Author: Melissa Galt

ISBN: 978-0-9790103-0-9

The shelves of bookstores cry out with the weight of countless books about how to lead a fulfilling and rewarding life that would probably sink a ship and any author who turns another one of these self-help tomes loose on readers had better have a good angle amid all the rivalry.

Fortunately for the countless readers who devour these books, Melissa Galt has just such a hook with her Celebrate Your Life: The Art of Celebrating Every Day. This compact one hundred and ten page gem can easily be read without too much effort in one sitting. Her language is accessible and she avoids falling into the trap of using mysterious terminology to enlighten us. Moreover, she sums up the main principles of each of her chapters with her abridged affirmations that are included at the end of each section.

In her dedication page, Galt points to three individuals who have shown her the importance and benefits of celebrating every day of one’s life and sharing the celebration with others. The three mentioned are Galt’s mother, the late Academy-Award- winning actress Anne Baxter, her godmother, Hollywood costume designer Edith Head and her great-grandfather, the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. You have to admit that this is quite a line up and no doubt comprises many years of exciting and rewarding life experiences!

To the reader uninitiated in knowing what it means to celebrate everyday of your life, Galt simplifies matters by breaking it down into ten chapters-each subdivided into small delicious morsels of sage advice. These chapters deal with celebrating your creative spirit, your health and well-being, your family, your friends, your career, your personal image and style, your travel and adventure, your home, your seasons and holidays and finally your life contributions.

It is a wonderful feeling when you appreciate that to rejoice in life you certainly don’t have to expend a great deal of time or money, you just have to be creative and use your imagination. And you also have to be prepared to take on risk and take a crack at something new.

For example, how many times are we at a loss to know how to connect with lost friends or to spend more time with our neighbors whom we would like to become better acquainted? Galt presents a mixture of suggestions in order to resolve this quandary such as the savory supper club where every month someone offers their home for a pot luck supper. As pointed out, this is a chance for camaraderie and fellowship, particularly among neighbors.  Another idea and one that is very often used around Super Bowl time is to bring people together to watch a sporting event and set up a buffet table for noshing during the game.

The principal objective, as summarized by Galt, is to celebrate friends with planned and spontaneous activities and to come to the realization that your friends enrich your lives with their diversity and uniqueness.

In another chapter Galt reminds us how important it is to develop our creative spirit, which we all have whether it manifests itself in a talent for home improvement, sewing, craft projects, computer programming, or writing music. Very often we suppress this side of ourselves and keep on putting it off giving the excuse that we have no time. Galt simply suggests that in order to cultivate our creative spirit we should dedicate space to it and organize the required tools and materials in an accessible and fun manner-“Celebrate your creative spirit by designing a craft corner or work bench for your creative projects.” 

Galt is best known for her “Do it Now” philosophy and throughout her book this approach to life is clearly articulated. Although many of Galt’s one hundred suggestions and ideas may not be the most original, they do remind us that life moves pretty fast or as quickly as a wink. If we don’t celebrate it we could miss it. Unfortunately scores of us do. What a pity!

The above review was contributed by:  NORM GOLDMAN:  Retired Title Attorney: Editor & Publisher of Bookpleasures. Here are  Norm Goldman's Reviews       

 To read Norm's Interview With Melissa Galt CLICK HERE