Release day is just around the corner for my newest children's book, Magnus O'Meere, Mind Pioneer. As such, I have been reflecting on the journey that has brought this book to life and I have a story for you. Here goes: The idea for Magnus O'Meere came together a whopping year and a half ago while I was cruising at 35,000 ft above the Earth. I was en route to teach MindScape in Kitchener, Ontario as the storyline began to come together like pieces of a puzzle that finally fit together. I was on cloud 9 as I could see the potential to show readers just how amazing their minds really are. Four days later, as I was waiting for my departure flight that was delayed due to ice storms, I began chatting with a man who turned out to be an inventor. He was the only person I had a real conversation with since getting to the airport (order food doesn't count). Was it a coincidence that he was an inventor? Obviously not. Our conversation dove deep very quickly as I began to tell him about how Tesla used his intuitive mind to come up with his ideas, to then build, test, and optimize them completely in his mind. He told me about his favourite inventors, one being Howard Hughes, and that I needed to watch the Aviator. Who else hasn't seen the Aviator? Don't worry--I watched it within the next couple of days. We talked about when ideas fall into our minds, trusting our guts, and merging that knowing with logic and non-stop learning. This is when I really understood that we need BOTH brains to be plugged into each other. Creativity needs structure and logic needsimagination. Together, the brains are so much more than they could ever be apart. See, everything happens for a reason--look how much I learned about the mind from one chance conversation with a stranger. One month later, I was back on a plane heading to teach in Winnipeg as I, again, worked on Magnus O'Meere while high in the sky. Upon my arrival, I had a feeling to pop into an airport kiosk store to walk over to the magazines. One magazine immediately caught my eye, but I could not see the cover, so I pulled it out to find that, lo and behold, it was a science magazine that featured futuristic flying machines. Coincidence, right? PERFECT! I carried on to a cafe where I set up camp to write for an hour until my ride picked me up. As I'm sitting there sipping my tea, making notes about inventors, writing, and researching flying machines, I hear an announcement that just barely caught my attention through the music playing in my earphones. I quickly pull out my earphones to find out if my mind is playing tricks on me, and sure enough, I hear, "Can Howard Hughes please report to the airport cafe." Shut the front door! I mean, come on! What are the chances?! Logically, the chances are slim to none. So was that a coincidence? Not for a second. WHY? I don't believe in coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. Everything is happening FOR us. So in all of these incidences, these situations serve as guideposts to show me that I am in alignment and that I'm paying attention. It's like the Universe is saying, "Hey, I like where this is going and you're on the right track for you." So what is the point of this story? Well, the point is to trust your hunches. Trust your ideas. Trust your gut feelings and all of those little synchronicities that happen because they are happening JUST FOR YOU. They are happening to guide you. Trust that knowing and trust yourself because THAT IS INTUITION. Now I can hear you saying, "Oh, ya, sure Kristin, that's all great stuff... what about the hard things?" Well, on the way back to the airport that same weekend after teaching MindScape in Winnipeg, my colleague and I got into a car accident. We were t-boned by a drunk driver at 6pmon a sunny Saturday in May. I saw the car coming and could see that the driver did not even look our way before pulling out onto a mainroad. I saw the whole thing like it was happening in slow motion. I said, "Whoa! Whoa, she's not looking," as I braced myself for impact by putting my arms up around my head. The car hit us on the front driver side corner, deploying the airbags on my colleague's side. As glassshattered, the car spun and skidded to a stop. Right away, I tried to take some deep breaths, checked in with myself and with my colleague. We were shaken up, but we were okay. Everyone was okay. That was all that mattered. As I got on the plane home, reflecting on why I also needed thatto happen FOR me, it reaffirmed that our human experience does not last forever. It reminded me that it is so wildly important to do what you love, live with passion, enjoy your time, and live out your purpose. THAT was a guidepost to show me that even though my path was shifting, to trust the journey and keep trusting myself. So, this is me putting it all out there and living out my purpose. I hope you enjoy what has unfolded from this idea seed that began sprouting 18 months ago because he's here and he's ready for you.

Releasing October 16th. Order a copy for your favourite kiddo.