Meeting with clients, hauling the kids to soccer, supervising the kitchen remodel ? women today juggle so many commitments that many don?t find time to focus on their own dreams. First created for her own needs, Jennifer Louden?s Life Organizer is a datebook for the soul that helps women create the life they want. Divided into four sections, the first part defines ?inner organizing? and explains how to use the book. Next, Louden defines ?time monsters,? ?minimum requirements,? ?shadow comforts,? and other pertinent concepts. Fifty-two two-page spreads, one for each week of the year, include prompts for goal-setting and soul exploration. Stories accompanying each section show how other women have used the organizer to make a time for inner play and for finding the soul?s purpose. Most of all, the book helps women hold themselves gently accountable, giving them ideas to explore their inner needs and a place to record the progress they?ve made.
FOR WOMEN OF ALL AGES November 16, 2008 After reading this book and fully appreciating its message, I have recommended it to several of my women clients --- all have appreciated the recommendation --- and I've seen results in their lives. I want to congratulate Jennifer Louden on creating a very useful resource for women of all ages who are looking for a way to create more meaning and purpose in their "cluttered" lives. I especially appreciated the personal stories and illustrations from other women lives. I'm going to buy two or three more right now and pass them on to friends as well. Pamela D. Blair, author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life and Beyond
PERFECT for brides-to-be! June 18, 2008 I'm a firm believer that when you're facing a big life transition like a wedding, it takes away a TON of stress when you have all the other facets of your life running fairly smoothly. So as a bride looks into the future, she'll know that she's in great shape when she has actual, useful, organized and entertaining steps to take to bring some order into her world. I just got married in April, and Jennifer Louden's books have always brought me a deeper sense of peace -- this book is the PERFECT book for brides-to-be. You're giving them a better chance at a happy life. That's way better than a blender!
Stress haven April 2, 2008 3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I cannot tell you how rough this year has been. I felt like I was drowning in "have to do" and "I wish I coulds." This book helped me connect my true wishes, secret desires and priorites. I was free to let go of the rest. I was even able to deal with conflicting emotions surrounding a romance. I have had this book for awhile and have used it at different points, but 2008 marked the first time in a long time I was in overload mode. I happened to notice the book "waiting" for me on a side table in my living room. I picked it up and I have felt better since that day.
This Book Will Bring You Back to Yourself January 4, 2008 5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I ask myself, why does a woman need a life organizer? What has happened to create a need for us to seek answers through various devices and advice gurus? We've become so goal-oriented we can't even listen to our own intuition. Simply lying on the earth should give us any answers we need, but we're too busy, too stressed, to do even that. So we turn to today's guidance, often in the form of books, to find out how to come home to ourselves.
One of our helpers is Jennifer Louden, also known as "The Comfort Queen." Louden is the author of several books including the bestselling The Women's Comfort Book and is devoted to nurturing women to express their "true creative power." I love books and look to them for inspiration and, frequently, affirmations of what I already know. This one is a heart-based, spirit-directed approach to listening to ourselves.
The Life Organizer is glossy, full of color and original artwork, and is written in Louden's warm, over-the-back-fence, casual style. She doesn't offer advice, but rather, "a collection of possibilities to inspire you in creating your way of participating with life and with your gifts."
Those possibilities are ways to stop and "tune in to what you really want and what you really know." She notes five main steps that make up the life-organizing process: connect, feel, inquire, allow and apply. Louden cautions readers not to focus on the five steps, but rather on your own life experiences, posing questions to assist you in getting in touch with your life experiences.
Besides the main steps to help you "create your optimum life day by day, moment by moment," Louden offers six "life-planning concepts." All of these suggestions grew out of Louden's busy life experiences and the intuitive planner she created for herself, which she shared with her coaching clients and those who attended her workshops and retreats. The results, and the stories of several of those women, are included.
"Shadow Comforts and Time Monsters" is one of Louden's life-planning concepts and refers to those comforts that masquerade as self-care techniques, but in fact drain your energy. For example, chatting on a message board may be energizing, or it may be a tactic to avoid talking to your partner. Among the women Louden has coached are those "whose lives consisted almost entirely of time monsters, because they were too afraid to do what they really wanted to do." Watching TV, spending a month cooking for the holidays, and spending a week decorating your child's classroom may be among your "time monsters." Some discerning questions are helpful to consider. We so often say we don't have time, but if we look at what we're really doing with our time, a light may go on.
I particularly like the chapter on "Creating Your Life Planner." I'm a fan of journals so that's why I probably enjoyed the various approaches women have taken to crafting their own Life Planners. You may write in Louden's book, but if you need more room, a spiral notebook will work just fine. Then you need to place your life planner where you have easy access to it, by your bed, or alongside your date book. One woman constructed her own card deck using the questions throughout the book. She uses the cards as her own divination system, drawing a question card or two on which to reflect. She has decorated them with her own images so she can stare at those images and see what they spark in her.
Thirteen elegantly designed planning sections that include four weeks worth of theme-based questions also include "Stories Along the Way," true stories of women who have used Life Organizing to improve their lives.
Each week, on a two-page spread, there is space for writing your intention. Three circles provide space for completing these phrases: "let go of", "have to" and "could do." Questions, and some possible answers, give impetus to a creative and intentional week.
Although this book is full of possibilities, at the core is its intent is to bring you back to yourself, eliminating what no longer serves the life that you, in your heart of hearts, desire. It looks very organized, but in fact you can approach it in your own non-organized, non-linear way. Using it as a divinatory tool seems a good idea to me. Just open the book and see what tips and stories appear for you today.
Jennifer Louden is a bestselling author, personal coach, radio show contributor, columnist for "Body & Soul Magazine" and creator of learning events and retreats. Louden is married to cinematographer Christopher Mosio, living in a small house on an island in the Pacific Northwest, along with their daughter, Lillian.
You can share a cup of virtual tea with Jen at www.jenniferlouden.com and www.lifeorganizerbook.com.
by Mary Ann Moore for Story Circle Book Reviews www.storycirclebookreviewsorg reviewing books by, for, and about women
Kinder, Gentler Organizing January 3, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Whether you are organized or unorganized, this book provides a way to get in touch with your deepest values and goals. This is a great starting place for anyone wishing they had more balance in their life and the author's emphasis on treating yourself with kindness and respect is refreshing and encouraging.
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