Boulder, CO — September 2019 – Watson Caring Science Institute’s Lotus Library proudly announce publication of WCSI Doctoral Scholar Anna Biley’s first book Birds Hold our Secrets, A Caritas Story of Grief and Remembering. An important addition to the literature of Unitary Caring Science and Conscious Dying, Birds Hold Our Secrets explores the universal question of how do we, as nurses, nurse our own?
Drawing on her many years as a nurse, mother and wife, Biley tenderly takes us on an autoethnographic journey of conscious dying as she supports her beloved nurse academic husband Fran. Diagnosed with cancer, Fran’s wish was to die mindfully – whatever the circumstances. Anna travels alongside whilst trying to balance normality in family life. Painfully tender, Anna offers an insight in what it’s like to consciously care for a loved one the way they wish to die – honoring the sacred covenant until the end. Biley skillfully guides the reader on a Caritas pilgrimage as she lives out Caring Science principles, digging deep to remember her life’s purpose, which resonates for us all.
“Biley’s exposé of grief, love, and remembering purpose transcends science and self, and unites the reader into the unitary field of human existence/non-existence, in harmony and one with nature, life cycles, environment and the cosmos.”
Jean Watson
Available for purchase on Oct 1, 2019. Click here to order.
Foreword by Jean Watson
About the author:
WCSI Global Faculty Associate and Caring Science Doctoral Scholar Anna Biley is a testament to Caring Science, having lived out the values throughout her nursing career. Born and bred in the North of England, she now lives in Dorset and seeks stillness by walking every day with her little dog Dot in the gentle, rural landscape that inspired Thomas Hardy and T. S. Eliot.
Paperback: 106 pages
Publisher: Lotus Library
Language: English
ISBN 978-1-7331232-0-4
Also available as an Ebook