Karen Chaston is a confident, strong and focused woman who has much to share around self care, being in the moment and gratitude.
She often starts her day on the beach she adores and is always open to what opportunities come her way, appreciating her blessings and wanting women to realise their potential – it was not always the way.
Here is an intimate interview with one of our Embrace Authors, someone that has had to endure the heart wrenching experience of losing her son, yet took this as an opportunity to change her life, take up a pen and share the message for all us, a message that speaks about honouring what is important in your life, taking time to enjoy it and creating a habit of self care.
Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a publicly listed company and Resonator with BraveHeart Women Global community, Karen is also a mother, wife, and author of two and soon to be three, books.
She knows first hand the importance of balancing both masculine energy (to make things happen) and feminine energy (to nurture the creative).
An inspiring figure to women and men, Karen’s personal journey of learning how to live and love again after the death of her son is truly a testament of her strength and resilience. Her books and her work with BraveHeart Women Global community lead us to walk a path of higher consciousness and to dive deeper into the understanding of gratitude and love.
We got a chance to interview Karen at our recent Central Coast Embrace Festival to hear her story. The following is the excerpt from the interview between our festival founder Deborah Shepherd and Karen Chaston and is written by Sze Wing, who supports our Embrace Authors within the Embrace community.
Deborah: “I am aware that your second book, Beyond the Mother’s Worst Nightmare is about your personal journey on losing your son, can you tell our audience a little more about this book?”
Karen: “About three and a half years ago, my 27 year old son Dan passed away very unexpectedly. We found him outside our door one morning. At this time, I didn’t allow myself time to grieve but went straight back to work – somehow, I didn’t take the sign and listen to what the Universe was telling me.
Then about a year later I was made redundant. In hindsight this was one of the best things that ever happened. I finally took a breath and looked at who I was. I realized I wasn’t honoring myself and my needs. I was also a lot heavier than I am now, I thought I was successful but in reality I was not “
“The grieving process itself had a lot of regrets and anger. I still remembered about two weeks before his passing, my family and Dan were spending some time in a pub on a Saturday afternoon and I just wanted to do some more work before I joined them. I ended up getting there after 8pm. It was normal for me to be so focused on work that I would miss these times.
What I learnt from his passing, and what the book is all about, is how to bring gratitude into life. Each chapter is about what I have done since my son passed away.”
Deborah: “So who do you believe would benefit from this book?”
Karen: “This book is about what is waiting for you in your life, about gratitude and love in life. It is for everyone, not just someone who has lost a loved one. I have often been told it has helped many people to change perspective on what is important.”
Deborah: “So this has led you down the path of bringing BraveHeart Women to Australia. We love the tag line Be, Create and Collaborate which is part of our philosophy at the Embrace Life community, so how do you see the connection?”
Karen: “After my son’s passing, I went to the BraveHeart Women Conference where women came together to collaborate with each other. My first book A Journey to Becoming Your Own Best Friend is about explaining the importance to women of understanding the physical difference between men and women, to nurture and collaborate is what we as women, have done over the centuries. The more we honor our masculine and feminine energy, we bring in the balance we need to create a more beautiful world.”
Deborah: “So you have captured your story through your two books, what is the link to the next book soon to be launched?”
Karen: “Yes, my third book is called Teenagers Playing Grown Ups. It is a story about four teenage pregnant women making different decisions over their unplanned pregnancies. The basis of the story is about not only the decision made, but also the consequences and where people are now – sort of like the “sliding doors” concept, the decisions made and the impact on their lives afterwards.”
Karen’s journey is something that no-one wants to experience, we honour her courage and bravery to share her message and to remind us to take the time to enjoy your life today, be grateful for all the blessings you have and to look after the most important person in your life – you!
Karen is truly passionate about inspiring women and embracing all that life has to offer. We are truly grateful to have her collaborating with us both creatively and energetically. We are very excited to see her new book coming out and shining on the shelves!
To learn more about Karen Chaston and purchase her books, please go to her website, check her out on Facebook or to find out more about BraveHeart Women, please go to: http://braveheartwomen.com