New memoir follows woman’s journey to open-heartedness
‘Embracing the Stranger in Me’ demonstrates how inner strength can arise by examining stories that shape lives

BEDFORD, Nova Scotia – Author Kathy Jourdain shares stories of strength and compassion arising from embracing adversity and explains how her journey to vulnerability through open-heartedness powerfully shifted the shape of her life in her new book, “Embracing the Stranger in Me: A Journey to Open Heartedness” (published by Balboa Press).

“This book is about how we make meaning of what happens to us, how the way we live our lives is shaped through the stories we tell,” Jourdain writes. “Many of us interpret our experiences through a human drama or tragedy lens but there is also a soul journey lens that is far more expansive and gives us greater choice.”

Jourdain takes readers through a significant five-year period in her life, from 2005 – 2010, during which time she found out, at age 46, that she was adopted. She identifies three distinct threads of experience that changed her life during that time: awakening to a spiritual lineage deeply buried in her consciousness; being confronted by a physical lineage she had no idea existed; and discovering how to walk with strength, joy and compassion while being powerful in her vulnerability and doing meaningful work in the world.

“While this book started as a compilation of stories around my adoption – mine, my siblings, my birth parents, my parents I grew up with – with encouragement, it became a memoir of my life journey including common life changing events like marriage, divorce, job loss, changing career path, dealing with eldercare, particularly my mother’s dementia and death. Throughout it all, my growing understanding of the energetic or subtle realms has grown, now knowing they are just as much a part of reality as the physical, providing a more holistic vision of life and how to life in it with joy, delight, compassion and love.”

“Embracing the Stranger in Me”
By Kathy Jourdain
Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 292 pages | ISBN 9781452575742
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 292 pages | ISBN 9781452575728
E-Book | ISBN 9781452575735
Available at Amazon, Indigo and Barnes & Noble