The only way to exit the long road is to remember who we are. Somehow, a whisper, a trauma, a reconnecting with our souls happens as we turn inward. The answers to life speak in the quiet of the morning. We wrestle with making a living while aching to follow our passions.

One thing I know for sure is that my mind, heart, and soul were all involved in comprehending a random event in the physical world. Most people are aware of what their thoughts and emotions are, but not so much aware of our soul’s role in going deeper.

Upon waking up from my dream, I felt uplifted and energized. If I could do all that in my dream, I knew I was on my way back to health. I knew it because my dreams and real life had intersected before. I wasn’t sure for a second which world was real.

The monologues featured five distinct human portraits revealing deep and diverse slices of life. Recently on The View, Whoopi explained that she kept those characters in her head and drew inspiration from people she saw. There was something about the way she said it that caught my attention.

In so many ways, I was fortunate; I didn't die, and I knew there was something I needed to learn. My body was speaking loudly and clearly, showing me that my internal environment needed tending. At any minute, how are we feeling and thinking? How does our body feel? Does anything register within us? It should.

Others tend to distrust this type of healing work, and I don't blame them. There is nothing to see, no physical mending of body parts, no medical tests to be run that confirm healing has taken place. This is healing work made visible only by words and descriptions of souls disappearing into the light of their new destination. How do others know what I see and hear souls say is real? They don't.

Despite many edits, I just didn't know how to write yet, so didn't avoid common pitfalls that befall first-time writers: wordiness, "telling" not "showing", character head hopping, misuse of dialogue tags, misplaced modifiers, forgetting the timeline (or bouncing around in time), and the dreaded passive voice. They let me know what I needed to do to get my book back on track. I am truly indebted to them for their time and expertise.