From Sh!tshow to Afterglow: Putting Life Back Together When It All Falls Apart

by Ariel Meadow Stallings

Overview

Rebound after loss, grief, and the other cruel crises life throws your way with this irreverent guide — the perfect anti-self-help book.


Sometimes your foundation crumbles. Sometimes you realize there wasn't a foundation to begin with. Maybe your relationship ended in a breakup or divorce, or you lost your job, or a loved one died. Whatever crisis showed up to screw with you, it brought everything else crashing down, and suddenly life became confusing, disorienting, out of control. A total shit show. You. Need. Help.


Therein lies the problem: Traditional self-help guides just aren't for you. You're an individualist, an iconoclast, a follow-your-own-drumbeat kind of person. The typical sunshine-and-rainbows, "live your best life!" books in the "personal growth" aisle aren't going to speak to your worldview — you need an embrace-your-weirdness vision for growth and rebuilding.


Enter Ariel Meadow Stallings, who has experienced a few life catastrophes of her own and emerged from them with newfound clarity and strength. In From Sh!tshow to Afterglow, she offers a lifeline of support and outside-the-box thinking for times of crisis and confusion, sharing plenty of tactical tips for getting your shit together. Along the way, she never lets readers forget that sometimes a life has to be taken apart before it can be put back together better than ever.


Without sugar-coating how deeply it sucks to have your world shattered, From Sh!tshow to Afterglow gives readers a reassuring plan to for putting the pieces back together and emerging stronger than ever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580059633
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	07/21/2020
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,041,304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Ariel Meadow Stallings is a Seattle-based publisher, author, media commentator, event producer, and web community mobilizer. Her work has been featured by the New York Times, Today show, and the Guardian. She lives in Seattle.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Welcome to Your Shitshow 1

Part 1 Mind: Why You Can't Outthink a Shitshow

Chapter 1 Shock 10

Chapter 2 Ugly Crying 21

Chapter 3 Sleep 27

Chapter 4 Talk Therapy 35

Chapter 5 Mindfulness 42

Chapter 6 Shame 51

Chapter 7 Gratitude 60

Chapter 8 Panic Attacks 70

Part 2 Body: Getting Back to Being Human

Chapter 9 Attachment Theory 80

Chapter 10 Makeover 90

Chapter 11 Burlesque 99

Chapter 12 Self-Care 108

Chapter 13 Connecting 114

Chapter 14 Exercise 123

Chapter 15 Daily Devotional Dance 132

Chapter 16 Surrender 140

Part 3 Spirit: We're All One, But in a Secular Way

Chapter 17 Sound Healing 152

Chapter 18 Reiki 158

Chapter 19 Nesting 163

Chapter 20 Visualizing 169

Chapter 21 Violence 175

Chapter 22 Tattoos 184

Chapter 23 Listening 193

Chapter 24 Spiritual Awakening 202

Part 4 Onward: Integrating the Afterglow

Chapter 25 Existentialism 212

Chapter 26 Self-Reliance 219

Chapter 27 Community 225

Chapter 28 Epigenetics 233

Chapter 29 Service 243

Chapter 30 Closure 253

Epilogue Dismantled and Wide Awake 259

Editorial Reviews

04/13/2020

In this delightfully unorthodox self-help guide, Stallings (Offbeat Brides), founder of digital publisher Offbeat Empire, explains how to put one’s life back together after a life-changing event. She speaks from experience: shortly after her left ovary burst, her husband announced he wanted a divorce. Stallings defines a “shitshow” as a life crisis with a few key ingredients: uncontrollable change in several foundational life structures such as career, relationship, or health; an identity shift so intense one is left feeling like they don’t know themselves; and confusion and physical symptoms including difficulty sleeping and/or eating. After leading readers through her empowering “this fucking sucks” meditation, Stallings provides a road map out of the chaos. She instructs readers to “wallow forward” before finding one’s “afterglow”—the lessons learned. While some of Stallings’s suggestions are rather niche (chances are most readers won’t ask a Tinder date to spank them), her empathy will buoy readers going through tough times and give them hope for the future. Anyone in a tailspin could benefit from Stalling’s snappy, no-nonsense lessons. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"Look: I'm not saying anything bad will happen to you, but if it does, From Sh!tshow to Afterglow is the only book you'll want to see on the bedside table. Ariel Meadow Stallings is no-bullshit — and all kinds of funny, frank, and smart. I'm glad this book exists to help readers pick up the pieces"—Sarah Knight, NewYork Times bestselling author of Calm the F*ck Down

"Ariel Meadow Stallings' compassionate insights, wicked sense of humor, and sharp, self-deprecating writing make this book a balm to soothe even the most raging of shitshows. Deftly addressing the mental, physical, and metaphysical impacts of trauma and heartbreak, From Sh!tshow to Afterglow is a raw, honest, and accessible tool for healing in these wildly uncertain times."—Kristen J. Sollée,author of Witches, Sluts, Feminists

"This is the perfect book for anyone who's been metaphorically thrown from the horse of life. With intense honesty and wit, Ariel Meadow Stallings guides us through the darkest shadows of her (and our own) fears while sprinkling in just the right amount of scientific research and practical tips in every chapter."—BusterBenson, author of Why Are We Yelling

"A much needed book for anyone who has ever dealt with loss at any level. Ariel is the friend with the exact advice and reassurance you've been searching for. You'll laugh, cry, and finally feel at peace with life's constant changes that are out of our control."—Samantha Matt, authorof Average is the New Awesome

From the Publisher