Return to the Light Within: How I Woke Up, Rediscovered Who I Am, and Found Happiness

Return to the Light Within: How I Woke Up, Rediscovered Who I Am, and Found Happiness by Dmitria Burby is an inspirational memoir about the author’s spiritual journey to enlightenment. She escapes the rigidity of her life by healing herself at a shamanic retreat. Her hope and positivity concerning the beauty of humanity and the ability of everyone to reach their true “Divine Spirits” is inspiring.

The introduction to this book indicated that the purpose of the memoir was to explain how to find the Divine Spirit in oneself, but in the end it felt more like a rambling memoir. It had moments of clarity, especially when talking about growing up as a mixed-race child, being a woman in a male-dominated field, and the insecurities and anxieties of creating and supporting a family. I enjoyed the strength and support her family gave her and found the most enlightening portion to be her realization that digging harder into what is “supposed” to be success isn’t always success. She struggled with anxiety and tried every “normal” method from medication to therapy. I found the truth in her struggles more inspiring than the journey toward learning what a Divine Spirit was. She exudes strength and grace and uses humor to talk about her life. I wanted to learn more about that than anything else.

I thought Burby’s spiritual journey sounded a little boring—and maybe even elitist. I don’t think most people have friends who are shamans and who can just disappear into a spiritual retreat to find themselves. However, I did appreciate the journey itself. She digs deep into herself and pulls out nuggets of true wisdom that make the memoir enjoyable.

I found myself relating to the author’s life before and the trouble within, and that created moments of reflection in my own life. A good book creates moments of self-reflection and Return to the Light Within has those moments throughout. It’s a gentle reminder to be kinder to yourself and listen to the universe around you. The author speaks of people as beings of light and explains how her journey opened her eyes to that frequency.

Her thoughts and ideas resonate strongly in this memoir. It’s easy to read. Her narrative is a little difficult to follow and rambles often, but I think her journey is worth reading about. She has a point and she makes it well. She sounds like someone I would enjoy seeing occasionally over a glass of wine but who would spend the entire evening trying to get me to buy into her new yoga studio. I like her, but there’s a reason I only see her occasionally.