Interview with Cindy Bunch,
author of “Be Kind to Yourself:
Releasing Frustrations and Embracing Joy”
Interviewer: Deacon Holly Shipley, Chapel Hill, NC
Cindy, you and I have known each other since childhood. What would you like our readers to know about you?
Your readers might be interested in knowing that I grew up American Baptist and studied at Northern Seminary. I recall that my first experience of praying the Apostle’s Creed was when visiting your Lutheran church as a teenager, and that we talked about the meaning of that creed afterward. These days I love the liturgy and attend an Episcopal church.
What led you to write the book “Be Kind to Yourself”?
After my beloved spiritual director, Marilyn Stewart, died I began reflecting on all that I had learned from her over the years. I felt a stirring to write. I planned some time away where I could concentrate on the writing and just started writing and waited to see what would come. And for readers who have a busy ministry and professional life but think they want to write, I would advise doing the same: get away and start writing. See what comes. After a few days, I was able to start creating outlines and structures for a larger book. I arranged and rearranged it a few times and eventually came up with a structure for the book as well as the theme of self-kindness.
