We move forward one step at a time, and each step is a moment to decide what we are planting. If you sow the same seeds in the same poor soil, the plants that emerge will look the same, and perhaps a little more worn. Plant new seeds in fresh, nourished soil and what arises …
Spring is time to get creative. Everything around us is in bloom and nature is expressing itself. It is time for you to express yourself too. Being creative is a great way to express those things that you don’t have words for or that feel too heavy to put into words. It allows us to …
As we move into Spring and observe the nature around us, we see the new growth, the flowers blooming, leaves turning green, and new life springing up everywhere. We can bring this back into our own lives. Each day we plant seeds, and over time these seed become physical manifestations. You have planted seeds of …
As we enter Spring in the Northern hemisphere, it is a time of new growth – a time when things begin to unfurl and bloom. One way we can blossom is through expressing ourselves and using our voices. With new growth showing up in nature, we can bring the newness within too. When you know …
Loving and caring for people is part of the human condition. We naturally and instinctively give to others. We are taught from a young age, through school and the example of those who raise us, what it means to love and to give to others. As a result of seeing this, we have adopted behaviors …
In this month of love, let’s fall in love with life again. While life can get crazy and overwhelming, there is also so much beauty and wonder to claim, if we have the awareness of it. No matter what the reality of life looks like right now, there is still much love and beauty when …
The most powerful love in this world is the love of self. It starts within and radiates out, attracting others to this field of love around us, and impacting everyone we come into contact with. When we can truly love ourselves, life is easier and more joyful, and we tend to gather people around us …
Love has so many meanings and layers. As we step into February, and Valentine’s Day advertising is everywhere, it makes us think of the traditional meaning of love. Society generally teaches that you are supposed to love your family, and love between two people is a commitment. Often love gets associated with duty. As a …
Through all our past experiences, we have accumulated learned behaviors we needed at the time to protect ourselves. We have had our feelings hurt, we learned lessons and created rules for ourselves. We have even learned things about who we are or found that we perceive ourselves in a certain way. All this past baggage …
We are three weeks into the new year and likely settling into a routine. Perhaps you have managed to implement some of your New Year’s wishes, perhaps not. This is the time we usually fall into the routines we had in place. You may have started off well and added that exercise routine or changed …
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
