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Along life's every corner, Betty has experienced a seemingly never-ending cycle of traumatic events that threaten to completely absorb her essence, her light. While the text itself is a short read, there are numerous points where the reader must simply stop, take a deep breath, and imagine how terrified the author must have been as life dealt her blow after blow. Nevertheless, amidst all the darkness and trauma of the content is embedded a promise of hope and light, that regardless of how difficult one's circumstances get, we can rise to greater heights with the right mindset.
Mental health professionals often note the impact of one's childhood on their adult life. For Betty, her childhood was riddled with scarring experiences like being awakened by her mother's screams as the author's inebriated father was beating her. From witnessing a best friend hooked up to a myriad of hospital monitors following a major accident and being molested by a teacher in sixth grade, Betty's work is simple yet raw. Every sentence is an anticipation of what cringe-worthy moment fate can deploy next to hurt the author. Though life unquestionably continues to get more difficult as the author ages, her ability to process the trauma without it becoming a direct fixture affecting the mind and body is a masterclass on resiliency. However, what is most remarkable is that four decades elapsed before the author finally turned to therapy at forty-two.
A unique fusion of memoir and self-help, the story transitions seamlessly from laying bare a lifetime of wounds formerly suppressed within the recesses of the author's mind to providing concrete examples of what helped her, including, but not limited to, reading Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life. More importantly, with the right mentors and guidance, Betty's focus became squarely on applying what she read and transforming her negative, toxic coping mechanisms into healthy ones with the clear understanding that it would initially yield side effects like fear and feeling out of one's element.
With every loss more and more harrowing and often entirely unexpected, the author's healing journey is far more substantial and comprehensive than what can be covered within the pages. However, her experiences undeniably demonstrate that having a strong support system (and truly buying in) can change lives. Therapists like Yolanda can become a bedrock, a strong foundation for the climb out of the darkness. Every Betty deserves a Yolanda, and this is never more evident than in the author's section on experiencing gestalt therapy, attending Yolanda's "Healing Your Inner Child" workshop, and learning about asking the universe through affirmations.
As the author best describes it herself, her life journey is a progression from a caterpillar to a butterfly, ultimately free of negativity and imbued with hope and the ability to process even the direst of life's circumstances. This hope allowed the author to become a registered nurse, addiction counselor, and shaman practitioner, among other roles, while traversing her healing journey. Betty is determined to instill this same hope within her readers to help them achieve their own mental, emotional, and spiritual awakenings en route to living their best, most wholesome lives.