Unlocking the Secret Power of Awe: How Wonder Transforms Trauma into Healing
Wider society and close loved ones alike blame Walker, not her abuser, certain she should just “cut the victim crap.” She internalizes all of this, finally hitchhiking to a beautiful riverbank with the intent to end her life with wine and Valium. But then a great blue heron hovers nearby for a moment, finally landing a mere few feet from Walker. “We became entranced,” she writes, “eye-to-eye, soul-to-soul, holding each other in rapt attention.” This encounter does not, of course, solve everything in her life. But this experience of wonder is the catalyst she needs, enough for her to feel connected to the living world again. Over years, drawing on that wonder and connection, she builds a new and purposeful life: going back to school, doing a Master’s, becoming an educator and a rehabilitation counselor.
