Out of the Box: A Soul's Surprising Journey by Barbara Lucerne Woolley

Out of the Box: A Soul's Surprising Journey by Barbara Lucerne Woolley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Out of the Box by Barbara Lucerne Woolley is a guide book for the soul with beautiful lessons on each and every page. It is also a memoir, since all the experiences and lessons learned either happened to the author directly or were told to her by teachers and mentors she sought out. These two halves fit together to make a beautiful whole because of Woolley's nature. She is an amazingly open woman – open to the messages around all of us every day and open to sharing those experiences with her readers. It was a wonderful experience to be one of those readers.

The book, which has the full title of Out of the Box: A Soul's Surprising Journey, starts out by describing the complications of the author's birth and the complications of her relationship with her parents. Barbara's mother did not have time to bond with her in the days that followed the birth because Barbara had to stay in the hospital while her mother was sent home. This fact impacted their relationship for years. Her relationship with her father was also strained, but the latter case was the result of an event in a past life they had shared. This is a good example of the way Woolley mixes facts from the physical world with facts from the spirit world without emphasizing one over the other. I like the way she does that.

Barbara travels all over the world in search of spiritual understanding. Her experiences take place in Brazil, Canada, Turkey, India, Bosnia, across the United States, and in countless other locations. At each place, Woolley finds mentors and teachers who guide her in ways she and her readers aren't always expecting. Their teachings are Christian, Buddhist, Pantheist, Native American, and countless other traditions. Yet everything we learn through her writing seems to bring home a similar theme of our need for peace and love. Here's how Woolley expresses the choice:

Without doubt, the self- and seemingly other-created non-love energies that slide into our fields are our responsibility to expunge through love, whether we like it or not. If we do not take this responsibility seriously, we will find ourselves in deep trouble.

Barbara Lucerne Woolley is someone who is seeking a greater understanding of life. Her book, Out of the Box, is a perfect read for others on the same mission.


View all my reviews