By Alli Hayes
@alliwildcard
“The science says we are capable of self healing and self generating and self creating, that means that external forces can’t control us as much. That’s why there is a resistance there I think, but the change happens at an individual level, so it’s the people taking evolution into their own hands and saying I know a different way of being. It’s confusing, it’s unknown, but man it feels a lot more meaningful than anything I’ve ever come across.”
What we’re reading: Be Feel Think Do: A memoir by spiritual life coach and Anne Bérubé, PhD.
About the author: Halifax-born Bérubé has created a memoir that awakens the essential living of the soul. At 23, she was devastatingly injured in a passenger seat car accident. With her liver split in two and near-fatal injuries, Bérubé gained strength and survived, but not without some enlightenment. She came close to the other side of the veil: a near-death experience that, in the moment of the accident, left her feeling intense amounts of love and joy in her body. Miraculously still with us to tell the tale years later, Bérubé recounts moments leading up to the crash, and moments that would drastically follow suit. She has since found herself in collaboration with the late motivational speaker, philosopher, and multi-published author Dr. Wayne Dyer, as well as alternative medicine advocate and valued author Deepak Chopra and many others that have come into her life. She has hosted countless retreats and established a life-coaching career. She’s currently raising a family with her husband.
The main idea: Be Feel Think Do allows you to re-examine the authenticity you wish to have in your life; how to control pain, suffering, and even addiction in your everyday. After reading this, you might need a good cry. The first half of the book provides vulnerable insight into Bérubé’s spiritual awakening through survival and trusting her intuition after years of physical and emotional struggle between family, lovers, and career. Narrating the immense feelings of joy she experienced when she almost passed away in the car accident helps guide the reader to an expansion that we are all capable of experiencing.
The second half of the book is the juicy content. Bérubé imparts the wisdom that many people don’t even realize they’re living in autopilot: the Do Think Feel Be. Here, Bérubé invites us to consider to Be Feel Think Do, that many people forget to breathe deeply and with conviction into their everyday, to understand that we all have choices and we can trust our gut and have a word with ourselves before thinking, doing, and saying. Many people worry how they’re going to make it if they choose to give up their job or a suffocating relationship, but it’s all about perspective.
Takeaways: When I started reading, I figured this was going to be a straight-up memoir, a story of Anne’s life through her eyes. Instead, it was a well-thought-out, creative construction of the odd cycles she experienced through life, followed by the second half of the book putting this essential mantra into form. I especially resonated with Chapter 15, “An Autopoetic Life,” which educates the reader that being and feeling can translate into thinking and doing. Can you truly manifest everything you desire in life to come into play? Deepak Chopra calls this a “spontaneous right action,” when an impulse is going to benefit you, because it comes straight from the nurtured soul compass. Anything radical that needs to shift in your life will require a scary leap of faith, but eventually leads to the correct path.Where you do want to put your attention? In Chapter 30, “The Tree Bends Towards the Light” puts it clearly. If we put more attention on nurturing our soul, we’ll tap into an expanded consciousness.
Alli is a wildcard. Faux fur is her wingman. She is constantly moved by art, cool parties, and independent film, and continues to create her own projects. She wishes her photographic memory did her Instagram more justice. Check out her blog at thewildcardwins.com.
