Emily and Bella and the Missing Puzzle: Book 1

"Emily and Bella. Two friends who found each other shortly after Emily's big move. Bella is thrilled to have a new friend. Join the girls on their first adventure together as they find Bella's Missing Puzzle."

Great for ages 6-10, this short -inch 7-chapter paperback is the first in the Emily and Bella series. A wonderful story of friendship, it is told through the eyes of one who is also between 6 and 10 years old. Written and co-illustrated by the very young author C.S. Binnie, this is her very first book.

Emily and Bella Meet the Fairies: Book 2

"In Book 2, Emily and Bella come together again for a new adventure. This time, it begins with some new firsts for Bella and an unexpected surprise for both girls. Join the girls on this new adventure together as they Meet the Fairies."

Great for ages 6-10, this short 6x9-inch 7-chapter paperback / e-book is the second in the Emily and Bella series, with slightly longer chapters. As their friendship develops through another adventure, it is told through the eyes of a fellow 6 and 10 year old.
Written and co-illustrated by the very young author C.S. Binnie, this is her second book.

Author’s Reading Events

Want to hear from our author yourself? Join us on Saturday 2nd May 2026 • 2pm • for the very first reading of an Emily and Bella book on the series.

Click here to learn more about the Family Reading Circle, Festival Edition www.bocaslitfest.com/participant/c-s-binnie

Hosted as a part of the 2026 Bocas Lit Fest festival, this year.

About the Author - C.S. Binnie

C.S. Binnie is a young and imaginative author ready to share her first two books with the world. She wrote the first draft of each book within two days. She finds inspiration in the most unique places.

Her books, “Emily and Bella and the Missing Puzzle: Book 1” and “Emily and Bella Meet the Fairies: Book 2”, were both written in 2025 and published in 2026. She believes many her age will appreciate seeing themselves in these characters.

To ensure she gets to keep enjoying her childhood in private, her parents have opted to use a logo and alias.

Learn more about our young author and what she’s writing by clicking here, CSB Creations.

Where to Buy Your Copies

You can order directly from my website, individually or both copies, by clicking here - Books by C.S. Binnie. You can also find them on Amazon and Amazon Canada. When they’re in bookstores, we will update that information here.

Have a great day!

I know it’s been a while. I hope you and yours are well, and that you and your generations are blessed in love, joy and an abundance of what you deeply want and need, for generations.

Erasing the Purpose of the Women's Liberation Movement by focusing on the Capitalist Agenda

Video, Instagram: instagram.com/reel/DPfePw8DGrd

In this video, this snapshot of the conversation erased the whole women's liberation movement by focusing on who funded it, rather than who started it and why. They focus on the fact that they “got women to work”, so they could:

• tax the whole population, instead of half,

• get children into schools earlier for ease of indoctrination, and

• what I didn't hear here, but I know was a part of the agenda for funding the movement, get more people into factories

All of which are the goals of capitalism, and destroys the family.

Funny, they never mention how they drove everyone off of farms through other funded propaganda, to destroy the family, by first taking fathers out of the home.

The Reason for the Movement

What they never highlighted was the Women's Movement itself and why it was started even before there was funding, was to ensure that:

• women were not actually regarded as “people” with rights before that.

• no capacity to own property, businesses,

• no laws or rights to stop their husbands (or anyone) from r*ping them, and so much more

And this has been happening lately with everything under the sun. I even heard someone ask if slavery was even real, one day. And I thought, “wow, the propaganda machine is not at all a conspiracy theory, but an actual conspiracy.” Sigh.

The Rockefellers (and others) may have funded it for their own reasons, including advancing capitalism, but at any table, people have multiple agenda. It doesn't change the fact that the reason women formed this movement, and therefore accepted the funding, was because they were not treated with the same basic human rights the men who “owned” them had, before women's liberation. They took the support they got to get so many women out of abusive situations. Conversations like these never mention the lives saved by the women’s liberation movement. Sadly, even with law changes, we’re still facing some of the same challenges today.

So sure, the capitalist bankers propagandized the movement for their own reasons, but the movement was already running quietly underground for different reasons, but who funded it doesn't change that the movement was needed.

Sadly, they are shifting the focus to those funding agenda instead of staying focused on the issues that the movement was meant to resolve.

But I hope you don't fall for it.

Another Agenda to Beware of

I very firmly stand against the notion in the movement today that says feminism obliges us all to aspire to be CEO’s, single professionals, etcetera. To me, that is yet another co-opting of the movement for another agenda.

I wholly endorse the lens that states the women’s liberation movement is about attaining freedom for all women to choose how we want to live. From the CEO to the stay-at-home mom who shares the domestic labour with her husband, or not.

May you not let the propaganda today skew your lens on matters. May you always see clearly the issues, without being distracted my emotive frills layered over them to erase them or create division.

Feminism, not the Feminine

I must make it clear, though, that feminism and the feminine are not the same.

For more on the feminine, feel free to explore my blog posts in the Feminine category, including “Phases of the Feminine”, “Beauty and Authenticity”, “Pay Equity and Our Inner Dialogue” and more. My lenses have changed a bit about work and money, since writing some of these, but they still share the essence of the feminine on my journey.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves.

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at CrystalMarieSealy.com

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Crystal-Marie Sealy 🪷

crystalmariesealy.com

I wrote this just for social media at first, because I had just been seeing this in too many places, and wanted to make sure I lent support and affirmation to those who already realize that Joy teaches deeply, or those who are traumatized by the over-glorification of suffering.

Then, as I sat with this a bit more, I thought it helpful to share this:

Children learn:

• to love themselves the way we love them.

• to see the good in others because we see the good in them.

• to solve problems, eat well, make healthy choices, do what is wise, and so much more, because they see us do that. And because they feel confident when they learn to do these things, themselves.

The same is true of children raised in environments full of suffering, especially if the primary caregiver(s) endorse that environment.

If we cannot, then, see that it is a traumatized community that sells “suffering is the greatest path to growth”, then we miss what is really going on. We learn how we learned as children.

My invitation, if you're healing, but have somehow bought into this story that over-glorifies suffering, may you stick with it long enough to come out the other side. To find the growth that joy brings, too. Beyond childhood, may you also look back and see the growth that has already come, for you, through joy in even your adult past. It's all there to see if we choose to pay attention.

If you already think something seems off about this notion that growth comes primarily through suffering, then I hope this post helps affirms your intuitive insight.

Wherever you are, as you are today, may you embrace what resonates and release what does not. In all things you come across in life. As you grow, what resonates and does not may change, but it also may not. May you honour where you are now.

