Curran Galway on Her Ordinary Mystic Novel about a Woman's Spiritual Journey

Curran Galway talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, Ordinary Mystic: Practicing the Presence.



“The extraordinary is everywhere in the ordinary.” ~Curran Galway

Curran was raised as a Roman Catholic and has taught for over twenty-five years. She has raised four children and gotten her Master’s degree in Divinity and is interested in the new types of spirituality that are coming out. She was inspired to write Ordinary Mystic because she felt that some of the new views on spirituality need to be brought out in story form so people can see what those spiritual principles can be seen in a daily life. Curran also remarked that Ordinary Mystic, which is the second book she wrote, is a more personal one than the first because it includes an experience that she, herself, had, and that she also included some spiritual experiences that others, whom she had spoken to, have had.

Curran’s own spirituality started when she was undergoing a dark period in her life and went on a retreat to sort things out. She mentioned that, the night before her experience, she had experienced such strange things as crosses swinging, walking up to the top of a mountain and then having a spiritual experience, feeling arms around her and being told that she is loved and that she must to tell others about how they, too, are loved. Curran emphasizes that she wasn’t looking for this experience though she starts her day with meditation, which gives her a sense of mindfulness and energy and sets the tone for the rest of the day. She also takes hikes in nature and takes time to be still, which means being being both physically and mentally still, and going inward to connect with her inner divinity.

Ordinary Mystic is the story of a woman who is at a crossroads in her life and who, when she goes on a retreat, experiences a connection with God at the top of a mountain. The experience turns her life upside-down and takes the woman years to fully incorporate it into her own life, and while it is a spiritual story, it is also a great story on its own, with Curran’s own friends telling her that the book is “a page-turner.”

Curran remarks that she wants people to awaken to the divinity that lies within themselves, and of how much the Divine loves them. She differentiates spirituality from religion, saying that religion is a home for spirituality, while the latter is all about living and being guided by Spirit. She remarks that there are so many outside distractions nowadays that people don’t turn inward to find personal transformation and finding out who one is on the inside and one’s own divinity within, which is what spirituality is all about.

Curran remarks that speaking about spirituality nowadays is “a little bit scary” and points out that the Roman Catholic Church made mystics saints, but that this was so because there weren’t that many people who were spiritually awake, which made the presence of mystics very extraordinary. She also remarked that people are hungry for spirituality because they want a more vital life, which they can get by connecting with their own spirit, and that spiritual experiences are available for everyone, regardless of background or religious beliefs or lack thereof.

Curran defines spirituality as being a direct connection to God, which is what mystics have had. Spirituality, according to her, is the heart of religion, and most religions have lost that connection over time. Curran notes that ordinary people can connect with Spirit in various ways, such as walking in nature and meditation. She remarks that just being mindful creates connections all its own and that making the connection results in a feeling of bliss and ecstasy, where everything is taken up and one is bathed in a feeling of love.

Curran notes that Christianity is moving from an indoctrinated belief system to an experiential system. She remarked that, in the past, spirituality was all about suffering, which is a central idea of Christianity, in that suffering is a part of life that had to be endured, and that what was thought of as a “simple life” corresponds to poverty. Likewise in that context, matter and spirit were separate, that one was either spiritual or materialistic and that becoming spiritual was a difficult goal to achieve because one was unworthy of it. At present, there is a great amount of turmoil where people are trying out a lot of different things, and what is coming out is the abundance of divine love and provision, which means that people don’t need to live in poverty and suffering. This, in turn, creates an attitude of abundance and trust that such abundance is available to everyone. Curran believes that, in the future, more and more people will become mystics, and in that oneness, they can move beyond the “dualistic reality” that is present into a world view of wholeness.

Where duality is concerned, Curran referenced some recent scientific findings where there is a part of the brain that lights up in an MRI whenever someone has a spiritual experience. She also remarks that children, before around the age of five, do not have a mid-line in the brain, which means that, for them, everything that goes on is a “natural contemplative experience.” It is when the brain divides, which starts around the age of seven, that duality becomes present in the brain. That said, meditation enables one to rise above such duality, which then accesses the mystical part of the brain.

To those who have had a spiritual experience but who are reluctant to speak of this to others, Curran recommends writing down such experiences as, when one reads these, there are messages to be found in these. She remarks for people to trust that we humans are moving into a new vision of spirituality and that some of the old ways will need to be dropped, and that we should not be afraid because God is with us every step of the way and wants to give all of us the kind of deep connection that saints and mystics have had.

Purchase from Amazon: Ordinary Mystic: Practicing the Presence by Curran Galway

Anna Gatmon on Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World

Anna Gatmon talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World: 4 Keys to Fulfillment and Balance.



“Living our calling and purpose is how we humans can live in spiritual and material balance.” ~Anna Gatmon

Anna lived in Paris in her twenties, where she worked as an international fashion model, and while she was fulfilled materially, she felt something missing. This feeling stayed with her when she went to the United States, where she got a doctoral degree, married, and raised a family, and she realized that she had to find a middle ground between spiritual fulfillment and material gratification.

Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World is intended for people who are looking for more purpose and meaning, be they spiritual people who feel an emptiness due to a lack of appreciation for the material or people who are gratified materially but who are spiritually empty. Anna intends for this book to be a road map that anyone can follow, whatever their culture or spiritual upbringing, or whatever their lifestyle, be one an office person or a guru, and remarked that her book provides an unusual approach to spirituality and materialism.

Anna points out that people create “amazing things,” and that there is a common misconception that spiritual people don’t lead lives of material abundance and gratification. She notes that people, as part of being spiritual, need to appreciate the material creation of others and gave the example of appreciating a chef’s work as an example of balance between a spiritual aspiration of the chef and the material gratification on the part of the diner. She notes that humans’ preference for either the material or the spiritual is due to seeing the world in duality of either/or, and that both the material and the spiritual both need to be expressed in order to create balance. Anna opines that being very spiritual in the context of balance with materialism doesn’t necessarily mean being rich, and gave an experience of hers as an example where, one morning, when she was concerned with her family’s financial situation, she became present to the abundance of what she had, with the six dollars in her account being merely one of the things she was blessed with.

The four keys that Anna notes in her book are:

1. Expansive Presence - an expanded perception of reality
2. Attentive Listening - becoming aware of the information present when one’s perception of reality is expanded
3. Inspired Action - putting into action any prompting that became present during attentive listening
4. Faith-filled Knowing - becoming aware that the Universe is a co-creator of one’s expression

The genesis of the book came about when Anna was in a meeting with the Dalai Lama and another woman asked the same thing Anna was asking herself: how does one integrate the spiritual teachings that one has learned into one’s daily life? She remarked that the four keys came to her in a flash while she was identifying spiritual experiences in her life, and that the research into these keys took three years, remarking that this is similar to the way scientists make their breakthroughs.

Anna advises people to live their highest calling, as doing so enables one to be in balance and unity with one’s spiritual aspirations and material expression.

Anna’s website is annagatmon.com, where one can download her workbook, 7 Practices for More Prosperity, Peace and Purpose for free.

Purchase from Amazon: Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World: 4 Keys to Fulfillment and Balance by Anna Gatmon

Carole Morton Guides You Towards Self Love, Inner Peace, and Happiness

Carole Morton talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, Entering Your Own Heart: A Guide to Developing Self Love, Inner Peace and Happiness.

“When we fully, unconditionally love our self, then we effortlessly, unconditionally love everything and everyone else.” ~Carole Morton

Carole Morton was raised under abusive circumstances, and at the age of ten she had a vision of herself speaking in front of hundreds of people and that, after she spoke to them, they would love themselves more. The road to that vision wasn’t easy, given that she confessed to being actively suicidal at age ten. When she grew up, she got involved with the women’s movement and entered law school with the intent of helping others. She then moved to counseling and communication, hosting a TV show to help raise consciousness, and her interest in intrapersonal communication led her to becoming the psychotherapist she now is.

It was during the vision she had at the age of ten when she promised herself that she would write a book, and that she would give herself fifty years to learn how to do so. The book is intended for a general audience, and while she drew on her personal experiences, she also drew from the experiences of other people whom she dealt with for three decades of practice. She also included inspirational quotes from everyday people, as the book is intended to inspire the reader and enable the latter to listen to their own, internal wisdom.

With regard to meeting clients, Carole points out that psychotherapists are trained to meet these where they are, so that they feel they have been seen, heard and accepted for who they are at that moment She also mentioned that psychotherapists need to respect, understand and care for their clients as they are, because the latter are judging themselves and don’t accept and love themselves as they are. The work is thus more of a journey of learning, and the psychotherapist becomes more of a guide than a teacher to the client, so that the latter can recognize and overcome their blocks to loving themselves and then moving on from wherever they are stuck in. Entering Your Own Heart itself is a journey, and as Carole notes, the reader has to do some of the work, as it is not the kind of book that one just reads and then puts down.

Carole’s methodology relies upon the integration of scientific and spiritual methods because, as she says, the scientific and the spiritual are intertwined in the lives of people, rather than being separate, and understanding the interrelationship enables one to grow and to heal. For Carole, spirituality isn’t about “some man in the sky,” but as connection between and within oneself and everything else; and the biggest block to that connection is judgement.

Carole notes that love is both a feeling and a behavior, and breaks it down into four aspects: recognition of oneself and others (the opposite of which is denial), having compassionate understanding of others (the opposite of which is judgement), acceptance (the opposite of which is rejection) and having faith in others (the opposite of which is distrust).

Carole’s ultimate vision for all the work she does is that everyone loves themselves more, and with regard to what part of her life she would like to stay in forever, Carole said that where she is right now is a good place for her to stay in forever, because of all the peace she has attained to this point.

Where purchasing the book is concerned, Carole would much prefer that people purchase it from the book website itself, enteringyourownheart.com, as ten percent of the proceeds go to a charity that helps street children in Calcutta.

Carole Morton's Website: www.enteringyourownheart.com

Purchase on Amazon: Entering Your Own Heart: A Guide to Developing Self Love, Inner Peace, and Happiness