Darrell Lynn Jones

Darrell Lynn Jones is a disability rights advocate, educator, author, and spiritual seeker. She has experienced lifelong chronic illness ultimately diagnosed as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and multiple chemical sensitivities. Becoming MySelf, with a capital "S" is entirely what she believes the life journey is about. The illness, the discoveries, the creative moments are all part of the tapestry, but freedom was what she found without looking for it when she let go of preconceived notions about who she was supposed to be and allowed herself to be who she is, including a person with a chronic illness in the same way that people of color and different ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender identities, ages, and physical, mental, neurological, and emotional abilities are owning their characteristics as aspects of diversity not inadequacy.

Darrell notes that many of our spiritual and cultural traditions tell us if we have enough faith and positive thinking, prayerful and meditative presence, and spiritual development, we can be cured of anything. But most of us with disabilities and chronic illnesses have not been cured, and may not be in this lifetime no matter how faithful we are in our practices. Darrell encourages the reader to change the questions being asked from "What must I do to be cured?" and "Why is this happening to me?" to transformative questions such as "What if everything I think is 'wrong' with me is really what's 'right' about me?", "What if the difficulties of my life are not brokenness but opportunities for amazing creativity and exploration?" and "What if all of life is an adventure not a tragedy, regardless of the circumstances I've been given?"

Follow Darrell's blog at https://becoming-myself.com/

"It is difficult to articulate ideas about consciousness and soul. But Darrell Lynn Jones, in her new book 'Becoming Myself: A Soul Journey with Chronic Illness and Disability' has managed the near impossible. To those with disability and chronic illness who want to live more 'meaningful and conscious lives', Jones writes of a personal journey to become her authentic self and points the way toward an indescribable process. She seamlessly weaves a spiritual or soul perspective around disability rights." ~ Janine Bertram, INDEPENDENCE TODAY