And if you think I'm exaggerating about how important it is that you learn this, here's just how far this notion of “suffering brings growth above all else” can go… I hope you listen until the end. The second half is most critical: facebook.com/share/v/1BMwvVntoS

As you expand through true authenticity and self-discovery, you will better know your intrinsic values and beliefs. And that will be your greatest compass in this life, both in trusting intrinsic wisdom and recognizing when external information is real.

In love, light and shadow, may we live embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

~ Crystal-Marie Sealy 🪷

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at CrystalMarieSealy.com

This month, June, is “Read Caribbean” month — celebrated by the Caribbean diaspora all over the world, and online, using the hashtag #readcaribbean. If you follow these folks on social media, you’ll find a lot of other books spanning every genre:

• @troplitcreatives | @allbookduptt | @paperbasedbookshop | @scribbles_and(underscore)quills | @bocaslitfest | and of course @readcaribbean

Check out these books by Caribbean authors that I have read — children’s books and (as soon as I can) longer books. I will try to keep updating this list. Enjoy!

If you’re an author, check out @troplitcreatives for promotion opportunities.

Children’s Books by Caribbean Authors

My Children’s Books

Find me on Instagram at @crystalmariesealy, and click on any of the books below to learn more. The first and last are available at Paper Based Bookshop and they are all available on Amazon. Remember to follow me and the other authors on Goodreads, if you’re there. Check out the Caribbean Goodreads book list here!

Books by the young author C.S. Binnie

Meet Emily and Bella. As you dive into this short-chapter series by the young author C.S. Binnie, you’ll be exploring the world and fun realms with the friends Emily and Bella. So far, there are two books in this series, written in 2025 and published in 2026. The images below take you to My Bookstore to learn more, but you can find these on Amazon as well - just click here.

Other Children’s Books We’ve Loved

We also enjoyed “Alphabet Adventure in Trinidad and Tobago”, book 1 of the ABCulture Collection, and it’s colouring books, by Nikisha Watson (on Instagram, @thisisrealmama).

“Take an educational journey with two boys, Patrick and Joe, as they explore the beautiful twin island of Trinidad and Tobago.
They learn about food, animals, places of interest and cultural events for each letter of the alphabet.
A fun, descriptive and informative adventure awaits!“

Available at her website, abculturecollection.com (scroll past code to see books) and on Amazon.

“Adventures of Nelly: Spring Vale” by Kristina T. Morgan (on Instagram as @adven.turesofnelly.

“This beautifully illustrated picture book is the first in a series of adventures of a black girl, Nelly, in the Jamaican countryside. It offers a representation not often told. It provides a unique view to expose children to growing up in the Caribbean. Set in Jamaica around the 1980s. Each page carries the innocence, freedom, and sweet nostalgia of the kind of childhood that every child should enjoy. This story is filled with happiness, love and community.”

Read this to my little one years ago, and still enjoy visualizing Nelly’s adventure today.
Available on Amazon.

“Zeee” by Sheetal Daswani, Christine Rostant (Illustrator) and Ami Aqui (Creative Director) is one we got as a gift when my little one was really little.

“Zeee is a soulful tale for dreamers, doers and discoverers. The story takes young wanderers on a whimsical adventure that captures the magic and dreams inside every child's mind. This 100% Invented-in-the-Caribbean gem, is beautifully inspired and powerful.“

Available on Amazon.

“Tommy the Shark” by Miranda Dookran (on Instagram @mirandacollectiontt) is one we discovered at the Bocas Lit Fest, where she really engaged the crowd.

“In this enchanting story, Tommy the Shark in a quest to find his mother, goes on an adventure of the beautiful island of Tobago. Tommy discovers lovely beaches and several sea creatures along the way. Tommy wants to be accepted for who he is and would like people to recognize that he adds value to the marine ecological system. Learn the lyrics to a lovely marine song when Tommy finally reunites with his mother.“

Available at Paper Based Bookshop and on Amazon.

“Ready. SET. HATCH!” by Jeunanne Alkins (on Instagram @jeunanne), fellow author and illustrator, is another one we got as a gift when my little one was really young, from her Uncle. We also met her at the Bocas Lit Fest. A truly warm soul.

“Hatch is a competitive little Leatherback Turtle. He and his tiny hatchling brothers and sisters are racing wildly to crack out of their eggs and be first to get to the sea. Crisis arises as the nearby river breaks its banks, flooding the nest. Narrated by Hatch, this charming story teaches the young turtles a lesson about teamwork - they discover that unless they work together, no one will get out of the crumbling mess!“

Available at Scribbles and Quills, Paper Based Bookshop, Caboodle Gifts and on Amazon.

“Good Boy, Milo” by Alyssa Bierzynski (on Instagram @alybiz), Elizabeth Lander (Illustrator) is another one we loved when we discovered it at the Bocas Lit Fest. Alyssa is also another warm soul.

“When Milo the dog finds a kite stuck in his favourite mango tree, he knows he has to help it get back to the sky with its friends. There’s just one problem; Milo does not know how to fly a kite. Will Milo ever get the kite to fly? Good Boy Milo is a children’s picture book written by Alyssa Bierzynski and illustrated by Elizabeth Lander.“

Available at Scribbles and Quills, on her website, alybiz.myshopify.com/products/good-boy-milo and on Amazon.

Plus, check out the list of children’s authors who read at the Family Reading Circle for this year’s Bocas Lit Fest. And through June

Please feel free to share what you’ve read and loved by children’s book authors in the Caribbean — in the comments here or on my posts about this blogpost on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn!

More Books by Caribbean Authors (soon)

Ran out of time creating this post. Some of my fellow Moms (and Dads) will understand that there’s a window when we get to do these things, when we’re raising out little ones full-time. I’ll come back to update the list with longer books as soon as I can. My little one is also writing her own books, now, so stay tuned for those as well!

Always, my invitation is to embrace what resonates, and release what does not. To that end, here’s a reminder to read what you can digest, to ensure that your mind remains your own. Plus, if your little one loves reading, here’s:

• A general reading list I had created for 7-year-olds — click here.

• A catalogue of my own books, as well as my bookstore - catalogue here and bookstore here.

Have fun curling up cozy with your next book!

—
Crystal-Marie

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves.

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at CrystalMarieSealy.com

It's tempting to stay in the liberating energy of releasing the burden of beliefs and values that were never yours, and it's important to stay as long as you need to.

Still, in this exhilaration, unless we had developed self-trust and intuition in advance, it's easy for us to then mistake new beliefs and values that we like (or think we like) as our inate truth.

My invitation here, is to:

1. Enjoy them! Enjoy the ride, be where you are on your journey, and try on those beliefs and values for as long as you'd like.

