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Your Voice Matters

You are a gift to this world.  The experiences that have shaped you, have honed your innate gifts and talents, and you have also developed new strengths and skills.   This is your time to shine. When we have been through trauma, using our voices and expressing our needs can feel like an effort. Using your […]

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Survivor, Celebrate Yourself!

This journey of life shapes who we are.  Every experience leaves its mark on us – those we see and those we don’t.  All this is part of our story – the story of a person who came out on the other side and is still here, still holding on, and moving forward.  We have

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What are you listening to?

From the moment we take our first breath in this world, we are influenced by all the voices around us. Our parents have a vision for who we should or could be. When we start school, our teachers see us in a certain light, and this also impacts the way we view ourselves. Do you

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Healing Emotional Triggers

We all have things that trigger us.  They cause us to automatically respond to a person or a situation without thought; to pull a reaction or behavior from us that is not always ideal. Often, the things that trigger us stem from a past experience that, in turn, caused a learned behavior in response.  Learning

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Embrace Your Vision and Believe

We all have a vision for the life we want.  We may have forgotten this vision, or no longer feel as if it can be a reality, yet it can.  This vision evolves as we do, changing and morphing as we experience life.  Our experiences tend to dictate whether we shrink our vision or even

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RUNNING THROUGH DARKNESS
MEMOIR OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

BY SANTA MOLINA-MARSHALL ‧ RELEASE DATE: MAY 3, 2022

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022