Pieces of Me: Riding a Dark Horse

By Phyllis Hailey

Dark horse, vanilla life. A phrase given to the author in a dream, without a clue as to its meaning. To her, for her. She was told you have a lot of passionate energy, and you've judged this aspect of yourself, making it go into a dark corner. But without this passion, this magic, you're living a vanilla life instead of the rich fullness of everything that could come if you ride the dark horse. With this book, she's saddled up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982256203

Phyllis Hailey

Life is not going to wait for you. Live your life. Be who you are. Do it now. There's time. These were a father's words relayed to his daughter, the author, after he passed away. She didn't know this meant writing about being vulnerable, honest, raw, and intimate with the details about her journey, her life. And then sharing it with others.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Phyllis Hailey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the

written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed

since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not

necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Cover Design by: SG Hawkins

Interior Image Credit: Phyllis Hailey

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5619-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-5620-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919376

Balboa Press rev. date: 11/23/2020

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Contents

Preface - Acknowledgements

Rivers

Her Story

Giant

Mountain

TINMAN

Straw Stick Brick

Why?

Messages

Belonging

Words

Onion

Headstone

Infighting

Pain

Through the Woods

Bedfellow

PR Team

Aftermath

Interwoven

Mask

Farmland

Pandemic

I Miss It

Snowfall

Running

Mirrors

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Life is not going to wait for you. Live your life. Be who you are. Do it now. There’s time.

A dad’s words to his youngest daughter. She didn’t know she needed to hear this. From him.

And now I’m breathing into the dream, speaking life into

words. Finding my voice. Being who I am.

Preface - Acknowledgements

So one day my therapist said to me you need to write yourself out of it. This book (my it) is a result of her seemingly simple instruction. It wasn’t always simple. Or easy. Sure, there were picnic times but also battlefield experiences. All I can say now is it’s been a hell of a ride thus far. Breakthroughs, growth, and healing have been realized. Along with patience, weary eyes, and exhausted ears. No, not me. But those who have held my hand, guided me with a GPS app, bought stock and carried chocolate and tissues simultaneously, tuned me in (not out), and supported me just with their presence in my life. Thank you so much.

I am also so thankful to Loretta, Jovanna, Anita, Randi, Heidi, and my NQG hiking partners (aka sounding board at times). I am especially grateful to my friend and muse, Laurie. There were literally times you propped me up. I am so appreciative you’re always there.

And I have felt the presence of my Dad and my Grandma standing behind me even though they no longer walk this earth.

In addition, I wish to thank Balboa Publishing for their help and support in publishing this book.

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Rivers

Here I am. It’s called Logic River. I’m here without a paddle; actually, not even a