Idyllwilders may know Kathy Harmon-Luber for her art deer in front of the bank, her fine art photography, her participation in the Art Alliance and other community groups, or her performances as a flutist. She has now published a book, “Suffering to Thriving,” based on her own experiences with health challenges and self-healing.

TC: “The book seems to be a very practical guide to making the best of limiting and frightening situations.”

KHL: “That’s a good way to characterize it. I try to keep it practical and I was thinking about the tools I wish I had in my toolbox when I started facing these health crises.”

TC: “The crisis was in your back, but you had other long-standing issues?”

KHL: “Back in my 20s, I began having mystery symptoms and it took a long time for them to be diagnosed as auto-immune diseases. There are over 100 auto-immune diseases and it can be difficult for doctors to diagnose them. Once I got my diagnosis, I began to immerse myself learning as much as I could about dealing with the issues. Many of the things I had they told me they would get progressively worse. And they didn’t go away put they have reversed in progression; they are getting better. In addition to supplements, healing foods and robust self-care, each of the 38 short chapters in my book have at least one tool that I used to heal myself, and now share with others.”

TC: “The tools you are speaking of include things like acceptance, ‘writing a different story,’ making the best of a difficult situation, adapting to pain. Some of these fall into the category of mindfulness?”

KHL: “One of the things I love to stress; so often when we get a bad diagnosis for any disease, we begin suffering, we go down this road of, I like to say ‘asking he wrong questions.’ Those are: ‘Why did this happen to me? Will this ever be over? What will happen to me?’ Every moment is a choice. We can choose to perceive what is happening to us differently. We can ask what new opportunity there may be for me.

“As an example, prior to my disastrous rupture in 2016, I was performing flute with my partner Christine Ziegenfuss-Holanda all over town, I did art and photography shows, I was an avid hiker, I swam three times a week, and I went to be being completely flat on my back for over a year. It was very depressing, of course. I started asking myself [those wrong questions.] I didn’t want to become this angry, bitter person because of what had happened.

“I took inventory: I was flat on my back but I was still working. Instead of the creative things I was able to do previously like photography, I began to keep a journal on my computer. Every day, recording my challenges, my insights and inspirations. I realized I may never ride horses again but I can sketch them. I may not be able to play classical flute, but I can play Native American flute. I learned to find satisfaction and joy in those things. That journal became this book. I had never set out to write a book. I had been a writer my whole life, grant writing and poetry; this is the book I wish I had. The book is full of tools for turning these things around so we can be productive.”

TC: “There are two levels of suffering, there is the physical pain and disability, and there is the mental anguish that results from our responses.”

KHL: “Our responses and choices. One chapter is called ‘Your mind is your medicine.’ It’s all about gaining a different perspective on what happens to us so we can have a better response and live a more fulfilling life.”

TC: “It’s very practical advice. It’s not a guru from a mountain top, it’s like the advice a best friend would give you if they had suffered the same.”

KHL: “We all go through a lot of the same challenges and sometimes when we are stuck in suffering we just need someone to remind us there are better choices we can make and better days ahead. The healing journey is part of our life’s journey, which is embedded in our soul’s journey. The healing crises we go through shine a light on our purpose and direction.”

The book will be available first on Amazon May 17, then Barnes and Nobles, and then everywhere. Harmon-Luber will hold a virtual book launch event, for friends all over the country and around the world who want to be a part of it. “On the website [www.sufferingtothriving.com] we’ll be posting information about how to participate in the virtual event. It will be on Facebook live,” she said.