Special Praise for
The Road to Shine
“With honesty, clarity, and compassion, Laurie teaches us how to trust our inner wisdom to reach new levels of happiness and peace.”
—Katherine K. Merseth
Coauthor of Inside Urban Charter Schools
Director, Teacher Education Program
Harvard Graduate School of Education
“The Road to Shine exemplifies awareness in action. Laurie Gardner’s collection of personal experiences can inspire you to claim your passion and live in harmony with your authentic self.”
—Bob Olson
Coauthor of Understanding Spirit, Understanding Yourself
Founder, BestPsychicDirectory.com
OfSpirit.com Magazine
“Laurie Gardner is a delightful storyteller. She shares her journey through self-doubt and self-judgment toward a true shining of spirit—with vulnerability, humanity, and hard-earned insight. For those seeking to shine, this book can be a great friend.”
—Donald Rothberg
Author of The Engaged Spiritual Life
Teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, we seek to contribute a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals and their families, and the general public.
For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.
© 2014 by Laurie Gardner
All rights reserved. Published 2014.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3321 N. Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN: 978-1-937612-60-3 (e-book)
Publisher’s Note: This is a memoir, a work based on fact recorded to the best of the author’s memory. To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people, places, and institutions in this book have been changed.
Central Recovery Press books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date.
Cover design and interior by Deb Tremper, Six Penny Graphics. Frontispiece Map by Jack Laws, Jamie Does, James Harwell, and Laurie Gardner. Author photo by Bob Lasky. Used with permission.
This book is for all who sense there’s something more.
May you discover just how brightly you can shine.
And for Jack.
I couldn’t have done this without you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
4: Born Again in Boston
5: The Workaholic Turkey Farm
6: Navigating the Keeper Hole
7: All Alone in the Great Outdoors
8: Download in the Desert
9: Out of the Woods
10: La Bella Italia
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
It would be impossible to thank in just a few words all of the amazing people who were an integral part of this project and who’ve helped to shape who I am and where I am today. While I don’t have room to list everyone by name, know that I deeply love and appreciate you all.
To my close friends and extended family, for being my support and sounding board through all of my transformations. To my wise teachers and mentors, your sage advice has guided me well. To those who believed in me and cheered me on, even when I doubted myself. To my gifted team of experts: my fabulous editors, Leigh Haber, Christina Williamson, and Eliza Tutellier; my stellar agent, Bill Gladstone; my fairy godfathers, Rick and Scott Frishman; the talented crew at CRP;