2. Go deeper. Self-discovery takes as long as it takes. Once you feel that "I wonder", it's time to explore a bit further. Are they mine? Or do I just like them?

I keep waiting for the right light and stuff to do videos, but I've lost several key messages waiting, so while I'm still not promising consistency, I'll be sharing when the message lands, and I get the time to share 🪷✨❤️

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

Crystal-Marie Sealy

crystalmariesealy.com

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at CrystalMarieSealy.com

I wrote about this briefly here, in 2023, but I have always wanted to dive a bit deeper. As Self is one of my main topics, I am sure to dive even deeper as time goes by, but I thought it was worth discussing in the way that I did in the following 2-part video series. I hope you find inspiration here to honour your healing journey of self-discovery, even as you hold the goal of a loving, healed global community in your heart and energy field. Welcome. As always, in all things, my invitation remains to embrace what resonates and release what does not. Something that gets easier and easier over time, as we develop self-trust and intuition.

My blog isn’t viewed often, so while the second video is largely only available to my Patreon Members, if you happen to land here, I hope both videos spoke to you deeply.

As we navigate an ever-changing world, I hope listening to this has brought you back home to the truth that a healthy community is born of healthy individuals, and that the healthy Self is absolutely what’s needed for us all to thrive. If you study ecology, you would understand the harmony and balance that allows our world to thrive. We are not separate from that. Once we stop fearing the ‘anarchy’ we are told would arise if we allowed everyone to be themselves, we would see the magic that unfolds:

• solutions to actual (not manufactured) problems,

• ideas that can never be born under duress,

• creations that can only come from a mind not governed by profit to feed their families

Magic that comes from each person healing in their own way, at their own pace, from a highly toxic system, to become their whole, healed selves. It is here that we will see the wonder of what comes when self-love overflows.

In love, light and shadow (not toxicity, but healthy shadow), embracing all aspects of ourselves.

Crystal-Marie Sealy

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at CrystalMarieSealy.com

I use dating for lack of a better term...

I generally speak on life matters we encounter around my keynote, Authenticity for Gentle Resilience. I do not generally speak about relationships.

Still, as my content is called "Conversations with Crystal-Marie", and dating came up in this conversation about authenticity, I thought it would be supportive to those of like minds, to share on it.

In today's video, I'm speaking on that type of authenticity in dating - specifically on the forced silence around simply stating that you're dating with the end goal of finding your life companion / long-term relationship / getting married.

In this video, I speak to the natural magnetic capacity to attract the right partner and repel those not aligned (I didn't say it so eloquently), when we're honest about why we're dating in the first place. It's warped, now that I think about it, that we're told to mask even that!

If you've been criticised for simply saying this, may you find support here. ❤️

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

As always, may you embrace what resonates and release what doesn't, here and always. ❤️

(This sat in drafts since May 9th, of this year.)

About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at CrystalMarieSealy.com

As we step into October, with the New Moon Annular eclipse on the 2nd, I release all that is not, who are not, loving me on the path I've chosen. I welcome all that is, and those who are."
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Crystal-Marie Sealy

Sounds simple, but for those truly living this, you know that it is big. For me, as I move to a place that I lived in before, now with clearer boundaries and my own innate goals, I find freedom in the reminder that I'm back here to lead a very different life in this beautiful place.

Warmer, more loving people, experiences, spaces, food choices. Even as I see those who are manipulating to try to put me back where they had me before, I find myself celebrating the clarity they help provide, of who stays and who goes. What stays and what goes. And why. ❤️✨

I'm thankful for the wisdom showing up, the synchronicity, the loving people showing up as I repeatedly choose myself and my daughter. And I love the space that creates to slow down and be mindful of what we are feeling, so we can get clear on our goals, boundaries, needs, etcetera.

May this beautiful October Magic ✨ bring you the space, time and energy to find and stand firmly, gently, in ease, flow, love and abundance, to create the life that you truly, innately want.

And so it is. ❤️🪷

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time homeschooling mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

If you have a little reader, writer, creator, builder, too, here are a few books we've loved, and a few her friends have. Not everything is listed here, of course, as there are so many. [Updated: March 2026]

Some of these are for younger children, some a bit older, but they're what my recently 7-year-old enjoys or has enjoyed over the years. She loves joke books, too, but none are listed here. She's writing her own list of jokes these days.

Inspired by a Mom's post asking for series' to inspire her little reader, not in order of favourites:

• "Little Blue Truck" series by Schertle McElmurray.

• "Penguin and Pinecone" and the full Penguin series by Salina Yoon.

• "Dragon Masters" chapter book series by Tracey West. One from an almost 9-year-old boy.

• “Mr. Noisy and the Silent Night” from the "Mr. Men and Little Miss" series by Roger Hargreaves.

• "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children", and "Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children” by Crystal-Marie Sealy , two I wrote, illustrated and self-published for her.

• “The Mermaid Moon” by Briony May Smith.

• "Scaredy Squirrel" series by Mélanie Watt.

• "Ty's Travels" series by Kelly Starling Lyons, a part of the ‘My First. I Can Read’ book series’.

• "Stories for Girls” and “Stories for Boys" by Tiger Tales.

• “Emily and Bella and the Missing Puzzle: Book 1” and “Emily and Bella Meet the Fairies: Book 2”, is a series by young author C.S. Binnie, each have seven (7) short chapters, meant for 6-10 year-olds. The author is within that age range too!

• "Owl Diaries" and “Unicorn Diaries” chapter book series’ by Rebecca Elliot. Owl Diaries is about school, and even though we homeschool, it's still fun. Not loving the “unicorns have no parents” but, but generally okay so far.

• “Sunday the Sea Witch” by Andrea Stein & Cayce Matteoli, along with some other lovely ones from Moon Dust Press.

Other longer chapter books we like and read together, but are longer chapter books:

• "Zoe and Sassafras" chapter book series by Asia Citro.

• “Rainbow Magic Rainbow Fairies: Books #1-4: Ruby the Red Fairy, Amber the Orange Fairy, Sunny the Yellow Fairy, Fern the Green Fairy” by a group of people under the alias Daisy Meadows. There are 7 in this series, but there is also the Ocean Fairies, and many more. https://a.co/d/fkDDxFt

• "The Thea Stilton and the Thea Sisters" longer chapter book series' by Thea Stilton. *These are mice, so if you don't like mice…*

I’ve tried to add links directly to the authors as much as I could, so you’ll see those links above.

They're longer and take more stamina and focus than she wants to invest at this stage, understandably, so enjoying that we still get to do this together.

Have fun reading!

