Pilgrimage of Desire: An Explorer's Journey Through the Labyrinths of Life

"Trying to craft a meaningful life and wanting someone’s story to accompany you? Read this book. Alison is an extraordinary writer and thinker - her prose and her insights have me reading and rereading her words. This is Eat, Pray, Love for real life. I adore this book!” Jennifer Louden, best-selling author of The Woman’s Comfort Book and personal growth teacher What happens if you neglect your creativity for too long? You can stumble into depression. As a young adult, Alison Gresik longed to make her mark on the world as a writer. But after university, she got sidetracked by all the demands of ordinary life. Soon she joined the ranks of the walking depressed: working, volunteering, and looking after her family, all while profoundly unhappy. Alison found the path out of depression by following her desires—to write, to travel, to become a mother and a creativity coach. Eventually she left ordinary life behind. Her husband quit his job and they sold their house and headed out on an open-ended trip around the world with their kids, aged five and three. Alison’s story of recovery and adventure is interspersed with coaching questions and exercises, which help readers take their own steps toward happiness. From a honeymoon in Newfoundland, through two adoption trips to China, and on a year-long sojourn in Malaysia and Holland, come along with Alison Gresik on a heroine’s journey to joyful creativity.