From the philosophy of Get Back on That Horse after Taking a Tumble, to Yes, Bad Things Happen—Now What?, Victoria Berry shares her collected bits of wisdom into a substantial book, “Putting the Dazzle Back in Your Razzle.”
This book is not unlike the Whole Earth Catalogue of getting through life.
Keep this book on your kitchen table for those moments when you need a lift, and coffee just won’t do. It makes a great gift too.
Quick examples: “No one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed,” (Erma Bombeck); or “A person becomes happy to the same extent to which he or she gives happiness to other people,” (Jeremy Bentham).
What’s your issue of the day? Berry has a chapter on that: A Life of Purpose & Meaning; Integrity; Investing in Family & Friends; Taking Care of You; and Life Strategies, to list just a few of the subjects the reader can easily turn to for inspiration.
Fear? Loss? Evil? Doubt? I call these the Four Apocalypses. Fortunately, Berry takes on these four and offers insight and mental weaponry to face the four head on. From ritual briefs via traditional faiths, to fairy godmothers, angels, feng shui and smudging. And if none of that works for you, “Sometimes you just have to turn around give a little smile, throw the match, and burn that bridge.”
“Dazzle” is eclectic. It’s colorful. It’s daring.
True story: Presently, I have friends who have lost their husbands to death. It’s not easy to find an answer to sooth their hearts. Berry’s section on grief offers strategies that i wish I had when I was widowed earlier in this life. “Mourn,” she headlines. “Take as long as you need. There are no rules on how to grieve…Will you recover from this? Not right away, The passage of time helps.” Several pages follow with quotes and hope.
But what I had fun reading was Dealing with Dolts. That’s a challenge that comes with being human and having to interact with other so-called humans. This chapter is funny, real, and rich in ways to deal with those challenging people in our lives.
What about loneliness? Another rough edge of being human. Berry offers ways to not only make those lonely moments worthy, but ways to break through.
Hope and Courage are fittingly the final topics before “Going Supernova.”
This book speaks to me because I am a believer that we can’t wrestle with personal or world issues unless we get ourselves shined and polished to the best of our ability — or as Victoria Berry writes, “Putting the Dazzle Back in Your Razzle.”
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I’ll be quoting parts of Victoria Berry’s book on my blog, The Daily Prism.
If the only person who ever read this book is Charmaine, if the only review I ever receive is this one here, I will shoot across the galaxies (when my time comes) the most fulfilled, happiest camper I could ever imagine. The two years spent putting this book together were well spent if I knew I had lifted up one person’s spirit or put one smile on someone’s face. Thank you Charmaine.
When we write with a purpose, it’s amazing the work that we create.
Wow. Love it. What a quotable quote! Yours?
3rd attempt to leave a reply. If no one other than Charmaine reads this book, and if no one reviews it other than Charmaine, I will leave this existence and blast across the galaxies supremely fulfilled and ecstatically happy. Thank you, Charmaine.