What was the original inspiration for Chip The Monk?

 I’ve recently been asked to share how Chip the Monk came to be. I will tell you what, it goes back decades—the original idea, the original inspiration. I was in a meditation with a friend of mine who’s a Buddhist. We were in her meditation room, and we were having this lovely meditation in the quietness of our hearts. When we were complete with the meditation, we was just sitting there, and we were gazing at her altar. We were in this kind of beautiful state of mind, and the altar had pictures of the Buddha, and the Dalai Lama, and began talking about the Dalai Lama and is demonstration of kindness. 

Suddenly this image appeared in my mind of a little chipmunk, And then the name the Monk, and the words “be kind to your mind” came. It was that fast! I shared it with my friend and we started talking and expanding with the ideas about this little chipmunk who could share with children all over the world on how to be kind to their minds, and live a life of joy.

So that was in the early 1990s, and I was quite startled by it because as time went on more characters started to appear in my mind. There was Dolly the Llama, who helps children dissolve drama. There was Timothy the Turtle who helps kids who are shy come out of their shells. It just went on and on with these different characters that would provide a helpful teaching for what children are now confronted with in an uncertain world.

And what was surprising to me is that I am not a mother, and I never even remember reading alot of children’s books when I was a kid. I loved horses so any horse book I could get my hands on, like Black Beauty, I would read that, but I never really had a deep connection with children or children’s books. And I never aspired in any way to write books! So this was kind of a surprise to me. But the one thing I ALWAYS  felt  was such a joy in my heart when these characters would start to appear. 

And so I just kind of put it on the back burner, but it never left my mind. So seriously over the next 20 years, every so often a new character would pop in. And then, I think it was in 2020, the year of the pandemic, I had a friend of mine whom I had been in deep relationship for quite some time around spirituality, and she said that she really wanted to have something that she could sink her teeth into that had a higher purpose. One day out of the blue she asked me, “Whatever happened with Chip the Monk?”.  By that time alot of people around me knew about this inspired idea. I said “Oh.. Chip the Monk!” And so that was when it actually started to go into the next step. And that next step there are so many miracles, and so many synchronicities that happened, and I look forward to sharing those with you ask well. 

And I thought “Oh my gosh, Chip the Monk! What a perfect timing to bring Chip the Monk into the world. It was 2020, and as we all know there was alot of chaos and stress and worry and fear around the pandemic. And Chip whole message is how to find your inner strength and wisdom, and that true happiness cannot be shattered by external circumstances. So I thought — oh, thank you. Thank you to my own inner wisdom. To show me that now is the time for Chip to be published, to be brought into fruition. And to be brought to the children and their families. 

So I look forward to sharing all of the inspirations and insights that happened as we started to walk towards the actual bringing Chip into the world.


And so I just kind of put it on the back burner, but it never left my mind. So seriously over the next 20 years, every so often a new character would pop in. And then, I think it was in 2020, the year of the pandemic, I had a friend of mine whom I had been in deep relationship for quite some time around spirituality, and she said that she really wanted to have something that she could sink her teeth into that had a higher purpose. One day out of the blue she asked me, “Whatever happened with Chip the Monk?”.  By that time alot of people around me knew about this inspired idea. I said “Oh.. Chip the Monk!” And I thought “oh my gosh, Chip the Monk! What a perfect time to bring Chip the Monk into the world. It was 2020, and as we all know there was alot of uncertainty, stress, worry and fear in the world. Chip teaches how to find the quiet wisdom within, that happiness is within and cannot be shattered by external circumstances. So I thought — oh,  now is the perfect time for Chip to be brought to the children and families. 

So I look forward to sharing all of the inspirations and insights that happened as we started to walk towards the actual bringing Chip into the world.  That next step there were so many miracles, and synchronicities that happened, and I look forward to sharing those with you as well.