BooksChatter: ✉ Meet Colleen Adler from Blooming Into Life

Today author Kristie Booker takes over our blog to tell us about her latest novel, Blooming Into Life (10 February 2018, Cricket Press, 298 pages), a Women's Fiction Novel and its heroine, Coleen Adler.

"Need to reboot your inner confidence, read Blooming into Life.

Blooming into Life is both inspiring and motivational. While relating to the main character, Colleen, some days I feel like nothing I do is done well. As Colleen begins to get help and gain confidence, I too found the motivation to be a better me.

This was an uplifting read for my mind and soul." ~ Amazon Reviewer

|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || Author Guest Post || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

Meet Colleen Adler from Blooming Into Life

by Kristie Booker

As a wellness coach, I often work with women who feel like their body is never good enough. I began noticing how many women were measuring their self-worth by the number on the scales, the price tag of their clothes, their homes, their cars, and the status of their social groups. I could relate. I used to live with that mindset as well. I spent a large part of my life working up the courage to raise my middle finger to society’s view of what I was supposed to be in order to be accepted. I decided I wanted to write a story about a woman searching for acceptance.

Colleen Adler is a farm girl who grows up to marry a wealthy lawyer living in Chicago. She has a narcissistic and pretentious mother-in-law who isn’t very nice to her. She struggles with her weight and depression and thinks her husband is cheating on her. Her desperate need to fit in and belong breaks her self-worth. She numbs her pain with a bottle of wine every night followed by caffeine and sugar all day long to get to her to her next glass of wine.

There’s a quote from Maya Angelo sums up what Colleen must learn,

“You are only free when you realize you belong no place.
You belong everyplace.
No place at all.
The price is high, the reward is great.”

The price for freedom is high for Colleen. She has to dig deep to find the courage to be vulnerable. She has to learn to be empathetic and compassionate with herself in order to love and accept who she is. She finds peace by fitting in and belonging where ever she goes because the only person she needs to fit in with is herself.

At the beginning of Colleen’s journey, her wellness coach tells her,

“You are lovely, different and unique. You have a great history with lots of great stories and because of that, you are extraordinarily beautiful.”

Like Colleen and most women I know, I struggle to see that in myself. For some reason, we can see other people’s beauty but we remain blind to our own. Self-acceptance is hard.

I hope Colleen’s story entertains you, warms your heart and leaves you thinking about where you are conforming and maybe how you can conform a little less. We could all use a little more freedom and peace in our lives.