The Shells That Shaped My Life - Paperback

by Pearl Munhawa (Illustrator), Farikanayi (Author)

Significant events shape our lives. Their impact can be harrowing and protracted if they are not recognised, addressed and dealt with. A single event, like abuse or divorce can affect a person for the rest of their life causing a ripple effect of secondary issues emanating from the pain. How does one escape the tentacles extending from agony they suffered at some point in their life? Do they allow this pain to continue to freely infiltrate and permeate their future or can they curb its reach and manage to live a full life even though horrible things may have happened in the past? Farikanayi explores her own pain, its source, its impact, its extent and how as a Christian she has found ways not only to excavate the issues she had buried and ignored for close to half a century but to also analyse them and cancel out the devastation they were causing in her life. A message of hope is stretched out throughout the book with the deliberate refusal to accept a 'victim' label. There is also a definite dose of optimism as the issues (or shells as they are referred to in the book) are explored and exposed, leading to the conclusion that regardless of how one's life begins or is interrupted, it can still end well if one refuses to remain in a place of anger, pain and bitterness. In each person is an in-built ability to bounce back and start again and where one feels hopeless, or overwhelmed, hope can be drawn not only from seeing those who are overcoming, but also from receiving help from God himself who promises to be ever-present.

Author Biography

Farikanayi was born and raised during Zimbabwe's colonial era during which she studied for a BSc and Teaching Certificate (Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University and East Carolina University). After working in Zimbabwe as a teacher, deputy head and eventually head teacher, she migrated to the UK where she currently resides with her two sons and two daughters. She then further pursued two MAs in Gender Studies and also in Social Work from the University of Leeds. Like most immigrants to the UK, Farikanayi became a health care assistant but finally obtained her UK teaching qualification and ended up teaching as a supply teacher initially and eventually as a permanent member of a staff in a school in Hastings. As her children have started leaving home Farikanayi has also begun following her own dreams; setting up a business which allows her the flexibility to focus on her main passion which is writing. She has already published one book called 'Sarai-Sarah-Hall of Faith' and hopes to release a minimum of two books per year. She is a member of a very multi-ethnic and multi-cultural church congregation which is a central part of her life. It has become the brook where she is fed and watered and through it her family has extended greatly and her physical, spiritual, emotional and relational healing has become a reality.