MSI Press Blog

  "Don't do it all, do what you can," says Julie Gentile, author of 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas and Staying Calm in Chaos , in a blog post for FAAB Consulting, website of Franki Bagdade, author of I Love My Children, But I Don't Always Like Them. Read the blog post here . Read more posts by Julie on her blog HERE . Read posts by Franki on her blog HERE . Read more posts on self-care HERE .   Read MSI Blog posts about Julie and her books HERE . Read MSI blog posts about Franki and her book HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use co

  As a Chanukah gift to our readers, we are offering a 40% discount on Good Blood . Use coupon code ad40 at our webstore to get the discount. For more information about Good Blood , including posts by and about the author, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

  Congratulations to authors Girrell and Sjogen on the selection of their book, Typhoon Honey , as runner up in the general nonfiction category at the New England Book Fest. Way to go! These authors join scores of other MSI Press authors who have won book awards . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

  from Julia Aziz -- If you're having a hard time right now, you are most definitely not alone (though in observing all the hoopla, you certainly may feel that way!). December can be lovely when it involves slow time, good food, and heartfelt connection with people you love. It can also be stressful and heavy with illness, loneliness, and grief. In lightness and dark, this time of year brings up all the feels. I'm going to keep this one short, as I know your inbox is probably overfull. But here are some resources to use, again or for the first time, when you need a little extra support: When you're not sure how you or other people are changing   When you're misunderstood   When you're over-giving and doing too much Releasing negative emotions and what it means to surrender  (audio) On grief and loss  (audio- you can skip the first 10-15 minute intro to my counseling practice--after that, we dive into the topic) The challenge of being a helping professional and also

  As a Chanukah gift from MSI Press to you, take a 40% discount on the book by using coupon code ad40 at www.msipress.com/shop. Read Shannon's Chanukah reflections  HERE . Read more posts about Shannon and her book n  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

  Chanukah  is an eight-day Jewish celebration commemorating the rededication of the second temple by the Maccabees in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.  While there is so much more to learn about the Maccabees and the events at the time, why we celebrate Chanukah, is the result of the miracle they experienced.  Under the cruel leadership of Seleucids King Antiochus IV, the Jews, at the time, were not allowed to practice their own religion openly.  In fact, in their own country, they were faced with slavery and their religion was being eradicated. The Maccabees organized a successful rebellion against Antiochus and were trying to reestablish the temple in Jerusalem by sanctifying it while they were still under siege.    To sanctify the temple, the Maccabees were going to light a menorah lamp. They, however, only had enough oil for one day. But while they were only a small group of rebels, they also tuned into a higher power. The miracle of the Maccabees is through the connection to

  winter solstice at Old Mission San Juan Bautista Thanks to Arthur Yavelberg, author of A Theology for the Rest of Us , for this post: Religion has a bad rap these days for all kinds of reasons--many of which are more than fair. Unfortunately, what often gets lost in these issues is the basic nature of true faith and spirituality--hope.   After all, the alternative is bleak--an uncaring, arbitrary universe in which everything has arisen by accident and will eventually dissolve just as randomly.  As the Psalmist writes, our lives are as so many blades of grass and, once we are gone, our footsteps will disappear and it will be as if we never were. Compare that with the fundamental message of the spirit: there is not only design in our universe, but a divine purpose that, while perhaps mysterious, exists nevertheless.  Our lives may be limited, but we can sense the infinite--both in terms of time and the love and compassion that are the essence of what it means to be human. From this per