MY INNER SKY

A New York–based writer and artist reflects on life lessons learned through illness and heartbreak.

In her second book, Andrew gathers essays about her confrontations with times of personal upheaval and transition. Dividing the book into four sections—"Golden Hour," "Twilight," "Night," and "Dawn"—the author links the pieces via her musings on the cyclicality of earthly light patterns. In the first section, Andrew focuses on topics such as her search for magic in daily life in NYC or for signs of her late, emotionally distant father's love on one of her many trips abroad. She drills down to more difficult topics in "Twilight," where she begins to discuss her experiences with Guillain-Barré syndrome, the disease that attacked her without warning in Spain and left her with recurring PTSD. Andrew also examines a particularly deep wound unexpectedly left by a man who broke her heart. Eventually, the acute pain led to a greater appreciation for everything she had: “Sometimes the absence of light makes you see more clearly.” In the “Night” section, Andrew continues to probe the darker episodes of her life. She writes with visceral candor about her struggles with her illness and “how anyone who has suffered could believe in God.” In “Dawn,” the author discusses her healing methods, including sound and oxygen therapy, reiki, meditation, ayahuasca treatment, visits with psychics, “a womb-healing ceremony,” and “abandonment-wound coaching.” Though successful, her pursuit of wholeness taught her that no healing exists without the grief of disconnecting from those who caused her pain. Illustrated throughout with whimsical, charming watercolors that amplify the tone of wonderment, the book was clearly a cathartic experience. Andrew’s wisdom is hard-won, but the essays, which move back and forth in time, sometimes feel disconnected, making the narrative better suited to reading in pieces rather than cover to cover.

A flawed yet colorfully heartfelt exploration of emotional and physical malady.