Elizabeth Garden

I always knew there was something wrong with my family. When I discovered a close relative was a mass murderer, I wasn't at all surprised. In fact, it was the missing piece of the puzzle of my life. I knew I had to write about it and the hidden yet obvious effects it had on my upbringing, which was peppered with violence, abuse and bad choices. To keep safe, I spent loads of time drawing and painting in my room. It turns out my artwork and rich imagination was the one thing that protected me from my easily enraged, narcissistic father and abusive older brother.

The middle daughter of five children, I left home at seventeen to attend art school in Boston, although my formal education was halted when it was decided my vision of being an artist would no longer be supported. I struggled to find my a footing in the art world, but eventually a low paying job as a paste up artist at a newspaper was the beginning of a very rewarding and interesting commercial art career. I worked as an illustrator, publication designer and an art director for several high profile magazines and am entirely self-taught.

Thanks to my warped upbringing, finding a footing with personal relationships proved very difficult, but in 1985 I experienced a life-changing event in the form of a visualization through hypnosis. By accessing my own inner guidance, I reached enough clarity to steer myself in a better direction despite the stresses of being a single mother.

One of the ways I supported and nurtured myself was working as a psychic. I eventually completed a correspondence course as a certified psychic medium from the Morris Pratt Institute. Immediately afterwards, a terrible family secret of epic proportions was revealed. To me, it was a story that that begged to be written and its relevance to my unusual life began to emerge.

I am a survivor in so many ways. I believe in human and spiritual potential and our ability to affect change by accessing our own inner guidance.