of Joy and Madness

Of Joy And Madness Describes One Woman'S Odyssey In Mid-Life From Conformity To Authenticity. Julie Starts Life With What She Perceives As A Deficit: A Broken Family. As The Book Opens She'S Gained The Normal Family Life She Aspired To As A Child But Her Success Leaves Her Feeling Empty And Unsettled. At Thirty She Is Wondering Is That All There Is? First She Searches For Answers In Her Church And Finding Her Dream House But A Friend'S Death Proves To Her That Those Anwers Are Unsatisfying. Next She Attends College To Learn What Wise Men Know But Once There She Is Disillusioned By How Little Is Known. Next She Uses Her Sexuality To Discover Deeper Truths Coming Alive Sexually Supplies Some Answers And Fulfills Her Desire To Live More Passionately But She Fears A Life Of Endless Affairs. Finally She Commits To Love And Intimacy With One Man And With Him Resolves The Traumas Of Her Childhood.