Truly Exciting Grass Fed Butter & Cookies

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Recently, I had the exciting opportunity to bake yummy cookies and host a Tryazon party for a company called Truly Grass Fed. If you’ve never heard of Tryazon, it’s a company that I signed up with to try new brands and products for free. Once I signed up, I applied for events as a party host, and the company sent me a party or sampling pack. (Due to Covid restrictions, online parties are the way to go for a lot of us.) As part of the agreement, pictures and video are involved, as well as a survey after the party.

When I discovered I had been selected to host a party for Truly Grass Fed, I was truly excited! First, I am very much into healthy food options, so grass-fed cows are important to me. Truly Grass Fed produces non-GMO cheese and butter from 95% grass-fed cows that roam acres of lush grassland in Ireland. Since there is one cow for every two acres on their farms, they are happy cows producing products that make us happy. Win-win!

star shaped sugar cookie cutter

In the box that Tryazon sent was a stainless steel travel mug as a host gift, 10 large star-shaped cookie cutters from Truly Grass Fed, along with a sugar-cookie recipe to give to party guests. I also received 4 coupons for free Truly Grass Fed butter so that I could host my party, and 10 one-dollar off coupons to give to party guests.

Truly Grass Fed

From Truly Grass Fed

Once I gathered all of the ingredients, the fun truly began! I had to practice with a couple of recipes, which of course is no problem when it comes to baking cookies! Being that I don’t typically bake sweets, this was a real treat for me.

First, I used the basic sugar cookie recipe that came with the Truly Grass Fed star cookie cutter:

Sugar Cookie Recipe

I had to add the butter at room temperature to the sugar (I used brown coconut sugar) and mix until well-blended. The flavor of that was amazing, and so was licking the spoon!

Mixing Sugar and Butter

Sugar and Truly Grass Fed butter

Another thing I changed in this recipe was adding a teaspoon of lavender flowers and lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Once I refrigerated the cookie mix for a while, I rolled it and cut out stars before baking… and they came out absolutely delicious!

Star shaped cookies cutter

Cutting cookies into star shapes

Star shaped sugar cookies

Sugar Cookies made with Truly Grass Fed butter

Another favorite comfort food I’d never tried making from scratch before is pierogis. I found a recipe and used Truly Grass Fed butter to fry them. They came out super yummy!

pierogies

Pierogi fried in Truly Grass Fed butter

I am happy that I had the opportunity to try this brand, because there doesn’t seem to be too many out there for grass-fed products as I’d like. Truly Grass Fed makes delicious butter, so I will definitely be trying out their other products! To learn more about Truly Grass Fed and to see if they’re in your area, visit their website at: TrulyGrassFed.com.

If you’re interested in trying new products and brands, check out Tryazon.com.

Stay tuned for some of the recipes I made using Truly Grass Fed butter!

Number Puzzles and Symbolism in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

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I have never been a fan of vampire books or movies, so when I found out that I had to read Bram Stoker’s Dracula AND write an essay, I cringed. How was I going write a paper about something I don’t enjoy reading? That’s when I had to pick a creative straw and noted the amount of numbers used throughout the story. Since the word-count limited me to less than 350 words, I chose to write about the number symbolism in the story’s first chapter using Avia Venefica’s wonderful site as a resource for symbolism. If you’re familiar with number symbolism and the original story of Dracula, you might understand what I’m about to explain.

In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jonathan Harker is traveling to fulfill a real estate transaction when he begins his journal on May 3rd (May is the 5th month, so I will refer to it as the number five.) Going by Avia Venefica’s symbolism website as a reference, the number five indicates travel, which is what Harker’s journal entries tell the reader he is doing. The number 3 indicates intuition and magic – all of which are coming into the near future. He had already stated his internal fear. Five and three (May 3rd) gives us eight, a number meaning business and wealth – again revealing to us what Harker expects from the transaction.

“3 May. Bistritz.— Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late…. I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived late and would start as near the correct time as possible.”

Harker had left Munich on the 1st of the month. With the number one representing new beginnings, this correlates with Harker’s real estate deal he is attempting to encounter and also kind of a foreboding that this is certainly a new beginning of which he is completely unaware. May 1st is a five and a one, added together making a six, with 6 meaning balance. Not only is this what Harker had in mind, but also could represent the balancing forces of good and evil.

