Traci Slatton interviewed by Desiree Watson on Wellness Lounge
· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Traci Slatton interviewed by Desiree Watson on Wellness Lounge

Posted on:

Desiree Watson interviewed me on her VoiceAmerica radio show Wellness Lounge, A Step Further.

Life in its multifarious impishness is both funny and fun. Recently I started a BlogTalkRadio show, Independent Artists & Thinkers. I’ve been booking guests and thinking about people I’d enjoy having on the show.

A friend of many years came to mind, a woman of vision and great energy: Desiree Watson. Back in the day when I was a healer, Desiree was interested in holistic health and wellness, and we had done some things together. So I googled around and found her Wellness Interactive site. Desiree has been a busy lady, I thought, and promptly emailed her.

A few hours later, my cell phone rang. It was Desiree herself. What a delight to hear her warm voice!

I had meant to invite her to be a guest on my show, but she beat me to it and invited me to be a guest on her VoiceAmerica Radio Show: Wellness Lounge, A Step Further. Her show is focused on empowering listeners, body mind and soul.

Here’s what the show has to say about itself:

THE WELLNESS LOUNGE-A STEP FURTHER empowers you with the benefits of a wellness lifestyle. Desiree Watson, a pioneer in the wellness lifestyle movement, guides you toward incorporating wellness into your life through commentary and interviews with exemplary personalities from such diverse fields as professional sports, corporate management, government, and health care. Our topics embrace the interconnections of mind, body and spirit, while offering in-depth analyses of the wellness lifestyle movement and its impact on the health care system, politics and international aid. Related topics will spark awareness of the positive impact of the wellness lifestyle movement and how a wellness lifestyle commitment can successfully empower the individual and influence educational and political processes on a local, national and international scale. The Wellness Lounge – A Step Further airs Mondays at 6 AM Pacific on VoiceAmerica Empowerment and Saturdays at 7 AM Pacific on VoiceAmerica Variety.

This morning we aired. It was a delight to be a guest; Desiree has a talent for supporting and encouraging her guests to open up and be eloquent. What fun!

Here’s the show link: http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/85279/empowerment-of-self

You can listen here, too.

[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://tracilslatton.com/watson051115.mp3″]

 

Wellness Lounge

Beautiful Kisein Bag
· · · · ·

Beautiful Kisein Bag

Posted on:

Gorgeous Susan, a fellow mom at the bus stop, was carrying a purse that I particularly admired. Susan is always elegant and tasteful, and this sumptuous leather bag fit her style exactly.

To my mind, its best quality was its perfect marriage of beauty with utility: It’s big enough to hold the 11″ Macbook Air I take with me, as well as everything else I lug around, and at the same time it’s a graceful, handsome purse.

I commented enthusiastically. Susan told me that it was made by a client of hers whom she likes. We discussed the unusual good looks of the bag and she told me where to find it: kisein.com and etsy.

Back home, while my daughter ate an after-school snack, I browsed online. But there was a demand for my attention elsewhere, so I went on with my day. The bag stayed in the back of my mind, I just couldn’t forget it. You know how that is sometimes, when you see something you really love?

A few weeks later at the bus stop, Susan had amazing news: her friend had decided to gift me with a bag! She expected nothing in return but hoped I would love it.

Susan smiled, “You can be a kind of brand ambassador. If you feel like it, wear it and love it and tell people who made it if they ask.”

“I’ll do better than that,” I said, delighted. “I’ll blog about it!”

So I must state that I received this bag for free in hopes that I would love it and pass on the information about kisein if anyone inquired.

The bag arrived last night. It is even lovelier than I remembered. It’s a pleasure to hold in the hand, soft yet strong, sturdy yet supple, and practical yet absolutely breathtakingly pretty in design.

This stunning gift is the Annis City Satchel and it made me want to go right outside wearing it on my shoulder. It’s so convenient, too–made to hold everything I need on-the-go, from my iPhone to my laptop to my wallet.

