You Make Your Path By Walking: A Transformational Field Guide Through Trauma and Loss

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When her beloved husband took his life, and with it her life as she knew it, Suzanne Anderson faced a choice: would she be broken down and defeated, or broken open and transformed? Part memoir, part guidebook, You Make Your Path By Walking accompanies readers on their own journeys through the barren landscape of trauma and grief, offering comfort, guidance, and inspiration to make meaning out of loss. Whether you are going through a personal dark night or struggling with these uncertain and disruptive global times, this book offers a proven pathway to allow the breaking down to be the breaking open into a whole new way of living, loving, and leading.

In this beautifully crafted blend of memoir and guidebook, Suzanne Anderson invites you to walk with her through the brutal landscape of trauma and loss in a way that is profoundly transformational.

Structured into three distinct parts, Part One sets the stage and walks us through the shocking event of her husband’s suicide and the dismantling of her life. Using compelling personal stories throughout, Part Two explores how to embody each of the eight critical capacities of resilience, and Part Three provides some of the inner tools, rituals and broader perspectives needed.

Drawing from her years of exploration into the development of human potential and the personal, shattering journey of loss, Suzanne guides you to make your own path through the darkest of times—and to become a light in the world that others can look to in their own times of need.

You Make Your Path By Walking will be released in June 2023, published by She Writes Press. The book is currently available for pre-sale on Amazon.


What Readers Are Saying:

“This is a gift for anyone navigating life towards greater sovereignty, purposefulness and freedom from self-limiting cultural norms . . . .The nuanced discoveries this book shares – along with practices to enhance readers’ self-reflection and integration – offer pathways to greater joy, fulfillment and liberation. They are authentic and hard-earned, and reveal the inspiring power of a woman’s fierce determination to live life fully – and above all, whole-heartedly.” —Nina Simons, Co-founder and Chief Relationship Officer, Bioneers.org, and author of the award-winning book Nature, Culture & the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership

“Suzanne Anderson weaves an exquisite tapestry of love, hope, and healing she invites us to apply in our own lives. This book is a moving primer for how to ‘make the path by walking’ we each must forge through challenging life experiences that we will all encounter. With courage, grace, and wisdom, she demonstrates how, regardless of our circumstances, individually and collectively, we hold the power to heal, envision, and create a better world.” —Donna Stoneham, PhD, author of Catch Me When I Fall: Poems of Mother Loss and Healing and The Thriver’s Edge: Seven Keys to Transform the Way You Live, Love, and Lead

“From the fire of personal trauma, Suzanne Anderson was forced to find a path through the ashes of devastation—unexpectedly testing her own groundbreaking teachings in her acclaimed previous book The Way of the Mysterial Woman. Through gripping storytelling and clear guidance, if you have ever experienced a shattering trauma or want to help someone through loss and heartbreak, this is the field guide for you.” —Gail Hudson, Writing coach and New York Times best-selling co-author with Jane Goodall of The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times and Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder From the World of Plants

“This book has the means to touch your heart, open your mind and give you access to the journey through the eyes of a wisdom keeper. I have been so touched by Suzanne’s gift of language and her wisdom of navigating the underworld. What a beautiful piece of work! Thank you for sharing your journey, and allowing me to learn from you. Only a Scorpio can take you into the realms of death with such fearlessness!” —Debra Silverman, Astrologer and author of The Missing Element: Inspiring Compassion for the Human Condition

Suzanne Anderson, MA, is the founder of The Mysterial Woman, a psychologist, author, coach, leadership consultant, and transformational teacher. Her pioneering work in guiding women to awaken their full Feminine and Masculine strengths combines insights and practices from ancient wisdom, depth psychology, and modern neuroscience. She has dedicated the past thirty years to decoding an embodied, integral, and accelerated archetypal pathway to unlock the next level of our innate potential. Combining her graduate studies in women’s developmental psychology together with her decades as a leadership consultant, Suzanne wisely guides women to awaken to the next level of consciousness and leadership capacity, making the changes in themselves they want to shape in the world. She facilitates global online programs, workshops, and retreats, and is the author of You Make Your Path by Walking: A Transformational Field Guide Through Trauma and Loss and is the coauthor of the triple award-winning book The Way of the Mysterial Woman: Upgrading How You Live, Love, and Lead. Originally from Canada, Suzanne now lives in Seattle, WA.

To request a review copy or an interview, please contact Kelsey Butts at Book Publicity Services at (805) 807-9027 or Kelsey@BookPublicityServices.com

Heartbreak to Hope by Kara Bowman

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Heartbreak to Hope: Poems of Support for Grief and Loss by Kara Bowman is a collection of original poems designed to help people through the grieving process.

