A year after my husband died, I went out West to visit our Portland kids. While I was there, our son suggested we drive up into Washington State to see Mt. St. Helens. It had been four years since that final eruption and we were curious to see what it was like now. What we found was mind boggling.

As far as we could see, there were trees stripped bare of their bark, lying neatly arranged like matchsticks on the sides of the mountains. As we came around a bend, we noticed a big sign and an overlook so we stopped.

The sign told us we were at the site of what had been a large lake that once had a beautiful resort overlooking it. We could see where the lake had been, but there was no lake, and there was no resort. It was hard to fathom the kind of power that could do that.

Farther on, there was a place where we could pull over, get out and walk around. Some of the trunks lying there on their sides came up to our waist. Those trees had been there a very long time. What was just as amazing were the beautiful flowers that had sprung up seemingly everywhere. New life abounded. The message was not lost on me.

Nearly twenty years later, when I was talking with my publisher about the cover for my book, “From Grief to Joy,” I remembered the pictures I took there on that mountain, and that was what we decided to use.

Recently someone was asking about the cover of my book, so I told her the story about the flowers. To my surprise, she said, “Oh yes, I know all about those flowers. They only bloom after a fire.”

What she said literally took my breath away. If she was right, and I’ve since been told she was, that means the potential for new life ~ for something really beautiful ~ was there all along, but it wasn’t triggered until something came along that literally blew away everything that had been there before.

I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes as I thought about how the promise of new life is always here, whether it seems like it or not, and that will be our experience as we find the courage to pick up the pieces of our life, and move on.

Donna Miesbach

I have been on a spiritual path all my life. I was first introduced to meditation when I was seventeen. I knew this was an important tool, but I wanted to go deeper than that particular method allowed, so my search began. I attended workshops and classes, read books and tried every form of meditation I could find, to no avail. Then in 1994, my life changed dramatically. My husband died very suddenly. Soon after that, I lost both parents, too. They say when the student is ready, the teacher appears. This student was certainly ready. About a year after my husband’s sudden death, I learned about Dr. Deepak Chopra and his teachings. It was like finding the light at the end of the tunnel. I took meditation training from Dr. Chopra and began attending his courses. They fed my deep roots and made such a difference in my life that I committed to being certified both in meditation and yoga so I could share these wonderful practices with others. I have studied with Deepak and also Roger Gabriel both here and in India. I also studied sound healing with Jonathan Goldman, and remote viewing with Dr. David Morehouse, having completed all five levels of his training. As my teaching became established, doors began opening that allowed me to teach meditation to at risk youth. Then another door opened and I found myself working with Playmakers Mentoring Foundation, a Sacramento-based outreach. Together with their Executive Director, we wrote a book and then opened a chapter here in Omaha. In addition to my work with Playmakers, I continue to teach meditation in the Omaha NE area, offering both private and group instruction. I also hold group meditations and programs five times a year, and speak to groups on various aspects of spirituality upon request.   It has been an amazing journey, one I never could have anticipated. I didn’t know it then, but I know now that it is possible to get to the other side of grief, and that is what my book, “From Grief to Joy, A Journey Back to Life & Living,” is all about.

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