Harker states that the train should have arrived at 6:46, but arrived an hour late instead. Six shows up twice representing balance, but could it mean that twice of it is an imbalance? And the number 4 represents stability. All of the numbers added together (6+4+6=16; 6+1=7) show us that seven’s generalized symbolism are magical forces and mystery. The journal entries hint that something is going awry or odd with the trip, especially with all of the mysterious whispering and strange reactions from the people around Harker. Since the train arrived an hour later (7:46), the number seven appears again. Adding those figures (7+4+6=17; 1+7=8) shows us that Harker is still expecting a business transaction.

On May 4th, Harker’s diary indicates that his landlord received a letter from the Count concerning the trip, repeating the notion of travel (five) and stability (four). Harker arrives at the castle on May 5th, the fifth day of the fifth month. Being that 5+5 adds up to 10 in numerology, this reinforces that Harker is facing a new beginning. Harker, having no idea what is in store for him, will experience the beginning of the end of his life.

Taxi Driver – An analogy of Travis Bickle

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Taxi Driver’s script reeks of loneliness, and so does the protagonist, Travis Bickle (played by Robert DeNiro). When Bickle is being interviewed for the cab driving job, the personnel officer immediately points out that “we don’t need any misfits around here, son,” so right off, it’s a foreboding that Travis is probably a misfit. An indication that Bickle lacks communication skills is also hinted in the fact that he doesn’t have a phone. The inciting incident happens when Travis goes to the porn theater and starts talking to the girl at the counter as if he’s interested in dating her. This is where it is confirmed for the first time that Travis is a serious loner, a reject with little social skills. (The amount of time he spends at the porn theater could be used reading self-help books.)

The antagonist is Travis’s own self worth. Travis wants to be a person, but a few times he said that he wasn’t even a person. He is a pitiful character that makes the viewer feel sorry for him, standing in his own way of getting what he wants, because he thinks that being a person requires being accepted by society. Travis also wants a woman, particularly Betsy, but his social skills are a hindrance. What Travis “needs” is to learn acceptable social skills and acceptance by society.

On their first date, Betsy tells Travis about a song by Kris Kristofferson that is about a walking contradiction – which is exactly what Travis is. He views everything in the city as trash, yet his own apartment is littered with garbage, dirt, old furniture, and porn. Throughout the script, he talks about cleaning up the trash, the scum, the filth, yet he has created it in his own living space. Everything that he despises is exactly the way he lives.

On their second date, Travis takes Betsy to a movie – but to her surprise, it’s at the porn theater – another indication that Travis is clueless as to what is acceptable behavior in the real world. This is Plot Point 1, because then Betsy leaves and doesn’t want anything to do with Travis anymore. Boy loses girl, so this sets up everything for Act II.

One of the symbols I noted in the script was the Venus de Milo on the purple cloth at the counter of the porn theater. Venus de Milo is a representation of beauty and the color purple often represents royalty, which completely contradicts the way the women are treated in the movies shown at the theater. But the Venus de Milo is also armless, which could indicate that Travis does not getting any intimacy from women. He does, however, seem to view Betsy and Iris (played by a 12-year-old Jodie Foster) as goddesses (and Betsy as an angel), even though he exhibits stalker-ish behavior.

Before Betsy and Travis’s date, he has a couple of bottles of pills on the table. After the date, he has a “giant bottle of aspirin,” which clues us in that not having a woman in his life is hurting him. In both scenes he has a bottle of apricot brandy. Apricots are often symbolic of women and beauty, and brandy a sweet liquor.

At the very beginning of the script, Travis is wearing an Army jacket with a patch that reads “King Kong Company”. That in itself hinted to me that Travis is still at war, at least within himself. Around page 50, Travis buys guns and then changes his apartment and puts up newspaper clippings about Palantine, who is running for President. Travis also begins working out and going to the shooting range. It is obvious he is planning something, but it seemed to me like he was preparing for war. There is even a hint of it when he drives around and sees a gang of punks throwing a wine bottle at him. Then he goes into a store, sees a guy robbing it, pulls out a gun and blows his face off, and then after that he goes to the porn theater like nothing ever happened. This is Plot Point 2, because now Travis has killed someone and there is no going back.

