Aug 28, 2023
A few decades ago, when Mary Pipher was a working mother in the midst of a busy career as a clinical psychologist, she realized she might find some precious time during her days to do what she always wanted to do: To write. She read dozens of books on writing, attended workshops and joined a writers’ group. In 1994 she published “Reviving Ophelia,” her first of 11 books, four of which became New York Times bestsellers. In today’s episode, Mary talks about her latest book, “A Life of Light: Meditations on Impermanence,” an illuminating memoir that not only offers heartfelt stories, but profound insights and wisdom into loss, change and hope as we age. Drawing on her own life, which began with a hard, dark childhood, she explores what she’s learned about how to balance despair with joy, trauma with recovery, attachments with separation from the people and things we deeply love. Mary, who has earned the title of “cultural therapist” for her generation, will share the coping skills and resilience she has honed during her lifetime. And she will talk about how each of us can look inside ourselves to write our own story as a life in light.