Miji Campbell — Book Signing
Saturday Jul 25 2015 2:00 pm, Saskatoon, Main Floor
Separation Anxiety: A Coming of Middle Age Story (Writinerant Press)
grew up with a close-knit family during the 60s and 70s in a middle class, Calgary suburb. Her life proceeded in an orderly fashion: coming-of-age, university, first job, first apartment – and then, suddenly, it began to unravel.
This elegant memoir examines living with, and overcoming, an anxiety disorder. With insight and humour, Campbell documents years spent wrestling with insomnia and increasing anxiousness. Despite her independent spirit, she felt overcome by homesickness – feelings which haunted her throughout her career, marriage, and the birth of her children. It wasn’t until middle age that Campbell discovered why she experienced such distress. Eventually, through acts of courage, she learned to stand on her own, finding ways to quiet both her mind and body. Separation Anxiety explores the challenges and evolving priorities for women in each stage of life. Interwoven throughout are descriptions of pivotal moments in Campbell’s life when her childhood beliefs about family, career and marriage were let go to discover her true self.
At a time when the stigma of anxiety and depression still affects thousands of Canadians, Campbell provides a poignant and compassionate account of dealing with a disorder, offering solace to others. Remarkable in its universality, Separation Anxiety combines warm prose with insights into a woman’s journey in life, and the power of personal transformation. Above all, it reminds us of how extraordinary a so-called “ordinary” life can be.
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is a writer, teacher and owner of Write Where You Are, a business offering writing workshops. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Today’s Parent Magazine, The Edmonton Journal, The Calgary Herald and Women’s Words: An Anthology, and has been broadcast on CBC Radio. Born and raised in Calgary, she now lives in Red Deer, Alberta. Separation Anxiety is her first book.
See:
Separation Anxiety
- Miji Campbell 
Trade paperback
$19.95
Reader Reward Price: $17.96
The woman in this book is not famous. The events of her life are not tragic. The setting is not exotic. This is an ordinary story. Which makes it an extraordinary memoir. Miji Campbell grew up in a close-knit family in the 1960s and '70s. The youngest of three girls, she was raised under her parents' watchful eye, in a middle-class Calgary suburb called Kingsland. Her life proceeds in an orderly fashion: coming-of-age, university, first job, first apartment-and then suddenly, inexplicably, it begins to unravel. Night after night, Miji wrestles with insomnia and increasing anxiousness. Despite her independent spirit, she yearns for her mother's presence and feels overcome by homesickness. These anxious feelings will haunt her through career, marriage, and the birth of her children. It's not until middle age that Miji learns she has an anxiety disorder and finds ways to quiet her mind and body. Through acts of courage and grace, she learns to stand-tentatively, hopefully-on her own. Beautifully written, insightful and funny,ÿSeparation Anxietyÿchronicles the pivotal moments in a woman's life where she lets go of her childhood beliefs about happily ever after, and discovers her true self. "Anyone who has struggled with anxiety and depression will be consoled by the author's fearless, vivid portrait of breakdown and recovery." -Marni Jackson, author ofÿThe Mother Zone. "An honest and courageous memoir. The narrator's voice sparkles with intelligence, with a sharply observant eye, and with a quirky, wry sense of humour. She charts the ties that bind, sometimes far too tightly, the bond of love between mother and daughter." -Wendy Donawa, co-author ofÿReading Canada.