Travis “kills” his own television set when he rocks it and tips it over during a soap opera scene in which a female actress is rejecting a male. Now he is really beginning to lose it and feeling loneliness. He shaves his head as if he’s still a soldier and shows up at a rally for Palantine, appearing to have a plan in mind, but never goes through with anything. But in the next scene when he’s back in his apartment, he says, “The time is coming,” referring to another rally.

Travis briefly meets Iris, or at least her pimp, who hands the cabbie a $20 bill. Travis is ashamed to use the money, because he knows what the young girl does for it. He later pays to see Iris, but not to have sex. He wants to rescue her, but she doesn’t seem to want to be rescued. Like him, she lives in her own world. When he hands the same $20 bill back to the old man before he leaves, he makes a big deal out of it, and I think it’s because he probably thinks that the money belongs to Iris. He doesn’t view her as scum, because she’s a child, but he does about the pimp and the old guy.

At the end of the script, the voiceover of Travis is all about his loneliness, how he is “God’s lonely man,” cleaning up his apartment in much the same way he’s planning on cleaning up the street trash. He ends up back at a rally and gets chased away by the Secret Service, so he goes to see Iris again and shoots her pimp, the old guy that takes the money, and her customer. Travis also gets shot, but he lives and becomes a hero with his name in headlines for shooting a pimp, and Iris’s parents can’t thank him enough for having their daughter back. Had he shot the candidate, he’d have been labeled a psychotic killer. But since he shot a pimp, everyone viewed him as a hero.

The script’s weak ending is cliché, with Betsy in Travis’s cab saying maybe she’ll see him again, hinting that boy gets girl back. Perhaps the ending meant that Travis is a real person now that he’s a hero and that he’s no longer “God’s lonely man.”

The Sweet Hereafter – Series Bitterness and Greed

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The Sweet Hereafter is a terribly poignant movie. There are several underlying themes of the script, including transformation, guilt, regret, blame, revenge, and deceit. The entire script is an awful cycle of deceit and blame that is generally about a school bus crash, yet goes much deeper into the lives of each character.

The inciting incident occurs when attorney Mitchell’s phone rings while he’s in a carwash, and his drug-addicted daughter, Zoe, is on the other end. Incidentally, the blues song that plays at the end of this scene transfers over to the next father-daughter relationship between Nicole and Sam, another father and daughter. The following scene takes in an airport bathroom with yet another father diapering his baby girl while Mitchell observes. I believe the writer purposely chose to connect these three things to demonstrate the dynamics of father-daughter relationships, also showing us three different lapses of time.

Billy, father of a deceased disabled son resulting from the bus crash, and Mitchell speak at the gas station, but Billy refuses to join in the lawsuit. This gets in the way of Mitchell’s case. He needs Billy to testify, because he is the one that followed the bus that morning, and he is a critical witness. Mitchell gets desperate and even goes as far as blaming television and shopping malls for paralyzing children. (Billy is the only one in the script that points out that the whole town is blaming each other for an accident.)

Each character seems to blame someone else for something. Risa, mother of one of the deceased who has an affair with Billy, told Mitchell of a drunk man named Kyle feeling trapped by his life and blaming his wife. Later, Mitchell convinces Wanda and Otto (parents of one of the children) that there is no such thing as an accident, that someone is to blame. Wanda, even after dismissing the thought of a lawsuit, begins to look for someone to blame, to go to jail, and then agrees that a lawsuit is the right choice.

Mitchell blames himself for his daughter’s condition. His constant thoughts about the past and his conversation with Alison on the plane shows that he feels regret, and his constant talk about how all of their children are dead reveals that to the audience that his daughter died a long time ago. He had the opportunity once to allow Zoe to die when she was a baby, but he was determined to save her from a spider bite, and he keeps daydreaming about that incident. Is he feeling guilty that he didn’t allow her to die then instead of watching her slowly kill herself with drugs later? Or is he feeling guilty that he no longer has control over helping “keeping her calm and relaxed so that he doesn’t let her little heart beat too fast and spread the poison around”? Zoe blames her father for having to sell her own blood to make money, because he refuses to send her anymore.

