Join me with authors Mary Connaughty-Sullivan, Laurie Condon, and Annamma Udaya Thomas.
Mary Connaughty-Sullivan, author of “Nudges from the Other Side” – I received a lot of advice on what to do and how to do it after I lost my 20-year old son, Aaron, to a fatal car accident on Memorial Day in 2010. See a counselor, sign up for a grief group, go here, go there, do this, do that. But I was completely lost and the only thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to follow any of those suggestions. I was too exhausted because losing my only child was utterly debilitating on every level. One person, however, said something that resonated, “Listen, Mary; work if you want to. Don’t work if you don’t want to. Just do what you feel like doing for as long as you need to do it.” That felt like a license to do exactly what I needed to do and was immensely liberating to me. So I picked up an empty journal and began writing. And I did this because the day of Aaron’s funeral, the most amazing things began happening. I knew I had to write them down because otherwise I would risk forgetting them, or worse, I might later tell myself I imagined what was happening. Thirteen years later, I’m still experiencing my son communicating with me in the most creative and mind-bending ways. And others who have left our time have also nudged me and others from across the veil. Defying what we’ve all been taught about the finality of death and what we consider to be the very black-and-white laws of science, I have discovered that our loved ones can and do reach out to us to let us know they’re alive and well and to make sure we know they still care about us.
Laurie Condon, author of “There’s No Place Like Home” – Claire and Gary, college sweethearts, married for decades were at an impasse. They had been together forever and started taking each other for granted. When faced with problems they would normally tackle together, they turned elsewhere and struggled to find their way home. Gary finds his biological family, Claire struggles with identity issues, and their son is forced to become an adult. Will they be able to overcome sickness, addiction and deceit and remember what brought them together?
Annamma Udaya Thomas, author of “Car Talk-Body Talk: Integrative Primary Care for Adults Only” – This book is a self-care guide for adults utilizing the U.S. healthcare system. Inside you will find light-hearted comparisons to the different functions of cars. Phrases like “gaining traction”, getting “bodywork” done, and “where the rubber meets the road” point to how both practitioners and the general public use car analogies in daily discussions. Each chapter is rooted in a “vehicle” theme and divided up into the 7 principal energy centers of the body based on yoga principles. From root to crown, the themes/colors/7 chapters follow those 7 energies (colors of the rainbow). It’s far from linear; it’s a hybrid perspective and an Integrative Primary Care approach aimed at helping diverse U.S. adults navigate the system and reach optimal health (OH)!