I was thinking about how to introduce myself, and my first thought was: ‘My name is Anna, I’m in my early 40s, and I just got divorced’. 

It almost feels like an introduction from an Anonymous Alcoholics group, so perhaps I should start again. 

My name is Anna. 

I’m in the afternoon of life; though I hope it’s still early afternoon, morning is long gone for me.  

I’m a mother to a young boy who is not even a teenager but whose wisdom and insights reveal a soul that seems at least a thousand years old. 

I’m a younger sister to my sister, with whom I shared a room for my first 18 years fighting daily (I owe her two stitches on my left chick), and when finally separated as young women, we discovered that we couldn’t live without each other. 

I’m the youngest of two sisters to my brother who taught me to love ‘Queen’ and ‘Bon Jovi’, and who may not call me for weeks on end, but who’d walk through fire for me.   

I’m the youngest child to my parents who still haven’t quite gotten over the pain of their baby daughter and baby grandson immigrating to Canada several years ago and whom, if lucky, they see once a year.  

Speaking of Canada, I’m an immigrant to this country who, unlike the majority of those coming here, wasn’t driven by opportunities or a safer life but by the pure quest for adventure. 

I’m a friend to the most beautiful and wisest souls who are always there to listen and support me and who will lift me up no matter how low I may sink.

And until recently, I was a wife to someone I believed was my perfect match, someone I'd never even considered leaving, even in the darkest of nightmares. But I did. I may mention here and there what led to this most difficult and painful decision in my life, but it’ll be occasionally and kind of ‘by the way’.

 This blog is not about life after divorce; it’s about life after awakening. 

 It’s about learning to live life consciously, and to be a more human being than human doing. 

 It’s about outgrowing the programs and beliefs that once served well but have now become a lie.