Reflections on Life's Illusions - Jane Gallagher

"It is not our business to solve all the world's problems. It is our business to learn to be aware of as much as we can . . . and to act as wisely as we can."

As growing children the baby boom generation experienced a vast array of cultural extremes, from McCarthyism's anti-communist paranoia to the Vietnam War, Watergate, systemic racism, second wave feminism, the birth of rock 'n' roll, the civil rights movement, the environmental movement and more. This memoir reflects on the dynamic relationship between the development of personal and cultural consciousness in order to highlight a path to resilience for anyone seeking to heal Earth's living systems.

Reflections on the effects of childhood awakening to cultural grief, following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, mingle with reflections on the cultural impacts of rock 'n' roll, the hippie movement and the atrocities of Jim Crow racism. From challenges faced in search of personal identity, meaningful relationships and a rewarding career to the repercussions of a life-changing hike through the mountains of Peru, a focus on the outer journey throughout the book is coupled with attention to a corresponding inner journey to reconnect with wonder, joy and awe against the backdrop of a nation increasingly at war with itself.

Reflections on Life's Illusions maps a path of discovery, illuminating what it takes to thrive personally and professionally while working to foster resilience within the turmoil of Western culture and the matrix of life on Earth.