This is a coloring book that explores the super power of gratitude. Each page has an A to Z Gratitude writing paired with an illustration for you to color. If you and I were sitting together in a coffee shop I would tell you how my gratitude journey started. I would start by introducing you to Neahma, an old wrinkled Native American Indian journey guide who I first met when she was stirring a pot outside of a teepee in one of my night dreams. She has silvery white hair and a wrinkle lined face, she wears bright colors like rich yellows and deep purples and when we meet now during Shaman journeys, instead of a night dream, she gives me life's lessons of wisdom. On one such journey she gifted me with this lesson: "JoJo, when you find yourself swirling in chaos first you have to stop the spin, you can grab a tree or anything solid and stable even if you are grabbing it in your mind's eye. Grab ahold and hang on until you are still. Once you stop the spin start making a list of everything you are grateful for, make lists in your mind, make them on paper, write them with a stick in the earth. Make gratitude lists and their magic will save you." I have found this advice from Neahma to be a super power over the last 20 years. My wish for you is that you also follow Neahma's lesson, become still by coloring in this book, make gratitude lists of your own and find your super power, because gratitude is a super power, one we all need to live life.
About the Author: I am a Colorado artist writing on paper, silver and cloth. I write to bring a focus to words which hold a vibration that opens our awareness to the great big energy ocean we are all vibrating members of, words like gratitude. In that awareness we can see the best, most luminous part of ourselves, and each other. I did not start out thinking I would ever create a coloring book, so go grab a fresh brew in your coffee cup and let me share a story with you about how a short writing turned into a coloring book about the super power of gratitude. These started out as simple one page writings about what I was most grateful for each day using the alphabet. Twenty six days later I had the writings done and I started thinking it would be big fun to draw an illustration for each one as a way to stay engaged with that great gratitude energy. I drew an illustration for each. I really got excited about the owl drawing for the W is for Wisdom page and sent out a digital copy to my son Luke (he always sends me back kudos which I love getting.) Soon he had taken my drawing a step forward by creating four digital copies in different colors and one in grey scale which he sent back to me. I shared Luke's versions of the owl on my blog and my email box started to light up with comments about wanting to color my gratitude illustrations. Suddenly people reading my blog were clamoring for a coloring book! I immediately rejected that idea. I was not creating a coloring book! Really! What were they thinking? When a community knocks on my door I listen, because not listening takes my life sideways until I do. I listened, mostly because I could not help it. The emails kept coming. People wanted to color. So here we are with our coffee cups and the end of my story because if you are reading this page you already know how the story ends. Now I draw illustrations for coloring books so the act of coloring in them can slow us down enough to let our own energy resonate with that energy ocean vibration, creating an opportunity for enough calm that we can see how we are all in this together. We are one.