Re-Write Your Life II

By Junie Swadron

ARE YOU READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE?

Say goodbye to pain and heartbreak from the past so that you can live your life with freedom, love, joy, and peace today!

IMAGINE

• Language: English
• Publisher: Your Life Matters
• Release date: Nov 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781958405826

Junie Swadron

Junie Swadron is an author, playwright, psychotherapist, speaker, workshop facilitator, corporate trainer, and professional writing coach. Junie moved from Toronto in 1998 to the West Coast of Canada where she was awarded a Clinical Membership with the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists - their highest achievement certificate. She has spent the last thirty years guiding thousands of students in writing and sharing their life stories through a deep and powerful process that completely transformed how they experienced their life journey. Junie sees the therapeutic process and the creative process as one. "It is about accessing a special place within us where serenity, love, courage, and truth reside. It is from this place that we begin to know our true spirit. It is from this place that we begin to heal."What makes Junie Swadron an extraordinary healer is that she knows "both sides of the couch". Junie was diagnosed with manic-depressive illness at age 19 and lived with its many challenges on and off throughout her life. Her personal experiences have taught her coping strategies for choosing health and wellness again and again. She likes to say, "My illness keeps me humble, grateful, and resourceful."Junie's first Signature Program, Re-Write Your Life: A Sacred Path to New Beginnings, is a companion to this book and has evolved over thirty years of teaching clients to transform pain, heartbreak, fear, and resentment from their past and live fully and freely today! How? By being willing to uncover the multitude of gifts and lessons that every story and situation they have ever lived has to offer. Writing is a major part of this transformational process. Junie's most recent Signature Program, Your Life Matters! The Author Mentorship Program assists writers to become authors, using a very unique approach. Instead of racing to the finish line, Junie incorporates both her skills as a psychotherapist and an author to empower her students by working with whatever emotions or triggers arise while writing their books. It becomes an integration of writing and healing culminating in a book her clients are deeply proud of. Junie's motto is: Your soul meets you on the page and something shifts. You strengthen. You begin to stand taller. Then one day, you notice that your voice on the page has become your voice in the world." Junie Swadron is the author of 3 best-selling books, an acclaimed playwright, psychotherapist, workshop facilitator, corporate trainer for mental health in the workplace & professional writing coach. Junie sees the therapeutic process and the creative process as one. "It is about accessing a special place within us where serenity, love, courage, and truth reside. It is from this place that we begin to know our true spirit. It is from this place we begin to heal."Junie lives with her husband, David Michael Halliwell, an acclaimed international oil painter and musician, in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Junie Swadron

Re-Write Your Life II — Peace Awaits You

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, for public or private use without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

The author does not offer any medical or psychological advice; the information provided in this book should thus not be considered as such. Always seek the advice of a physician or qualified health care professional regarding any mental, physical or emotional conditions.

Published by Spotlight Publishing House™

https://spotlightpublishinghouse.com

Editing: Megan McConnell, The Last Line Proofreading & Editing Services

Cover Design: David Michael Halliwell

Interior Design: Marigold2k

2nd Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-958405-82-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-958405-81-9

Printed in the United States of America

https://junieswadron.com

Contents

Dedications

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

In This Peace, I shall

Book 1, Part A

Chapter 1 - Beginnings: Looking Back to Step Forward

Writing Yourself Home

Let’s Write:

Chapter 2 - Opening to Grace — A Personal Story

Living With a Mental Illness

Let’s Write:

Chapter 3 - Finding the Gift

Let’s Write:

Book 1, Part B

Guidelines

How to Use This Book

The Healing Power of Intention

The Healing Power of Courage

The Healing Power of Commitment

Guidelines for Writing Your Life Stories

Creating a Sacred Space

Organization

Computer or Hand Written

You Do Not Have to be a Great Writer

Your Writing Style

Breathing

Making Time to Write

Ways to Stay Grounded

Read Biographies

Right Brain vs. Left Brain Process

Clustering

Memory Prompting Exercises

What To Do on Designated Writing Day

Choosing whether or not to publish your stories

Book 1, Part C

Centering Exercise Before Writing

Book 1, Part D

Invocation Opening to the Gifts

Book 2, Stories

Chapter 1 - Gratitude

Introduction to Writing Your Story of Gratitude

These Hands by Marya Nijland

Rejoicing in the Union of Love by Junie Swadron

Blessings Along the Way by Annie Lavack

Chapter 2 - Teachers and Mentors

The Key by Sharon Pocock

Mr. Logan, An Angel of Kindness by Junie Swadron

Let’s Write:

