Writing the Experience, Not Explaining It
People often ask what inspired me to write A Brilliant Adaptation. The answer is that I didn’t want to explain what living with DID felt like or give a clinical analysis of my therapy with Dr. Siegel. Explanations—whether too clinical or too personal—can distort an experience that is layered, nuanced, and alive. I wanted readers to enter the world as I lived it - the fragmentation, the protectiveness, fear…the moments of insight, and the steady safe presence that made healing possible.
When Dan sent me his very first-reader response—calling the memoir “absolutely breathtaking,” and saying I had “used words to powerfully convey the non-worded world of inner experience” - I felt the first real validation that I might’ve reached the balance I’d hoped for. Something grounded without being clinical, personal without going into overwhelm.
My goal was to write a book that might be useful clinically and personally. A story that clinicians could learn from, and one that survivors or general readers could feel reflected in. Not a textbook, not a confessional—just an honest account of how healing actually unfolded.
If my memoir invites readers to sense both the inner landscape of trauma and the inner landscape of healing and mental well-being, then it’s done what I hoped it would - to show that integration, clarity, and well-being are not abstract ideas, but lived possibilities.
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https://sallymaslansky.com/book/
I love the title of this post as it reminds me a lot of my allowing meditations. In one of them, you practice reflecting experiences instead of taking them on. It was really metaphorical and confusing to me at first but now it’s beautiful. :)
I haven’t written as much since doing somatic practices. I am so enamored with my newfound ability to build safety in my body and internal world that written words don’t yet feel like nearly enough to conceptualize the experiences I have had. I hope as I heal that may change so I can share more. I am glad you were able to write a book!
Can't wait for this book to come out! There can be a lot of stigma around mental health, and what are labeled as disorders. The title, and your description, challenge the notion that 'there is something wrong with me' and reframe it to 'this is how I survived'. Thanks for writing this book!