In the beginning was the word…
Sound, vibration, meaning, sense… do we contemplate the power of the word enough, if at all? Do we fathom how words can be used to influence and manipulate a person, and therefore, how we might become manipulated ourselves? Do we have safeguards built into us from birth? I would argue, yes, and that they are called feelings. But in a world that traumatises through the television, feelings have lessened, ‘mental health’, or internal suffering, has seemingly spiked, and I’ll bet you’re all wondering why. Well, you are what you absorb, it’s as simple as that really. Absorb a trauma, gain new thoughts and feelings because of it, new responses to the world too. Absorb a series of sad songs and you’ll probably feel pretty bad afterwards. Watch a scary film, have nightmares, flashbacks and a jumpy persona for a while. We give children nightmares, do you see? Perhaps more than we gift them to ourselves…
The world is ugly because people have become incredibly greedy, just incredibly greedy. I mean, it used to be that a working class family had a loo in the garden. Outhouses soon became indoor bathrooms with hot running water and modern plumbing, then everyone wanted a bath, and now it’s a second loo, or a second bathroom we all want. I would love that too, no judgements made, I just learned that I do not need it, and so never suffer in the absence of it! In Nepal, I arrived at a small B’n’B, it had chickens and other farm animals in ‘the restaurant’, an open top roof to view the incoming lightening storm, and a hole in the floor for a toilet, with the flushing bucket doubling up as the location one showered at. This was my first formal wake-up call to gratitude as a way of life, it took a decade before I came to embody the word entirely.
Gratitude, I think, saved me a lot of suffering and struggle. I once had it all, not literally, but figuratively. I wandered the world at my own will and discretion, alone, utterly free, answering to no one but myself! I danced daily, swam in wild waters, sang frequently, reconnected with my rhythmic self when I sat upon a box-drum and learned to jam and connect through melody and beat; I lived a full and varied working class woman’s dreams, and I lived them to the limits available to me! I encourage everyone upon this earth to embrace and accept themselves, their position, their scope for opportunity and change, because dreaming kills the connection to reality, as much as it does the sense of gratitude for life that every child born shines with. Think about that, won’t you…
FIND INTRODUCTIONS TO ANA MARIA’S PUBLICATIONS BELOW, OR VISIT ANAMARIA.ORG TO EXPLORE MORE OF HER WRITING AND RESOURCES.
“I work with the perfect blending of love, rage and compassion. The latter two are born of the former in every instance.”
– Ana Maria Santuario, 2025.
Faith, In Stories That Change.
FAITH, encourages you to take an honest look at yourself and the world around you.
Ana Maria calls upon humanity to embrace the notion of change. She asks us to let go of the stories that belong to the past and open ourselves up to a brighter and more hopeful future… If not for ourselves, then for the children of the world.
“Time will not mend most things, in my experience, it tends to change them.”
A Journey of Subtraction.
All who traverse inwards require pointers, a compass, so to speak. Let Subtraction guide you home, towards the self, through the self, beyond the self.
This collection of poetry and prose complement any journey of self-inquiry, whereby the destination lay inwards, through ethereal oceans unknown to the eye. Ana Maria offers mirrors of reality, reflections of compassion and love, and writes with the ‘soul’ purpose of calling you home.
“Don’t waste time worrying about what is happening inside of another person. It’s likely a mess in there, let the owner deal with it, whatever it is! Own what you are, it’s the most powerful way to approach life!”
Recovery Foundations: A Self-Help Guide to Pre-Recovery.
Any journey of recovery can become a long, painful, slow journey, oftentimes walked in your own company, painful as it can be to spent time with others. This PDF ebook reflects upon important points of importance, the building blocks of a life after shock and trauma.
Being changed is another challenge one faces in recovery, accepting your new self can be confusing and hard work. Find compassion in this book full of honesty, support, guidance and a whole heap of love.
“Debating is informed, arguing is not.”
The Big Debate!
There is an active global debate presently surrounding the children, it regards gender being a choice that anyone can make. When an unresolved debate interferes with the young’s wonder years, I take up great issue with it, especially when their health and safety is put in jeopardy. I chose to become the kids’ collective advocate for a time and to attempt to win their societal safety, the sort already written into child protection and safeguarding legislation.
I have had my say, the say of a primary school teacher, now I’d like to hear from leading academics.
“Sometimes, it is important to remember that you write words primarily for yourself.”
Letters to The World.
Pain is fuel, pain is a volcano waiting to erupt sometimes. This world has made space to speak one’s pain into the world, to share it, and misery sure does like company, mine did, no judgement, I simply tended to the mind and heart in private spaces. Then I wrote some letters, before wishing that I didn’t. The world is messy, lots of people are trying to figure it out, I identified some problems, but also imagined possible solutions, debatable solutions, that part of this story rests elsewhere. The letters were a rampage, if left ‘out there’, they will only take the reader on a mind rampage, on an emotional rollercoaster, one best left unridden.
This publication has been taken out of circulation.
“When chaos comes, stand in the eye of the storm, take stock, then choose how to act! It’s where your power lies, in standing still!”
Safer Shores of Me.
Safer Shores of Me, is a collection of poetry written during a time of deep transformation, wherein a will to become safe again won out over every other battle being fought. Oftentimes, life has horrific things happening in it and safety is not an accessible physical and external feature of one’s life. If it is like this for you, and even where it isn’t, let these healing and recovery writings urge you inwards, to a place of anchoring, safety, and the source of a will to survive. Consider it as necessary reading, or perhaps preparatory, because these words will not waste your time, only strengthen, preserve and protect should Hell ever come for you.
“Give time to change; my transformation was a decade or so in the making. Give time to change; conscious evolution is hard work!”
Introducing AnaMaria.Org…
– Mirror, Mirror, Ana Maria’s blogging home.
– The Poetry Library, 12 poems from each collection.
– The Self-Help Library, a place to seek powerful realignments in perspective.
– Poster Collections, make subliminal messaging work for you!
– Recommended reading, A.M. Santuario read much on the long walk home to becoming herself.
– Collective Advocacy and Social Wellbeing Projects, the beginning of The Revolution?
– Lighten your internal load, confess your burdens into a safe space. #writingtherapy
– The Ana Maria Foundation, an entity that grew as a result of all the ‘sweat equity’ being invested into the development of free resources.
Learn more about Ana Maria Santuario here, and do remember to follow her on social media:
DISCOVER THE POWER OF POSITIVE ACTION!
My life mottos: ‘Slow and steady, be gentle with yourself,’ and, ‘Do it once, do it right!’ Do borrow them, they’ve served me well enough.
– Ana Maria Santuario, 2025.
