Life is often busy and while we are doing things we need to do, most of us find we have a running list of things we would rather be doing that bring us joy. Have you had moments when you suddenly have unexpected free time and can’t think of the many things you wanted to …
Our lives are composed of relationships – casual ones, like the people at stores we regularly visit, and deeper relationships with partners, children, family, and other loved ones. Society’s paradigm of successful relationships often involves compromise and sacrifice, meaning giving up parts of yourself to meet another’s needs. Happy relationships begin when each party involved …
When we are young, happiness is an automatic state of being. As we grow into adulthood, fear, worry and stress become our automatic state. Life is a series of moments, interactions, and experiences. We cannot control the world around us but we can control our inner world. Our personal external world is often a reflection …
Building happiness happens one brick at a time. So does forgetting how to find our happiness. When we are young, we are taught to strive for that elusive thing called happiness. We learn all about it from disillusioned adults and as we grow up, we become those adults who stop believing in the possibility. We …
As the sky changes from light to deep blue, we feel the transition to summer. The only thing that has been constant in our lives is change. At this point we have no benchmarks, no quantifiable measures on which to stand. We were directed into what was open to us, and now it is time …
With our emerging freedom, many of us may be overwhelmed by new possibilities. We have been granted an awakening – having our freedom restricted showed us what we found important in life and what we simply allowed. Being able to embrace life fully once again is a new opportunity to move our lives in the …
Permission to embrace the new, the old & the yet to be Read More »
As the world keeps changing and restrictions get lifted, we find ourselves adjusting our work habits, lifestyle and daily routines. Somewhere in all the changes, it is easy forget who we are, what matters to us, and what we want in life. We may find ourselves so focused on surviving the chaos that we forget …
With the world open again, we are able to expand our personal world. We can choose to see the gifts we gained through these past two years or we can find ourselves focusing on the pain, loss and anger. Many of us have shifted our beliefs on what matters in life and grown in ways …
We once again find ourselves shifting our lives. This may feel like a heady sense of freedom, with a dose of fear, as we go into summer. How do we once again navigate this change?
When we go through trauma and are in place of hurt, we feel scattered. Everything feels harder, and even getting up and facing the day can feel like a great effort. One of the tools I have used is re-centering. When we can bring ourselves back to center and recalibrate our being, we can move …
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
