The challenges we face over the course of a lifetime, especially those that involve major personal loss, can seem devastating, as radio personality and self-help specialist Dr. Raeleen D'Agostino Mautner discovered when her husband suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack. The Italian rituals and lifestyle habits she grew up with--and later began researching--were instrumental in helping her stay grounded, feel comforted, and be gently redirected to a new path of joy and the next level of her own personal transformation.
Lemons Into Limoncello shows readers how to find self-acceptance, comfort, courage, and personal renewal on the heels of adversity--Italian style.
At some point in our lives, most of us will experience the kind of personal devastation that accompanies death of a loved one; or the loss of a job, a home, a pet, finances, health, a friendship; or even the loss of one's self-esteem. When in the throes of such challenges it is hard to believe that we will ever enjoy life again, let alone possibly come away with the courage to live the next phase of our lives with deeper appreciation and clarity. Lemons into Limoncello offers a front-row seat to the Italian ability to arrangiarsi (get by) through elevating ordinary events to the extraordinary, and is the first self-help book to prescribe a traditional Italian cultural approach as a pathway to one's own personal renaissance at a time when it is most needed.
I think of life as an ancient mosaic, the kind that once lined the inner hallways of almost every Roman home. At short range, you can distinguish the individual colors, shapes, and materials--shiny stone, rich lapis, malachite, colored glass. Many of the pieces, you might notice, have been chipped, weathered, or dulled--just like the glitches in our lives. Yet despite the 'wounded' pieces, when you step back, you are still captivated by the overall wholeness of an image that makes perfect sense. Our depth and courage come from handling both the sorrows and joys of our lives with dignity and appreciation. By reconnecting to the zest of what makes our Italian so life affirming, we can emerge from our battles scarred but not broken, with our heads held high and our hearts ready to embrace the wonders yet to come.
Each chapter in Lemons into Limoncello offers a classic Italian perspective that provides support through sadness, encouragement for personal growth, and a healthy, healing way to find personal strength through wisdom that has stood the test of time.
Chapter titles include:
- Il Sacro Canto/Let Music Start the Healing
- La Sprezzatura/Make the Difficult Look Easy
- Il Dolce Fare Niente/Allow The Sweetness of Doing Nothing
- Le Arte/Use Beautiful Visuals to Uplift
- Caffe' e Biscotti/Create Small Pleasure Rituals
- La Mattina/Let Morning Bring a New Day
- Saggezza/ Read the Ancient Italian Sages
- Declare the Urgency of an Arcobaleno (Rainbow)
- Change Your Mood with a Sorriso/Smile
