Book Review: Celebrating Beginnings & Endings

A couple of months ago, I received a copy of Paula Pugh's Celebrating Beginnings and Endings to review. It was suggested as a great guide to making life's milestones special. I thought it sounded a little, well, new-agey-hippy & it is. However, after reading it, my inner skeptic realized there are some great ideas in there.

The book consists of a series of stories of various people's celebrations, from baby showers, to graduation parties, to gatherings to involve both families in an adoption, to divorce, to funerals & more. At the beginning there's a 'recipe' for how to approach planning any of these celebrations. Most of the events described are not what you might expect a baby shower or wedding to be like, because they incorporate very personal aspects of the people's lives into the gathering.

What I like best about the book is that it is entirely focussed on making a simple event that will mean something to all those involved. It's not about all the surface stuff that so many other event planning books focus on: decor, venue, fancy food. The book is about the meaning & the memories created by these events, not designer cupcakes or pricey gift cards. This resonates with me; when I was planning our wedding, I didn't want to just follow the formula that's out there with the church, the white dress & expensive reception. I wanted the place where we got married to be somewhere important to us, which wasn't a church or even a building. (We hiked up to the third peak of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish & had the ceremony there)

Even if you're not planning something big like a wedding, there will be something in your life that's worth acknowledging. Maybe it's a child finishing kindergarten, or the death of a much-loved pet, or your kids leaving home. Take a look at Celebrating Beginnings and Endings for some ideas on how to thoughtfully mark the occasion in a way that everyone will remember.

Celebrating Beginnings and Endings , by Paula Pugh sells for $19.95. It was published by Sound Wisdom Press, February 6, 2012. For more information visit www.mark-the-moment.com  or check out Paula's blog for more stories of celebration of others.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book to review & as an Amazon affiliate, I'll receive a small commission if you buy a copy via the links in my post here. My words & opinions stated here are my own.