Early on in the script, Nicole – one of the survivors – observed that children made Delores, the bus driver, happy. During her deposition, she lied and accused Delores of speeding and causing the crash. On one hand, it seemed as if Nicole viewed Delores as the Pied Piper, taking the children away to a faraway place, some place “strange and new” over the mountain. Nicole was the lame one left behind in a wheel chair, and all of her playmates are gone, just like the poem. On the other hand, it seemed like she did Delores a favor by forcing her to leave town. Nicole also seems to blame herself that she is the only child that lived.

Nicole’s purpose for blaming Delores was also revenge for her father Sam’s abuse. She knows that Sam wants money, so lied in order to punish him. As Nicole reads the Pied Piper story to the children, she is symbolically reading about herself. As the Pied Piper plays his flute, her own father is robbing his daughter with his incestuous relationship, making promises that he never kept. She ends up using this to her own advantage in the end, taking control of her own life by demanding what she wants and placing blame on both of her parents for what they did or didn’t do. At the same time, Nicole also sees Mitchell as the Pied Piper, misleading the town into believing his lies. Mitchell blames Nicole for screwing up the entire lawsuit. Just as the bus went downhill before the crash, so does the lawsuit. Mitchell argues with Sam over Nicole’s testimony and blames him that something isn’t normal about a child that would do such a thing.

The script also hints that Nicole blames herself for allowing a child, Sean, to sit next to her on the bus on the day of the crash and making another student, Mason, moved to the back. Could Mason have also lived if she hadn’t made that choice? Risa also seems to blame herself for not allowing her son, Sean, to stay home on the day of the crash, even when he begged her. Coincidentally, Risa was almost run over the same day, and Sean glared at Doris as if she was to blame.

There are a lot of symbolic references in the script. For example, Risa’s husband Wendell’s application of enamel on the crack in the tub correlates with the crack in his relationship with her. Billy’s shower washes away the enamel, in much the same way he’s taking away whatever it is Risa once had with her husband. Risa replaces the enamel over the crack when Billy leaves the motel – symbolically covering up their affair.

Another symbolic reference is when Sam paints the wheelchair ramp green. He is looking for money, and the ramp is symbolic of what he is looking for in the lawsuit. He later paints it red, which is symbolic of blood – or life – as his daughter was the only child spared in the accident.

Delores equated the children as berries. Children were the fruit of her happiness, and she genuinely cared for them, referring to them as “my kids”. At one point, she even doubts herself and begins to blame herself that perhaps she could have been speeding on the day of the crash. (Ironically, her husband Abbott and Delores both say that a true jury are the peers in a person’s town.)

By placing the events in a non-linear fashion, it shows the parallel events in each character’s lives. In the end, it all fits together beautifully. The viewers want to know what really happened in the crash, so by placing it at the end of act two, not only does it cause suspense, but it allows the writer to place the miscellaneous twists and turns surrounding the crash in different perspectives. Each character, even if they don’t leave the town or physically die, ends up in “someplace strange and new”, leaving behind the life they once knew.

Being High is Okay in Emily Dickinson’s ‘I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed’

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Bee – Getting drunk on nectar

Deciphering the meaning of poetry has been something I’ve enjoyed doing since I was a teenager. My English teachers often called on me to read aloud and interpret readings while everyone else was either bored or wondered how I knew this stuff. For me, it just came natural, because I love metaphors and the hidden meaning and symbolism; it’s like finding pieces to a puzzle that solve a mystery.

Emily Dickinson’s “I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed” poem is a metaphor about being intoxicated on something natural. In this case, it seems that Dickinson is high on nature but compares it to be drunk on alcohol. I particularly enjoyed the symbolism of this poem, because I am also very much into “getting high” on nature. These are my interpretations of each line:

“I taste a liquor never brewed”
The author ingests something that makes her “drunk” so to speak, but since it hasn’t been brewed, Dickinson figuratively tastes it in much the same way someone might say, “I can taste success.”

