How to Get the World We Want

Introduction The Path of Radiance Around 2007, my husband and father of my children left and I found myself sobbing on the living room floor of my home just outside Buffalo, New York, realizing that I was becoming a full-time single parent to a baby and a toddler. This wasn’t the life I had imagined. With my husband, and the father of my children, no longer in the picture, I was devastated, overwhelmed, and uncertain about the future. I kept asking, Why is this happening? I had done all the “right” things. So where was my happy ending? All I wanted was peace. All I wanted was to feel happy again. In my darkest hours, as I contemplated impossible choices: ending my own life or giving my children to family, I met one of the most pivotal people of my life: Carol Lee Mackay, founder of the Accelerated Healing Academy. She was introduced to me by a friend for a season who I will share more about later on. I soaked up all her healing classes. Working with her introduced me to ideas that changed everything. My perspective began to shift. She taught me about my own inner power and I became aware of myself. For the first time in my life. Within months, I sold my home, packed up my children, and left everything familiar; family, friends, and community, for a place that called to me on a soul level: Boulder, Colorado. Almost two decades later, I remain deeply grateful for that leap of faith trust of my inner guidance. My children, now grown, are out in the world living their own lives. I’ve made it through the storms of full time single parenting. I’m an empty nester standing at another threshold, preparing to step into the next chapter of my life with both reverence and curiosity. A Journey of Healing The journey I’ve walked, the one I now call the Path of Radiance, has transformed me from a miserable, unconscious, messy human into a peaceful, conscious, still-messy human who knows her own light. The Path of Radiance is the intentional journey of remembering who you truly are. It is a way of living that honors inner wisdom, conscious creation, and healing. Walking this path means choosing presence, openness, connection, and clarity—again and again—so your life becomes an expression of your unique inner light. Healing didn’t make me perfect. It made me real. It made me aware of my divine nature and more compassionate toward the human experience we all share. This transformation didn’t happen in isolation. After learning and healing with Carol Lee, countless teachers, friends, and experiences have continued to guide me back home to my own heart. And now, I know why I woke up one morning with an undeniable clarity: I have to write this book, before I leave Colorado, before the next chapter begins. Colorado has held us for almost two decades and I feel a call to experience new places. Why am I writing this book? Because as I step fully into my purpose as a mystic, intuitive energy healer, and trained spiritual counselor, I feel called to be of service, to help others heal their own lives using the methods that healed and continue to heal mine. As long as we are alive, we can heal something. I could stay in the safety of my career as a public school educator, a position I’ve been in for many years, with a steady paycheck and predictable path ahead with a full retirement. But my soul wants more. More for myself, and more for our planet. Why This Book At first, I considered naming this book What God Says: How to Live with Love. But I know the word God can be complicated—laden with human interpretations and religious baggage. So throughout these pages, I’ll use many names for the Divine: Source, Wisdom, Infinite Intelligence, Great Mystery, the Universe, the Oneness, the Heart of All That Is. Whatever word resonates with you, let that be your guide. We are living in a world where fear often feels louder than love. People are weary, hearts are heavy, and many wonder how we can possibly create peace in a world so divided. This book—How to Get the World We Want—is my attempt to offer one answer. This book is three things. It’s a personal story, a spiritual guide, and an invitation to choose healing as a path toward peace. I am a midlife, middle class, privileged, white American woman who could very easily live out the rest of my life going to my job, yoga class, and coffee dates with friends. And I have spent nearly two decades on a journey toward awakening. I feel both called and responsible to share what I’ve learned—to contribute, in my small way, to humanity’s evolution toward kindness, compassion, and love. How long will it take for a peaceful, kind planet to emerge? Exactly as long as we decide it will. Every time an individual chooses healing over fear, light over shadow, or peace over reaction, the world shifts, because we are all connected in the great Web of Oneness. When one of us rises, we all rise. When one of us sinks, we all feel it. One by one, little by little, like the book The Little Engine That Could that my mother read to me as a child, we climb together toward peace. Or we don’t. The choice belongs to each of us. This book is my offering to help you choose to rise. Will You Walk With Me? Before we begin, you might want to know a bit more about who’s inviting you on this journey, because this book isn’t for everyone. It will challenge you. I will ask you to look at yourself, your patterns, your beliefs, and the ways you unconsciously hold yourself back. The truth is simple: the world can’t change unless you change.