Kimberley Barker

Today, I took another step in my journey to share my first novel with the world.  I submitted the manuscript to Createspace and Amazon, who are sponsoring the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awared. This opportunity gives a writer a chance to win one of two $15,000 publishing contracts with Penguin USA and distribution of their novel on Amazon.com.Writers had to submit a 300- word pitch for their entry. I was so excited about this opportunity and when I went to sign on this morning and submit my work, I discovered I was too late to submit for the general fiction category, [...]

I pulled out of the driveway on my way to the office yesterday morning and what did I see? ...But the snowdrops peeking out of the ground!!!  I was sooooo excited, the first flowers of spring! That makes my heart sing!  I love the springtime!  It is such a time of hope and promise and a time for life to start anew!  The thaw of the ground brings to us the promise of daffodils and hyacinth and the yellows and pinks of the stately tulips! Spring... a time for us to come out of our winter hybernation and stretch our arms [...]

There are days when you know, you just know that God's love is coming through to you despite the static noise that seems to surround you. As I work through some difficult times in my life these last few weeks, a woman named Donna appeared to help me.  I have never met her in person, she is thousands of miles away, yet over the last week, I feel like we have grown to know each other.  For all the negativity one woman had given me, Donna trumped all of it.  She took the time to understand what was going on, [...]

The snow blankets the earth.  The street lights illuminate the snow casting shadows on the ground. Barely a car on the road, nor a plane in the sky. Time for quietude.  Time to calm the spirit. Time for peace.  The house is still, just the sound of the dryer can be heard.  Even the cats are nestled amongst the blankets on the couch.Wintertime. A season for slowing down.  A season for reflecting on all that is important to us.  A season for hibernating into ourselves, discovering who we truly are and what we might want to become. The quiet invites [...]

Prayer is sometimes the last thing we do when we feel we are at a crossroads in life. Why is that? Why isn't it the first thing we do? Because we think we can handle it on our own? Because we think we don't need the assistance of a Higher power?Well.  There has been more times than I can count when I got down on my hands and needs and prayed for guidance, for answers, for help, for the healing of someone I loved, for the right decision to come to me. Prayer is a very powerful tool.  It says [...]

 Five years ago, I began my journey as student of many teachers such as Bob Proctor, Abraham Hicks, James Allen, Wallace Wattles, Napolean Hill, Julia Cameron and Tony Robbins. Each morning I  write my morning pages as Julia Cameron encourged me to do and I read and I read and I read as so many others motivate me to do.  And I listen to you tube videos, DVD's and CD's.  I feed my mind, every day! for at least an hour or two a day.  And.. it was five years ago my life began to change.Then  almost two years ago, I [...]

The sound of the rain.   The streetlights illuminate the clear droplets of water dripping down the window pane giving them a bit of sparkle. The harsh pounding on the rooftop awakens you as the storm comes through in the middle of the night.  Lighting is seen far off in the distance over the lake waters.  The daytime thunder claps like a magnificent orchestra instrument while the waters rush through the streets of the town. A good book, our favorite chair, a warm cup of tea with honey, a blanket over our lap and the softness of the rain takes us to a place of peace and comfort.The light [...]

Where does it come from?  Its comes as a whisper, a flower seen in the most unusual of places, a smile from a stranger, a picture in a magazine ,an incredible meal you just ate at a newly discovered, out of the way restaurant or the sound of a rainstorm beating against the rooftop.These daily occurrences invoke the artist within us.  The painter, the chef, the writer, the composer/musician.When the inspiration comes its much like the German and Swiss painter, Paul Klee states here:                     Everything vanishes around me, and works are born as if out of the void.                        Ripe, graphic fruits fall [...]

Yesterday morning I was listening to one of my favorite motivational speakers and coach - Tony Robbins.   I find his energy infectious and he always inspires me to dream big and believe that anything is possible! I would love to meet him one day. One of Tony's blogs has him interviewing a woman who is 108 years old!  She tells her story of how she survived the German concentration camps because of her God given talent as a pianist. I would recommend everyone listen to this conversation between them because Alice is truly someone we should all strive to be like! [...]

So, I was sitting with a friend for lunch this past weekend and he loves to harrass me about blogging.  He asks me constantly, "what is the point of that anyway?"  "Is it just for people to ramble off their random thoughts?"  I laughed at him as he challenged me to write about coffee.  I thought to myself ok!  Coffee is one of my favorite things in life, why not!So, this blog is dedicated to you my friend Joe.  Coffee.  What does it represent to all of us?  To me, it represents a warm, comforting feeling that is my companion [...]