About Me
I write inspirational essays that focus on finding the spiritual truth in my day-to-day experiences.
I get lost, metaphysically and geographically, and then write about finding myself. I got lost on the highway, meeting a friend for lunch midway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. It was pre-GPS. No voice to say, “Turn right in 200 feet.” On that same vacation, I got lost in the foothills looking for Santa Barbara’s Vedanta Temple. I was terrified. I thought the cars behind me would ram me out of spite for my hesitant driving. I thought I would turn the wrong way and plummet off a cliff. I thought I would run out of gas and starve to death. I also thought I was the biggest coward in the world. Alone and singular in my cowardice. I wrote a story about it. (“Freeways, Foothills, and Phobias.” It’s in my first book, Stumbling Toward the Buddha.)
Five years later, I was having a launch party for my second book (From Dawn to Daylight), standing in the back yard with my friend Kate Miller, who was hosting it. A woman I had not met came toward me and when I reached to shake her hand, she grabbed me into a big old bear hug. Her whole face was smiling. “Dawn, I’m so excited to be meeting you.” She’d just read Stumbling and couldn’t get over that I felt the same way about getting lost as she did. We skipped right past the awkward polite part that happens when you first meet someone. We were already old buddies. Soul sisters.
I’ve also gotten lost in the woods, and once while walking through my neighborhood six blocks from the house. I can get lost without even venturing outside, like the time I got lost in a purse obsession. Geographically, I knew exactly where I was. Macy’s. Dillard’s. Target. Kohl’s. In the handbag section. I’ve searched for and bought the perfect purse at least six times. (See “The Price: Desire is More than I Bargained For” also in Stumbling Toward the Buddha) I was willing to bet that women would relate to this, but the first person to comment was an eighty-year-old gentleman in my book group, who loves to fly fish. He confided in hushed tones that he obsessed over finding the perfect tackle box.
My work has been published by River, Blood and Corn, The Christian Science Monitor, Shambhala Sun, Skirt! Magazine, Kansas City Voices, and
Visit me at DawnDowney.com. Let’s find our truth together.
My Interests
Metaphysics, social justice, environment, literacy.
My Audio
My Video
My Links
http://dawndowneyblog.com/index.htmlhttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7335462.Dawn_Downey
https://www.facebook.com/dawnldowney
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-downey-9a7a43b6
