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Olaf

Zavala's essay is hard to read because of how much her painful experiences come to life through her beautiful and heartfelt writing. This piece has some great wisdom that culminates with her concluding statement: "Our experiences are not our identities. They are our lessons." Zavala weaves her story and resulting wisdom together seamlessly-- beginning with the foretelling quote from Manet.

I know Zavala professionally, and have seen her passion for coaching and her discipline for writing and educating herself and others. The book, compiled by Kyra Schaefer, is very good collection--get it.

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Raf H.

Although it was a slow start, I really loved the format of so many contributing authors. I'm certain that anyone could pick this up and find a chapter that resonated with them. But do yourself a favor, read it and get to the end for Janet Zavala's Honor the Landscape of Your Life. Her openness and bravery in sharing her stories, struggles and successes struck me. Everyone has obstacles to overcome and I love that her chapter talks about how trauma and the skills we develop to deal with life's traumas and disappointments need to be honored. I am currently working through the exercises at the end of the book and appreciate the structure and approach to creating my portfolio of strengths. Janet Zavala you are a gem!

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Steve G. 

So much insight here! While it’s true what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, but so many of us don’t think about it any further than this old adage. I love the chapter Honor The Landscape of Your Life. Janet Zavala is not afraid to share her vulnerabilities and hurts with us in this chapter. She explains the fear that paralyzed her and then the ability to take that fear and hurt and look at the strength it took to get through that situation and celebrate that as a strength! She then poses some easy questions and practices so we can start to do the same!