Chapter 3 - A Time In My Life When I Was Stronger Than I Thought

The Creation of Madness, Masks and Miracles by Junie Swadron

Recuerdos De La Alhambra by Janet Lawson

One Step At A Time by Debbi Jones

Time to Tell by Nan Campbell

Let’s Write:

Chapter 4 - A Significant Relationship

Jesse by Ange Frymire

Bring Me All Of Your Dreams by Nathalie Vachon

A Significant Relationship by Julia Jerik

Let’s Write:

Chapter 5 - A Significant Move

No Going Back by Christie Eng

Seoul, Korea by Junie Swadron

The Pain and The Relief by Anne Tucker

The Metal Beast by Doris Trinh Lewis

Let’s Write:

Chapter 6 - Occupation/Career

Hitting The Brick Wall by Esther Hart

Occupation/Career

Accounting For Business To Accounting For Life by Azim Jamal

Let’s Write

Chapter 7 - Spirituality/Religion

Glimpses On A Spiritual Journey by Eric Hellman

Let’s Write

Chapter 8 - Your Birth Story

June Darling by Junie Swadron

Birth Days by Nan Campbell

It’s Never Too Late To Be Born by Annie Lavack

Let’s Write

Chapter 9 - About My Father

It’s Okay to Love Your Father Excerpt from Journey to Personal Freedom by Esther Hart

Counting Down the Years by Sharon Pocock

Let’s Write:

Chapter 10 - About My Mother

Now I Lay You Down to Sleep by Tom Little

The Legacy by Judy McIllmoyl

Masks by Sharon Pocock

I Honour My Mother by Pearl Graham

Let’s Write

Chapter 11 - About My Sisters and Brothers

Dear Sister by Carol Jean

From Grief and Sorrow to Relief & Liberation by Junie Swadron

Let’s Write

Chapter 12 - About Children

Child-Free by Ella Brown

Birthing Our Children, Birthing Ourselves by Shoshana Litman

Let’s Write:

Chapter 13 - On Forgiveness

The Key by Judy McIllmoyl

Yellow Bird excerpt from Born Into a Late November Sky by Nathalie Vaschon

Screaming Through The Silence by Junie Swadron

Let’s Write:

Chapter 14 - Transitions & Crossroads

Trust In Me © by Melba Burns

Nothing But Acceptance by Janet Lawson

Let’s Write

Chapter 15 - An Illness/An Accident, A Health Setback

An Almost Fatal Car Crash that Changed my Life Forever: by Teya Danel

Chapter 16 - Death of A Loved One

I Love You I Love You More by Junie Swadron

Hi Memes, Bobby Here by Robert Saffer

Goodbye Papa An Excerpt from: On Her Way Home Junie Swadron

Let’s Write:

Chapter 17 - Another Kind of Death: The Death of Your Spirit

See Me by Nan Campbell

Cats Know by Junie Swadron

Bi-Polar Blues by Junie Swadron

When Will I…? by Nikki Menard

A Higher Purpose by Junie Swadron

Let’s Write

Chapter 18 - Letting Go

Resist Or Accept– Always A Choice by Junie Swadron

My Mother’s Love by Rachel Saffer-Spiro

Let’s Write:

Chapter 19 - About Christmas

Six Months ’Til Christmas by Junie Swadron

Children Are Our Best Teachers by Rachel Saffer-Spiro

Let’s Write:

About Junie Swadron

Junie Swadron is both a guide and a muse. Her book is a bright lantern, illuminating the often dark and tricky terrain of the soul. Grounded in personal experience, her techniques catalyze the deep authenticity possible to us all.

—Julia Cameron,

Author of The Artist’s Way

Dedications

Without the presence of God’s love in my life, I can’t fathom where I might be today. The unmistakable benevolence that holds me in my darkest hours and the unimaginable joy that fills me when inspiration hits is beyond description. Between these extremes is the place where I rest, knowing the Source of Infinite Love is available to me in every moment. For this, I am eternally grateful.

I dedicate this book to my late parents, Minnie and Jimmie Swadron, who loved me the best way they knew how and sometimes, it was with love beyond measure.

I also dedicate this book to my beloved husband, David Michael Halliwell, who has taught me that I am loveable in ways that I would never have known by myself. He teaches me every day that love is a verb.

Finally, I dedicate this book to the countless people who have shown up since my cancer diagnosis with their unconditional loving-kindness. I am blown away by this avalanche of love.

Acknowledgements

I thank the following people who helped me bring this new edition of Re-Write Your Life II: Peace Awaits You to publication.

Firstly, I thank my brilliantly talented husband, David Michael Halliwell, for his beautiful book cover design. I simply adore it!

