Elise Ballard [Ballard - Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform, Expanded Edition

Praise for Epiphany:

This is the kind of book that you keep by your bedside and read over and over. Each time you pick it up, youre invited into the private life of another persons tale of transformation. Its a classic inspirational collection to be revisited time and time again and a work of great importance. In this time of dramatic change, when so many of us must redefine ourselves based on a new reality, Elise shows us we can experience our greatest selves.

Marci Shimoff, Author of Happy for No Reason,
Love for No Reason, and Chicken Soup for the Womans Soul.

Interesting and inspirational, Epiphany is for thoughtful readers, in whom it is likely to trigger self-examination and the effort to listen to ones own inner voice.

Booklist

Curl up on the couch and warm your heart with Elise Ballards uplifting book a WOW-read!

Health Magazine

Elise Ballards collection of universal lightbulb accounts explores pivotal moments that will inspire everyone.

Psychology Today

For those who have experienced some sort of aha! revelation, I highly recommend Elise Ballards book, Epiphany, offering examples of epiphany moments from folks like Deepak Chopra, Maya Angelou, Ali McGraw and Desmond Tutu its the book to give as a gift this year!

Huffington Post

Have you ever experienced an epiphany, a life-changing moment or realization?

Elise Ballard has, and she was so stunned by its effect on her life that she started asking others if they had ever experienced these kinds of breakthroughs. What began as simple curiosity led to an unexpected and exciting journey, spanning several years and the breadth of human experience. The result of her interviews is Epiphany, a collection of more than fifty revelations that changed lives forever.

Inspiring, thought-provoking, and eye-opening, Epiphany shares deeply intimate stories of people from all walks of life, from public figures like Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Ali MacGraw, and Barry Manilow, to personal acquaintances and lifelong friends, to new contacts made in the most unexpected and serendipitous of circumstances.

Whether discovering purpose in life, awakening to new possibilities, or finding a new direction after a catastrophic setback, each persons epiphany is a gift, providing new insight into these remarkable lives and a window into the universal truths that connect us all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ELISE BALLARD is an award-winning producer, writer and journalist. She started her career working as an actress in New York, Austin and Los Angeles before moving into writing, filmmaking and production work. Her critically acclaimed directorial debut, Lord of the Wiens: A Dachumentary, a movie about the annual wiener dog races in Buda, Texas, became a cult hit. She divides her time between her hometown of Dallas and Los Angeles.

To view her Epiphany! video interviews, TEDx talks, read related articles, share your epiphanies, and get information on speaking engagements and workshops, please visit www.EpiphanyChannel.com. Connect with her @EliseBallard and on Facebook.com/EliseBallard.

www.EpiphanyChannel.com

ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK.

Cover Design by Misa Erder

Author Photograph by Tim French

Copyright 2011 by Elise Ballard

All rights reserved.
Paperback published in the United States in 2014.

Epiphany is a registered trademark of Temerity Entertainment/Elise Ballard.

First published in the United States by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the Hardcover Edition

Ballard, Elise.

Epiphany : true stories of sudden insight to inspire, encourage, and transform/by Elise Ballard.

1. Epiphanies. 2. Insight. 3. Change (Psychology) 4. Intuition. I. Title.

BF449.5.B35 2011

153dc22

2010029439

ISBN 978-0692265451 (pbk)

ISBN 978-0-307-71610-1 (hc)

Cover design by Misa Erder

Author photo by Tim French

This book is dedicated to:

Mom, Dad and Faye.

All of the magnificent people who have generously shared their epiphany stories with me.

My teachers and devoted teachers everywhere who help to shape us and move us forward.

The epiphany was like life opened a doorway, and my job was
to walk through it. I didnt know what I was going to find.
I didnt know what was going to happen.
But in life, you dont ever know whats going to happen.
What I do know is that as life continues to open these doors,
I feel safe enough and trusting enough to
walk through them.
KRISTIN NEFF

CONTENTS

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

EPIPHANY

epiphany : a moment of great or sudden revelation; an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

PREFACE

Since the original publication of this book, I have been interviewed, asked to speak about and to conduct workshops on epiphaniesdelving deep into what these moments are, what they contain for us, and how we can best cultivate and utilize them in our lives.

To be honest, I never knew this would happen. I always laughingly say Im an accidental epiphany expert because I never planned on becoming a go-to person for epiphanies or being sought out for interviews and speaking, much less teaching, about these moments. I was an actress and documentary filmmaker who had an epiphany that propelled me into changing my life when nothing else had. I was so fascinated that a flash of revelation had sparked such drastic, desperately needed change in my life, that I was compelled to ask others if theyd had moments like these. Thus began my journey of the Epiphany project and what I now consider to be my greatest epiphany in life. The four elements of an epiphany: Listening, Belief, Action, and Serendipity (see ) continually recur for me in relation to this project. The categories into which I divide the epiphanies covered are New Directions, Awakenings, Miracles, Healings, Comings of Age and Callings. But these are more for the ease of the reader than a rule or scientific categorization, and every epiphany presented could probably fall within each category, including my ongoing revelations from this Epiphany journey.

Through the process of working with the stories and information Ive gathered and by talking and teaching about what Ive learned, Ive discovered even more about the power of our epiphanies and why they are so important to us. They are an invaluable tool to which we all have access. My work on epiphanies has become about not only presenting interesting true stories of fascinating moments and change in different peoples lives, but its also meant to help people become aware of these revelatory moments and find concrete ways to utilize and cultivate their own epiphanies to enhance and create change in their lives.