“From Tankards scooped in Pearl”
Drinking alcohol from a tankard (like a small stein) made from pearl – a luxurious item and highly valued, perhaps giving a high value to her experience and being drunk/high a luxury.

“Not all the Vats upon the Rhine Yield such an Alcohol!”
There is nothing that can compare to what she is experiencing, as the vats in the Rhine are known to have very good wine, inferring that what she has is better than even the best alcohol.

“Inebriate of Air am I And Debauchee of Dew –“
The air and dew she is breathing is what makes her “drunk.”

“Reeling — thro endless summer days –
From inns of Molten Blue –” With “Molten Blue”
Capitalization here puts emphasis on something large and important to her. An inn is a bar. So her “bar” is the outside world and “molten blue” is the sky.

“When “Landlords” turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove’s door –“
Foxglove is a flower poisonous to humans and animals, but beneficial to bees. However, what is interesting is that foxglove is very poisonous to humans, so why she chose this particular flower is another mystery. And who are these landlords? Are they the hummingbirds that also feed from the flower, or are they the flowers themselves?

“When Butterflies — renounce their “drams” –“
A dram is about the size of a shot or two. But why would a butterfly renounce its dram? It gets full or has had enough in the same way someone who drinks would stop at some point.

“I shall but drink the more!”
She will outdrink the butterflies and bees, being one with nature.

“Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats –“
Here is an angel and cloud reference.

“And Saints — to windows run –“
Saints run to see the commotion outside.

“To see the little Tippler”
Tippler = drunk person.

“Leaning against the — Sun –“
The Sun is capitalized, so again it’s very important here. It’s huge, it’s warm, it gives life, and the sun is often regarded as “God.” In other words, being high on nature is acceptable, as high as the angelic realm and equal to perfection.

An Interpretation of Huun-Huur-Tu’s Throat Singing Concert Series

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The purpose of taking a World Music class is to learn about something I hadn’t yet been exposed to. Tuvan “throat singing” is definitely new to me, and I wasn’t sure if I could tolerate it at first; however, I actually came to like it so much that I am listening to the concert again as I blog. The instruments remind me of the music I’ve often heard at Renaissance Festivals. The throat singing isn’t anything I’ve ever heard before or could possibly begin to explain, but the experience felt spiritual. The entire concert can be viewed here:

This is my personal interpretation of this particular Huun Huur Tu concert:

When I first began viewing the Huun Huur Tu live concert video, I was unsure of how long I could sit through listening to what seemed to be the “same” thing for an hour and a half. However, I quickly learned that it was far from my expectations, and I felt that overall, the concert was more like a musical play that told the story of a spiritual journey. The concert sparked my imagination, as I pictured the images of the music in my mind.

The orchestration begins with a prayer that sounds much like a meditation or chant (think “Om”), then switches to a more fun and freer rhythm. I pictured a boy on a mountain praying and then getting ready to set off for something new. In the third piece, Sygyt, I imagined a boy standing on a mountain and speaking to it (this is taking into the consideration the Tuvan history and relationship with mountains and nature). When he finishes this, the Chiraa Khoor begins, and he sets off on his horse for an adventure. The clopping of the horse hooves and the neighing of the horse are merely instruments being played by the musicians, but add a significant purpose to the piece. Karyraa “spirit of mountains” begins and it seems as if the mountains speak directly to the boy or somehow guide him.

Then comes the love story – Saryglarlar. It speaks of sadness, and typical of Tuvan music, the winds appear and seem to blow away the memories, sadness, and tears. The mountain (the deeper tones) speaks, the boy answers (higher tones), and the mountain seem to somehow join in the sorrow while the winds join as the song ends.

Kozhamyk seems to be a more joyful adventure, as the mountains (deeper) and winds (higher) seem happy. Something changes with Kongurei, a song about people migrating and loss after war. It is sad, as if people are longing for something (their homes, their livestock, their lives in general), and the following Camel Caravan Drivers speaks of homesickness.

Time passes and the “wind” (mouthpiece instrument) blows again in Sagly Khalaun Turula Boor, as if it is moving onto the next journey, another love story. Eerbe Aksy is comprised of horse hooves with both high and low tones that represent mountains and wind but then suddenly stops. What happens? Does the boy meet the love of his life and settle down? Or is it another sad ending? Is the Orphan’s Lament what this story is all about?

