The Virgin Widow is a memoir– a
self-help/personal growth book for individuals who have recently lost a
partner, written for those who are aware that lifelong partnership is
never guaranteed. When the reality of partner loss is thrust upon us, we
are most often unprepared. The grief that accompanies the loss is
typically overwhelming, as painful as picking one’s way through rubble
after an earthquake.
Not only do we acutely mourn the specific
comforts and familiarity of the beloved– we are forced into a new,
unwelcome, and radically shifted world-picture that eerily enough
contains many of the same objects, people and places, in a different
light. “Virgin Widows” are innocent, first-time widows and widowers who
have an unexplored base of experience upon which to draw the wisdom,
philosophy and behavior necessary to find a way through the myriad,
intricate and immobilizing situations demanding their attention.
The book provides guidance on how to
navigate this kaleidoscopic and confusing time — opening up a variety of
‘windows’ on the process of moving through this altered life landscape,
and consciously working with change and transition.
The Virgin Widow traces the compelling
and universal journey of the author, Dr. Andrea Gould, a successful
psychologist, through the spectral phases of her own widowhood. Follow
the author’s personal journals, the reader will study the healing
journey — replete with all of its uncertainties, challenges and triumphs
— of a trustworthy and sensitive sister. Like millions of women, Andrea
became a “virgin widow” overnight, thoughtfully willing herself to
survive the challenge with grace.
As a psychologist she is almost by
definition, sensitive to the nuanced shades of psychic change, and so as
she mourned, her journal entries became a repository of conscious
reflection on the process of adjusting to change and transition itself.
These notes from the ‘front’ are meant to guide others on their own
healing path, just as a field guide’s penciled drawings of blue jay
sightings and deer tracks assist fellow voyagers in the natural world.
Intended ultimately as an interactive tool, experiencing The Virgin
Widow will help readers learn about what quotidian pitfalls lay ahead,
receive solace, and encourage thinking and reflection about how to cope
with change and sudden loss.
In fact, The Virgin Widow presents a
larger philosophy about change and transformation through the structures
of its format, and the presentation of its distilled wisdom. The Virgin
Widow models a process of conscious choice within the upheaval, and
embraces the vicissitudes of interior monologues. It frankly
acknowledges just how difficult it is to manage these internal voices,
shifting from one world-outlook to another.
Finding her way through the grieving
process, the author relied heavily on her practices of meditation,
internal self-talk and journal-keeping attempting to make sense of her
new and tenuous life as a widow. What emerges is a pattern of evolution,
and a distillation of how coping tools can work for the average person.
Making transparent the experience of loss and transformation helps
readers know that they are not alone– that the healing cycle has a
dynamic rather than a static, stepped rhythm helps mourners as well as
caretakers relate to the unfolding of healing from personal crisis.
The Virgin Widow is a special book
because it addresses difficult matters with a light and humble touch.
Existential problems around the “ordinary” arise, and these issues are
treated with humor and anecdote throughout. Moreover, The Virgin Widow
provides a high degree of wisdom and objectivity about these matters
through its psychological commentary. The memoir is thereby lifted into
another realm of educating readers about how to develop creative
competence for adjusting to change.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – NonFiction
Rating – G
Connect with Andrea Gould on Twitter
Website http://lucidlearning.com/
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