An Evening with Marci Shimoff: Ingredients for Success and Happiness

Boy, I can't believe the way we stomp a great idea right into the dirt. The spin-offs in this series alone are enough to make a chicken's head spin clean off. Personally, I'm waiting for Chicken Poop for the Rest of Us. Truthfully, the popular book series helps us rekindle the joy and optimism in our frantic stressful lives, as well as replenish our weary souls, and this video presentation of a workshop hosted by Marci Shimoff (co-author of Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul) accomplishes the same. Shimoff, speaking in front of a group of mostly women, encourages the audience to cultivate self esteem and positive attitudes, support and encourage friends and loved ones, and keep a sense of humor. Granted, these ingredients are part of the universal stew served up at most inspirational seminars (so there isn't anything really new here), still Shimoff winsomely combines these themes with stories about ourselves that reflect the random acts of kindness we sometimes bestow on one another. And, while this presentation ponies up the usual avalanche of statistics-from-nowhere (example: children laugh approximately 425 times a day while adults laugh about 12; hey, I laughed more than 12 times just watching this video), this is a minor quibble. So, a little chicken soup, a little chicken poop. Sure to be extremely popular, this is enthusiastically recommended. Aud: P. (N. Plympton)