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WELCOME HOME TO YOURSELF by Suzanne and Nathan Derksen Kyra

WELCOME HOME TO YOURSELF

: A Therapist and a Photographer Explore the Meaning of Life Through Individual Lenses--A Mother and Son's Journey

by Suzanne and Nathan Derksen Kyra

Pub Date: Sept. 19th, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9809013-0-6

Words are wed to photographs by this mother/son team, inviting readers to celebrate life through reflection and inspiration.

Kyra, a clinical counselor, and Derksen, a professional photographer, welcome readers home to themselves, or likewise welcome them to return to their senses, by “learning through the wisdom of your inner nature and the Natural World to set yourself free from the inhibiting burden of defenses.” Kyra’s advice and experiences are complemented by Derksen’s highly chromatic, eyeball-achingly sharp photographs, which paint the grand natural backdrop, serving both to ground the reader and to suggest the transformative power of nature. More simply, they’re also beautiful and convey a heightening of the spirit in the manner of a good gospel song. The text aims at this elevated plateau as well. Kyra asks readers to chew on elemental topics like humor, relaxation, adulthood, wonder, mystery and faith. She tackles one per page in gently coaxing language, serving forth what she has learned about the topics and her associations with each. The author encourages readers to delve deeply into the feelings sparked by the ideas, and to finally ruminate on a concise statement about each. Some of these statements have a slippery remoteness: “Everyone has a need to be met, a task to be achieved, a laugh to be held, and a tear to be blessed.” Others are too fruity by half (“Living exquisitely is respecting and flowing with the ordinary in a gracious style”). Or plain strange: “There is a time to laugh–and it is always right now.” If “everything has a time and a place,” what about giving over, in full, to grief? Still, and more often, Kyra touches a resonant chord with these fundamentals. The author explains how poetry, voice, intuition, dreams and formal occasions can become glad tidings, ushering us toward integrity, dignity and compassion, once we let our guard down.

A book about living a better life that frequently enough hits the nail on the head.