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Why I Wrote Moonshot
I wrote Moonshot as an invitation to approach the present moment with greater awareness, invite a moment of acceptance, and then act accordingly, from a place of tender, powerful generosity rooted in resilience.
Let’s start with the end in mind. We are in the midst of a cultural revolution. My purpose-driven passion as a social pioneer is to transform the world, one relationship at a time. Let’s embrace the mind-blowing capacity of love to heal heart dis-ease and end addiction, as we contemplate a new reality.
This transformational memoir is for you if you have severed contact with your inner guidance system, felt blamed and shamed, and then criticized others and compromised your morals.
Perhaps you suffer, as I once did, from the epidemic in our dominant culture of distraction and busyness. You are addicted to things that rob your soul of the beauty of the present moment. You avoid the direct experience of the moment by chronic “doing” vs. “being.” And you rise, like a mighty wave.
You are willing to trust yourself to no longer abandon yourself. You are willing to own your super-sensitive superpowers. Join me and declare your Moonshot, that something extraordinary that wouldn’t otherwise happen. And let the Magic unfold.
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Where I’d like to be is offering you a tender, juicy, tasty offering of a life worth living, in order to inspire you to see, in case you haven’t already, that your life is worth living, extraordinarily so. I do not have to keep chewing the bland steak, the old overcooked story.
Where I’m from, I tethered myself back to the reality and power of love.
As I’m sitting here, a tender, powerful, generous woman, my history, my story, sits before me. My heart opens wider to a heart-centric life. I consciously choose to tenderize my heart on a daily basis, to cover it with love, and let that love spill out and make a mess. Tears come with tenderizing, and usually a good bit of snot, and sometimes an imploding headache. I take a deep breath and remember the wisdom of my body. The body speaks my mind, releases the pinch of constriction, lets the blood flow freely to the sore spots, feels it to heal it, and releases any issues stored in my tissues. I thank my body by taking another deep breath.
What matters most is embracing the magic of choosing love over drama, or as we say in Hawai’i, choosing aloha over pilikia, trouble of any kind. In the past, the troubles dominated my mental real estate, taking up the scenic landscape with high-rise pillars of doom. I lost sight of the clouds, the birds, the beautiful sunrise that happens every day without fail. In the past, what it was like was I was adrift, spinning out of control at times while exerting control in a grasping, constricting way. I trusted everything and then nothing. Trust bled to mistrust and I landed in a psychological hell realm.
One thing I can do is recognize I am 100% responsible for my life’s story, and as such, be source for a transformed world. I can integrate what happened in my life and see how my experience does not define me.
One thing I appreciate is that I’m on this incredible journey, this opportunity to live an extraordinary life of love, connection and commitment. I can get out of those scary places in my mind more quickly and with more grace than ever before. And truthfully, I don’t enter them as often as I used to.
From back cover
This is what it was like. Losing trust in myself, unable to focus on what mattered most, creating wreckage and losing faith in the carefree feeling of youth. My adolescence fostered resilience in me. Resilience of staying alive, strengthening my soul and returning to love, despite trying experiences that tested my trust.
From Moonshot: What was it like living in a culture devoid of rites of passage other than binge and puke and spread your legs? Naturally, my heart hurt, my soul ached, and my spirit floated lost. From this place of intensity, I developed incredible resilience. This is what happened: settling into sobriety, grounding into gratitude, and cultivating a compassionate heart, my mind cleared, my heart opened, my spirit reactivated, and my energy expanded. This is what it’s like now: breathing aloha into every moment, recognizing our interdependence, and claiming responsibility as a source for transformation, naturally, my grateful heart has more blessings than I can say grace over.
Amy’s transformational memoir explores the journey from despair to repair and serves an invitation to us all to understand the distinctions of an extraordinary life through the lens of resilience, compassion, and service.
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Moonshot Endorsements
“I call this book a psychological “rags to riches” story. Amy Elizabeth Gordon’s memoir traces her heroic journey from adolescence and young adulthood, where she struggles in dark shadow realms, and then hits bottom. She discovers those modalities that bring her to the light, where she ultimately becomes a gifted wounded healer. It’s a must read.” (Linda Bloom, LCSW, co-author of 101 Things I Wish I Knew When I Got Married: Simple Lessons to Make Love Last)
“Equal parts lyrical, confessional, and practical, Amy Elizabeth vulnerably uses her own journey through addiction and trauma to inspire readers to move beyond limiting beliefs and heal from the past.” (Alicia Munoz, author of No More Fighting: 20 Minutes a Week to a Stronger Relationship)
“Moonshot is an elegant and visceral memoir that dares one to question one’s own resilience and courage. Indeed, Amy Elizabeth is as transparent as she appears in these pages. Love the interactive curriculum and its usefulness.” (Kekuhi Keali’ikanaka’oleohaililani, trainer, Halau ‘Ohi’a)
“This work is the bridge between despair and repair. It is an invitation for women to tenderize our own hearts and to craft a new heart-centric story, the true story of who we are at our core.” (Kristen Noel, editor-in-chief, Best Self Magazine)
“Nature did not design us to be alone. Evidence shows that people who enjoy close, fulfilling relationships with others are happier, healthier, and more creative. If this does not prompt you to the wonderful Moonshot, please reconsider. Highly recommended!” (Larry Dossey, MD, author of One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters)
“What an enchanting, captivating, beautiful, practical book! Based in personal experience and penetrating prose, Moonshot is meant for anyone who needs more love, empathy, and compassion in their life-and who doesn’t? Let Amy be your guide to a richer, deeper commitment-not just to others but to the world.” (Barbara Montgomery Dossey, RN, PhD, FAAN, author of Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer and Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice).
EXCERPT:
Appendix II from my transformational memoir
Moonshot: aim high, dive deep, live an extraordinary life
Daily Tender Job Description by Amy Elizabeth Gordon MA
Daily Tender is a simple position of ultimate and radical self-care. It’s a call to action in these unimaginable times. Here’s a quick list of the duties, responsibilities and privileges of this enlightened role.
- Smile upon awakening.
- Give thanks for this moment.
- Stretch and massage. Make love, alone or with beloved.
- Make the bed.
- Relieve self of what is no longer needed by tapping into Source.
- Brush teeth.
- Dry skin brush and cold shower — most mornings.
- Practice Yoga, daily.
- Breathe, consciously, while the hot water in the tea kettle boils.
- Meditate.
- Consume yummy food and lots of love and hugs.
- Tidy the kitchen.
- Chore day Sunday.
- Assemble hydration station every morning for tea, coffee, water.
- Water garden (literally and figuratively).
- Express thanks. Often.
- Chant. Buddhist prayers, yoga prayers, Hawaiʻi prayers.
- Sweep the floor, removing the dust of yesterday.
- Exercise outdoors.
- Exhibit discipline around tech. Adopt fairly strict media diet.
- Write, create, make a mess.
- Switch from the mentality of performance driven living of Do, Be, Have, to a new emphasis on ways of being with: Be, Do, Have.
- Keep appointments with people. Be timely.
- Coach and be coached.
- Invest in wellbeing.
- Cherish time with family.
- Stop when triggered, drop what I’m doing, and breathe.
- Deeply breathe.
- Clean up my side of the street and set right wrongs I’ve made.
- Allow space for grace to enter in a way that is indeed miraculous.
- Express thanks. Yes, again.
- Read inspiring words.
- Play. Dance. Laugh: pepper these throughout the day.
- Connect with friends on Wednesday, We-day, if not more often.
- Surrender to what is.