Suddenly Homeless - An EMpowered Journey Home (working title)
by Emily J Rooney
I'd always hoped to write and launch a book in time for the 10th anniversary of the fires. Somehow 9 years flew by before I realised the 'deadline' was looming and I'd not even started writing.
I began in ernest to explore what I would write and entered a competition with Hay House Publishers based on the proposal below.
I got tremendous support & feedback (see the feedback page) however, as I cleared the decks to start writing I was faced with the reality of really looking at the last decade of my life. A decade that could actually be summed up as 'a decade of disasters'!
It was not just the firestorm that I wanted to write about - it was the whole journey. Relationships, finances, career you name it and I have a 'story'.
Essentially, for various reasons the last 10 years included quite abit more stress, grief and trauma than my brain knew how to process.
Whilst a passionate advocate of the importance of one's inner home, the truth was that I had spent alot of the last decade lost and homeless in every sense.
This all culminated in being diagnosed with PTSD - something that I had managed to hide from most of the world and even deny to myself. Although once I came to terms with it, there was an amazing sense of relief and liberation as I understood that it was possible to completely move through it and heal.
I came across the concepts of Post Traumatic Growth and Positive Psychology, that I really resonated with and wanted to explore further. As I did, pieces of the puzzle came together and now I see and love the bigger picture!
Although I had to let go of the idea of launching my book at the anniversary and it's direction has changed abit from the proposal below, I am pleased with the progress and am currently playing out some of the final chapters. For instance, returning to Canberra for the 10 year anniversary of the fires will be a very significant one.
I know that once complete the book is going to be a valuable and useful guide, not to mention a humorous and entertaining read. I invite you to stay connected and become a part of MY journey home...
Hay House Australia's Writer's Workshop 2012 Proposal - 