Today we talk about Explore – Transform – Flourish, a book by Gillian Stevens published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Gillian Stevens, to get to know her better, where she found the inspiration to write her book Explore – Transform – Flourish, as well as how she chose the title of her book.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your book?
This book is an updated version of a book I wrote in 2017 to support all helpers, and inspired by my own experience with burnout and compassion fatigue. I worked in a high school with at risk students and to meet their needs I had to be informed about trauma, addiction, mental health and grief because that professional training existed in teaching. I worked closely with other professionals and soon discovered they also experienced burnout, trauma and compassion fatigue, had no relevant training in those areas either and yet no book existed that was written for all helpers. I retired early to write that book emphasizing the need to prioritize personal well-being and create awareness about the necessity for all helpers to be informed about trauma, addiction, mental health, and grief with the hope it would reduce burnout. This book was written during the pandemic as taking personal responsibility for health rose to the forefront and despite our awareness that self-care is important, helpers struggled. This new edition reflects on these times, and comes to the conclusion community care necessity for self-care.
- What would like to hear from your readers?
I would love to hear how the book has impacted their lives. I included anecdotal stories and tips from the many helpers I interviewed and also provided resources and strategies to prompt self-reflection and inspiration for readers. I am hopeful that what I wrote will motivate personal change and transformation and as we all change individually, we positively impact our world.
- How did you choose the title of your book?
I believe we all deserve to flourish here and yet many of us live in survival mode which limits our enjoyment and our ability to show up as our best selves. I created the FLOURISH system, an 8-step process, that can be applied to a specific problem, or for use in the workplace and a group collaboration. The eight steps fit into three general tasks- to EXPLORE, and focus on self and getting to know self which transitions to TRANSFORM and moving to application and from self to the collective. The last section, FLOURISH highlights how we then influence the world, making a difference which is what I believe all of us truly want to do as helpers. The title of the book refers to EXPLORE, TRANSFORM, FLOURISH and helping us move from burnout to thriving. I wanted the title of the book to speak directly to the reader and that the book could guide them to the life they want and deserve.
- How did it feel to see your book published?
I was thrilled to see the finished project. It was so much work, reaching back to 2016 when I started the first edition and then this year focused on updating it. It has been a wonderful collaborative effort with EB. as it has a format, different quotes and illustration, and new content as well as incorporating some relevant material from the first edition. It’s a beautiful finished project and I’m excited to see what happens next.
- Are you working on a new writing project, you can tell us about?
I am a collaborating author in two books that will be released shortly. I am leaving the Explore, Transform, Flourish series behind and I have begun writing my next book, which will be a daily inspirational book called Living Life Lite. I also embarked on a new project, collaborating with a musician. I wrote some guided meditations and recorded them in a studio and now the musician is adding nature sounds and music in the solfeggio healing frequencies to match the chakras. It consists of nine tracks, called Free Your Mind, and will be released in September.
Europe Books thanks the author Gillian Stevens once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Explore – Transform – Flourish. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my dear reader, I wish this book will pleasantly influence your lives, provide you with ideas for your reflection and inspire you for your personal change and transformation, both for yourself and for a better world.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy this transformational and inspirational reading!
Your editor!