Part memoir, demonstrating personal growth, the book is an account of the author’s life beginning in 2006 when she volunteered after Hurricane Katrina, in a disaster relief kitchen in St. Bernard Parish, LA. This experience causes her to question her traditional career path and awakened a desire to live a more meaningful life. The book uses journal entries interspersed with analysis describing how the mind uses habits and patterns as well as behavioral psychology to explain her journey of self-discovery.
With learning Neurosculpting we teach the long-term health implications of stress on the brain and the body. When the limbic system activates to keep us safe, it increases heart and blood pressure to stimulate us into action, but if this spike of adrenalin and cortisol lasts too long, it liberates glucose and floods muscles with the hormones that prepare us to flee. When this stress response isn’t allowed to reset, stress becomes chronic and these hormones can lead to heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. These diseases also lower our ability to feel empathy and be compassionate. By learning practical stress reduction I gained a sense of control of my life. There is hope for the future, and having learned skills for controlling my beliefs I use them to feel safe and trust my decision-making skills.
I teach decision-making habits (with a focus on avoiding overwhelm i.e. after a disaster) how we deceive ourselves, becoming aware of our patterns-making conscious value driven decisions; practicing mindfulness; working for the community by building empathy/practicing forgiveness. How to motivate changes in behavior - moving beyond just telling people what to do; practicing Active Listening; applying complexity science to decision making for recovery; reciprocity - measured in Oxytocin; organizing tools for the mind (perspective taking, managing change, diet and exercise).
The author based many life changing decisions on her intuition, she leaves a government job and moves from Washington, DC to Seagrove, NC. She decides to convert her restored mill home into a B&B and open an herb store at the same time. Along the way she studies herbal medicines, meditation, flower essence energy work, reiki, becomes a licensed wedding officiant and trains to teach a guided meditation called neuro-sculpting (copyright). I’ve studied cognitive theory, moral psychology and concluded mind is unreliable, much of my decision-making has been unconscious based upon past limited experience and thus faulty. I decided I was a failure as an entrepreneur and almost lost my home and possessions. Rather than dig in to save the business - I volunteered in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and then traveled to Machu Picchu, Peru. Returning to financial ruin, my parents rescued me, and while fighting depression and loneliness, I discovered just how misguided my thinking had become. Isolated and impoverished I slowly regained self-confidence by focusing on being of service to others. I was able to rebuild my life and write this book while starting a new business and serving as a Reservist for FEMA in External Affairs.