Thank you to Becky Norwood, of Spotlight Publishing House, who, as soon as we spoke, said Yes, and was so gracious and willing to begin the process right away. Her knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm have made this a delight for me from the get-go! And her team of designers has given it brand-new life and vitality. I am tickled pink!

Thank you to my best friend forever, Joannie Sullivan, who, for over 40 years has supported everything I do. And to my beautiful niece, Rachel Saffer-Spiro, (Rachel-Heart), whose loyal support, unconditional love, joy, and laughter give me strength every day – no matter how near or far.

Thank you, Carolyn Clarke, for your beautiful Foreword. I am truly happy, after over two decades of knowing you, losing touch, and then reuniting, our lives now overlap again in deep and meaningful ways. I am blessed to have you as one of my Re-write Your Life Certified Coaches.

Thank you to Megan McConnell, of The Last Line Proofreading & Editing Services, for your expertise, and thorough attention to fine detail. You are always such a pleasure to work with!

Thank you, India Cornell, for your dedication and beautiful service as my Executive Assistant for the past four years. Where would I be without your brilliant technical skills and all the behind-the-scenes work that you do that brings my services into the world?

Thank you, Chuck Groot, for showing up just when we needed you to help market both this new edition and my online Re-Write Your Life Program. Your expertise and selfless service — going beyond the call — are indeed heartwarming.

Thank you to all the readers and participants of Re-Write Your Life, over these past two decades. Thousands of you have read the first edition of Re-Write Your Life, and participated in the Re-Write Your Life program. It is through your courage, tenacity, and willingness to transform the painful stories of the past and succeeding, that keep me motivated to do what I do. The steady stream of testimonials is what inspired me to write this motto:

Your soul meets you on the page, and something shifts. You begin to stand taller. Then one day, you notice that your voice on the page has become your voice in the world.

Finally, to you, brand new reader… I acknowledge and thank you for choosing to read this book. May you find, as have thousands of others before you, your life transforming in the most magnificent ways. By consciously letting go of the painful stories of the past, you are entering a brand-new beginning of the peace that now awaits you!

Love and blessings,

Junie

Foreword

by Carolyn Clarke

Fabulous! This brilliant "Re-Write Your Life" book has found its way into your life, as it did mine too… perhaps divinely sent… may you be open and prepared for life and soul enrichment.

What a great honor and privilege it is to write the foreword to this book for my lifelong friend and fellow Psychotherapist and cherished colleague, Junie Swadron.

Hi, I’m Carolyn Clarke. My friendship with Junie began many years ago, meeting through a mutual friend, it was the late 1990s and during a time when we both resided in the fabulous West End of Vancouver, Canada.

I was immediately drawn to Junie’s vibrant, spirited, loving, and forever playful nature! We learned that we both shared being astute counselors and workshop facilitators, each with an energetic passion for supporting others in their personal growth, mental health, living authentically, and implementing healthy practices for holistic wellbeing.

Attending Junie’s acclaimed play entitled; "Madness, Masks & Miracles: A Play to Dispel Myths and Stigmas about Mental Illness" cemented my respect and admiration of the important mental health advocacy message she shared (and continues to) share with the world.

Well, imagine my absolute delight, about fifteen years later, while attending a women’s retreat at the tranquil Xenia Centre on Bowen Island, B.C. found a stunningly beautiful purple and pink covered book on the bookcase entitled "Re-Write Your Life"… written by Junie. Inside the cover was Junie’s lovely penmanship with a personal tribute to her friend Angelyn Toth, Founder of Xenia.

Talk about feeling stirred and joyfully teary too!

Discovering this special book (at that particular moment in time and in that tranquil retreat location) lit up my heart, and I took it as a curious nudge from the Universe that it was time to reconnect with this precious friend AND also glean through this potent transformation guide for my wellbeing too!

I read and was reminded of adoring journal writing since my young adolescence, which turned into a consistent daily morning devotion through many of my adult years. Sadly, with life’s busy ebbs and flows, my daily journal writing practice had fallen to the wayside for quite a long while.

So, what a gift it was to find Junie’s book and for my love of journaling to be rekindled again… AND YES, finding this book also served to quicken reconnecting us longtime friends too!

Fast forward to January, 2022…

Answering my phone one morning, it was Junie, inviting me to join her and several other coaches, counselors, healers, and educator colleagues in a most remarkable opportunity, to be trained and certified in her beta program "Re-Write Your Life Certification Mastery Program."