People who are mourning a loss often don’t have the mental ability to focus on books so the short length of a poem is a perfect fit. Each of the poems in Heartbreak to Hope captures a different aspect of grief. Readers will find their experience reflected on the pages in accessible and easily understood vignettes. They will feel less alone knowing that others have experienced the same feelings. They will move through the process of grief, having words for their emotions. And they will treasure this volume, coming back to their favorites time and time again for comfort and understanding.

“Kara Bowman’s Heartbreak to Hope is a wonderfully sensitive and poetic accompaniment as we journey through grief. It captures so much of the darkness and difficulty of that journey while holding out hope that through those difficulties one can still get to a sense of peace–even growth. I wish every individual struggling with grief could have a copy!” -Professor Kenneth J Doka, PhD, Grief Researcher and Author, Grief is a Journey, When We Die: Extraordinary Experiences at Life’s End.

“Kara Bowman understands the inner experience of grieving. If you are looking for a book of poetry that captures the heart of what the journey of mourning is about, this is it. It will mirror back to you the experiences you are having, and it will also help you to teach others what you are going through. If you are deep in mourning, you will see yourself recognized by this powerful book of poetry about the experience of loss. As Shakespeare once said in Macbeth “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break” In Heartbreak to Hope, Kara Bowman has, indeed, given sorrow words.” -John R. Jordan, Ph.D., Grief Researcher and Author, Devastating Losses

Excerpt:

I was sitting in a comfortable chair across from an impeccably dressed, petite, white-haired woman. She was crying gently as she described her husband’s death and the sharp pain she felt in her heart whenever she thought of him. She suddenly paused, looked me straight in the eye, and plaintively said, “I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to grieve.”

An hour later, a soft-spoken, intelligent young Latino man was in the same spot describing the agony of his life without his mother in it. His face looked desperate as he asked me, “Will this get better? What should I be doing?”

In my work as a grief therapist, I often receive these heart- felt questions. I wrote this poetry collection as a response to my clients and every person who wonders how to help themselves through the difficult process of grief. There are many things to learn but the most important thing to know is that grief is not something we need to do; it is something we simply need to allow. If we feel our feelings without judgment, bathed in self-compassion and allowing in compassion from others, the sharp edges will soften with time.

This collection grew out of the many hours I have spent with people who are mourning every imaginable type of loss, as well as my own experiences of grief. I tried to capture what I have heard: the expected emotions, such as sadness, longing and pain, and the sometimes surprising emotions, like numb- ness, anger and relief. My reflections are offered in bite-sized pieces, each capturing one part of the kaleidoscope-like expe- rience of bereavement, allowing you to take in as much or as little as you choose at one time.

We mourn both acutely alone and invisibly connected to everyone who has ever lived and grieved. In these poems, I hope to name some things you are experiencing and may not yet have words for. I also hope to help you recognize parts of your inner world that you didn’t realize existed. Finally, I hope that, as you read these poems, you will know others have felt similar things and you will feel less alone.

While it is now known that there are no set stages of grief, the poems are organized broadly in terms of some common reactions. The first section reflects when the wound is new, the second when grief has settled in for a long visit, and the third when adjustment to a new reality begins to take hold. As you read, you should find some recognition and comfort in these pages. Like the two clients described above, my wish is for you to ultimately arrive at a place of acceptance, peace and love.

Sample Poem: 

The Surreal

Everything is the same,

but nothing is familiar.

I am plucked from the life I am living,

And ushered into another world entirely.

Not knowing the rules,

not understanding how things function,

not knowing what to do.

I am in uncharted territory because

just as every person is unique,

every grief is unique, too.

Nobody knows how to act,

what to say,

and when to say nothing in this bizarre world.

There are strange forms to fill out

and equipment to return

and clothing to sort through

and estates to settle.

Nobody asked for this existence and nobody wants it.

And yet, here I am,

in this world without a solid ground,

in this world where things keep moving,

in this world with new places, like the mortuary,

and new tasks, like writing an obituary.

The people are different and weird.

Not the same ones as before.

They talk about donating organs.

And bring Yule logs in July.

And ask about power of attorney.

I want my normal back:

my morning coffee on the back porch,

my minor irritation when I’m running low on gas,

my one and only love.

I want to go home to the world I knew.

Kara Bowman, LMFT, CT, CCTP, C-GC, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in grief and trauma. She holds advanced certifications in Grief Counseling, Trauma, and Thanatology (the study of death and dying). Kara is passionate about helping people who are grieving through her private practice, as a hospice volunteer, by giving talks to the public and training therapists. Kara lives with her husband in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, please see https://www.griefpoetry.com and www.karabowman.com.