Going to Essence: Aging into Wisdom with Intention and Grace is a compilation of forty-seven insightful poems, vignettes, and haiku. This work is accompanied by gorgeous nature photography from five photographers: internationally award-winning photographer David Foster (www.davidfosterimages.net), Cindy Addiss, Bryan P Sperry (www.bpsperryphotography.com), Julie Hliboki, and David Addiss.
These offerings invite the reader to cultivate the wisdom that arises through the ache and awe of aging. Julie Hliboki writes in her introduction, "Being human means we will ache; we will suffer. We will find ourselves at times confused, lonely, in pain, grief-stricken, outraged, fearful, depressed, hopeless-the ache we all have felt in body, mind, and spirit. And being human means we will experience awe in the miracles we witness every day-wonder, gratitude, friendship, love, kindness, beauty, and compassion. As we age, we have an opportunity to move more deliberately toward awe even as our aches increase. We can move toward acceptance and gratitude and away from resistance and bitterness. We can move toward love and compassion and away from judgments and condemnation. We can move toward wholeness and grace even as age unravels our body and mind. It is our essence-our essential nature-to become wise from our lifetime of experiences."
The forty-seven offerings are based on Dr. Hliboki's work over the past decade providing spiritual healthcare and well-being. In her work, Hliboki says, she has "witnessed incredible courage, strength, dignity, faith, love, and friendship in the face of impossible hardship, unbearable pain, and intense suffering. The people I have accompanied are stellar examples of what it means to cultivate wisdom as we age-not ever easy but necessary for our spiritual, emotional, and mental health. Wisdom enhances our well-being no matter our physical condition." Included with each poem and vignette is an invitational Intention and Grace meditation prompt for the reader to practice cultivating their own inherent wisdom.
May you embrace the aging process-allowing it to reveal your essence, to cultivate your inherent wisdom, and to help you live with intention and grace.
Author Biography:
As a Spiritual Well-being chaplain, Dr. Hliboki has provided spiritual healthcare to individuals, families, and caregivers working through many aspects of living and dying including grief and loss, hospice, bereavement, critical illness, and crisis support. She has worked in venues such as Emergency Departments, Cardiac ICUs, Cancer Centers, Neonatal ICUs, and Pediatric ICUs. Julie has also provided Spiritual Well-being programs and support for hundreds of residents in independent-living senior affordable retirement communities. Julie has also provided Spiritual Accompaniment and Coaching for individuals and groups in a variety of settings over the past twenty years. She has developed curricula and taught graduate courses on global awareness, leadership, intergroup dialogue, and expressive arts; facilitated workshops, retreats, and conferences on personal and professional transformation; and provided executive coaching and organizational development services to individuals, teams, and divisions within many businesses and non-profit organizations. In addition, for over three decades Julie founded, developed, and led successfully multiple for-profit corporations and 501c3 non-profit organizations. Her rare combination of left-brained business acumen and right-brained artistic creativity, and her strong passion for engaging in transformative endeavors, led to creating and leading organizations that have both local and global impact.Julie received her Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation, an affiliate of Oxford University, and her Master of Arts in Transformation Studies from Antioch University McGregor. Her graduate research focused on the transformative nature of engaged altruism and interfaith collaboration. Julie holds graduate certificates in Authentic Leadership and Executive Coaching from Naropa University's Marpa School of Business and Economics, Holistic Studies from the College of Health and Human Services at Western Michigan University, and Expressive Arts Education from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. She received her coaching certification (2007-2017) from the ICF and in 2018 was designated a Board Certified Chaplain.For more information visit: www.JulieHliboki.com
