Seventy-Five Ways to Calm Your Soul

Calm Your Soul

My name is Julie M. Granger, and I wrote this gift book for Brownlow Publishing in 2001.  In 2017, I received the rights back to the book. This blog series will include writing from the book.  My goal as a writer is to republish the gift book along with a book of essays.  
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It has always been my goal to write beautiful books.  Books that people could read at night before going to bed. Beautiful books that would calm their thoughts and allow them to turn off their mind from the daily barrage of stress. As a result, Calm Your Soul was born.

The first quote in the book states, "To have strong roots is perhaps what the human soul needs most though we may not know it."  Growing up, friends are everything you think you need until you reach a point in your life where friends move in and out of your life.  Then, you realize that your family is always there for you no matter what.

As a teacher in a small rural school, new teachers would teach for one maybe two years and move on to a larger district that paid better.  It broke my heart to lose so many friends every year.  With the start of Facebook, I have renewed many connections with former students and staff.

During my first year of retirement from teaching, I became reclusive and needed to figure out where my life was going.  I felt suspended in time as the world went on without me.  I was bone-tired, exhausted from moving, and unhealthy from thirty-five years in education.

Then, the life-changing news of a cancer diagnosis the day after Christmas, December 2017. My family rallied and gave me the deep roots I needed to get through this ordeal. I had the best cancer team and family/friend support system.  They were there for me every step of the way.  One day at a time as I recovered from neck and throat cancer, three operations, three weeks of chemo, and thirty-three treatments of radiation, not to mention, speech therapy and two rounds of physical therapy.

I can speak in a low voice for short amount of times, and I have my smile.  My right arm is mobile again, and I am stronger every day.  There are certain foods I have trouble swallowing, which is fine because I manage to find plenty of foods that I can eat. (LOL) . 

My family saved me, and I turned my life around for the better. I am In a great place in my life, and I hope to share that with others through my writing.

May this entry bring you peace and help calm your soul.

Julie M. Granger