Lookin' Up in Down Times narrates adventures the Author, Mountainbird, experienced over a span of thirty years, while traveling and teaching in New York, Florida, Arizona, Massachusetts and North Carolina, the US territory of Guam, the Micronesian island of Kosrae, and the West African country of Ghana. While the chapters are based on true experiences, rather than follow a strict autobiographical theme, each story is written to inspire personal growth, while motivating adult readers as they travel and reflect on their own life journeys. Even though Mountainbird distances herself emotionally by calling herself Maria, readers are invited to enter in as the heroine and others find help when there seems to be none forthcoming, realize the positive or the life lesson in every situation, and, ultimately, see light in the midst of darkness or the most challenging circumstances. As in much Native American storytelling, each story reveals a life lesson. From catastrophic blizzards to the personal tragedy of a loved one's death, to construction with no power tools or heavy equipment, Mountainbird challenges readers to look at life from a fresh perspective. While faith in God is at the core of Mountainbird's optimism, agnostics or readers of various faiths will relate to both challenges and solutions as she engages readers as they journey at home and abroad. The Author invites readers to invoke depth within their everyday lives when she asks, "How often do we miss the beauty of a moment because of the bother of the day?"Events in each chapter unfold the power of generosity, unity, confidence, faith, or sheer will as people overcome challenges in the face of adversity. Over and over, the Author reminds us to keep lookin' up. She shares her "heartfelt hope" in the introduction: "Keep lookin' up during and after life's storms. As we experience with hurricanes so common in the coastal Carolinas, after the wake of their destructive force, we might just spy a rainbow."
About the Author: Pauline Mountainbird is an artist, writer and adventurer, who traveled extensively as a missionary and university professor or community teacher of English, Art, and English as a Second Language. Her inspirational stories in Lookin' Up in Down Times attest to her passion for personal growth as well as inspiring others. Her previous writing publications include poetry, short stories, and news articles. As a former university professor, she authored academic manuscripts and presented workshops or talks at over twenty academic conferences. Mountainbird lived in 15 US cities, traveled to over 35 US States and territories, taught on Western Pacific islands, and engaged in missions to El Salvador, Thailand, Haiti and Ghana. Her most challenging and rewarding life experiences to date involved full-time homemaking and bringing up three very active sons, now grown. Despite the harrowing adventures her sons sometimes offered, she is grateful for her two grandchildren and still enjoys the company of foster children, while offering "respite" with the Bair Foundation, a Christian organization that provides shelter and behavioral services for those in need. After a relentless but speedy search 16 years ago, Mountainbird put an offer on the simple home where she still resides, with its southern style porches and five-room pottery studio out back. Even though leaves fall half the year from 60-foot tall trees, and call for nonstop raking, she still relishes the shade and charm of her tiny forested yard. Notwithstanding occasional serendipitous jaunts, she has remained in this quiet corner of North Carolina, where she thrives on Wilmington's natural beauty, diversity and serenity.