I am pleased and proud to recommend kisein to everyone. I’ll be purchasing more kisein products. Buy one, you’ll love it! See the pictures below.

kisein

kisein

kisein

kisein

kisein

kisein

Author interview: Rory Pinto interviews me on New Perspectives Radio
· · · · ·

Author interview: Rory Pinto interviews me on New Perspectives Radio

Posted on:

This is an old author interview of me on NEW PERSPECTIVES RADIO from August, 2011, right after I had independently published FALLEN. Rory Pinto is a wonderful healer and charming radio host who asked thoughtful questions; counselor Anton Bluman, his co-host, was also a pleasure to work with.

Rory attended the same healing school I did, so we knew each other from there. He had read FALLEN with extraordinary care and intelligence. He asked open-ended questions and listened with respect. It’s always gratifying for an author to receive that kind of attention; it makes the work of promoting a book so much more enjoyable. Sometimes, when I can’t make a connection with a host or perhaps if neither the host nor I is feeling particularly inspired, a radio interview can feel like a great deal of work. It can take effort to enliven things. I am always mindful of listeners. This was a radio show that felt like fun, like old friends hanging out, chatting, and chewing things over in a spirit of conversational inclusiveness and exploration.

Rory himself is a talented and interesting writer. Over the years, he’s emailed me articles on a variety of spiritual topics. He writes about meditation and the soul, the human experience and the work we need do on ourselves to become whole and actualized.

I remember some of his holiday messages, in particular a Thanksgiving missive in which he quote Meister Eckhart and ruminated on “The Heart of Gratitude.” It was a beautiful inquiry into what it means to be grateful. Here is an old essay called “Seeking the truth about love” he wrote for the Association for Spirituality & Psychotherapy in 2010. It’s worth reading and very much worth contemplating.

Rory kindly gave permission for me to upload this archived show for my podcast channel on iTunes. You can find my podcast channel on iTunes here. Meantime, enjoy the show.

[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://tracilslatton.com/tracifallennewperspec.mp3″]

author interview

Myers-Briggs Personality Test
· · · · · · · ·

Myers-Briggs Personality Test

Posted on:

My lovely stepdaughter Julia entertained us over a lazy, happy Christmas morning by administering the Myers-Briggs Personality test to all of us.

It didn’t work so well for my 9-and-a-half-year old. Some of the questions didn’t apply. As she put it, “How do I know if I’m soothed by a solitary walk? I’ve never walked anywhere by myself.”

Otherwise, the test was spot on. It turns out I am an INFJ, a diplomat type. I’m not sure I’d call myself a ‘diplomat,’ but the lengthy description otherwise fit me very well indeed.

The career paths for INFJs on the website 16personalities.com was especially pertinent:

INFJs often pursue expressive careers such as writing, elegant communicators that they are, and author many popular blogs, stories and screenplays. Music, photography, design and art are viable options too, and they all can focus on deeper themes of personal growth, morality and spirituality.

INFJ strengths are their creativity and their insight, their ability to be convincing, inspiring, and decisive, and their passion, determination, and altruism.

INFJ weaknesses are their sensitivity and perfectionism, their deep seated need for privacy, their need to have a cause, and the way they can burn out easily.–But I have discovered that when I burn out, I can still be productive by cleaning and organizing something, like my awesomely messy desk or my office with its piles and stacks of books.

My husband tested as an INTJ, and the description was jaw-droppingly accurate. Maybe they interviewed him before defining this type? He certainly has a strategic, imaginative mind and high self confidence, and he is determined, hard-working, decisive, judgmental, analytical, and sometimes arrogant.

I laughed out loud when I saw “Rules, limitations, and traditions are anathema to the INTJ personality type…” and INTJs are “Clueless in romance.” I could only nod and grin when I read,

A paradox to most observers, INTJs are able to live by glaring contradictions that nonetheless make perfect sense – at least from a purely rational perspective. For example, INTJs are simultaneously the most starry-eyed idealists and the bitterest of cynics, a seemingly impossible conflict. 

My stepdaughter says that the test is based on Carl Jung’s original personality types as interpreted by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, and I took it as a sign that my recent interest in the Carl Jung Institute in Zurich is well-founded.