Participating in and getting certified as a "Re-Write Your Life Mastery" Facilitator rejuvenated a fresh spirit for writing again, and I loved every moment of the training. The previous five years of my life had included much academic and promotional writings, but Junie’s brilliant writing prompts and teachings brought me HOME again… to write first for my own personal well-being.

As you will witness through your reading of this transformational guide, Junie models such transparency of her own personal growth path, her challenges, and how they’ve ultimately served as great triumphs and gifts for her life.

Through Junie’s safe guidance and care, I embraced the recommended writing prompts and experienced deep healing through a time of much grief and loss after my beloved dog, Chloe had to be unexpectedly euthanized. Wholeheartedly supported, I opened a floodgate of healing about my own beautiful and tender life, wrote and shared lots, and which helped tremendously.

Whether you’re newly acquainting with journal writing, are a seasoned writer or perhaps an educator or helper-type professional, writing is a transformational tool to unleash introspective and freestyle storytelling, heal inner parts of life and Self, and perhaps even leave a legacy too.

No matter the age and stage of life, there’s such value in pausing, reflecting, processing, and capturing our stories on paper as incredible opportunities for further understanding ourselves. May you fully embrace these tools for your healing and happy transformations!

And, as we venture bravely to tell our stories, not only do we know ourselves better, but you can also be sure that others will see themselves in our heartfelt offerings too… a touch point of supportive understanding and us possibly serving as a catalyst for others on their personal healing path.

So dear reader, as you embark upon this journal writing self-healing journey with Junie as your "Re-Write Your Life" guide, you’ll surely feel yourself safely supported, amazed by the revelations and wisdom you naturally possess, and the rich life experiences you’ve lived. You too can transform your challenges into an uplifting goldmine of goodness, well-being, and peace.

Finally, soak this in… to learn from and be guided by Junie Swadron is a tremendous gift to give yourself.

Now, invite your compassionate heart to meet you on the page as you transform the painful stories from your past — the ones that are still holding you back from living the best life you could imagine to meet you there. Then expect to live with peace, acceptance, and a new-found joy every day. That’s what traversing the pages of this book, Re-Write Your Life, did for me.

Junie Swadron, you are the epitome of love, compassion, and a free spirit, a remarkable human Being making such a difference in the world. I’m beyond blessed to know you cherished friend… I love you. Thank you for writing this book that I get to visit again and again, not just to continue my own healing path, but as a certified facilitator of your Re-Write Your Life Home Study program. I now have the privilege of walking beside others, holding their hand as they traverse the pages of their brand-new beautiful life.

With love and respect,

Carolyn

Carolyn J. Clarke Programs®

Registered Professional Counselor (#3876 with CPCA), Certified Life Coach, EFT Tapping + NLP Practitioner, Re-Write Your Life Mastery Coach and Infinite Possibilities Trainer too.

[e-mail] and www.carolynclarke.ca

Preface

Dear Readers,

In February 2023, I had a life-changing event that inspired me to write a brand-new edition to my original Re-Write Your Life book. I was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Just months before this, I was planning, after teaching my Re-Write Your Life programs for nearly thirty years, to pass the torch. As such, I certified several fabulous counsellors and healers to become coaches for my newly revised Re-Write Your Life Online Self-Study Program.

My dream was to work less as well as re-direct my energies to writing more books, travelling with my new husband, David, and looking forward to having a quieter life and lifestyle.

I didn’t see cancer in my future, but let’s face it, does anyone until we are given a diagnosis? It has now become my full-time occupation as I research all that is necessary as I endeavour to remove it from my body, as well as anything else in my life that no longer serves me.

I am keeping a journal and documenting my experiences and will hopefully, with God’s grace, be publishing a brand-new book from the other side of dis-ease — from a fully healed body, mind, and spirit. My working title is, Escalating Bliss, Inspired by Cancer: A Book of Healing Stories.

This brand-new book, the one you are holding, Re-Write Your Life: Peace Awaits You, is founded on an evidence-based program of over thirty years, which provides profound healing tools to help you navigate the painful stories of your past to successfully bring you into a future that is bright and beautiful!

It is also the perfect companion guide for moving through the online Re-Write Your Life program either on your own or with a trained certified coach.

As you traverse this book as well as the program, you will come to know that everything in your life has been divinely guided, even when it’s the hardest thing to imagine. Within all of our unique experiences and all of our stories, there are lessons to be learned. Inherent in every lesson is a multitude of gifts.

I wish you strength, joy, and freedom as you embrace Re-Write Your Life II: Peace Awaits You.

All love and blessings,

Junie

Introduction

If you are holding this book and reading this page, consider it no accident. Just as your life has been no accident — nor whatever you have lived — and whomever you have known. None of it has been helter-skelter. At least that is what I have come to believe.