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, BSc, is a dedicated full-time homeschooling mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

Economy disrupts the innate flow, the cosmic dance, of the divine feminine and the divine masculine , here on Earth. Imagine if it left." --- Crystal-Marie Sealy

As always, my invitation remains, embrace what resonates, release what doesn't (on social media, scroll past), in honour of your peace of mind. ❤️

As my heart awakens, again, to encompass more of my #femininessemce , ever #mother of course, but welcoming again the voices of my #maoden (play), #enchantress (magical mysterious, sensual, intuitive, vivacious, audacious, alive), and my #crone (wise woman, shaman, witch) - know that all are present at each phase of our lives, some in greater ratio depending on the stage or experience - I awaken too, to the environment, the world, around me.

Empath by gift, introvert, often reflective, I do this dance of pulling my energy back within to hear and honour my inner world, so that it is self-love that overflows, rather than the loop of feeding off whatever energy I run into. No, not codependence and all the other labels we're lately being taught empaths have. Simply a higher awareness of energy around.

This could have been a journal entry, absolutely. But the overflow of self-love has allowed me to hear the echoes of this quote above in my feminine sisters, and to honour them by sharing here - with them and with the divine masculine who feel this too.

As I awaken in these other aspects of my being, I am aware that as long as we need money to eat, sleep, have shelter and meet our needs, there is this unspoken chasm between us, of reproductive age:

• ✓ Once you become a Mom who realizes how much her children need her, you realize the trap of the term "gold digger" - because in the economy, you need a partner that can provide financially for you and the children, so that you can focus on them as needed. AND

• ✓ Once men realize the cost of living, that society has told men (they don't tell women, except to label them “gold diggers”) they're nothing if they can't provide for a family financially, they can't get married until... AND

• ✓ Women forego having children for the other traps set by this same toxic system, not of their own biological desire, but through cognitive dissonance and rationalization. All to ensure they have enough money moving through the system - without their knowledge of course. (I have friends who genuinely have, so their choice was not taken from them. I'm not speaking about those lucky ones.)

So then they spark the flames of blaming, so men are inept and women are gold diggers, and so it goes unless we distort ourselves, and pretend we're fine, for the economic system to thrive. All, unbeknownst to us, of course.

So much is toxic about this system, and the mental health challenges that had begun to show up well before 2020, are all based on exactly that. All the distortion, cognitive dissonance and ideas of scarcity / fear meant to keep us in line, are now making us crack, making us useless to the very system that needs us to thrive… OR is it?

What if?

What if we're not falling apart? What if we're simply waking up, and authenticity is all we can exude, now? What if our bodies, hearts and minds can no longer “survive” being out of alignment, and that is what's being expressed as a large percentage of mental health cases today?

Many I've never heard say out loud, are now saying, work is no longer fulfilling - men, because they want more genuine adventure, and women because they want more time with their children. They're admitting it out loud, where they didn't before. The heart is speaking now, above the manufactured obligations and the idea that “anyone not producing (profit) in society is wasting space”. There are cafés now dedicated to people who, instead of reading, listen to other people's stories. For what we're finally realizing is genuine human connection! There are more homesteaders and homeschool communities and spheres of people who realize the current model is off.

What if it were Free to Live Here?

What if transaction didn't exist, and we discovered that Earth is abundant? What would relationships look like?

Well, some food for thought:

• ✓ The debate about who should stay at home to raise the baby, would disappear. Both parents will be actively involved, based on their biological design. Nurturer and adventurer - even if both are present in both parents, I never knew until becoming a mother, just how concrete and real the role that solely a mother does best.

• ✓ The financial aspect of choosing a partner fades, to focus on real traits of compatibility of beliefs, values and more.

• ✓ As in my earlier blog posts, https://crystalmariesealy.com/blog/human-nature-before-living-for-free-on-earth-2023-4-17 and https://crystalmariesealy.com/blog/what-if-my-vision-living-free-on-earth-2022-5-6 we would create according to our own innate rhythms and it will be just what is needed when it is created. Children, innovation, philosophy, all would be born from a place of innate wisdom, creativity and will meet our local and global community's needs organically. No creating demand, no high productivity under pressure of profit. Just ease and flow, in our natural rest-leisure-inspiration-create-receive-rest cycle.

This is an oversimplification of things, of course, which I do not appreciate, so I make sure to say when it happens. Still, it captures some basics that I think will create a spark in like minds, as we step into creating a world where that is not just possible, but where it simply is.

As both of the earlier blog posts imply, there will be a period of time where burnout and overwhelm means nothing gets done for a while, and some may become angry for a while, but as we heal, and come into alignment, overflowing self-love into the world, we begin to heal the entire environment too - not just ecologically, but energetically, spiritually, emotionally, physically and so much more.

If you let yourself dream, what else do you see coming out of a world, healed of the fading system’s toxicity, leaving transaction behind in honour of this possibility?

For now…

Until it's fully free, allow the love energy that uses wealth for now to bring in your abundance, do so. I simply invite you to remain open, to continue visualizing, the healing ease and flow of living for free on Earth.

P.S. I honour feminism, at its root, as it's saved many of us (not all of us) from a life where marriage was based on money, and women were property. It may have been co-opted in some ways now, but it truly served us well.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

P.S. Inspired this Instagram Post https://www.instagram.com/p/C9ynoiXudo3

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About Crystal-Marie Sealy

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated full-time mom, part-time virtual keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her children's books, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children" and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children“, have gotten rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. She has since published “My Journal for Gentle Ease Flow and Abundance” in two colours, and “Hang The Flowers” as an alternative to Hang man. Crystal-Marie's business talks invite mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Connect with Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

A great bulk-order gift if you’re hosting an inspirational or motivational conferences, events or retreats, for audiences of like-mind, as well as for individuals like you and me. If you are already on board, in your values and beliefs, with the ideas that:

• life can and should be easy,

• life is meant to flow,

• life on planet Earth is one of true abundance, and

• life can indeed be lived gently,

This journal was created for you. Some of this you will find as you open the pages of your new 6”x9” soft-padded, hardcover journal, in the 1-paged Preface. Some, I thought I’d share here, so that you get a better sense of the energy this journal is intended to inspire. Welcome!

For everyone of writing age, ready to journal and create abundance, I have listed these journals as suitable ages 5 and over. Cheers to creating the life you want, in gentle ease and flow.

Inspiration for My Journal for Gentle Ease, Flow and Abundance

My Journal for Gentle Ease, Flow and Abundance is based on my own desire to stay present and thankful for what has already shown up in my experience. When I live this, it has a deep impact on the experiences I attract. As I make this practice routine, I attract more of what I want in my life.

