Your Heart's Desire

March 10, 1997
To illustrate the way creativity can flower when we fully accept our conditions, Choquette (The Psychic Pathway) retells a story told to her by her mother, a Romanian who was imprisoned in a concentration camp during WWII. After the war, Choquette's mother saved a Gypsy friend from being imprisoned for stealing an army blanket by inspiring him to say that he was color-blind and didn't recognize the blanket he took as one belonging to the army. "Surrendering your power over to blame, resentment, or anger or feeling like a victim is the worst thing you can do," writes Choquette, who urges people to use their current situation as a "launching pad." Thanks to many unpretentious real-life examples such as her mother's survival wisdom, this spiritual guide achieves a modesty and practicality that sets it apart from more grandiose New Age offerings. Achieving our hearts' desires depends on nine "principles," according to Choquette-for example, focusing on a desire and consciously intending to achieve it; becoming aware of any unconscious blocks that may be thwarting conscious desires; and being open to the guidance of intuition. The author's husband, Patrick Tully, provides meditations that support and illustrate each principle. In her foreword, Cameron praises Choquette for describing the "nuts and bolts" of spiritual practice. While some may dismiss Choquette's work as simplistic, it should serve many as a useful primer to finding the spiritual within the material of ordinary life.

March 1, 1997
There are lots of books out there on creative visualization, but Choquette, author of "The Psychic Pathway" (1995), offers something more. She helps readers figure out exactly what they want before they try to get what they "think" they want. She then goes on to show how creative manifestation is available to everyone who learns the process. The engaging, chatty writing style might make this manual seem less serious than some books on the topic of spiritual development, but readers who undertake the step-by-step program Choquette sets out will find material that is insightful, even inspiring. With so many New Age titles available, it can be difficult to sort out the best from the babble. Choquette is high on the list. ((Reviewed March 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)