​In this heartwarming episode of Wisdom for Wannabes, host Jackie Morreale introduces her daughter Natalia, the youngest guest to grace the show, who has just co-illustrated a new children's book with her, called, 'The Furry Christmas Miracle.' The conversation explores the journey of creativity, entrepreneurship, and the magic of Christmas through storytelling. Natalia shares her experiences and insights as a young illustrator and entrepreneur, emphasizing the importance of family support and the joy of giving during the holiday season.
 
Takeaways:
• Natalia is the youngest guest on the show.
• The Furry Christmas Miracle is the fourth book in the series.
• The book is dedicated to children who believe in magic.
• Natalia illustrates and co-writes the book with her mother.
• The story emphasizes themes of gratitude and responsibility.
• Natalia shares her entrepreneurial journey of selling shells to buy a hamster.
• The importance of family support in creative endeavors is highlighted.
• The book is available in both storybook and coloring book formats.
• The conversation reflects on the joy of giving during Christmas.
• Jackie expresses excitement for future stories in the series.
 
Quotes:
• "I can make ornaments for sale."
• "Natalia is an entrepreneur at heart."
• "One more high five for hope."
 
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Princess Tessa and Luke the Duke Series
01:45 Reading The Furry Christmas Miracle
05:49 The Journey of Responsibility and Giving
07:37 Natalia's Entrepreneurial Spirit and Reflections
 
In this special episode, Jackie Morreale introduces her daughter, Natalia Morreale, who is the talented new co-illustrator for "The Furry Christmas Miracle," a delightful kids book in the Princess Tessa and Luke the Duke series. This picture book is now available in both digital and print formats, perfect for reading. They share insights into the creation of these wonderful children's books, discussing themes like holiday cheer, giving, and making choices. ✨

Podcast Transcript:

​Jackie Morreale (00:00)
Hello and welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes. I'm the host, Jackie Morreale. Today, I am welcoming our youngest guest to the show thus far. She has just made her debut as illustrator for a newly published book: Book four in the Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke series, which is called The Furry Christmas Miracle. I am so proud to welcome, my daughter, Natalia Morreale.

Welcome to Wisdom for Wannabes, Natalia!

Natalia Morreale (00:32)
Guys, I'm so happy to be here. This is the fourth book so I want to show off one, two, and three from my mom.

Jackie Morreale (00:40)
Thank you.

Natalia Morreale (00:40)
The first book she ever made was Princess Tessa Meets Luc the Duke.

The second book she made is Princess Tessa and the New Look.

And the third book she made, Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke: Trick or Tiara Halloween Surprise.

Jackie Morreale (00:58)
Number four, we have Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke: The Furry Christmas Miracle. It's available in both coloring book versions so that you can fill in the pages with your own special colors, pencils, crayons, paint, whatever you like to make it match your own holiday experience. Or you can purchase the book version, which includes our collaborative illustrations, which are on the wall behind us.

Do you want to do some story time of our new book? 

Natalia Morreale (01:26)
I would love to.

Jackie Morreale (01:45)
Okay, let's start. The Furry Christmas Miracle, Book Four in the Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke series, was written by me, Jackie Morreale and illustrated by Jackie Morreale and Natalia Morreale.

This book is dedicated to all the children like Natalia, who dream, give, and believe in magic. Merry Christmas to all, especially Nonno Sal and Nonna Maria, all the aunts who spark conversations about Christmas at Thanksgiving dinner, and our cousins who share our love for pets.

Page one, Christmas is coming. I feel it everywhere - in the twinkling lights, in the songs in the air, and in the way my heart beats a little faster.

Natalia Morreale (02:10)
Before Christmas arrives, it's Thanksgiving week. School's out. Our house is busy and full.

Jackie Morreale (02:16)
Voices and laughter fill every room. The air smells warm and delicious. Nonno hugs me tight.

Natalia Morreale (02:23)
Nonna kisses my cheek. "Gioia mia," she whispers. My joy, in Italian.

Jackie Morreale (02:29)
Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful, but my thoughts drift all the way to the magic of Christmas. While grownups talk and cook, I dream. I dream of something soft, something furry, something sprinkled with fun, a pet hamster that could be my very own.