My own experience with the universal laws including the Law of Attraction, feminine energy, individual sovereignty and more, along with my desire to continue living in the present, not the past or the future, lead me to primarily two ideas that changed how I journal and meditate.

The first is from Oliver Niño, Spiritual Activator (on Instagram), who invites us to change our thinking before bed, as whatever energy you go to sleep in, you expand. As you wake up is great too. It suggests focusing on gratitude, but with a different lens.

The second is from Justin Perry, Founder of “You Are Creators” (on YouTube, plus), who invites us to snap ourselves into the energy of the life we want in a way that truly comes from a place of ease. Justin Perry also creates something called Askfirmations. Beautiful concept that I’ve worked into one of my journal prompts.

How Will You Use It?

As with everything else, I embrace what works and release what does not. I invite the same approach across the board, for me and all I encounter. So with these two amazing sources of inspirations, the same applies. Some of what they share resonates, some does not, but I truly am thankful for their being, as it landed me here.

The Moon-covered journal was the original template, and then my daughter inspired me to create the Sun-covered journal. Moon for evening journaling, Sun for morning, each can be used however you desire. There are literally only three prompts in each, and they are only recorded on one page in each journal. I wanted to ensure that I leave room for, if you’re like me, meandering minds and long-winded musings, as well as not control those of us who journal more concisely.

While these journals are intended to support you in coming back to what matters as you create the life you truly desire by directing your thoughts and emotions, I love that the space available can be used for any range of emotions, thoughts and needs you may have. Sometimes, finding alignment and positive vibrations means facing, healing and releasing the hurts, fears and anger that have created our abundance blocks, before we can wind our way back onto the path of unconditional love, gentle ease, flow and abundance.

May this support your journey exactly as you desire.

Sharing our successes?

Thank you for joining me on this journey! I’m using a Moon Journal as I write this, but as with a lot of us who journal, I am not at all consistent. I can tell you, though, that when I do, I truly to see the magic of our power as creators, in my life. If you follow me on Instagram, Patreon or YouTube, you’ll see a few of my videos on My Journal there. I’ll try to share moments more often, but here’s what I’ve shared so far:

For everyone of writing age, ready to journal and create abundance, I have listed these journals as suitable ages 5 and over. Cheers to creating the life you want, in gentle ease and flow.

About the Author

Crystal-Marie Sealy is a proud homeschooling mom, author and MBA who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with her precious girl. A mom who is also learning to be mindful and authentic. As she learns and shares her journey with her daughter too, she hopes to inspire other readers to completely love themselves on their journey to self-discovery. Author of “The Brave Little Puffer Fish: Authenticity for Children” and “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home: Mindfulness for Children”, as well as her new journal, “My Journal for Gentle Ease, Flow and Abundance”, she has a number of other books yet to come, Crystal-Marie is dedicated to supporting parents and children who truly want to discover their inner voices, and celebrate themselves just as they are.

An ecologist, MBA, entrepreneur—mindful strategy consultant, motivational keynote speaker and best-selling author in two anthologies, “Voices of the 21st Century: Powerful, Passionate Women Who Make a Difference” (May 2020) and “DYNAMO Diaries - Volume 1: Success Secrets of 21 Shining Stars” (August 2015)—as well as a gentler soul and more recently a stay-at-home-Mom with a more feminine approach to life, she hopes to inspire her daughter to take any path in life that she chooses. May you also be inspired by my books, blog posts and more.

Crystal-Marie is also a modern, jazz and then latin dancer performer — albeit not since she's become a mom.

Follow Crystal-Marie’s author profile on Amazon.com and on GoodReads.com so you get her books first.

“Be vulnerable”. A long, loud cry from those in media and from advisors in business who speak to the need to connect with your audience. There is wisdom in the aspects of vulnerability that comes from authenticity in connecting with others, but on social media and other platforms, when moving “at the speed of light”, as The Free Press’ Benjamin Carlson shares that McLuhan said, there is little time for the application of wisdom. Most of it happens in hindsight, in the midst of some dire consequence that forces us to slow down.

I thought these were key excerpts from The Free Press’ Meet the Prophets series on Marshall McLuhan:

"The global village is at once as wide as the planet and as small as a little town where everybody is maliciously engaged and poking his nose into everybody else’s business. The global village is a world in which you don’t necessarily have harmony. You have extreme concern with everybody else’s business. And much involvement in everybody else’s life.”

And later on in the article,

"McLuhan anticipated that the electronic age would be one of constant change, such that nobody could adapt quickly enough. As a result, people would be plunged into nostalgia, and yearn for their old, solid identities."

But there is hope, if we mindfully step back. Back into our bodies, back to time spent within, back to our hearts bringing our minds back into alignment. So that productivity isn't the goal all the time, but peace, joy, creativity and living life itself. Creativity comes from genuine inspiration, flow, rather than the uphill climb of ‘motivation’.

It's why I wrote the blog post "Mindful Reading: Another Lens on our Information Diet" and why I started speaking and sharing "Conversations with Crystal-Marie" on YouTube, Instagram and Patreon, because the art of the slow ebbs and flows of true conversation doesn't smack our nervous system like the digital age does. It's also why, when I offered social media strategy consulting services, strategy always included creating distance from platforms, rather than leaning into them.

Wherever you are on your journey back to yourself, and your right to privacy as a human being, may you always honour your sovereign right to choose. As always, embrace what resonates, release what does not.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺 Crystal-Marie Sealy

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Looking for a Keynote Speaker for your Remote Retreat, Conference or Event?

My primary keynote around getting back to ourselves is Authenticity for Gentle Resilience, but explore others! Click the button below.

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

I say often that self-love overflows. It is, I believe, the only way for our world to truly heal in harmony—for each of us to step into our own individual sovereignty. As it is in knowing, healing and honouring ourselves, that all we contribute to the world is an overflow of that love. Whether it’s in conscious interaction or in subconscious emission of the energy we’re cultivating within ourselves. That individual sovereignty is key to recognizing and honouring it in others, and thus in recognizing the our connection, and the necessity of harmony with, all else.

Now, I also speak a lot on compatibility, and that is another arm of this paradox. Love does not say that all of us are all friends all the time. True love honours what fits and what does not. In honouring this, when we are truly authentic, we then give our energy to connecting with those we are compatible with. That is where we grow and expand optimally. Because even those we’re not compatible with are connecting with those they align with and adding their own love energy to the world. When we are embraced in love, we add that to the world. Harmony then means “live and let live”, even if we are distant from some and closer to others. In fact, it is likely because we have honoured compatibility in this way. Our energy is focused on love.

It simply begins within. A lovely paradox, I’ve found.