Universal intelligence and guidance have been there with us and for us in every moment. Everything that happens to us happens for a reason even if we can’t make sense of it at the time. Yet, looking back somewhere down the road, we can say Ah, yes, this is why that happened. I was put in this direction, which led me to meet up with the man who then became my mentor. or, Who would have guessed that the woman who caused the accident where I was severely injured would soon become my dearest friend?

When we carefully look back over some of the situations we have lived, we can begin to make sense of the pieces of the puzzle that had left us with questions over time.

The focus of this book is to write the stories of our lives in such a way that will uncover the inherent truths in every story — in every situation we’ve lived — even the very painful ones — or shall I say, especially those. Often the people and events that have presented the biggest burdens are our greatest teachers.

In Writing Your Life, author, Patti Miller illustrates it this way:

Exploring your life through the written word offers growth in self-knowledge and understanding, the sorting through of problems, the possibility of forgiveness and the freedom to make a new start, the joy of realizing unknown strengths, the pleasure of reliving good times and the value of sharing your experiences with others, including others in the future.

The processes offered in this book ask you to be a willing and loving witness to your life while letting go of old perceptions, resentments and/or hurts. It will assist you to stop investing precious energy in past memories or in future possibilities. It will propel you to live today with full appreciation for whatever this day shall bring.

This process does not have to be difficult. When we take the position that everything that’s happened to us has happened for a reason, we then can become the observer and witness to our stories. We are no longer the victims of circumstance. We become detectives, sleuths and anthropologists — excavating that which has been buried or hidden. We become social scientists, observing our behavior, manners, attitudes and actions that have helped shape our lives. We see what has been effective and what hasn’t. We’re on an exciting journey of discovery.

And as you move through the pages of this book, I wish to be your invisible, yet kind and loving witness while you revisit and embrace the milestones that have made your life rich with meaning — the challenging and painful times as well as the exciting and joyful ones. You will bring new clarity and understanding to old circumstances, put closure on unfinished business, laugh and cry at the meanderings of your life and bring to the present a new respect and reverence for the blessings of every day.

Get ready to Re-Write Your Life so you can live in the here and now with peace, acceptance and gratitude.

Namaste, Junie

In This Peace, I shall...

In this peace, I shall find God.

In this peace, I shall find me.

In this peace, I will unravel. I will twist and turn and be shoved and shaken, and in this peace, I shall not resist.

I will not hang onto rugged branches that jut out from the banks. I will not grasp onto their temporary refuge from the raging rapids. No, I shall let the river take me to and fro—winding down and around its billowing unpredictable forcefield.

I surrender here fully even though my heart is pumping faster than hurricane blood—coursing, exploding through this body’s fragile temple—lungs infused with God’s purest prana, and I know even throughout this unstoppable force—leading me to destinations unseen, unknown, and uncharted; never before have I felt this safe.

In these rapids, I shall find the peace that surpasses all understanding, and I shall rest here. Here I AM, the eye of the storm. An impartial witness in waters gone mad, born of lost dreams and uncertainty. Yet I AM Still. I AM Peace.

Did I really think my puny hands, no matter how tightly I clenched them, would save me? Such naivete.

I am ready to see, feel, and know myself as the God I AM. I AM ready to drop the scales from my eyes and open them as a newborn baby does, seeing the world and its majestic splendour for the very first time.

I AM that baby. Born anew. Curious, Joyful, Unstoried, Free! Yes, the raging rapids of my life could have bounced and broken me against a million boulders, smashed me into shards of glass, rendering me defeated, hopeless, dead even.

Instead, the Sea in all Her compassionate glory opened her arms to this inner river’s untamed fury—infusing the turmoil with gentle, rocking motion—a lullaby quieting the unrelenting noise—the torture chamber of the mind shapeshifting me from high alert into unsuspecting emptiness and grace.

Pure exhaustion finally surrendered itself, its last grasp of holding on only to arrive naked upon pristine beaches—Mother Earth’s welcoming breast seducing me into a deep peaceful slumber, washing clean all that went before.

And when I woke, it was as though a thousand nights had passed. Rested. Restored, Rendered Brand New, bearing witness to Heaven on Earth.

Here I vowed to walk with the angels and saints who carried me here. I vowed to remain humble in this glorious land of Eden. Here I now taste the palate of milk and honey, ready to savour its gifts in sustainable ways.

And I shall walk among others who have survived bruises too horrific to name. They, too, had raging river rapids now transformed into calm blue seas, and it is here that we