Redefining Being Self-ish: My Journey from Escort to Monk to Me

by Sarah Marshank

Redefining Being My Journey From Escort to Monk to Me is an inspirational and intimate memoir. An unorthodox story told with unflinching candor, it will appeal to all readers on the quest for a meaningful life.
Meet Sarah. She’s twenty-two and facing a second unplanned pregnancy. Depressed and disillusioned, she sets out on a pilgrimage to understand sex, God, and herself. Sarah’s path includes revisiting her ancestral roots in Judaism, exploring transformational work in the sex trade, and diving into Eastern-inspired new age spirituality.
While wandering, she meets Sam, a New York baby-boomer-turned-monk living a life unplugged from society in remote, rural Oregon. With Sam, Sarah settles into a disciplined life of study, contemplation, meditation, and silence—leaving her career, friends, and family behind. Bound by the tranquility of intentional simplicity and navigating the wilderness of her own mind, Sarah unravels. She could never have anticipated what her journey of self-discovery would ask of her next.
Redefining Being Self-ish sheds light on the value and trade-offs of being wisely selfish and illuminates the importance of self-inquiry in finding your unique path and purpose.

377 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2024

About the author

Sarah Marshank MEd. is the the founder of Selfistry, a comprehensive integrative educational system for mastering the art of being human. She is the author of the Being Selfish: My Journey for Escort to Monk to Grandmother. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Sarah teaches and speaks internationally, facilitates on line courses, and works one-on one with individuals. Sarah's embodied teaching and presence come from spending ten years in retreat. Her life’s purpose, articulated and expressed through Selfistry, integrates Eastern and Western philosophy and psychology with meditative and somatic practices.