Deserts to Mountaintops:
Our Collective Journey to (re)Claiming Our Voice
This anthology features 22 powerful stories of women who have triumphed over obstacles to reclaim their voices. Each chapter offers a unique perspective on strength and resilience. In Ruth’s chapter, Nothing Really Happened, she shares her deeply moving story of surviving childhood sexual abuse while growing up in a hoarding environment.
Available in Audiobook – Deserts to Mountaintops is also available on Audible, so you can listen to these powerful stories of resilience and transformation anytime, anywhere.
In 2011, while on a routine mission for her organization in Somalia, Jessica Buchanan made one seemingly small decision that would change the trajectory of her life. She ignored her intuition, and by doing so, silenced her voice. As a result, she spent 93 days as a hostage to pirates who demanded 45 million dollars for her freedom. On January 25, 2012, Jessica was successfully rescued by SEAL Team Six.
While Jessica’s story is unique, her practice of self-abandonment is not. She has spent the last decade learning how to repair her relationship with her intuition, and through the hard work of reclaiming her voice, Jessica has continued to climb her way out of the desert of self-abandonment to the mountaintop of self-love.
Deserts to Mountaintops, birthed from Jessica’s healing journey, is an anthology of 22 women’s unique accounts of their own desert to mountaintop experiences. Empowering stories of survival, tenacity, and resilience highlight these women’s incredible ability to finally choose themselves. By reclaiming their voice, they show us how to stand in our own infinite power, reminding us why we are here, what we can do, and who we can become.
I started to reach my mountaintop when I decided to share not only these secrets but the details behind them more openly and widely. I listened to the voice inside me, my voice, telling me to take that step, no matter how terrifying it might be.
— Ruth Hetland
Why This Anthology Matters
Powerful, Personal Stories
22 chapters of inspiring journeys, written by women who bravely share their experiences of overcoming adversity, reclaiming their voices, and stepping into their power. Each chapter highlights the unique challenges faced and the incredible strength found through those journeys.
A Special Contribution by Ruth Hetland
Ruth courageously shares her deeply moving story in Nothing Really Happened, recounting her experience of surviving childhood trauma in a home marked by neglect and dysfunction. Her chapter offers powerful insights on resilience, strength, and the journey to reclaim one’s voice.
A Guide to Reclaiming Your Voice
Real-life insights from each chapter help readers embrace their intuition, find their voice, and transform adversity into strength. Each story offers practical wisdom and inspiration for anyone on their own journey of personal growth and empowerment.
Readers Speak:
Here’s How Deserts to
Mountaintops Has Impacted Them
Powerful, real stories by badass women
Deserts to Mountaintops is a must-read if you are looking for gut-wrenching, raw, inspiring stories. Honestly, this is one of the most intense, important collections of stories I’ve read.
Deserts to Mountaintops brings light into the darkest moments of these women’s lives. I truly admire the courage it took for them to share their stories with the world.
As an educator, reading this brought up a lot of intense feelings thinking about all the children and teens I know who have been abused. It also gives me hope that people having the courage to share these truths will change lives.
The most meaningful chapter to me was Ruth Hetland’s story “Nothing Really Happened.” This particular chapter resonates with me because Ruth took something horrific and used it as a catalyst to create positive and meaningful impact on other people’s lives, which is just truly inspiring and honestly, so freaking badass!
This is not an “easy” read, by any means, but well worth it.
— Callie
Available in Audiobook – Deserts to Mountaintops is also available on Audible, so you can listen to these powerful stories of resilience and transformation anytime, anywhere.