Natalia Morreale (02:48)
We talk about gratitude. I'm thankful for my family and for the biggest Christmas wish.

Jackie Morreale (02:55)
After dessert, my aunt leans close.

"What do you want for Christmas, Tessa?" She asks and smiles.

Natalia Morreale (03:03)
I take it breath.

"A pet," I say. My heart thumps loudly.

Jackie Morreale (03:08)
Mommy and daddy listen carefully. Mommy smiles kindly. Daddy looks concerned.

"Maybe next year, Principessa," he says.

Natalia Morreale (03:16)
"We already have you and baby Luca to take care of," he adds. "Our hearts are too full." My heart sinks.

Jackie Morreale (03:24)
Later, Mommy and I have a heart-to-heart.

"If you can show us how responsible you are," she adds, "we will think about it."

Natalia Morreale (03:31)
That night Christmas decorations come out, lights sparkle, hope sparkles, too.

Jackie Morreale (03:37)
Luc the Duke and I place ornaments all over our tree. Daddy lets me decorate the high branches. "Principessa Tessa," he says, "You are the star."

Natalia Morreale (03:46)
As I hang ornaments, an idea grows. A big idea.

Jackie Morreale (03:49)
I can make ornaments for sale. If I can make enough for a hamster, that will show them how responsible I am.

Natalia Morreale (03:57)
Luc the duke and I open our own Santa workshop We press our hands in glitter and paint. High fives forever!

Jackie Morreale (04:06)
(Yeah!) We use our high five hands to make hearts, stars, and angels. Each sparkly ornament shines with love and remind us that there is always hope.

Natalia Morreale (04:17)
We set up a little ornament shop right outside our house. One dollar each.

Jackie Morreale (04:21)
Cars pass, we wait, my stomach flips.

Natalia Morreale (04:25)
People stop, they smile. they buy our ornaments.

Jackie Morreale (04:29)
Every dollar feels like progress. I count carefully. Luc claps proudly.

Natalia Morreale (04:34)
We go to the pet store. I see her. My shy black and white hamster hiding quietly.

Jackie Morreale (04:40)
A man gently lifts the hamster to show us. Suddenly, splash! She pees right on his hand. Daddy gasps. Mommy laughs. I giggle and think she might be shy, but she's definitely brave.

Natalia Morreale (04:54)
She hides again, but I know deep inside, she will be a wonderful part of our family. I just need to show I am responsible enough.

Jackie Morreale (05:04)
That Sunday, Mommy stops at a tree after church. Small handmade ornaments hang from its branches. But different than our high fives, each ornament has a child's wish written on a paper dove. Maybe some kids won't have Christmas gifts this year. I read the notes. My chest feels tight. I imagine how that would feel. I want to help.

Natalia Morreale (05:26)
I think about our I think about those kids. We make a choice.

Jackie Morreale (05:32)
"Give the ornament money to grant the children's wishes," I say.

It is hard, but it feels right.

Natalia Morreale (05:38)
Christmas Eve arrives. We prepare milk and cookies. We sing carols and laugh and dream.

Jackie Morreale (05:44)
I fall asleep peacefully, not hoping, but full of wonder and belief in the magic of Christmas.

Natalia Morreale (05:49)
Christmas morning comes. Luc the Duke and I bounce excitedly to our tree.

Jackie Morreale (05:54)
Close to the tree there's a...

Look online wherever you buy books to find Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke: The Furry Christmas Miracle to find out what was under the tree.

Although we won't tell our listeners what was under the tree in the story, we will give you a sneak peek of Luc the Duke's first POV, a short story at the end of the story, with Luc the Duke's perspective on it all.

Natalia Morreale (06:24)
May I read it? He sounds like this.

Jackie Morreale (06:29)
Of course. What does he sound like? Then you have to do it in his voice. Go for it.

Natalia Morreale (06:36)
I'm Luc the Duke! I crawl, wobble, and explore. Tessa has my big sister. She laughs and dreams. She's always busy.

The house smells amazing today. Ham, potatoes, and something sweet. I push my toy car across the floor. Vroom. Tessa giggles.

Tessa shows me high five hearts. I clap. I squeal, I bounce. Outside people buy our ornaments.

Maybe this will get us a furry friend for Christmas!