Lunar Eclipse May 5th 2023, and so much more. Heather Ensworth and Pam Gregory.

I almost never hear it spoken, but here’s a video of a conversation held by Pam Gregory and Heather Ensworth, two women I truly admire in their capacity to hold that frequency of love, no matter what is happening in the world. May you find just what you need, here.

Embracing what resonates and releasing what does not, with my shared insights and everything external to yourself.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺 Crystal-Marie Sealy

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

I will likely expand on this properly one day (I did share a bit on the positives in this earlier blogpost too), but for now, I hope this invited us to explore outside the box a little. ❤️

On Humanity

Exploring living for free on Earth. And when you take a step back and do that, really eliminate money and transaction from our lives, you see that...

By 6° of separation or less...

...the toxicity that we call human nature literally disappears.

Economy makes us distort ourselves to survive.

Take a moment to think about the drivers behind behaviours.

Is it really Humanity

You see, beyond the propaganda, the Earth is a truly abundant planet. We each have everything we need. Shortages and scarcity were manufactured using money.

If you didn't need money to buy what you needed for survival, what would you be like? Think about society, who's in prison? Just in one degree (1°) of separation from the "Why", think about why people steal, commit "white collar crimes" (steal), escalate to (2° of separation) worse acts to complete the bank robbery, etc? And those are the more extreme cases based on our priorities.

But what about why families feud after someone wealthy dies? Making sure that that business deal goes through to keep your job, no matter what new information comes to light? "I was just doing my job" selling poisons, pressuring tired parents to buy toys, bullying people into investing, flat out lying about things that affect others deeply while you sleep "well" at night?

Here's some insight too from Pissed Magistus on Facebook on one aspect of this https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1NebwGNrtN

There are so many layers to this. I've just shared 1% maybe of the first and second degrees of separation from money (the manufactured need for money) as the "Why", the reason, for the behaviour.

And before you start preaching the "root of all evil..." to attack your neighbour. Please stop. We are All affected by this in some way. The "blame" is in its existence as a means of controlling us.

What if we just let it go? You'll see who was controlling us, then. You'd stop fighting your neighbour, then. ❤️

If this resonates, I wrote a bit more on Living for Free on Earth in this blogpost. It's an invitation to reimagine life on earth through this lens, as I share my vision for it.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

Crystal-Marie Sealy

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

“Why "embrace what resonates and release what doesn't"? What I share is meant to inspire you to fill up in areas that may be ignored. It's not the full meal.”

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Crystal-Marie Sealy

When I speak on Self, and the importance of knowing your self first, it is because without knowledge of the Self, all other interactions become empty — for you and the other. But, the Self is not the entire picture. It's why I also speak on Compatibility. Because who surrounds you also matters.

When I speak on the Feminine, divine feminine healthy feminine shadow, it is not because something is wrong with the maaculine or the divine masculine or its healthy shadow. I share on the Feminine because it has been largely ignored, undermined, misrepresented and misinterpreted, widely, as much as that is changing today. Often, it's even confused with feminism. I share so that those who thrive in the feminine find loving support here. But, I know that the "greater sum than its parts" in the union of the whole Masculine and Feminine is absolute magic, divine power unleashed. I honour that the balance of those energies are unique within every individual.

When I speak on individual sovereignty, it’s because that is what creates a truly magnificent community.

Finally, I share because these are my beliefs, my values and my very being draws these out of me to share in the world. And this is where it comes full circle to Self. Because I—and everyone else in the world—can share whatever we want to, but if you don't know and connect deeply with your Self, you will not know what is sound / not sound for You. Nothing or Everything will govern, distract, overwhelm or confuse those of us who don't know and trust ourselves. Who don't know that we are each sovereign.

In all things, no matter who from, my invitation is always to embrace what resonates and release what doesn't. Even if that means the tone isn't for you. What's yours will always find you. ❤️

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

The Story

It stayed with me. My little girl is always asking me to tell her stories. Sometimes she develops the characters first and asks me to tell a story about them. Sometimes I just pull something from within — something I wouldn't have known was in there if she hadn't asked.

This one, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”, I pulled from the within.

I'm not putting my little girl in the public eye. When she's older, she can decide what's public and what's private, but until then, it's all private. That means I can't co-author with her or share her awesome characters, but I hope to write some of her ideas, so that she can publish them when she's ready.

Illustrations

I don't know why reindeer came up, but I really love these characters. I hope you do, too. And this is where I sat with this story for the past four (4) years. Yes, for sure, parenting as I do means I didn't have the time, energy or attention to get it out to you. Still, when I did sit down to being them to life with illustrations, they neevr turned out quite right. Finally, literally two (2) weeks before publishing, as I sat beside my little one who was colouring, there they were.

It's important to me that I do my own illustrations. I loved drawing, colouring and painting as a child, and I'm not sure where that went, but these stories have truly begun to awaken my own inner child in ways I couldn't have imagined.

A little Extra

I try to include facts and where to find them in my books, as well as a few reflection questions at the end. This time, I've included a little extra. I hope you and your little ones enjoy!

Why Children's Books?

It's what I'm living right now. I do have more adult inspiration books at hand, sitting in my mind and database for well over eight (8) years, some of them.

I think as i’m in the moment with homeschooling, connecting with other homeschooling families, engaging in what interests my daughter, my children's stories are showing up like hares in Spring, and I'm happy to run with that. I will likely not publish them all, but I'll try to write them down so they don't disappear.

You're not promoting?

I do in small ways when I can, but as a single parent, I don't get time to promote as I would have in my previous life. I've also genuinely simplified my life after a few health scares, so nothing that makes my plate even a little heavy, stays. If the time isn't there, in the flow of things, it's not there. It comes in its time. That I know to be true.

I do believe that when something is truly loved, it is shared. And as with so many things in life, until I can better promote, those who need thos book will find it. ✨

A million thanks to those who already have found Edmus and Ferdmus loveable and begun to share them with others. 💖💝

On Children

Children really are magic, each of the ones I've met. Plus, biased or not, I truly believe my little one to be a gift among gifts, to this world. And that is all her. Her heart remains huge no matter what. I can only hope to help her develop the resilience needed to allow her to keep that heart throughout life.

With everything happening out there to force children into adult situations, adult decisions and adult lifestyles well before any aspect of their being has even begun to properly recognize themselvest—he Self—I ask that if you're in a position to, please protect our children. Allow them to be children.

As always

In love, light and shadow (not toxicity), embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺 Embrace what resonates and release what doesn't, always the inherent invitation here.

