Braving Time: Finding the Way Back

by Bonnie L. Collins

Braving Time is a vividly frank, absorbing account of a teenager on the edge of womanhood as she faces loss of her loved ones through death, mental illness, and physical displacement, and how it challenged her feeling of being held safe and connected to those she held dear in the world. This memoir expresses a universal theme of how we, as humans, internalize such losses, desperately wanting to find someone to fill the gap-someone to love us deeply, unconditionally; to lead us out of the dark night. We do not see that these lessons are here for us to learn to live authentically, self-reliantly, and with integrity. The elixir will be when we can trust in ourselves to take good care of our own self (our inner child), to rediscover who we truly are in our own right, and then to revive our essential self. This brings us into healthy connection/belongingness with others, and toward wholeness. This is not a story of wholeness-that would wait for another time. Rather, this is a story of resilience.

280 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Jennifer Galbraith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice snapshot of teenage life in the mid sixties and one girl's time of growing up, making mistakes, dealing with the rocky road of life, made for a quick and easy read. It is a nice reminder that no person has an easy life. We all have things happen that are beyond our control, are painful, and affect who we become as people. We all think that we are the only ones with such difficulty, especially in that self absorbed teenager phase of life. This memoir would be great for any teen, as a reminder that no one has it easy. The themes of trying to fit in with peers, the quest to find a place to belong, family turmoil, and one young woman's means to handle it, both her successes and her falls, resonated with me. Her candid storytelling was refreshing, although the occasional psychoanalysis of herself in hindsight seemed really out of place. Lots of mentions of 'looking for validation' from others, for example, as it is unlikely that a teenager could verbalize that at the time. Well worth buying and reading.

[Sue Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

So vulnerable, honest. A young girl losing her father, the hardship she and her mother endured—eventually Bonnie kind of lost her too. I kept wanting things to work out for the main character, but it wasn't a fairy tale ending. What it was and is, a time for courage. A story to be impressed by and learn from. Also, very interesting snapshot of someone's personal life in the 60s-70s. Thank you for sharing your life, Bonnie!