Where do you hear life speak?
And what does she say?
For Your Beautiful Heart
25 Daily Reflections on Facing Your Shadows & Finding the Light Within
Somewhere between poetry and self-help, meditation and storytelling, For Your Beautiful Heart is a manifesto on reconnecting with the grace, serenity, and wisdom your heart holds. Inside are 25 letters on rooting for goodness and looking deeper in painful times. Each is infused with love and a little bit of magic. Reflection questions and imagination exercises follow each passage. They are simple enough to complete every day but deep enough to carry with you through life.
For Your Beautiful Heart is divided into four sections:
Light Your Way Through the Dark
Light Always Returns
Facing Your Shadows
Illuminated
By the end, you’ll feel the life flow through you again and remember that your own love is curative, your capacity for love is unlimited, and you are someone worth caring about.
From me to you:
I’ve filled this book with my innermost thoughts on living, distilled down from fragmented images and morning commute musings. Each began with a question or a line that worked its way through my mind. In short, this is me figuring things out and showing my work in hopes that you can figure something out, too.
It was through writing these letters that I discovered my voice. It surprised me how little it sounded like the person I’d pretended to be for so long. It was also through writing these letters that I discovered how confined I’d forced myself to become. And how unlimited my true nature was.
These letters ultimately prepared me to make big changes in my life, to trade in hustle for heart, to trust that it was safe to be me, and to let everything be okay.
May they serve you well through your beginnings and endings and help illuminate your path.
Praise from readers of my other work (thank you for that):
“Two words: -Simply amazing!!! :D”
“I found this little gem at just the right time in my life. It’s a beautifully written book! It has already moved me to tears several times and I’m not even done with the whole book. Thank you, Leslie, for sharing your light with us all.”
“Leslie Ralph speaks to my soul. Uplifting and gratifying.”
“I am so touched by the reflections and emotions in the author’s book, truly. I can say that I loved ALL of it, but especially the pieces entitled “Before”, “Welcome Home”, “Instructions”, “I’m Ready”, “Bring The Stars Back To Your Eyes”, and “Note to Self”, all for different reasons. I DEEPLY resonated with “Affirmation for the Truth”, and I have several people I could dedicate “1,000 Flames” to immediately. The most telling question of all, perhaps, was the one asked in “True Courage”: “Of all the things in this world there are to fear, why fear your true self?” This is a deeply beautiful and thoughtful work that will resonate with so many.”
“What a treat! I found this book touching and beautiful, lyrical and, at times, my heart actually raced because I thought “yes, me too!! Me too!!”. I loved the simple beauty of not only the words but the drawings. They all brought peace to my soul. My very favorites are: Before, Starting Here, I’m Ready, Affirmation for Truth, Light Feels Like This and 1,000 Flames (oh the imagery with that one!). Thank you. This is truly a gift you’ve created and I hope it touches many, many more people the way it touched me. I’m ready to go back and read it over again and bookmark passages and pages so I can pull them out when I do feel the darkness around me and when I need to remember the light. A beautiful message. Highly recommend…”
“Only someone who has spent time in her own darkness can write with credibility about light. In order for the light to shine brightly, darkness must be present. It is a good little pocket book to carry with you.”
About the Author:
Hi, I’m Leslie Ralph, and I’m on a mission to leave the world a little brighter than I found it through my writing and art. I write for children and adults. I write about the beauty in the world and the beauty of the heart. I spent a long time writing self-help, and I’m in transition now, following my own advice. Whatever I create is in celebration of love, humanity, connection. And whatever form it takes, it’s always a story about love in the end.
