Why would anyone write a book about suffering? Earnest in her pursuit, Dr. Jennifer Clark draws upon her near 25 years of practice as a Hospice and Palliative Medicine physician to convince us otherwise. Clark adeptly navigates the ups and downs, the twists and turns, and the pitfalls and plateaus of human development, asking us to reimagine the pilgrimage of the human condition.
With suffering as her compass, Clark takes us on a journey through the difficult terrains of fear and shame, ignorance and judgement, isolation and longing. In doing so, we are given a choice to see these painful experiences differently. Vital to human development, these sufferings reveal the direction we must take to progress through the milestones of dependence, independence, interdependence and transcendence.
In its timely publication, Suffer. offers insight to the possibility of a self-actualized life in this post-pandemic world. Using a modernized version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Clark flips the paradigm of suffering on its head. Guiding us through lands where storytelling meets science and mystery embraces material, Clark empowers and encourage us to “Suffer. Suffer, well.”
As some of you know and for those of you who don’t, I finally began writing a set of books about my life as a physician. Using a modernized approach to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Suffer., the first of these books, offers the life lessons that I have learned in caring for people living serious illness and facing life’s end. Below are the themes of each of the anticipated books in the series:
The Opening of Mortality reveals the map of life, as it unfolds between the events of birth and death.
The Compass of Suffering allows you to wisely navigate life through life’s vacillations toward self-actualization.
The Gift of Choosing provides the opportunity for developmental qualities of actualization to emerge.
The Alchemy of Actualizing unleashes the full potential of human creativity.
Audiobook is coming soon!!!
If you are still interested in getting your hands on a personalized paperback copy, scan or click the QR code below. You can also get it from your favorite online shops: Bookshop.org; Amazon; B&N.
To learn more about Suffer. click here to view the book’s page on my publisher, Manuscripts, website.
OR listen to the Shift Out Loud with Tracy Spears podcast for a detailed discussion of Suffer. and its origins.