Review: It’s hard to review your own book without feeling utterly self-conscious. But, as I looked through the slim volume of titles related to Thanksgiving, I felt compelled to at least talk about my own book, Seasons of Thanks.  Since I can’t review it, perhaps it would be useful to readers to talk about my inspiration for writing it.

When I wrote the book, I was powerfully influenced by the practice of gratitude.  I had prayed in my life and had blessed a meal from time to time, but gratefulness hadn’t infused my life.  It wasn’t the center of my being–the force that threaded together each day.
But after my first meditation retreat, I began to experience a kind of all-encompassing gratitude.  Each morning, upon waking, I was in awe of my body, my breath, the trees and flowers in the meditation garden, and so forth.  I began to practice gratitude with a fervor and innocence that I tried to capture in this book.

First, I wanted to give readers fodder for saying thanks.  So the book explores the roots of each holiday and tries to point readers toward a feeling of gratefulness.  Then, each holiday is paired with several blessings to be read alone, or in the company of others, silently or aloud.

The book is printed in full color, and each season has a different color scheme.  The writing is in the center of the book and the blessings skim the outer margins, to make it easier to leaf through the book and choose one.

It was a gift to write the book, and I hope it’s a gift to read it, and share it.

Love, Taz