Michele Wolfe's Debut Novel

Michele Wolfe’s lovely debut novel, The Three Graces, takes readers on a wonderful  journey with the three protagonists to understanding and wholeness.

Jessie, Isabel and Sara meet in a class during their senior year of college in Colorado, and quickly discover they share strange and frightening out-of-reality experiences. When the three decide to travel to California’s Central Coast and visit Hearst Castle on break, they have an extraordinary experience with a statue on the grounds – the Three Graces. These three deities – Brilliance, Joy and Bloom – guide Jessie, Isabel and Sara as they come into their own and discover their unique gifts.

The Three Graces is sure to become a great book club read. For any young woman who has struggled to understand her path, The Three Graces will show the way.

Writing on the Stunning Northern California Coast

Near the Sea Ranch Lodge

I've just returned from a week up at Sea Ranch, north of San Francisco on the rugged Mendocino coast. It's stunningly beautiful there, and a balm for the soul. For the past three years a group of women writer friends and I have decamped together for a writing retreat, and two of those years have been at Sea Ranch.

It was once a sprawling working ranch, but was developed in the sixties with homes on vast plots with weathered siding and surrounded by natural grasses. The ranch stretches for about 13 miles along the coast, with homes scattered from the coastal bluffs and up to the hills across Highway 1. We stayed in two houses near each other, and walked on the beach and hiked through the tree-studded property. We wrote and talked and read each others' work. It was just what the doctor ordered, and I came home refreshed and relaxed and ready to tackle all the work I had left behind.

I also dropped my daughter off at her friend's tiny studio in Oakland. The two of them have plans to work and pursue their music and art, with a brief break to go to Burning Man in August. It is the first time she has struck out on her own when I have felt that she is prepared and ready to create a new life. I am very proud of her. For those of you who know about her blind kitty, little Maya-Roo is with her and Anna in their tiny place. So far all is well and they are happy. And so am I.

Deer outside our front windows. They visited us every day. This couple had two babies with them.

We had several days of fog, but mostly it was sunny and warm.

Standing in Gratitude

"Celebrate all that is good and blessed about your life, realizing that gratitude is a powerful remedy." - Caroline Myss

Shoreline Park, Santa Barbara

I was privileged over the weekend to be included in a workshop called The Daring Way, based on the work of Dr. Brene Brown. Brown has written a number of books, among them Daring Greatly, The Gifts of Imperfection, and The Power of Vulnerability. She also has given two very powerful TED talks on shame and vulnerability, which prompted me to think deeply about how those two emotional states affect my life.

The workshop was facilitated by Kathryn Downing and her husband, Gerry Flake, who spent several years working with Brown to become certified to teach the course. It was an amazing experience, and I will reflect more in this space on the things I learned in coming weeks and months. The primary take-away for me was that we can choose to live authentically and be vulnerable. The more you can show up and be vulnerable, the less shame you'll feel and the more authentic your life will become. It's a way of living wholeheartedly, and that's what I intend to do.

So, I'm grateful for the time I got to spend with Kathryn and Gerry and the nine others who participated. I'm grateful, too, for my life, and for all of you who are so important to me. (And you know who you are.)

If there's anything I have learned over the past few years, it is that we get to choose what our lives will look like. We can create the life we want. And in the creating we find love, hope, peace, and abundance in all things.

May this day find you in a state of joy and gratitude - for your life, and all the people in it.

Flowers from my Garden

Walk at Ellwood/Ocean Whitecaps

It was a lovely, blustery day at Ellwood this morning.

Beautiful Santa Barbara Harbor

Recently, I've been walking with Chevella (my Aussie) on the breakwater at Santa Barbara Harbor. Each day offers something new and often stunning. Yesterday I watched a sea lion lift himself up and hop onto one of the marina docks. Such gifts. Here are some recent photos I took.