Christmas morning comes. Tessa runs to the tree. Under it sits...

Jackie Morreale (07:21)
You'll have to find out when you get your copy of The Furry Christmas Miracle, available on Amazon in coloring book and anywhere where you buy your books online, in storybook for children. Any learnings from this, Natalia, being your first illustrated published book?

Natalia Morreale (07:37)
I do want to add something. Do you know how Tessa works to get the money for a hamster? When I was little, I wanted a hamster, too. I went to this beach and there was shells everywhere. They were really pretty. I had the idea to collect them and sell them.

We collected all the shells, we got home, we washed them really went outside and tried selling them. Not many people came, because no one was really walking and wanting to buy things. We sold them online and then I raised enough money to get my own hamster, Leia.

Jackie Morreale (08:10)
Exactly. Natalia is an entrepreneur at heart. She's always been a creative and always looking for ways to make people happy. I'm so excited to see where this book debut takes her.

Excited to share the Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke stories with the world. Thank you, thank you to those who have purchased the books, read the books, shared the books. Excited to bring stories from our home to your home. We're very grateful for the support and can't wait to make more Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke stories. One more high five for hope.

Thank you very much for listening to our story time. Thank a great day.

Natalia Morreale (08:49)
Bye.

I want to share my experience with an organization that's run by Alexander and Carolin Toskar, who are located in Munich, Germany. They have an organization called Toskar Healing and they provide Divine Straightening services and Spiritual Healing services and training for other practitioners around the world.

They also have offices in Cologne and London and are available to folks like me around the world via Zoom. Whether you have physical ailments or if you already know that you want mental clarity or whatever the case may be. The only story experience that I can share on it is my own. I'm going to date it back to about a year and a half ago.

I have a very good friend named Julija who had recommended this organization to me or a healing called Divine Straightening to me that she had taken her family to this healer in Queens, New York named Daina in pursuit of back straightening really, whether it was for different medical diagnoses or just for mental clarity, each one of her family members had such a profound response to this healing that they flew from Florida to New York to meet with this gifted person and undergo this healing treatment that she provided.

I have had chronic back issues for the past few years. I worked a very sedentary way of working, looking at two screens and sitting on a chair in the same place for many years, eight years.

I also wasn't in a good place in terms of my emotions, in terms of my own spirituality, casting my shadows on everyone around me.

Just generally unhappy and feeling stuck. That had manifested itself in having a very aching, chronic lower back pain that hurt no matter what I did, no matter how much I sat, walked, ran, iced it, put little metal spikes on it or put warm heat on it or cold on it or went to the chiropractor. Nothing was fixing this.

And at not even 40 years old, this really didn't seem like a lot in life that I wanted for the rest of my life. So my friend said, well, I had this wonderful spiritual healing from this person. She showed me a couple of simple hand movements, basically like a prayer position that you bring your palms together and you can do some stretches and you can undergo this divine straightening, perhaps your legs alignment are off and it needs to be loosened and straightened.

Me being the bookworm that I am, instead of buying a flight, bought a book and found out more about divine straightening and sought out the originators and found their website and watched a ton of videos and was really intrigued by their method.

With my back still hurting and flaring up and sciatica and all this stuff that my 90 something year old grandmother was also experiencing at the same time. I decided to take the leap of faith in February of 2023, right before my 40th birthday two months later, and book an appointment with Toskar Healing.

I had no idea that the person on the other side who would be meeting with me at that Zoom call would be the founder, Alexander Toskar, whose father had founded The Method in his own lifetime.

Meeting Alexander face to face a year and a half ago for the Divine Straightening was a surprise. I think I showed up an hour late my time. I was very flustered and caught up in my own routine of work and life and family and activities and very flustered and showed up to our session not in a great place. He made it work no matter what and put me in a place of comfort and reflection and safety, and taught me some real simple ways to, basically, self heal.

Again, I'm thinking this is a lower back problem. Started with focusing on a spiritual cleansing. A very simple activity like putting your hands over your eyes with your eyes closed and just repeating a mantra: light, clarity, confidence in my thoughts.

Being in the present and thinking about what those three things mean:
- Light
- Clarity
- Confidence... in my thoughts.
While he basically sent his energy over the distance and time difference and whatever other obstacles in the way.

