In the months leading up to her nervous breakdown and subsequent admission to a French psychiatric facility, Céline often flippantly remarked, ‘This job is going to kill me.’ Some nearby would agree, ‘You might be right,’ but the universe responded definitively, ‘You are absolutely right.’

Céline no longer wants to be praised for how well she took life’s punches or how quickly she got back up. She no longer seeks applause for her strength, nor does she wish to display her bruises like medals, getting up again and again. Now, she craves a place where she can be fragile, vulnerable, and seen – where simply being is enough. She knows she is enough, and she is done with taking punches and smiling through them.

Walking Without Shoelaces, the first book in ‘The Walking Trilogy’, is a candid account of how to rebuild a life after a major mental breakdown. Céline invites you to journey alongside her, and perhaps, you too have walked a similar path.