Joan Klostermann-Ketels

Joan Klostermann-Ketels is the author of PersonaliTrees and book #2, HumaniTrees(Findhorn Press) -- captivating works filled with images and inspirational words that are growing a worldwide audience. Applying her life experience as an educator, businesswoman, breast cancer survivor, wife, mother and grandmother, Joan's work pulls us from the frenetic pace of everyday life into a welcome calmness.

On another level, PersonaliTrees and HumaniTrees foster a mindful appreciation of the relationship between nature and the human condition by encouraging our own interpretations. Perhaps most notably, the books endeavor to help us see and feel more a part of our world than we did before, regardless of our stage of life. Enjoyed for pure fun or treasured as a spiritual reference guides, they help make our human existence more meaningful.

Dr. Allan Hunter, author and professor at the The Blue Hills Writing Institute at Boston's Curry College, says, "Jung suggested that trees, when seen in dreams and imaginings, were friendly creations, ready to place us back in touch with the best part of ourselves. Joan reminds us of this in the gentlest, most persuasive way. Once you have looked through her books you will never see trees the same way again."

See: www.personalitreesbook.com

Joan explains, "There is something very spiritual and kinesthetic about the whole PersonaliTrees process. Meditating among the trees or just walking among them, thoughts and feelings flow through me. They may be vague sensory experiences, or they can be very poignant and direct. The less apprehensive I am, the more receptive I become, and the clearer it is that there is a spiritual event occurring.

"Over the years I have heard the voice of these energies. I have often wondered if these messages were meant for me or if they were meant for a larger audience of individuals going through similar situations that the tree images seem to target. So often they seemed relevant to something I was going through at the time. Energy always seems to find the right home."

Joan earned her undergraduate degrees in Theology and Communications from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. She has a master's degree in Communications/Training and Development from the University of Northern Iowa. A long-time classroom teacher in high school speech, she later zeroed in on guided self-study, distance learning and business-education partnerships at the university level, and served on Iowa's statewide Virtual University Committee and Education Telecommunications Council. In 2000, Joan became president of her own corporate training company (www.contracttraining.com). In 2008, she became a partner in BeingOfSoundSpiritŪ, a community of creative professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of the human spirit.

Contact Joan with comments: joanketels@gmail.com