Briggs Personality Test

Days of Inspiration
· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Days of Inspiration

Posted on:

Yesterday started out as a really hard day for me. When I woke up, the things that are wrong with my life weighed heavily on my heart, mesmerizing me to the point of destabilizing me.

I’ve endured these debilitating days periodically throughout my life. My usual strength seems like a sham, my resilience is a distant, invisible shore, and my many blessings have no more substance than twisting shadows. Even when I try to enumerate the specific graces of my life–because gratitude is one of my go-to tactics for self repair–they vanish before I can grip and savor them.

Then I saw some excellent tweets. Yes, of all things, the mercurial Deva of Twitter stepped in to succor me.  A blogger had mentioned my name in her “Top ten authors of 2014” list.  A Spanish man had glowingly tweeted his enjoyment of my novel “En Inmortal.”

I called my friend Jan and she patiently and lovingly talked me through my conundrums. She herself has experienced similar challenges, so she had insight to offer. She’s one of those brilliant souls with deep wisdom gleaned from living with presence and authenticity. She also has, oh, a million talents. I pay attention when she talks. Jan understands about pain and love and life and longing.

Gently, at one point in our conversation, Jan said, “You see things so clearly, Traci. That’s your sin.” Then she explained her meaning, and I gained new clarity.

My lovely friend Lori emailed me “So much love” and invited me to email back. I poured my heart out to her, and she emailed back with such fierceness on my behalf. Her empathy is amazing. It moved me and humbled me. And I got another dose of it today on Skype, and today we could laugh together, too. Just seeing her bright face lightened everything.

Beautiful Michelle Skyped in today, uplifting my day with her piquant presence and all the glamorous goings on of her life. She’s a canny, perceptive soul and she listened closely when I explained what bothered me. She had practical advice that was specially tailored for Traci, and no, it wasn’t drinking red wine, though we giggled most rambunctiously about that.

Aren’t giggles just the best medicine?

So from an inauspicious morning flowed two days of kindness from people I love who love me. That’s been the biggest learning of these middle years: to fill my life with people who love me and support me, people I can trust. I wish I’d known long ago to do so. Maybe I felt I didn’t deserve them.

There was affirmation, too, in the form of the “Best of authors” Blog list and the Spanish gentleman’s tweet–and that always helps.

For anyone who reads this post, I wish that you may experience the same kindness and love and affirmation, when your heart trembles.

For a pix to accompany this blog: FiberOptic Fairy II, our tree topper.  Because she’s whimsical and unintentionally funny, and earnest and sweet, and full of holiday spirit. And I’m grateful to her, the way I’m grateful to my friends, that she holds her place so gracefully.

Days of Inspiration

 

 

Grateful
· · · · · · · · · ·

Grateful

Posted on:

I give thanks for my children, my sweet husband, my lovely friends, my overly-gregarious dogs, my home, the books I’ve written and those I’ve read, good reviews that have thrilled me and not-so-good reviews that have taught me, the material resources of my life, the yoga practice that centers me, the spirituality that sustains me.

I am grateful that my beautiful, brilliant, hard-working, wonderful stepdaughter was accepted into medical school! Go Julia!

I am grateful for the extraordinarily generous donors who have given Parvati Press a start in the world, and I’m grateful for the authors who are coming on board with “the Millennium Falcon” of presses–and thanks to the ever inventive Chris for that image! Parvati Press really can outrun Imperial cruisers and make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.

I am grateful for the times I get to travel, and especially I am grateful for the cities of Paris and Venice and Rome. And I love living in NYC so I am grateful for this ineluctable Big Apple.

I am grateful that I get to write books. Being an author is the coolest thing in the whole universe!

I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for those I love and for those who love me, and yes, Gerda, Lori, Michelle, and Jan, I am talking about you. The other ones in the inner circle, you know who you are, and you know that I am thankful to have you in my life.

For the unmet friends, unexperienced love, and unknown blessings that are coming into my life, I give thanks, and I praise the Creator, the great sun at the center, for the fullness of it all.

Grateful