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

Funny, this should come on the heels of yesterday's blogpost on Why Self First is so Important. Knowing and putting the Self first helps us to truly hold and honour our boundaries. I think seeing some long time friends in our neighbourhood disappear because of the gossip triggered something. It was just going to be a social media post, but then I thought it could be a good lesson for me to reflect on.

I'm not usually vulnerable about things like this, but if this supports, validates, affirms anyone else who's taking a stand against bullies to teach their little ones to stand up for themselves, by example, I'm happy to have shared. ❤️ Because what I Have noticed is that my daughter and I are being shunned due to this particular bully's gossip, because "we're making it awkward" by taking a stand and cutting them off.

It's where the whole idea of "stop being the victim" comes from, I'm realizing. I wrote about it here, but hadn't considered it for this situation: The people who don't want to feel awkward just want it to go away. When you take a stand, it becomes too real. Sad that the bullying isn't awkward anymore, but a well-boundaried response is. 🤷‍♀️

I've just told my little girl to let it guide who her real friends are, and who they aren't. Not something she should be dealing with at 5, but every lesson can be useful.

My little girl is very gregarious, and with the shutdowns over the past few years, she'd gotten even more so. That means, even if she's had playdates all week, she'd still be ecstatic to see her friends, or anyone she knows, frankly. And I think that's beautiful.

There's a lady in my neighbourhood that I should have shut down years ago, but didn't. Hindsight is 20/20, so I'm not knocking myself for it, but it's come to a point of no return. She has beautiful twin daughters and a genuinely sweet little boy who, sadly, she's used as tools in this situation. I'm teaching my daughter that self-respect means cutting off those who repeatedly disrespect you, especially after you've spoken to them repeatedly.

The final straw was when I told her that her daughter (11+) started asking my (then 4) girly if she had no friends, among other comments, she denied it and, then next day, she turned her back on us while my daughter was heartily greeting them in the quiet early morning. Her second daughter stood glaring at us, so I know they heard her. After that, we stopped greeting them at all.

It's hard for me to treat kids that way, but I will be the example of firm boundaries for my daughter.

Looking back…

Her nonsense began when my girl was really little. She was crying for her Dad at the library, so we were about to leave, and this woman comes and tries to physically take her out of my arms. I had to physically hold her off, after repeatedly saying "no, it's alright" several times.

I hadn't seen her for a while after that, but then we'd meet up at playgrounds in the neighbourhood. Okay.

Now, as one healing from the generation of "stop crying", I let my daughter have her feelings. So when she cries, she gets it all out. So they were leaving and she starts to cry. This woman leaves her children to come back to the playground to walk my daughter home. I thought it was sweet at first, but looking back, it was one of her first attempts to undermine me.

After that she got downright rude. Always when no one's around except us, of course. Also only aware of that now. Looking back it seems like an obsession.

As an example (there are too many) she insulted me for not holding eye-contact while she was speaking to me, at Halloween, as I'm focused on my then toddler on an intersection... you know, as parents should! I mean this woman is scolding me in front of her children. Smh. I just looked at her. The final straw happened shortly after that.

I should have cut this much earlier, with her, but, again, hindsight is 20/20.

If you're dealing with something similar, hope this inspires you to walk before things hit the fan, or that you're inspired to be gentle with yourself, however you deal(t) with it. ❤️

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

On Facebook, on Instagram.

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

"SELF. The healed, whole Self. Discovered, loved, nurtured, knows compassion because it experienced it first within. It is This Self who can Truly Love others. Please don't be shamed out of putting Self First."

— Crystal-Marie Sealy

**This first paragraph may trigger some** Self First is not narcissism. In fact, narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is the complete lack of self. The need to be seen and validated externally is absolute, with a true narcissist. They literally cannot access their inner world. There is no accessible self. Hence the resentment of those they need, and the rage. So please stop waving the word "Narcissist" around if you have no clue about this dangerous disorder — both to the soul living with it, and to those around them. You're doing damage, whether enabling abuse or dismissing it. Please Stop.Paragraph ends here.**

SELF-DISCOVERY. Knowing yourself means you know how you feel, your body, your mind, your strengths and non-strengths, your esoteric body, your energy body, your many different aspects. It is knowing that this process is a lifelong one. It is in self-discovery that we Know our beliefs, our values, our ideas, our needs, our True desires, our ego, our primal mind, etc. All unique, literally. These Cannot be taught. You have to discover yourself. This is the feminine, internal, dark (not bad, but safe cocoon) part of the human journey. The inner world.

SELF-ACCEPTANCE. Accepting is Not quite loving, but it's a huge step. It is in knowing yourself so well that you know, then, that both our Divine Light and Shadow are Love energy. That the Shadow self is not the self that has become Toxic because it had to become distorted to survive the society we live in. But that the Shadow is the side that shows up to either gently call us (or loudly drag us, after one too many calls) back to safety, thriving, ease and well-being. It is vilified by those who are afraid to or cannot access their inner world, and advisor or coach roles that get paid because we haven't truly accepted ourselves enough to simply observe. We haven't yet developed self-trust.

SELF-LOVE. But those who know their Shadow, find an unshakable calm and power within that has nothing to do with anyone else. Peace. We know that the ego is misunderstood because of toxic distortion, and needs love, healing and security to return to its divine state. We don't fall for the current fad of getting out of your comfort zone, because we understand that every block, every ebb and flow in life is important and we honour the mystery, letting it unfold as it will. We know that ready, yes, sometimes comes with apprehension, but there's far more exhilaration than apprehension when we are ready to stretch or expand our comfort zone.

This knowing is intuitive. So it asks that we develop our Trust Iin our Intuition. Your intuition is already there. I met a psychologist once (a man, highly attuned) who said “Intuition is >2,000,000 years old. Your cerebral cortex, ~150,000. It will need time to catch up.” You can't always explain what you know intuitively, but you always “knew you should have listened”. Trust it.

Self-love doesn't want us to be perfect at all. It finds the lovely mess irresistible Exactly as we are. Literally. It will love us bmto well-being and evolution at our own pace, but it fully knows and accepts the Self. It doesn't offer continuous improvement or constant “correction”. It Loves.

And please note. It is not conceited to quote yourself. When it reaches the right people, your self-quotes will show up as authenticity, as an individual learning and growing in self-discovery and self-acceptance, overflowing into the world. And when one day we love ourselves, truly, these quotes will meet as parts of a global, universal puzzle completed. 🤗😉

I hope to do a proper video series on Self, when life allows. Some I'll share here, some will be for subscribers on Patreon, but it will likely all already be on this blog in some form or other.

