Steering by Starlight: The Science and Magic of Finding Your Destiny

I've now read Steering by Starlight twice through, back to back this weekend. I am already feeling a difference in what is happening around me! I am going to do Martha's recommended month of journaling and we'll see what happens next! I love Martha's writing style - it is totally down to Earth and not "social-scientese" as she discusses within... I love the personal stories - both her own and some of her clients (their names are changed to protect them). I love her sense of humor! Can you tell I loved the book!?! Martha was a wonderful speaker when I saw her at The Women's Conference 2009 last Tuesday, Oct 26. Her book is just as great!

So...it worked. Huh. No, but really, a year ago I was in a job that was going from miserable to outright torture, I lived in a town I was completely uninspired by, I did have really nice friends, but one had just died of cancer and I was still seriously hurting, my social life was pretty dull, and I was in an epic romantic/sexual dry spell that had lasted so long that any rational person would have just given up and gone into the priesthood. I'm not saying that this book was the whole reason (and, really, neither would Martha...) but, well, all the same...things are different now. Everything has been falling into place like dominos. My job is an incredible fit for me (it really is literally playing all day, with some challenges thrown in just so I don't get bored), I'm constantly having to stop and take pictures of whatever cool thing I saw that day to share with friends and family, my town is a wonderful place full of like-minded people, I lost 30 lbs without trying (yes, you did read that correctly, and I really do attribute it to getting happy - furthermore, I want to state that trying has never worked for me), which means that my constant knee pain is gone, but moreover I look pretty darn hot, and, yeah, I met a guy. A really nice guy with similar interests and who makes me laugh my head off every day. Am I saying it will last forever? No, and neither does Martha. She does give you tips and tools for getting out of the rut, in a big way. Am I saying it was "magic"? Well, OK, it did feel that way, but again, Martha does do a good job of explaining the science behind the coincidences ("envisioning" what you want = creating a search image for your brain to go after), and an even better job of convincing you to just get out of the damn way when the universe wants to help. So...it worked. Huh.

I am in the midst of the most turbulent changes of my life. As I had been nearing some options for decisions, my body would become tight, pained, or just plain anxious. My mind wanted to go one way, and my spirit another. It just left me plain confused about what the heck was going on. I never watch Oprah anymore, but in looking at the schedule I decided to record one on the laws of attraction. This positive thinking has always bugged me because it seemed to cast blame if challenge happened in life like if a person got cancer, it must be something they thought of or did to create it. Martha Beck was on that show talking about Steering by Starlight. She is the first person who I have found who basically has had challenge in life and then reflected on ways to think to go through the process so that a person can see the value in the challenge. She embraces emotion and shows how to work with it. Steering by Starlight is amazing and has been heaven sent to me. It has been my user's manual for life challenge. She explains the dreams, coincidences, feelings, and conflicts that happen when a person is in the midst of their life falling apart. It is like advice from the really wise friend you have always wanted. I bought the CD and listen to it all the time as I drive. I have bought the book for four different friends. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I finished this book in one day. I was mesmerized from the beginning. What I love about Martha's books, I've read them all, is that she doesn't make it seem like you have to be a spiritual guru to "get it". You can be an everybody swimming in the world of material and matter and you can still connect to the magic of your being simply by... well, I don't know. Just read this book and tell me if you don't find yourself laughing and then crying and then laughing. I feel like a new person. Honest. Thank you so much Martha. Gifts like you and Byron Katie and Ariel and Shya Kane and Eckhart and all the endless teachers are delightful. Do this for yourself, read this book and enjoy the spell that the stars have cast for you.

I was so impressed with Martha Beck's book Finding Your Own North Star that I trained with her and became a life coach. Now Steering by Starlight takes her concepts of following your own best destiny even farther. She offers new and deeper tools for discovering and following your heart's true desires. Martha Beck is too much of an explorer to simply repeat what she has done before. Steering by Starlight ventures into startling territory, where dreams come true and apparent coincidences pile up beyond the bounds of probability. I admit, these areas both scare and excite me. My rational mind wants to stop at the edge of what it can explain. Yet why should I think that what I can explain is all there is? Martha makes the way easier by talking about her own scientific responses and documenting what has happened to her and people she knows personally. The possibilities feel like new doors opening. The book is very well written, and full of humor. I laughed out loud about twice a chapter. Read it for the stories, for the tools for self-transformation, for the pleasure of good words. Read it, just maybe, for the invitation to a life more amazing than you have imagined.