Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
Spirit Painter – A Poem
This is my third Pay It Forward offering. It’s a poem written for Alicia Marshall. I hope you all enjoy it!
* * *
As she looks at the canvas
that sits in front of her,
she waits for it to sing.
Running her fingers
over its surface,
she tries to hear it speak.
She knows that each canvas
has its own voice,
speaks its own language,
sings its own song.
She is but the channel
that it arrives through,
she is but the medium
able to see what others cannot.
Within her fingers,
she begins to feel droplets of water.
Letting the water build,
she can hear the thrum and throw of the waves,
even before she puts her brush
to the canvas.
As she starts painting,
water starts to pool around her feet,
lapping at her ankles.
She can hear the wind whispering to her
and feel the breeze upon her face.
There is a call of an unseen bird,
and the sound of the waves
sliding so gently over the sand.
There is the scent of the water
and sand and, somewhere in the distance,
there is the perfume of flowering jasmine.
She paints almost without seeing,
looks without using her eyes.
She paints by spirit memory now,
the light and ocean flowing from her hand
and through her brush.
It fills the canvas until it is overflowing,
full of everything that she
can no long contain.
As the water begins to recede from the room
and her feet have begun to dry,
she can finally see what she has painted.
Looking at the canvas,
now filled to the brim with blue and frothy white,
she sees a spirit within the waves,
a woman that swims with the water
towards the sun.
If she lets her hand hover over the canvas,
she can hear the rush of the water
and the sound of joyous laughter.
The Little Yellow Book Launch!
I had my Little Yellow Book Launch last night!
What a perfect celebration for Little Yellow Magnet. There were tons of people and many books were sold. More than that however, the night was a celebration of love and the power of choosing to live.
I’ve never had a book launch and I’ve written over sixty books, so I really wanted to have one for Little Yellow Magnet. It was an event that was two years in the making. I’m so thrilled that so many people came! Food was had and enjoyed and there was laughter and joy.
The room was silent when I read three chapters from Little Yellow Magnet, one from each part of the memoir. It’s an honour to know that I’ve written something that moves people so much and that connects with them.
Either way, what a joy it was to celebrate my book last night. Thank you to everyone who came and made the event so special. Check out the photos below!
The book is available from Amazon at: https://www.amazon.ca/Little-Yellow-Magnet-Jamieson-Wolf/dp/192810116X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Little+Yellow+Magnet&qid=1553457771&s=gateway&sr=8-1
You can also get it on Kobo here: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/little-yellow-magnet
Autographed copies are also available! Just contact me at Jamiesonwolf at gmail.com to request one.
Little Yellow Magnet – Available Now!
I’m thrilled to announce that Little Yellow Magnet is AVAILABLE NOW! Isn’t that amazing?
Here’s a bit about the book:
Life can change in an instant. Jamieson learns this the hard way.
Waking one morning to find he has little-to-no motor control, Jamieson only wants the world to return to how it had been before. After a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, he thinks his life is over. What he doesn’t know is that it’s only just begun.
Trying to navigate through the world in a body he no longer understands, Jamieson must travel through the dark forest of depression while waging a constant battle against himself. Over time, he learns what he’s truly capable of, and what it actually means to be courageous.
Follow Jamieson as he loses himself…then discovers who he is really meant to be.
You can find Little Yellow Magnet here:
Paperback (Canada): https://www.amazon.ca/Little-Yellow-Magnet-Jamieson-Wolf/dp/192810116X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1551834431&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
Paperback (US): https://www.amazon.com/Little-Yellow-Magnet-Jamieson-Wolf/dp/192810116X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1551834500&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
I’m thrilled to be able to share this book with all of you. Stay tuned for more details of upcoming events!
Light Between the Cracks – A Poem
I am outside myself looking inwards.
There is a storm within me,
one of fire and rain,
spark and water.
Its winds howl inside my skin,
filling my head
with words that make no sense,
but hurt all the same.
I feel droplets of blood,
carved from my flesh by those words,
fall into the whirlwind
of the storm I carry.
The winds crack and chip
at the crystal chalice that holds me together.
There are other things in that storm,
other flotsam and jetsam,
that take bites out of me,
harvesting what I’ve cultivated
in order to survive.
Yet within all that whirling darkness,
inside that wind that presses
at the boundaries of my glass chalice,
there is a light.
That light is but a kernel right now,
a small seed that glows
throughout all the darkness
and the shadows that look spiders’ webs.
As I stand back, looking at myself,
I realize on thing:
The kernel of light shines so brightly,
but I would not see it without the darkness.
I touch the crystal,
and can feel the winds brush
against my hands.
I try to wrap my arms around myself
and hope this will make
the small kernel of light
grow.
Little Yellow Magnet – It’s Almost Here!
It goes without saying that Little Yellow Magnet was a difficult book to write. It was also the most rewarding.
When I first started writing it, I called Little Yellow Magnet my little book of positivity. The idea behind it at first was to write about the positive moments during my journey with multiple sclerosis. The only problem was, I only got to page twenty-seven before I realized I was going about it all wrong.
From the moment I woke on January 31st, 2012 with my body no longer my own to the moment I had the idea to start writing about it; well that was all part of my journey. To focus on only the positive elements of that journey would be doing myself a disservice.
Every step along my path, every moment until now was all part of my journey. I couldn’t just write about the part of it that left me elated. I had to write about everything. This filled me with some trepidation.
Like every writer, I put myself into everything I write. Certain characters are based off of me or events that happened in my life are used in my books. However, that is all done with the smoke screen of fiction. I’m a bit more open when I write poetry, trying to make sense of something, but there is always some sort of poetic licence there.
With a memoir, it would be me on the page with no smokescreen, no great giant head of OZ to hide behind. It would be me, completely and in truth. That was clear to me. If I was going to write this, if I was going to go down the road that I have travelled, there would be no sugar coating of anything.
I took a moment to pause before I put my fingers to the keyboard again. My journey deals with a lot of other issues other than my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. It talks about already living with cerebral palsy, mental abuse, depression, suicide attempts, dating in the gay community while also having a disability.
I had good long think about whether writing it would be a good idea. I came to the conclusion that, at the very least, it would be a cathartic release for me, a closing off of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. Then, if I did decide to publish it, my hope was that it would help people. There are so many others that are dealing with so many things I’ve touched on in Little Yellow Magnet: dramatic changes, disease, depression, abuse. If the book helps even one person, than that makes everything worth it.
Ultimately, the book is about what it took for me to surmount all my challenges and choose to live. Make no mistake, despite the subject matter, Little Yellow Magnet is about what it took for me to try and live a better life by honouring the life I had, no matter what it involved.
I learned a lot about myself through the writing of Little Yellow Magnet. Having my journey laid out on paper, it was impossible not to. I can’t wait for you all to read it yourselves. It seems amazing that the memoir is almost a reality and that other people will be able to read it.
It’s not that long away now. I can’t believe that, after a year of writing and a year of exits and preparation, that Little Yellow Magnet is almost here. It’s available on March 21st, 2019.
Thanks for being part of the journey.
Buy Little Yellow Magnet from Amazon and Kobo!
Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 