Stories of
Courage and Transcendence

"At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity."

Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom

The world is full of so many heroic people. They, like most of us, live an ordinary life. Then, something unwanted happens – the death of a loved one, a diagnosis of a disease, an unjust prosecution. Theirs had been life of routine, seeming security and perceived comfort. Then circumstances obliged them to look fear straight in the eye. In such moments, they were also looking at an opportunity pregnant with unforseen possibilities. At that moment, the decisions that they made determined their destiny.

We are collecting and sharing the stories of these once ordinary people who have transformed their crisis and now charter their own destiny. They range from a classic essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson on self reliance to first person accounts of contemporary individuals dealing with catastrophic illness. 

We thanks everyone who has shared his or her story with us, and look forward to adding more such insights as this website develops.