My first spiritual novel, Trusting the Currents, has just been published. It’s been a long journey, almost ten years, since an elderly, Southern, African American woman, Addie Mae Aubrey, first began whispering the story of her teenage years to me. Nothing has defined my life like the experience of bringing this book into the world. I was often a reluctant partner to Addie Mae’s insistence on sharing her memories and wisdom. I didn’t know why she chose me, a white woman from New York. No matter how many times I gave up, tried to return to a life that was easier, more conventional, she kept pushing me to continue for just a little bit longer, convincing me this was something important.
In many ways, I see why Trusting the Currents was to be revealed now, with so many people struggling. Through her journey into courage, she helps us remember our own. And reminds us of the profound beauty of our differences. Even now, when I’m in pain or afraid, I’ll recall a phrase from the book and it will comfort and advise me. I hope others come to know the wisdom that is locked within the words she gave me. I find when I need guidance about something, I simply open the book to any page, and there it is, right there, like she’s still with me, sharing.
I’m not quite sure who I am at this moment, though I’ve been told that’s not unusual when you finally release a book from your soul. There’s an empty space where the characters and their lives used to be. I feel something unexpected stirring in that space, forming, and wonder what it will become.
I’ve always felt this book had its own pulse and consciousness. I expect it will find those who would most benefit from Addie Mae’s and my journey together, those who will also recognize themselves in the story. I’m at a new beginning. I hope Trusting the Currents will lead others to seek theirs.
Lynnda…there are no words..for how this book..has touched me..and still is as I write this..I cannot stop the tears…because I feel I have been so asleep..for so very long. Today, I feel..like i did as that little blonde, freckle faced girl…barefoot in the horse corrals…and talking to the chickens…whom I always loved..among all the animals…chickens just make me happy. I used to lie back in the Bear Grass..as a young girl..10 yrs..etc and look up at the sky…listening to my horse grazing behind me, and admiring the beautiful ..blue splendor of the Mogollon Rim. Today…as of today..my heart , my Soul, my Inner Child…has awakened…a blend of joy, gratitude, wisdom..and yes a playfullnes..I had left hidden…deep inside..has now awakened.I feel so at peace, nothing matters, not the bills needing to be paid, the family..tugging at me..yes, they too feel I am drifting…rather have I? I have returned.. to my Self..my expanded…heart….with all the Love…I never felt possible…an inner knowingness…to yes..Trust…the Currents…trust the love..embrace the love …and just surrender to Life…Be Still..Be at peace..I feel a lightening bolt .is coming my way…and I am grabbing on…..
Hi Lisa. That is so beautiful. Thank you for your words and the deep heart you shared here. We are all becoming something unexpected while we traverse profound change. Who we really are and not who we have been told to be is rising within us now and because of this, much of what we were and had been is being lost. We are are breaking through to a new world and way of being. This is chaotic and difficult. But if we share these vulnerabilities, find our new tribes, and yes, trust the currents of our lives, we will discover the place we were always meant to be.