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Pivot: A Memoir
Open your mind and your heart to a better understanding and appreciation of life, the world and universe beyond. ~ In Pivot, Machaelle takes us on a deeply personal and insightful journey from her beginnings through to what she's doing and thinking now, over 70 years later and after having founded Perelandra nearly 40 years ago. She looks ahead to her pivot-woven future, and reveals what's in store for her, and for Perelandra. If you have been looking back and thinking about your life lived so far, Pivot will give you a fresh perspective, a way to find new meaning and understanding in your own journey. If you are looking ahead to life in front of you, Pivot will inspire you to make the most of your adventures, opportunities and choices. Pivot is more than a memoir about an extraordinary life. It's about life at its largest and what can happen when we recognize the unique possibilities in our own journey, our own life at its largest.
834 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2018
8 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 3, 2018
I thank Machaelle for this book and for the life and Life it represents. The new book dovetails well with, but does not replace, her three earlier biographical books (Behaving as if the God in all Life Mattered, Dancing in the Shadows of the Moon, The Mount Shasta Mission). The earlier books have the advantage of speaking in the voice of one who is still going through and processing what is being discussed. The on-the-ground perspective of the earlier books has been invaluable to me, as I go through my own adventures, to show me the range of what kinds of things can happen and what kinds of daring might be required. The new book on the other hand provides a deep and unified view. The light from the unified view illuminates many corners that were left unaddressed before. And the combined life energy that emerges from the consistent view is breathtaking, inspiring, profound. I have no hesitation in recommending this book as a place to start. You can reach back to the earlier books if you want more.
The first half of the book, up through the end of Pivot One, is a classic memoir of an extraordinary yet ordinary life. Even on its own, I found this part very worth reading. My human sense of timing did wonder a bit. We were almost halfway through the book before we even got to "the nature stuff". Yet I could (and did) recommend the book just on the strength of this part. My daughter is of a similar age as Machaelle was on her trip through Europe; I recommended to my daughter that she compare and contrast her life to that of another daring flawed beautiful human being. Daring to live your own life, regardless of how that fits with others, and yet with an intention that it will eventually fit with others, is always a timely theme.
The "nature stuff" - including the first year in the garden, the adventures in the Cottage, the Mount Shasta Mission, and beyond - grips and transforms us as we read. I am already familiar with this material, so I was a little less flabbergasted by it this time around than I was at first. But if this is your first time, remember to strap on your safety belt before liftoff! And be warned that you will still have to pick up those earlier books for some of the juiciest parts. This book does not replace them.
I found particularly helpful the material near the end of the book about the foundation that Machaelle's life and work rests on now, including all of Perelandra. Machaelle early on discovered a trail (learn from nature in a garden) that fit with her, and she started walking down that trail. She could have turned aside at many points, yet she did not turn aside. And she has followed the trail every step of the way. A trail of this kind - at least with these wonderful helpers (Nature, Cottage and beyond) and at least with someone like Machelle - eventually always reaches out to help all help all. The radically individual path becomes radically shared, radically universal. These culminating sections of the book - the "Cottage Foundation" and the "Perelandra Foundation" - demonstrate the scope and reach of this kind of process, this kind of classroom, this kind of art, this kind of business, this kind of garden, this kind of science, this kind of life. By the end of the "Perelandra Foundation", one is standing inside of a cathedral -- all the pieces in play and all the pieces dancing in and for and to and by a single unified prayer. All one life.
The first half of the book, up through the end of Pivot One, is a classic memoir of an extraordinary yet ordinary life. Even on its own, I found this part very worth reading. My human sense of timing did wonder a bit. We were almost halfway through the book before we even got to "the nature stuff". Yet I could (and did) recommend the book just on the strength of this part. My daughter is of a similar age as Machaelle was on her trip through Europe; I recommended to my daughter that she compare and contrast her life to that of another daring flawed beautiful human being. Daring to live your own life, regardless of how that fits with others, and yet with an intention that it will eventually fit with others, is always a timely theme.
The "nature stuff" - including the first year in the garden, the adventures in the Cottage, the Mount Shasta Mission, and beyond - grips and transforms us as we read. I am already familiar with this material, so I was a little less flabbergasted by it this time around than I was at first. But if this is your first time, remember to strap on your safety belt before liftoff! And be warned that you will still have to pick up those earlier books for some of the juiciest parts. This book does not replace them.
I found particularly helpful the material near the end of the book about the foundation that Machaelle's life and work rests on now, including all of Perelandra. Machaelle early on discovered a trail (learn from nature in a garden) that fit with her, and she started walking down that trail. She could have turned aside at many points, yet she did not turn aside. And she has followed the trail every step of the way. A trail of this kind - at least with these wonderful helpers (Nature, Cottage and beyond) and at least with someone like Machelle - eventually always reaches out to help all help all. The radically individual path becomes radically shared, radically universal. These culminating sections of the book - the "Cottage Foundation" and the "Perelandra Foundation" - demonstrate the scope and reach of this kind of process, this kind of classroom, this kind of art, this kind of business, this kind of garden, this kind of science, this kind of life. By the end of the "Perelandra Foundation", one is standing inside of a cathedral -- all the pieces in play and all the pieces dancing in and for and to and by a single unified prayer. All one life.
January 3, 2020
Pretty much impossible to classify or describe. Machaelle Wright has led an extraordinary life which began with an abusive, neglected childhood, ran through years in the midst of the Civil Rights movement in downtown Washington DC, a stint as a 'Mud Angel' doing flood damage restoration in Florence after the disastrous 1966 Arno River floods, then an unexpected change in life direction (pivot) to a new life purpose working in conscious partnership with nature ever since . Wild and crazy? Unbelievable? I have worked with her Perelandra products and processes, and met her at a conference. She is the real deal, but pretty amazing. Not a quick read, but incredible.
December 18, 2025
If you're interested in the pivots one woman makes at various critical points in her life, and you're open to a truly multidimensional experience, this is for you.
January 10, 2023
This is a captivating story of an amazing woman. I've followed Machaelle's work since around 1984, being an essence maker myself. Her first book, Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered, was wonderful. This current book expands on that short bio, through various stages in Machaelle's life. Her early life was extremely difficult, on her own from age 11. Then her travels, including her work as one of the "mudangels", the volunteers who worked tirelessly to save artwork after the flood in Firenze in 1966. Pivot into her life at Perelandra, the farm/garden/nature research center she established as she began to communicate more and more consciously with the energies of Nature and other dimensional beings. Pivot into her double life both at Perelandra and in a parallel world. She takes us through her expanding consciousness in fascinating detail.
This is not a book for the faint of imagination or any firmly planted in 3D "reality". This is for the adventurous spirits who know that there is more "out there" and wish to explore expanded reality with a courageous, gutsy, humorous guide of integrity. I took my time reading this book, wanting to digest it thoroughly. I highly recommend it. Available at perelandra-ltd.com.
This is not a book for the faint of imagination or any firmly planted in 3D "reality". This is for the adventurous spirits who know that there is more "out there" and wish to explore expanded reality with a courageous, gutsy, humorous guide of integrity. I took my time reading this book, wanting to digest it thoroughly. I highly recommend it. Available at perelandra-ltd.com.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews