walk.
As more books come out we will add ebooks. We are also planning audio versions, maybe via youtube video. What a journey this has been to get the book this far. Our books are now much more than a typical children’s early chapter book. Like any of us venturing out into a world where we find ourselves checking none of the above when it comes to a label, we found we needed a bit more explanation than just ‘other’. The three stories (Quiet Like a Deer, New Moon Walk and The Blame Game) come with their own supportive environment to help them thrive and flourish. Here is the table of contents:
Table of Contents
Foreward (describes how Smartview Village began and that any one can visit here as this is public land located near Floyd, Virginia, USA)
Smartview Stories Inner Companions (meet Hummah, Sleuthin and Ashamaya)
Prologue (the story before the story where the Inner Companions (based on neuroscience) prepare to help their Smartview Village friends)
Quiet Like a Deer (11-year-old Stryder gives his intuition a test in the middle of the night)
New Moon Walk (8-year-old Wendy convinces her Mama to join her for Grammy and Grampy’s new moon walk so she can practice ‘seeing’ with her feet)
The Blame Game (Stryder and Papa walk it out together when adolescent anger needs some space)
Focusing and Felt Sense Literacy (a bit about Focusing and a great quote from Mary Gendlin)
Neuroscience (suggests one visit Correlating Focusing with Neuroscience on this website)
Smartview Map (where real and imagination meet)
A Peek at the Poplar Family (meet Papa Sam, Mama Dawn, Stryder, Wendy and Levi)
Introducing our Smartview Team! (Sandy, Inge, Aaron, Nomi, Molly, & Renee)
