CALM IN A CRISIS

Caroline Welch was a busy woman who wrote a book on mindfulness for other busy women. Now, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, she has started to take her own advice

- Caroline Welch

BACK IN THE PRE-PANDEMIC ERA, I moved through life pretty quickly. Like many women, I often felt distracted and overwhelmed by the various responsibilities and roles that I took on willingly, but not wittingly. The recognition of my predicament, and those of so many double-booked, depleted women around me, prompted me to write a book on mindfulness for women, called The Gift of Presence: A Mindfulness Guide for Women. Of course, I’m not clairvoyant. I couldn’t have imagined that the ideas of the book would become so timely given the pandemic we’re now facing, the magnitude of which humanity has never experienced.

In the three years it took me to write the book, I scurried to meet my deadlines while also caring for my father, who was spending the last months of his life with us; ‘parenting’ two adult children; running a business;and managing a household along with several other roles. My husband, Dan, would say (mostly in good humour), “Please do finish your book so that you can read it and benefit from it for yourself!”