Pam Young

I was writing serious philosophy stuff when I was twelve -- in a blue spiral notebook. I'd just read some of the Great Books my mom gave us for Christmas and was contemplating what several philosophers had written. I wrote a baker's dozen of love poems when Peter Frampton sang, "I want you to show me the way...". I fiddled around with love stories as a teacher, but romance is not my forte. I'm still finding my niche. Burnout to Bliss series is a passion piece.

My latest book, BURNOUT: How a Quest for Truth, Introspection, and a Desert Lizard Restored My Faith, Book 1 of the Burnout to Bliss series, illustrates how “it’s never just one thing” when our life sucks. It includes the clumsy, destructive steps I took to survive the worst year of my life. It shows how real healing began when I camped with Indian shamans in Mexico where I overcame my fear – and how a desert lizard restored my faith. BURNOUT is scheduled to launch before Christmas, 2016.

My purpose in sharing this story is to illustrate the concept of professionally diagnosed burnout – aka nervous breakdown or “dark night of the soul” – from the inside out, from the perspective of someone who had the experience, to shed some light on that path for other travelers. That is the primary goal for any memoir. I don’t think I’m special, although one reader did comment that my story was stranger than fiction. But I hope that by sharing my story I can reassure anyone having a similar experience:

You are never alone. You are more than okay. No matter what you’ve experienced, you will get to the other side if you want to. And you will have all the help you need for your journey. If you choose to accept it.

This is not a how-to book. It is the personal story of my dark night of the soul.