A BETTER WORLD

Addison offers advice for channeling spirit guides in this self-help book.

The author begins by recounting her journey into spiritualism, which reached a milestone on September 22, 2018, when she began direct communications with spirit guides Kevin, a gentle, kindly, male energy; Florence, a vivacious, fun-loving, female energy; and “Sh”eila, a bustling, nurse-like energy. She goes on to provide readers with steps for developing their own spiritual practices. These include meditative visualizations of a wilderness waterfall and a golden light that infuses one’s body; a medley of prayers; and a mindfulness exercise in which one contemplates everything that goes into eating a tomato—from the tomato seed to the sunshine and rainfall that nourish it to the grocery-store shelving that displays the ripened fruit to the debit card that purchases it to the mouth that relishes it. The bulk of the text reprints 366 messages from her guides; their content ranges from fitness tips (“[w]alk 10,000 steps daily or do cardio for thirty minutes at least five days per week”) to soothing lifestyle koans (“Don’t stress. Just let things be”) to therapeutic abstractions (“Don’t be afraid of change. Change is good”). In later chapters, the author urges readers to sign an “annual abundance contract” that petitions the universe to grant one’s desires in exchange for commitments to be a good person, undertake steady self-improvement, and accept a “World Challenge” to donate one percent of one’s income to charity. Addison and her spirit guides reassure readers that they can escape their ruts of negativity in elegant prose that moves from firm confidence-building (“You know you can do this, and you know this is something you have to do”) to frank parental scolding (“[c]lean up your bedroom and closets”) to rapturous mysticism (“Every heart is a heart of God”). Readers seeking a vigorous jolt of uplift and motivation will find it here.

A warm-hearted New Age guide to well-being, mixing practical wisdom with soulful effusions.