The world, believe it or not, is evolving in love. Knowing ourselves allows us to truly stay conscious in that evolution, and allows true love to overflow. We can only share what we truly have within. ❤️ May you know yourself well and put yourself first, so that when you love, the beloved can truly tell. Your love inevitably overflows.

As always, embrace what resonates and release what doesn't, the inherent invitation.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon, and she has recently published her second children's book, “Edmus and Ferdmus Leave Home Mindfulness for Children”. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com

A lens born of Intuition

My focus on this blog post is to share the conversation on the soft life, from my lens, with you. As my journey is taking me deeply into intuitive discovery, you will find that what I share is not the “highly researched through external experts” information, but my own intuitive insights. My Intuitive insights that have, time and again, been met with affirmations from people in all walks of life, who have gained the same insights as well. Some also intuitively, some through books and external research, some in conversation where Eureka moments happen. It was so surprising at first, but it's becoming more and more the norm. It is still fascinating to me.

Full disclosure, I had a lot of alone time before I became a mother to begin honouring my intuition. To read and follow others less, and go inward more. At first, as part of slowing down to heal, but then in the discovery that this pace is where I truly thrive. Warren Buffett said 'an empty schedule creates the most productivity' — sounds like an introvert as well — but I've found it to e true of self-discovery and intrinsically inspired creativity as well.

As always, my invitation with this blog post or anything else you encounter, continues to be that in honour of your individual sovereignty, may you embrace what resonates and release what does not.

Where did the Soft Life Go?

A lot of us believe in "hard work pays off" and "the struggle is real" and ideas like that, that come out of slavery and the European caste / socio-economic hierarchy system. Humans, however, are not actually designed for life under stress. These ideas I call brainwashing because they're so pervasive that they’re viewed as fact. Ideas like productivity and economy as critical for our world to survive are all based on profits for a few, and most of us cannot fathom a world beyond that.

Part of the brainwashing has also been to convince us that anyone who isn't "productive" in an economic sense — stay-at-home-mothers / stay-at-home-dads, leisure seekers, gig economy travelers, etcetera — is a "worthless drain on society". That way, we wouldn't dare want to become those people.

On parenting and the Soft Life

Direct economic contribution or not, there is nothing easy about being a full-time parent. Rewarding, worth it, fulfilling, 100%, but not easy. Working parents are not full-time parents, not on the same sense. Ask any Mom who's happy going back to work after being stay-at-home for some time, how it feels that first time going back. Ask the parents who preferred the office after having to work from home beside their children full-time over the past 2-3 years. Working parents love their children, but they are not parenting full-time.

Parenting, however, does not exclude one from the soft life, in the ideal world. No, not the “village raising the child”, as economy would have, but a world where men and women get to raise their children, together, without going off to work to serve the economy. Thanks to the past few years, many are revisiting what really matters.

The stay-at-home-parents who have slowed down, who've become more conscious in their approach to parenting, have removed the rush from their lives, and from their children's. They have been getting to know each other, to find healthy connection and to discover their world again together. Homeschooling has been coming back, too, and the family learns together, in entirely new and creative ways.

The soft life, indeed, for those expanding into the deeper love and connection that is possible when the family gets to be together.

The Return to the Soft Life

The reason we need vacations, and get unwell when we don't take them, is because vacations are the only time when some of us—those of us who still know how to relax—live like we were meant to.

Life on Earth, if we lived for free, would be about creating when you're inspired to, and having fun, adventure or leisure / lazing the rest of the time. The ratio of creating : relaxing would depend on the person's individual cycles or rhythms and whatever else they may be dealing with in life. Once we recover from the strain of life under economy, we would have so much more energy that we would be inspired more than you'd expect, to create. (Those in this economy who truly rest on vacation know the thrill that shows up when they return to creating what they love.) There would be no external pressure, in a society with no transactions. Barter and exchange are still transactions, but in a world truly free, we would see what individuals can truly create in a society that doesn't demand we all be the same.

When we're not under duress, we have better ideas. The trauma of "performing under pressure" as a marketable skill is about desensitizing and dissociation, not actual function from a place of well-being. What we would create would also be in harmony with the Earth, because we would not be creating under pressure or in a hurry. We would be creating out of love, with time to think and feel and listen to our hearts and intuition. There would always be occasional emergencies, where we have to act quickly, create quickly, but we wouldn't be in that mode 24/7, so we would have the energy to make better decisions in those few instances.

The Soft Life and the Feminine

The soft life allows the feminine to relax, and go inward, to create. Mothers, literally, draw the Spirit into the physical. Whether we are mothers or not, women who aren't living in their masculine energy overtime create from within; they can truly hear themselves.

The indulgence of slowing down to acknowledge and enjoy beauty, subtle sensations and subtle energy around us, looks frivolous to the eye trained to view all things feminine as a waste of time in its lack of economic productivity. But to those who've had the opportunity to live this, recognize the life-giving energy that only comes from here. Anyone who's recovered from burnout this way knows there's more than just magic and healing here, but unencumbered power and lifeforce.

The masculine, provides for and protects that creation and the creator. It is why a world ruled by men who don't honour their true divinity, men who disregard the feminine, can only produce via transaction and wars. Genuine, nourishing creativity is stripped in hurried productivity and profit-driven decision-making.

When you diminish the feminine, energy and rest, ebbs and flows, leisure and inspiration, die, and life becomes existence.

Men who honour the feminine in women, and in themselves—we all have yin (feminine, the Self) and yang (masculine, outside of Self)—are able to create, but only when he gets to know himself in that way. To know himself in this way calls him, too, into a soft life of his own. A life of adventure outside of economy. He is not necessarily called to the leisure many feminine women are called to, unless he's burnt out.

This is long, but if you have energy to read, a good eye-opener for me was "The Alphabet versus the Goddess" by Leonard Shlain. Verbose but worth it. I don't I energy to read, honestly, unless I'm intuitively drawn to a particular piece. I have found, since developing my intuition, that the break from consuming information has sharpened my capacity to see, that inexplicable knowing. Not everyone has the same path to intuition, to the soft life and to Self.

May you always follow your own counsel first and last, and above all.

In love, light and shadow, embracing all aspects of ourselves 🌺

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, first, a two-time best-selling author and keynote speaker. She occasionally offers paid virtual keynotes for women and author readings for children. Crystal-Marie's focus is "Authenticity for Gentle Resilience" through self-acceptance, intuition and the feminine, honouring individual sovereignty. Her first children's book, "The Brave Little Puffer Fish Authenticity for Children", has rave reviews and a five-star rating on Amazon. Previously, as strategy consultant, president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowered service and intuition-based professionals, but this service is currently on hold. Connect with Crystal-Marie, if this resonates with you and your audience, at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com