Guilty? Could I be guilty of cyber-stalking? "No," wrote back the gracious photoblogger whom I've grown to immensely admire. "You're just someone who is kind and generous with feedback." Or such went the email exchange with Author Karen Walrond some time ago. For more than a year, I've been enthralled with this Trinidadian woman, former lawyer turned photo-blogger, now author, who writes the blog, Chookooloonks. If I had to name a perfect blog, Chookooloonks would be it. It's concise. Douses me daily with stunning photography and delivers messages that inspire and motivate and nurture my soul. All while being totally relate-able.
I am so glad I purchased Walrond's first book, The Beauty of Different, Observations of a Confident Misfit. Reading its potent message and perusing its gorgeous photos over the holidays was akin to sinking deep into my favorite chair, windowside, warmed by sun-glow, while sipping a cup of my favorite tea. Ahhh. But, how was I going to begin to describe this very unique book? Truly, I've never read anything quite like it. The premise is that we spend so much of our lives trying NOT to be different in order to fit in and be what our culture considers carbon-copy beautiful. When, in reality, Walrond writes it's our "different" that makes us truly beautiful.
What makes this book so special? So…different? It's a coffee table book with a fair amount of copy. (A bit akin to our book in that way.) The contents, a compilation of beautiful stories and imagery. Much like reading her blog, there are stories and photos of exceptional people–illustrated here to give a "different" take on beauty. Interspersed with stunning close-ups of plant life. And then Karen's musings, such as her "Twenty Truths I Wish I'd Known Twenty Years Ago," in her section entitled "Views on Agelessness. Writes Walrond: "10. The most important practices are meditation, movement, learning and gratitude. Do each, in some form on or fashion, every day. And if doing one of the four qualifies as 'play,': bonus points."
The Beauty of Different was worthy of my canary-yellow highlighter. But, I couldn't do it. Not this beautiful book that will not be wedged and hidden on a bookcase. How clever to take her visual medium and intersperse it with close-ups of unique-looking people, with close-ups of flowers and arrange it in topics, such as individuality, spirituality, imperfection, anxiety, heartbreak, language, adventure and agelessness. Woven with the photography and the profiles of people exemplifying/telling a different spin on each topic, is the author's own "different" life story and insights.
This is a book that fed my soul in a marriage of thoughtful words and heart-grabbing visual artistry. As I, the stalker/admirer, write too often in her blog comments: "Bravo!"
(On the author platform, social media front: watch this author. She's good! Also, the above video was originally featured on my blog here.)
From Chookooloonks the day this was published: “yesterday, The Beauty of Different was Number 1 on Amazon’s Portrait Photography Bestseller list. The book has been hovering in the top 100 of various of Amazon’s lists (and quite often in the top 20), but yesterday was the first time it hit number 1. This list is calculated and updated every hour, so its tenure there was fleeting; still, it happened.” http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/2011/1/14/list-12-8-happy-things.html
“Beauty is something we experience and feel on a soul level. It’s more than being pretty or aesthetically attractive — it’s an intangible attribute that stirs something deep inside of us.”
~ Karen Walrond, “The Beauty of Different”
Had the DELIGHT of meeting Karen at Blissdom11 blogging conference last week. Lovely.
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