When the woman sings at the end, which is unusual for Tuvan music, the musicians play animal calls, particularly the crane and perhaps an elephant. An electric guitar collaborates with this piece, bringing together a sort of oneness with the boy’s adventure.

The concert ends with Aa-shuu Dekei-oo, a song about the lifestyle of the Tuvans, bringing happiness back into the images once again.

Their concert CD can be streamed or purchased here on Amazon.

Opportunities are Paths to Journeys

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Perhaps something unexpected has happened that has led to another direction, and perhaps it’s not one of your choosing. Things happen throughout life that we cannot change or control, so we must look for the different opportunities along the new path.

Every time a new opportunity arises, it’s a path to yet another journey, and using our choices wisely depends on the type of path to have. Some paths are rocky, some may be worn, and some may seem as if the grass is greener farther down the road. But if we continue to wait for the “right” path, we might miss something beautiful along the way.

A different path to your journey

© Shannon Hart

Alone for the Holidays?

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Sometimes holidays can be difficult if we find ourselves alone watching people in the world go by enjoying themselves with family and friends. Or perhaps we are with people that make us feel alone. Either way, it’s important to remind ourselves that no matter what, the sun will rise and set each day, making it something to look forward to.

sunset sunrise inspiration

© Shannon Hart

Manifest What Matters

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With today being Black Friday, I thought it would be a good opportunity to discuss manifesting. People often wish to manifest tangible things – material things – things that really don’t matter in the whole scheme of life and never bring true happiness. While it’s great to have nice things, the happiness they provide is temporary and false. What really matters is how we feel inside, our spiritual growth and wisdom, and how we use them.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker – Every Woman Needs to Read This!

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A friend suggested I read The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker. It is probably the best self-help book suggestions I’ve ever been given.

The Gift of Fear tells us that what most of us consider fear is actually anxiety, because real fear is a survival signal that causes us to react in a way to fight for our lives. The author also gives several examples of when and why we should fear something, and there are several warning signs to look for before we should react. De Becker also notes that our intuition is the number one thing that alerts us to fear – but most people are in denial. He includes examples in the workplace, families, dating, and dealing with strangers.

A few weeks ago a strange man had approached me in a store. I had an odd feeling about him when he asked me if I was “Jim Tate’s wife”, as he suggestively looked me up and down and stood a little too close for my comfort. I got the impression that he’d made up “Jim Tate” altogether. When I informed him that I was not “Jim Tate’s wife”, he asked me whom I was married to. Luckily, I had just finished reading The Gift of Fear, and I knew that this creepy man was fishing for information that was clearly none of his business. I looked him in the eye, lied and said, “I’m married to my husband,” before walking away. As I walked up to the checkout counter, my intuition told me that this guy was still in the store, and I did not want him behind me, because he was still watching. I got out of line and walked over to a clearance rack and noticed that the man walked out of the store without buying anything. Odd? Yes! Would he have done something to me had I not listened to my gut feelings? Would he have followed me home? I don’t know, but I wasn’t about to give him the opportunity.

Not coincidentally, while I was reading the book’s chapter on dating, I noticed that one of my friends had just started online dating with a man that presented some warning signs. I knew this prior to reading the book, but The Gift of Fear confirmed my own gut feelings about this person, and sure enough, this man had previous domestic violence charges and convictions against him.

When we hear something on the news or in social media every day about someone getting robbed, raped, kidnapped, or murdered, humans have a tendency to think that we are not safe, that something is going to happen to us, even though there is a slim chance. De Becker suggests that we don’t need to live our lives in fear of everything, to enjoy life – because when the time comes to be afraid, our intuition will kick in and alert us. Otherwise, we are wasting time fearing things that will most likely never happen, and our “tuning” will be finer if we turn off anxiety.

I would highly suggest for anyone to read this, but I think The Gift of Fear is especially significant for women – because women tend to live in fear more often than men for obvious reasons. I definitely rate this book 5 stars, because it provides the necessary tools we all need in order to protect ourselves.