Then we moved down to the body. Hands over navel as a simple exercise and repeating a simple mantra:
- Power
- Health
- Vitality... in my body.

Then meet the two in the middle at your heart center, hands over your heart, repeating:
- Love
- Peace
- Harmony... in my heart.

It was a way of thinking about the body as a Trinity, really:
- body
- mind
- spirit
Altogether, in a way that I hadn't before.

My reaction to it was... intense, I would say. I felt immediately lighter. I was able to see a light in my mind. At that point, I was seeing some shadows somehow through the light, which it was very early in the morning and nobody else in my house was awake. There was no reason for that to be around me. It was in my own head casting my own shadows out.
 
What was most interesting, I'm still a little bit in disbelief, however, when I got off this call, I wrote a list of things that I wanna do. And after the list making, I went for a 10 mile run. It was like everything was lighter than a feather. Nothing hurt. This was after having done a marathon a month earlier and everything was hurting and still healing. It was like floating. I had no idea I was going out from my house to run two miles to the park, to run five miles in the park, to do a fun run through a trail, to do another two miles home and just enjoy being outside and in nature at this trail that had been almost biblical for me in terms of my connection with nature and other people and divine source.

So here I am, I'm filled with energy, I'm running, I'm making lists, I'm charting a path to a better life and I go to eat, I don't know, something unhealthy. We were constantly rushing and eating fast food. I go to eat something unhealthy and it tasted like poison in my mouth.
It just tasted wrong.

The same thing with alcohol. The next day after the healing, I went out with friends. And that was the last time I drank alcohol. Thought I could still do it socially, but my body was telling me no. I had a sip of red wine, and it just tasted like poison. That's the only way I can describe it. It just tasted wrong.

It's a year and a half later and I've still kept it. I'm trying to keep my body pure. I haven't drank alcohol since then.

I'm still working on the food. It's not always when I'm able to make a gourmet meal at home, but I have definitely been called to eat more food that comes from the ground, more fruit, more vegetable, more food that comes from sunlight.

Let's keep going. From there, everything kind of opens up and I realized that I'm just living a life that is like a shell. Living for a paycheck, not living for a purpose and just intensifies. The more and more I did this meditation and trying to clear my thoughts and see the light and build my confidence, expand my love.

It was only a few months later that I knew that what I was doing day by day was bringing me down and making me feel stuck. My back was relieved. I started running every day without issue. Started praying every day, being more active in church, reading the Bible, wanting that connection to God in new ways, wanting to be present and to help other people, wanting to create things.

In the summer of last year, my grandmother gifted me some paints that my grandfather, who had just recently died, had left behind. Some oil paints and some plates that he had done. And I just felt called to create art. It had been a while.

I'm doing things all the time that are creative but never for me and never just for the sake of art, for the sake of expression of my own. I felt that that was my responsibility to carry on his legacy and make something beautiful with his tools.

It kept going like that, that there were all these different things that kind of were aligning and coming together and opportunities from all different angles. At some point I knew that what I was doing day by day in my day job was not right. It was something like August 2024 and I attempted to quit my job I had this calling not only to connect with God, not only to run, not only to eat and drink healthy, but to help people. That manifested in wanting to heal people, to help them get better. I thought it was in the medical sense. My initial pull was to go to medical school and become a doctor and help people in that way physically.

So I took the MCAT. I'm a designer. I've never taken science since high school. I just felt compelled and I felt that my own role was holding me back and I needed to do more. I'm very fortunate. My day-to-day job, when I tried to leave, offered me so much more reasons to stay.
More responsibility, more money, and working with people that I love. I took it. All that flow that I had gained and working towards a goal and trying to start a new chapter was put on hold.

I had a friend who had a similar thing happen to her where she had this position that I thought that everybody in the world would want and she had it. She decided to leave it behind. I asked her, why would you do that? Her response for me when I was in this situation for myself is she said, Make sure that you're setting yourself up right and that this is something that you want because if it's just for the money, it won't keep you happy long. It's usually a few months.

It was nine months, by the way. Nine months for me.

