Jennifer Sparks’ debut album is a gift; her voice is mesmerizing, luscious, sensual, and celestial. Her degrees in music performance from UCLA and Oberlin Conservatory of Music are put to good use here: Jennifer writes her own music and accompanies herself on harp, flute, keyboard and harmonium. Her initial connection to the divine came through [...]
Roger Allers celebrates the human spirit in his animated feature film, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. Some of my all-time favorite films are animated features. A new film has been added to my list. One of literature’s most beloved works (it has sold more than 100 million copies in 40 languages), Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, has [...]
What happens to a brilliant child who is entirely misunderstood by his parents? What changes inside of us when our dreams are disregarded and our potential underestimated? These are some of the questions addressed in the new film about beloved author Paulo Coelho (who famously penned The Alchemist and a long list of other best-sellers). [...]
David Lipsky, as a Rolling Stone reporter, accompanied author David Foster Wallace on the last leg of the book tour for Wallace’s unexpected 1996 bestseller Infinite Jest. In this insightful film adaptation based on Lipsky’s chronicle of those five days, filmmaker James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) portrays the struggles that the creative genius had with [...]
The Revolution to Save the Humans Beautifully shot and edited, Revolution is a remarkable documentary by Director Rob Stewart. The message is the necessary personal and global transformation that must occur if we are to secure our future as a species on this planet. Revolution details Stewart’s journey into ocean conservationism over a period [...]
Lisa Garr From Well-Read Radio Host to Inspirational Author For 15 years, Lisa Garr has served as the energetic, vivacious, and intelligent host of “The Aware Show,” a radio program with several million listeners worldwide. More than 1,500 guests, many of them authors, have made appearances on the air with Garr, chosen for their alignment with [...]
Hanuman has always resonated with me—his warrior attitude mixed with humor. It’s my approach to life, so I was eager to hear The Hanumen’s Leaps and Bounds. The group members are friends who are talented multi-instrumentalists trained in the sacred music of India and Africa: John de Kadt, Benjy Wertheimer, Gaura Vani, and bassist Purusartha [...]
Zhena Muzyka shares her story rising from a single mother to entrepreneur, author, and publisher. When I first met Zhena, I have to be honest, I was intimidated and a bit jealous. Here was a woman who had everything I wanted and everything “my lizard brain” (as she calls it) was programmed to resent. But [...]
Musicians Benjy and Heather Wertheimer, also known as Shantala, partners in life, love, and music, recently released their latest album Living Waters. Finished in the wake of their maiden voyage to India, it’s a mantra-infused, meditative plunge for the spirit. The instrumentation and vocals are masterfully performed, captured, and mixed to create a sonic [...]
A Compassionate Journey toward Healing Yoga and Grief, by Gloria Drayer and Kathleen Doherty, provides a healing process filled with compassion and conscious awareness. In the words of Ram Dass, “In a culture that emphasizes stoicism and forward movement, in which time is deemed of the essence and there is little tolerance for slowness, inwardness [...]