Welcome to Everyday Creation, a show about living our purpose, lifting our vibes and, for this episode, creating our purpose as we go.

In this short essay, I talk about an exercise for the mind that centers on the idea that everyone has an inner light that's available to us whenever we want it.

I'm no expert, but I've learned and grown a lot over the years and am pleased to offer you this bit of spiritual wisdom. Some of my Everyday Creation essays will touch on similar themes, and I will share them with you when they're ready. For now, please enjoy this mental exercise. I find it quite soothing.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

Marla Grant is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist and Founding Affiliate Leader of Helping Parents Heal Tampa. She helps parents who have experienced child loss, as well as individuals who are grieving other types of losses, move “from heartache to healing.”

She also teaches Mental Fitness Mastery as a Certified Positive Intelligence Coach to help clients infuse their world with more kindness and empathy and less judgment and stress.

In this extraordinary interview, which covers physical loss and spiritual connection, Marla shares what she's learned and how she's grown from the loss of three of her children. She encourages individuals who have experienced grief to seek help and support, and to know that healing is possible.

She says that personal responsibility, acceptance and willingness (PAW for short) all were important for her own healing. To learn more, please listen to the episode and visit Marla's website.

You also can find her on Instagram and Facebook under Inspired Grief Recovery.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

Jared Gleaton is the author of “A Feast for the Senses: The Psychological Art of Eating Well.” He also hosts “Jared Gleaton Eats” on YouTube.

A school psychologist in Skiatook, Okla., Jared applies his professional expertise to writing about food and reviewing restaurants. One of his goals is to help people expand their palates to appreciate different kinds of dishes and preparations, and, in so doing, perhaps overcome biases in other aspects of their lives too.

In this interview, he shares his experiences with food growing up with his father, an unabashed "pie fiend." Jared didn't have his father's metabolism, though, and found himself gaining a lot of weight. He talks about how he lost the excess pounds eight years ago and has kept them off, and says he hopes that sharing his story will help others who also want to improve their relationship with food.

“A Feast for the Senses: The Psychological Art of Eating Well” is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. It comes in audio and ebook as well.

And here's a link to "Jared Gleaton Eats." Enjoy the "Feast."

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

Scarlett Lam and Mindy Lee, creators of the children's board book "THE LIGHT," believe that together we can make the world a little bit brighter, one light at a time.

Their delightful book evolved from that belief and from their commitment to help kids — and adults who are kids at heart — realize that they're awesome just the way they are.

It's an empowering message that's being received very well given that the book is now in its second print run.

To buy your own copy, go to readthelight.com. Scarlett is offering 10% off with the code EVERYDAYCREATION10, good through the end of 2024.

On the website, there's a listing of stores that carry the book. If you want any of your favorite stores to carry it too, please reach out to Scarlett. She'll be happy to contact them.

Also, check out Scarlett's Instagram and TikTok posts, and see more of Mindy's work on her Instagram account.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

At age 23, American classical pianist Van Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition during the Cold War after winning a gold medal in the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958. The Russians absolutely loved his playing.

Astrologer Christine Rakela, the author of "My Private Relationship with Van Cliburn," says that he was not only one of the greatest pianists in history, he was a wonderful person who sought to bring out the spirituality of classical music. The two became dear friends based on mutual trust and good moral values.

Cliburn's mother was his adviser for much of his life. After she died, Christine took on that advisory role when some of her clients, who knew Cliburn personally, recommended her.

Christine describes him as a gentleman who went the extra mile for people and who always did his best for audience members, who included concert-goers around the world, heads of state, royalty, and U.S. Presidents.

He also was a social being who had celebrity friends, including the actress Angie Dickinson.

In this episode, Christine talks about how she used astrology to guide Cliburn in his career and other important areas of his life. She says that astrology is a tool that can help people make the most of their lives.

She also talks about her previous career as a ballet dancer as well as her 22 years as producer and host of "Astrology Connection," which aired on Manhattan Cable.

Christine's final conversation with Cliburn took place on February 15, 2013. Two days later, he had dinner with Dickinson; his attorney; and his assistant. That evening marked the end of what was a busy social time for Cliburn, despite his having a terminal illness. He died on Feb. 27, 2013.

To learn more about Van Cliburn and his legacy, visit The Cliburn website. The Cliburn is another name for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas, and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. You also can check out Cliburn's biography on Wikipedia.

Christine is a professional astrologer certified by the National Council for Geocosmic Research. You can learn more about her, as well as buy a copy of "My Private Relationship with Van Cliburn," on her website. The book is available on Amazon too. The photo on the book's cover was used courtesy of The Cliburn. You'll see the cover pictured in several of this episode's chapters.

Christine also wrote "Traveling By The Stars" and "The Love Relationship Formula," which you can find on her website.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

Troubled by all the tension and divisiveness? Here’s a humble offering in the form of a visualization/meditation that may help ease our stress.

It begins with holding ourselves and our surroundings in the highest light, and ends with love and gratitude. In between, it's short yet expansive, and kind of sweet.

Hope it helps.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

I like products that are elevated by a higher mission and better-than-usual ingredients. That is definitely true of a line of canned cocktails made with fresh juice and no artificial sugar or preservatives. They've got a great taste and a kick too, with 12% alcohol by volume.

Created by siblings Alison and Steven Cravens, North Shore Crafted Cocktails launched in summer 2023 with the able assistance of their parents, Katie and Cliff Cravens, who own a gastropub in Hudson, Ohio.

I interviewed the younger Cravens a couple of months after the launch last year, but since this is the first full summer that their product line has been in a growing number of stores and even some restaurants, and because a cocktail on ice is such a perfect summer beverage for those who imbibe, I thought I'd revisit the interview.

I'm glad I did because it was great fun hearing again about their creative process and how much they learned and grew from it.

Right now, North Shore Crafted Cocktails come in two flavors and are sold only in Northeast Ohio and Columbus. The Cravens have plans to expand both the product line and the places where it's available. They're already looking into Florida and the East Coast, along with other parts of Ohio.

To find out more, you can go to the North Shore Crafted Cocktails website, which has a list of the places that sell four-packs of the Pomegranate Martini or the El Diablo Margatini canned cocktails.

And here's a link to an interview that aired Aug. 2, 2023 on the New Day Cleveland morning show on Fox 8. It's enjoyable, and the host gave the drinks a rave review.

Finally, here's a link to Lager & Vine, the restaurant owned by the Cravens family.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.

Seasonal musings on bluebirds, connection and happiness.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify and Audible.