Customer Reviews

A Journey of My Choosing: Traveling the Creative Path of Life

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Part travelogue, part self-help guide, A Journey of My Choosing successfully bridges the two genres. Ms. Carrera's gentle, introspective tone welcomes the reader as a fellow sojourner on the "creative path of life." Her insights drawn from her solo world travel adventures invite the reader to gain perspective on his or her own life's journey. Not one to consume the latest self-help fad, I was thrilled to find A Journey of My Choosing to be neither prescriptive nor didactic, but rather an open invitation to explore my own creative path through vicarious enlightenment. Like a souvenir, this book is one I will keep close to my heart and to which I will surely return time and again.

Ms. Carrera employs an interesting literary technique. At the end of each chapter, she summarizes the lessons learned from each adventure with a "souvenir," a treasure she takes with her from each locale. Rather than load her backpack with tchotchke from each destination, she chooses to carry with her the far more valuable and enduring spiritual mementos. Her souvenirs, carefully selected and hard won, are presented to the reader as if they are the recipients of these delightful and inspiring gifts.

I tried to read this book slowly, savoring each adventure and allowing the insights to steep like a delicious brew. I so wanted to share my adventure as a reader and devotee that I immediately ordered ten copies for friends and family.

"A Journey..." is a book about traveling with body, mind and
soul. That's not in the metaphysical sense but one of
exploration and discovery of all those realms with meanings
often unexpected, but that's the nature of exploration, isn't
it? The stories are about courage and its revealing of itself
to the author as she pushed herself out of her structured and
orderly worlds into quite scary and unknown ones. The places
she left behind were no longer acceptable ones in which to
linger as her soul was being destroyed. The only path to the
new places involved jumping from a high cliff not knowing what
lay below. Frightening? To say the least.

Her struggles and growth are sometimes tense but always
interesting as the reader wonders what's next. The places
visited appear to be the main theme but the show is stolen by
lessons learned from each major segment of her journey. Often
brave and sometimes bordering on foolish, she searches for the
line between that makes sense for her. That is where her true
bravery emerges more than dealing with the environment itself.
She has a taste of love that may have required more bravery
than any other experience in the book. She says it is a
woman's book. Men can certainly find some insights here as
well.

Carrera is a person with great heart and she shares that with
us in this writing. She exposes a piece of her soul and that
always makes a good read for me. That is real courage.
Thanks, Phyllis.

There are many ways to sing our true heart's song, and not many brave enough to sing it. This tale of one woman's journey to new landscapes within and without strikes all the right chords to inspire readers to honor their own authentic voice.