I wrote UNCONDITIONED to broadcast the message that one’s self-worth is unrelated to the opinion of others and to give courage to women to speak out and up. After a childhood of cruelty and abuse, my life was hell for the first thirty-eight years because I’d been conditioned to believe that girls were inferior and that I was the most inferior of them all. Even though I had convinced myself I hadn’t bought it, this constant drip of scorn seeped into my unconscious mind so thoroughly that I was soggy with self-hatred. My solution was to get away from my parents, so I skipped college and left home at eighteen with $400, a puppy, and my draft-dodger boyfriend. What could go wrong? For about twenty years, everything. However, eventually all the adversity led to an awakening. After the good fortune of finding an earthy Buddhist therapist and putting in many hours of mindfulness meditation, I recovered from the self-loathing that had literally made me sick because I was helped to understand the degree to which my parents had been wounded and therefore incapable of healthy love. I learned to forgive them and myself. Years later, a small but powerful incident with my granddaughter gave me clarity of just how far I’ve come. That’s when I decided to write about my experience because I want everyone to know that joy is possible no matter how bleak your life is or was. UNCONDITIONED is an intimate memoir of mayhem and discovery which will be posted one chapter per week on Wednesdays. Plus, I’ll post occasional, insightful short essays on my evolving practice of interacting with the world through a clearer lens. Thank you for your interest. I am thrilled to share this book and look forward to hearing from you.
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About me
I am an artist and writer living on a lake in rural in New Hampshire. My art can be found at www.destrempes.com. My writing has appeared in Echo, Journal of Creative Nonfiction, Riddlebird, and has been selected for two of Firelight Theater Workshop’s productions. I’ve worked as a creative director in magazine publishing, owned a design firm, and am an award-winning fine artist who has had national gallery representation. As director of my own arts nonprofit, I created monumental, public-participation art installations nationally to raise awareness of social and environmental issues for museums, universities, and nonprofit organizations. I have practiced mindfulness meditation for over thirty years, am currently a student of shamanism, and a tenor in my church choir.
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