Far Out

Far Out is not a book to debunk conventional ideas. But over the years I have learned about, experienced, and been impressed by a number of alternative healing techniques. Over time, I became so intrigued with things alternative that I was impelled to learn more and more about them. Even so, I have done so cautiously, never abandoning the skepticism and tough questions that were the hallmarks of my career as a reporter and writer for newspapers in Missouri, California, Washington D.C. and New York. The journey I've been on has ended up being enlightening, inspirational, and life changing. Despite my initial doubts, the efforts I set in motion to push back boundaries and unlock doors have brought me tremendous rewards personally. Even though not every experience I have had has been totally positive, and not everything I have read or been told has been credible, along the way I have had truly amazing experiences, made deep friendships, enjoyed countless provocative conversations, and spent hour after hour engrossed in what I have been reading or witnessing. The people I've come to know, either in person or through their writings, have taught me so much and enriched my life in so many ways. And for this I owe so much to so many. In sum, not only am I a happier, healthier, more peaceful, and more loving person now, but also my eyes have been opened to a whole new way of living-not to mention a whole new way of way of looking at our existence in this miraculous universe of ours. Many of the ideas and practices I have been introduced to, ones that seemed so wrong-headed in the beginning, I now accept as sound and valuable even though they often directly contradict what I grew up knowing to be the truth. Others have just added new dimensions and perspectives to the understandings I had so long ago. So, why have I put this story about my own personal journey to paper? It's a question I've wrestled with myself. Certainly, writing a book was not my objective when I initially set out on my explorations, and I do sometimes wonder how what I have to say will be perceived by my more orthodox friends and readers. But people who open their minds to the vast possibilities outside the boundaries of conventional wisdom and talk seriously of such things in the here and now are sometimes taken with a grain of salt. I do hope that will not be the case with me. I see my work as both enlightening and significant. Also, I am perfectly happy with my life just the way it is without being the author of this book. Not only have I always been blessed career-wise, but also, I am in excellent health, have great friends, and am married to the world's best husband, James Roger Sharp, a well-known American historian and author of important studies on the birth of the nation and its development in the Jacksonian period. And Roger and I have a loving family, including a son, daughter, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren. It certainly was not my intention to debunk conventional ideas, most of which I am in complete agreement with anyway. Although over the years, I have learned about, experienced, and been impressed by a number of alternative healing techniques, that does not mean that I am not a fan of Western medicine as well. In fact, my own personal experience with allopathic medicine has been superb. In addition to not wanting to discredit conventional ideas, I have not written this book to sell anyone on specific alternative ideas or approaches. It is not my goal to persuade others to follow in my specific footsteps. Far from it. I see my path as mine and mine alone. Although I've spent more than a quarter century tirelessly exploring the multifaceted out-of-the-mainstream world, I only want to tell my story as accurately and entertainingly as possible. But it is my experience and my story. I am definitely not in any position to endorse anything I've learned about, experienced myself, or witnessed someone else experience. In the end, then, I have come to the conclusion that my primary motivation in writing this book is to tell a fascinating, illuminating, significant story-a story I need to share because it sheds light on our incredible, magnificent, exquisite universe with its tantalizing mysteries. As a newspaper reporter, that has been my calling: to use whatever knowledge and talents I have to investigate the world and then report back to readers what I have found-and to do so as clearly, accurately, and entertainingly as I have known how. Finally, I have to say, I would not be unhappy if reading my story were to enable at least a few readers to suspend their disbelief, open their minds to out-of-the-mainstream ideas and approaches, and then set out themselves on their own individual journeys of discovery. For those readers ready to personally dip a toe into the realm of things alternative, then, it is my hope that what I have written will serve as a useful how-to guidebook to the territory ahead. I wish them all the succes...