Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me

Biographies & Memoirs

synopsis

Synopsis

In blind faith, following what she believed was divine guidance, Cathy walks away from her life with no plan, no dreams, into the unknown woods of Wisconsin. During the eleven months she spends at The Christine Center, she walks the paths of her past confronting the issues that have fragmented her sense-of-identity; dissociation, depersonalization, depression, death and grief. Hearing the wind in the trees calling her to the sea, she leaves the woods and goes to the ocean to find her dreams again. In her connection with the ocean, she flourishes into her true-self and discovers the desires in her soul. Through the woods of Wisconsin to the beach in North Carolina, Cathy has taken her life, sharing her experiences in a way that allows you to go along for the ride with her, through every experience, every feeling, and every thought. "I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. What a journey you have been and still are on. I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced in your life experiences." Marie

bio

Author Biography

Cathy is an Author, Women's Personal and Spiritual Growth & Development Teacher Coach Mentor, Mindfulness Teacher, Reiki Master, Inter-faith Minister, Journaling Coach

The foundation of her writing, teachings and work is the spiritual wellbeing of women's growth and development through all stages of life.

Self-Care, Self-Discovery, Self-Expression, Authenticity, creative expression, listening to your heart, connecting to your inner voice, intuition and soul wisdom is a fundamental element in her writings and teachings, helping women be grounded in their own authenticity, connected to their heart and spirit and confidently making their own choices and decisions through all situations and circumstances of life.

She holds a B.A in Holistic Studies and an M.A. in Holistic Health and Wellness from Lesley University. She received additional Clinical Training in Mind/Body Medicine, and Spirituality and Healing through Harvard Medical School. She is a certified Spiritual Life coach, Reiki Master, and Inter-faith Minister.

This combination of education and personal experience informs her writing with practical knowledge and understanding combined with insight and wisdom. In reading her work, you will come to know who she is intimately. She holds nothing back. She writes about issues such as dissociation, depression, midlife, major life changes, grief, and death, self-care, women's development and issues as well as personal growth and development. Her passions of travel, cruising, the beach and the ocean inspire her to write about how traveling influences and affects our sense-of-self and enriches our lives as well as adding a little fun and humor to her voice. Through her books, blog posts and essays, Cathy hopes to inspire others to step into themselves and out into the world discovering and expressing their passions and loves fully and authentically. Cathy's lives on a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina.

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Author Insight

What if I was just me? Who would I become?

When I began my own personal journey many years I ago, I began with those questions of what if…. What if I knew who I was? What if I could be myself? Who would that be? What would I be like? My memoir is really the journey of wondering what if…and then stepping into living those what ifs. As I leaned into each what if to discover the answers many more what ifs emerged. It wasn’t an easy journey. Wondering the what if was easier than stepping into the possibilities of living the what if. It was the dreaming about what if….that lead to trying to see if the what if was possible and following steps towards living the what if that lead me to discover the answers. The what if…was no longer a what if because I knew the answer. It is in wondering what if…that leads me down the path of life to fully living and being. Discovering the answer to what if opens a door to possibilities of what ifs expanding life is ways I can’t even imagine. What if you followed your what if where would it lead you? The only way to know is to lean into then step into your what if.

Book Excerpt

Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me

I know that this person I have been-have become-is a cover, a hard shell around my heart that I created. I fashioned myself from a core that was broken, pushed down and controlled when I was young. From that point on I hid who I really was. I hid in shame of who I was. I have lived my life with a deep-rooted belief that I am not good enough. Who I am inside is not acceptable in the outside world. I believed I had to become who I was expected to be. I never felt comfortable in that shell.

Yet the pull to get sucked into living a facade is strong. I am at my weakest moment. I have always tried to fit in, to make myself into someone who would be liked and accepted. Yet I have never felt accepted. Even the false creations of myself who were fashioned to be the person others wanted me to be, were not accepted. I have felt rejected and abandoned then and now.

This is the theme of my life, trying to please everyone and pleasing no one in the process. It runs through every choice, every decision I have ever made. Because of these deep-rooted feelings I have isolated myself from life, others and myself. Everything within me is telling me this is the moment to break free but can I? The conflict of following the ‘right path’ and following my soul is paralyzing me. All I can feel is fear and panic.

My soul has been crying out for years. I have done what I can to pacify it. The thought of continuing to live with this emptiness inside is unbearable to my soul. I don’t want to do that anymore. It has become too painful. The truth of the matter is that I have wanted to run away from my life for years. I have wanted to get out and get away but responsibilities and obligations have kept me trapped. Fear has kept me from doing anything about it. If I stay here, I will drown in the sacrifice of myself. I’ve already given myself away but sacrificing myself knowing full well what will happen to my soul is suicide.

It is time to do some deep soul searching to go within. It seems scary to turn inside when it was in turning inside myself that forced me to live outside myself. How could doing the very thing that sent me into this empty chasm of a person be the solution and answer to becoming my true self? As confusing as this seems I am being drawn into this idea that this is the way out.

Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me

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Cathy Teoste

Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

What if I was just me? Who would I become?

Book Excerpt

Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me

Comment on this Bubble