But before then, I kept on my path, knowing that I was growing and knowing that I was now in this executive role and very grateful for the things that were happening around me. Although my natural talents are not in the area of medical science, as I found out from my eight hour MCAT test score, which I'm very happy that I did, I sort of realized that as an executive in business, I still want to pursue higher education.

I want to pursue something that will naturally flow in my career and still help people and allow me to write and research and be part of the conversation on thought leadership. I came up with applying for a PhD program in business for executives, which is a wonderful program, one of the top programs. I'm so fortunate that it's just a short drive away from my house, and that it exists, and that they took me! Yay. Maybe had I not accepted that job, maybe I wouldn't have had the guts to seek this out and to apply for this program with confidence and to know that I could do it. I was accepted into this role and so grateful that this new chapter in my life, that I wanted to do, that I wanted to seek education, was opening. When it came to February 2025, when it was a year after my initial Divine Straightening with Alexander Toskar, I felt the need to schedule another appointment with him. I just wanted to see his face and say, thank you for making this positive change in my life and tell him my story.

Lo and behold, I booked the appointment and he showed up again. He was there and I just couldn't keep my emotions within. I was so grateful for this Divine Straightening, for the spiritual healing and every change that it had made in my life.

He said some amazing things. He said, your experience is sort of enhanced, is different. All I did was plant a mustard seed. Love humble people, amazing. He said that maybe I should pursue a training for spiritual healing for other people, which was amazing because that's what I wanted to do in the first place. I just didn't understand the call.
I wanted to help heal other people.

After a very tearful session and another cleansing and healing of spirit, body and mind with Alexander, all of the feelings and the callings and the purification process that I had been undergoing just amplified. I started taking a philosophy class. The philosophy class reiterated all of these things that we were doing with these spiritual cleansing meditations with so many resources over the course of time from ancient Greece to China to Egypt to India. Many ancient philosophers in different places at different times saying the exact same thing.

It just clicked that we have these three bodies, right? We have our body, our physical body, we have our emotional body, and then we have a spiritual body in which we can connect to God at any time that we want. It's not something that's far, sitting on a cloud away from us. It's something that we have to understand within.

To find that higher consciousness, to find the Holy Spirit, to find the Holy Trinity, it's prayer, it's meditation. If you want to bear fruit, as I've heard in church, look at the vine, look at within and draw to Him within.

And it worked. I am very proud to say that after my nine months, yes, I did quit my job. That was sad, sad to go, but very happy to open a new chapter. The week afterwards, I took a healing training with Alexander and his wife, Carolin Toskar via Zoom. I met four other amazing people, healing practitioners from the UK with their own talents. I just felt with each day and with their challenge of being able to heal another person. First, my husband, was my first victim, then my best friend. And their responses to it, being so different and unique and powerful, I knew I was doing the right thing. I knew that I was following a call and a higher purpose, finally in my life, 41 years old. It took me a while, but maybe, everyone's on their own journey. I just want to keep receiving the calls and following them and seeing where it goes.

I'm on a journey. I'm creating. I posted a podcast, and didn't script it. I just recorded myself talking about my own journey and my lists and kind of what I've learned over the past couple of years without specifically calling out the Divine Straightening, but that is a crucial element.

I have this journey that's kind of plotted out ahead of me to gain wisdom from whoever I want in my life. I'm charting my own path and trying to learn from everybody around me. And I just want to help people.

Create and help people because honestly when I'm drawing, when I'm writing, I am in flow. It's a beautiful thing to know what it is. Although it started with a mustard seed, that seed has burgeoned and grown. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to connect with this program, to connect with myself in a way that I didn't know that I could and to connect with God.

I'm just grateful.

If we think about the word abundance, it's not what we think in terms of material goods, stuff that we have, money in the account. I feel so abundant with love, with friends. I feel so abundant with talents. Thank you God for giving me this ability to draw, to write, to sing, to be present, to make connections.

The best things in life are free. It's true.

I hope that I can continue on this path as long as I can and maybe inspire a few others along the way.

Thank you.

Learn more about Toskar Healing at: Spiritual healing - treatments and healer training - ToskarHealing
​

Carolin and Alexander Toskar with Jackie Morreale at a virtual training.

Select concepts taught by Toskar Healing:

My doggie enjoying some sun and tranquility on the actual bench.